Guided Fly Fishing on the Clinch River

The legendary trout fishery of the Clinch River begins at Norris Dam — the very first dam built by the Tennessee Valley Authority. Construction began in October 1933, just months after TVA’s creation, and the dam was completed in 1936, standing 265 feet high and stretching 1,860 feet across the river. It impounds Norris Lake, a massive reservoir covering nearly 34,000 acres with roughly 800 miles of shoreline. The Clinch also holds a notable distinction in Southern fly fishing history: in the early 1940s it became the first tailwater in the South to be stocked with trout, and that early success helped launch trout programs on tailwaters across the region.

Our primary water is the 13-mile stretch of tailwater running from the base of Norris Dam down to the Highway 61 bridge near Clinton. Trout here behave like true wild fish — biologists have found that fingerling-stocked and naturally reproduced Rainbow trout survive and grow at rates that rival wild populations, and Rainbows now make up 80 to 90 percent of the total catch, averaging 11 to 12 inches with plenty of fish in the 14- to 22-inch range. A protective 14-to-20-inch slot limit keeps quality fish in the system to grow toward trophy size — and on August 30, 1988, that system produced the current Tennessee state record Brown Trout: 28 pounds, 12 ounces, caught just upstream of Miller’s Island