West Tennessee · County seat Dresden

Fishing in Weakley County, Tennessee

Q: Where can I buy bait and tackle in Weakley County?

- Worms Sporting Goods, 551 E Union St, Gleason — (731) 648-1112. - Sun Shop & Sport, 300 Broadway St Ste A, Martin — (731) 587-1959. - Hibbett Sports, 137 Commons Dr, Martin — (731) 261-6955. - No dedicated bait-and-tackle shop was verified in the county. There is a fuller list on the Weakley County gear page, including anywhere renting boats or kayaks and the nearest big-box store.

Q: Where do locals fish in Weakley County?

Martin City Pond's winter rainbow trout stocking — trout in Weakley County genuinely surprises people. Garrett Lake's pier on a weekday, where the no-length-limit largemouth rule means a lot of fish and almost no keeper pressure. the Middle Fork Obion cutoffs and oxbows off the WMA.

Weakley County is thin on public water. This page lists what there is, then points at what is close.

Find fishing spots1 public access point Find gear & baitBait shops, tackle, rentals, licences

Every public access point

Fishing access in Weakley County

1 public access point in Weakley County: 1 boat launch and 1 fishing pier. Each one opens its own page with written directions, coordinates and a link straight to Google Maps.

Tap a pin for the spot page and directions. Open the full Tennessee fishing map.

Garrett Lake 1 in Weakley County

Free4 out of 5facilitiesBoat Launch · TWRAGarrett LakeApproximately 7 miles east of Dresden off State Highway 54. Take State Highway 190 north off Highway 54. Right at split and follow directional signs to lake.1 ramp, 1 lanefishing pieraccessible parkingDirections and detail →36.33008, -88.55057

What to bring

What to bring fishing in Weakley County

Three picks from the largemouth bass checklist that work for the fish here. Affiliate links: buying through them pays this site a small commission at no extra cost to you.

RodUgly Stik GX2 7 ft medium-heavy casting rodStiff enough to set a hook in grass, tough enough to live in a truck bed.Shop on Amazon →Why it is on the list

ReelAbu Garcia Black Max baitcasting reelAn inexpensive baitcaster that casts cleanly once the brakes are set.Shop on Amazon →Why it is on the list

Soft plasticZoom Trick WormThe Tennessee standard on a Texas rig or weightless along docks and grass edges.Shop on Amazon →Why it is on the list

Full largemouth bass checklist (11 items)All gear checklists

Spending more? The bigger purchases, compared side by side:

Crappie checklist Bluegill and Panfish checklist Catfish checklist Fish Finders compared Trolling Motors compared Lithium Marine Batteries compared Shallow Water Anchors compared

Weakley County at a glance

Weakley County boat ramps and fishing access

Weakley County has 1 public fishing access point: 1 boat ramp and 1 fishing pier, on 1 lake or river.

1boat ramp

1fishing pier

1lake, river or creek

The big water in Weakley

Main fishing waters in Weakley County

What each of these is actually known for, and what you can expect to catch.

channelized bottomland river system · drains the whole county · partly TWRA (Obion River WMA)

Obion River (North, Middle and South Forks)

Mid-20th-century channelization for agriculture caused erosion and habitat loss and 21st-century wetland restoration has halted and partly reversed it; the forks fish as sloughs and cutoffs rather than as a river, and a February 2025 levee failure flooded large parts of the system.

crappielargemouthcatfishbowfin

TWRA family fishing lake · 183 ac · TWRA

Garrett Lake

Located about 7 miles east of Dresden on Hwy 54, with a boat launching ramp, fishing pier, picnic area and pavilion; it is the county’s only substantial public lake and it is open 24 hours a day with no TWRA lake permit required.

largemouthcrappiebluegillredear

What it looks like

Weakley County water

Photographs of the water this page covers. Every picture opens that water’s own page. Drag or swipe to see the rest.

Obion River, TennesseeDavid.k.hochreiter / CC BY-SA 3.0

Reelfoot LakeOpen the Reelfoot Lake page →User:JeremyA / CC BY-SA 2.5

Mississippi RiverOpen the Mississippi River page →Ceptember / CC BY-SA 4.0

Pickwick LakeOpen the Pickwick Lake page →Kbh3rd / CC BY-SA 3.0

Forked Deer RiverOpen the Forked Deer River page →Malepheasant at en.wikipedia / Public domain

Tennessee River, TennesseeScott Basford / CC BY-SA 3.0

The ones nobody writes about

Small and out-of-the-way water in Weakley County

County lakes, park ponds, creeks and river stretches in Weakley County that never make a best-of list. Several of them fish better than the famous water on a busy weekend.

Bean Switch Refuge, waterfowl refuge on the Obion system.

No boat, or your own boat

Bank fishing and launching in Weakley County

Fishing from the bank in Weakley County

Garrett Lake fishing pier and shoreline (24-hour access); Martin City Pond; Obion River fork bridge crossings on Hwy 22, Hwy 54 and Hwy 89; Obion River WMA; the UT Martin area creek crossings. There is no public river bank of any length outside the WMAs.

Getting a boat on the water in Weakley County

Garrett Lake has a boat launching ramp and is a small-boat and trolling-motor lake. There is no marina in Weakley County. The Obion forks are jonboat and paddle water where they are navigable at all, and channelized stretches hold deadfall.

Two different trips

Visiting Weakley County versus fishing it like a local

Where visitors get pointed in Weakley County

University of Tennessee at Martin and the Tennessee Soybean Festival; Big Cypress Tree State Park, Greenfield; Dresden’s courthouse square (rebuilt after the December 2021 tornado); Garrett Lake; Reelfoot Lake is the regional draw, about 45 min northwest.

Where Weakley County locals actually go

Martin City Pond’s winter rainbow trout stocking, trout in Weakley County genuinely surprises people; Garrett Lake’s pier on a weekday, where the no-length-limit largemouth rule means a lot of fish and almost no keeper pressure; the Middle Fork Obion cutoffs and oxbows off the WMA; the Cypress Creek watershed lakes if access can be confirmed.

Rules and record fish

Limits and records for Weakley County water

Creel and length limits in Weakley County

– Garrett Lake: largemouth no creel or length limit, but only one fish greater than 18″ may be harvested per day; bluegill no creel or length limit; redear 20/day; crappie no creel or length limit; blue/channel catfish 5/day combined, no length limit. Unusually for a TWRA family fishing lake, Garrett requires no TWRA Lake Fishing permit, a regular fishing license is enough, and it is open 24 hours., Obion River statewide exception: crappie 30/day, no length limit (shared with the Forked Deer, Hatchie, Loosahatchie and Wolf)., Region 1 statewide crappie allowance: 30/day with no size restriction., Statewide trout rules apply at Martin City Pond: 7/day, no minimum length.

State record fish from Weakley County water

No Tennessee state record is credited to a Weakley County water.

1 public boat launches in Weakley County, counted from TWRA’s own access database.

Questions people actually ask

Weakley County fishing questions

Where can I fish from the bank in Weakley County?

Garrett Lake fishing pier and shoreline (24-hour access). Also martin city pond, and obion river fork bridge crossings on hwy 22, hwy 54 and hwy 89. Weakley County has 1 public fishing pier listed in TWRA’s access database.

How many public boat ramps are in Weakley County?

TWRA’s access database lists 1 boat launch in Weakley County. Most of them are on Garrett Lake. Every one is listed further up this page with its owner and lane count.

Do I need a fishing license to fish in Weakley County?

Yes. Anyone 13 and over needs a Tennessee fishing license, and there is no license required for ages 12 and under. A resident annual combination hunt and fish license is $33, a resident one-day all-species license is $11, and a non-resident three-day all-species license is $40. Tennessee has no non-resident one-day license. Buy online at gooutdoorstennessee.com, from a county clerk or from a licensed agent. Licenses are digital, nothing arrives in the post.

What fish can you catch in Weakley County?

The main species across Weakley County water are largemouth bass, crappie, bluegill, redear sunfish, catfish, bowfin, gar and buffalo. Each water body on the fishing spots page lists what it is actually known for, which is not always the same thing.

Does my Tennessee license cover trout in Weakley County?

Not automatically. The $33 resident combination hunt and fish license does not cover trout, and neither does the county-of-residence license or the cheaper no-trout short-term options. Those need the $21 annual trout supplemental added on. The Sportsman licenses and every non-resident all-species license already include trout. There is no designated trout water in Weakley County, but it is worth knowing before you drive to a tailwater elsewhere in the state.

What are the creel limits in Weakley County?

– Garrett Lake: largemouth no creel or length limit, but only one fish greater than 18″ may be harvested per day; bluegill no creel or length limit; redear 20/day; crappie no creel or length limit; blue/channel catfish 5/day combined, no length limit. Unusually for a TWRA family fishing lake, Garrett requires no TWRA Lake Fishing permit, a regular fishing license is enough, and it is open 24 hours, Obion River statewide exception: crappie 30/day, no length limit (shared with the Forked Deer, Hatchie, Loosahatchie and Wolf) Always check the current TWRA guide before you keep anything, because water-specific exceptions change.

Where can I buy bait and tackle in Weakley County?

– Worms Sporting Goods, 551 E Union St, Gleason, (731) 648-1112., Sun Shop & Sport, 300 Broadway St Ste A, Martin, (731) 587-1959., Hibbett Sports, 137 Commons Dr, Martin, (731) 261-6955., No dedicated bait-and-tackle shop was verified in the county. There is a fuller list on the Weakley County gear page, including anywhere renting boats or kayaks and the nearest big-box store.

Where do locals fish in Weakley County?

Martin City Pond’s winter rainbow trout stocking, trout in Weakley County genuinely surprises people. Garrett Lake’s pier on a weekday, where the no-length-limit largemouth rule means a lot of fish and almost no keeper pressure. the Middle Fork Obion cutoffs and oxbows off the WMA.

If the county comes up short

The nearest real fishing to Weakley County

Yes, outside Garrett Lake this county is thin., Reelfoot Lake (10,427 ac, TWRA/Reelfoot Lake State Park), Tiptonville, about 45 minutes northwest. The only major natural lake in Tennessee, about 68% of it three feet deep or less, and a crappie and bluegill lake first., Kentucky Lake at Paris Landing State Park, about 55 minutes east., Lake Halford, 985 ac (Carroll County), about 40 minutes southeast; Carroll Lake, 100 ac, and Maples Creek Lake, 90 ac, are in the same county., Gibson County Lake, 560 ac, about 45 minutes south.

Weakley County water holds largemouth bass, crappie, bluegill, redear sunfish.

Conditions

Weakley County river levels and trout stocking

River levelsObion River level todayUSGS flow, gauge height and the seven-day trend.Open →TroutTrout stocking in Weakley CountyTWRA stocks Martin City Pond. Dates are on the stocking schedule.Open →

Statewide limits: 5 black bass, 15 crappie at 10 inches, 2 stripers at 15 inches, 7 trout.

About this list

Where the Weakley County access list comes from

The 1 access point above comes from the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency’s public access database, which is why each one names the agency that owns or manages it. A state or TVA ramp is usually free. A Corps of Engineers site, a state park ramp or a marina often is not.

The waters, species and local notes are researched separately, county by county, against TWRA’s own reservoir pages, TVA, the US Army Corps of Engineers and Tennessee State Parks.

Ramps close for repairs, gravel roads wash out and regulations change. Treat anything here as a starting point and call ahead if you are driving a long way for it.

By town instead

Towns near Weakley County

These pages measure from the middle of town rather than the county line, which is usually the number you actually care about.

24 access points within 30 milesFishing near MartinReelfoot Lake, South Fork of the Obion RiverSee the spots →

1 public fishing pier in Weakley County, no boat needed.

Keep looking

Counties next to Weakley

Fish do not respect county lines. These are the nearest counties to Weakley with public water of their own. Each one opens its own page.

Next county overHenry CountyKentucky LakeSee the spots →Next county overGibson CountyGibson Co Lake, Gibson County LakeSee the spots →Next county overBenton CountyKentucky Lake, Ky. ReservoirSee the spots →Next county overCarroll CountyMaples Creek LakeSee the spots →Next county overObion CountyReelfoot Lake, Gooch Unit E LakeSee the spots →

Keep going

More Weakley County water, and who fishes it

Every guide and charter on this site is listed by the water they run, so you can call the captain direct. Licences, limits and the state record list are one click away too.

Guides by water Licence and limits

Weather alerts, power outages and road closures in Weakley County right now: Weakley County conditions.