Live wading and fishing conditions for 37 Tennessee rivers
Every river below is monitored through its USGS streamflow gauges, refreshed every 15 minutes and rated in plain language for wading safety. Select a river for the live dashboard with current flow, trend, weather and community reports.
Little River
The signature trout river of the Great Smoky Mountains — tumbling from the high country past Elkmont and Townsend over boulders and plunge pools full of wild rainbows and surprisingly large browns. A successful restoration means anglers can now also find native Southern Appalachian brook trout up top. Roadside-accessible in the park and a true free-flowing freestone, so it fishes on the flow, not a dam schedule.
Region: Smoky Mountains · Fish for: Rainbow Trout, Brown Trout · USGS gauges: Little River above Townsend, Little River near Maryville (lower)
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Caney Fork River
Middle Tennessee's flagship trout tailwater — about 16 miles of cold, clear water below Center Hill Dam holding stocked and holdover rainbows, browns, brookies and cutthroat before it warms into smallmouth habitat. This is a GENERATION-driven river: it wades and dry-fly fishes beautifully on minimum flow, but a single generating unit turns it into pushy drift-boat water. Always check the TVA/Center Hill generation schedule before you go.
Region: Middle Tailwater · Fish for: Rainbow Trout, Brown Trout · USGS gauges: Caney Fork at Stonewall (lower tailwater)
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Duck River
The longest river entirely within Tennessee and the most biologically diverse river in North America — 151 fish species and 50-plus mussels — and Middle Tennessee's flagship smallmouth float. Cool limestone water below Normandy Dam grows smallmouth to 20 inches alongside spotted bass, rock bass, catfish, and even a stocked trout section up top. Long, wadeable riffles between paddle-friendly pools.
Region: Middle Smallmouth · Fish for: Smallmouth Bass, Spotted Bass · USGS gauges: Duck River at Shelbyville (upper), Duck River at Columbia (middle), Duck River at Centerville (lower)
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Watauga River
One of Tennessee's premier trout tailwaters, tumbling cold and clear out of Wilbur Dam near Elizabethton with wild-reproducing browns and rainbows. Like all the TVA tailwaters it is GENERATION-driven — it wades comfortably at minimum flow (~107 cfs) and rises fast and dangerously when Wilbur starts generating. Check the TVA generation schedule (posted daily) every single time.
Region: Northeast Tailwater · Fish for: Brown Trout, Rainbow Trout · USGS gauges: Watauga River at Elizabethton
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Clinch River
The Clinch below Norris Dam is one of the South's premier trophy trout tailwaters, giving up state-record browns in cold, generation-controlled water. Wadeable only on low, non-generation flows — the horn and rising water mean get out now.
Region: East Tennessee · Fish for: Brown Trout, Rainbow Trout · USGS gauges: Clinch River Above Tazewell, Tn
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Elk River
A narrow, gravel-bar tailwater below Tims Ford Dam east of Lynchburg — and, unusually for Tennessee, a tailwater where WADING is the preferred method. It holds stocked brook, brown, cutthroat and rainbow trout under Special Trout Regulations. Still GENERATION-driven: the immediate below-dam water fishes best at about 240–400 cfs of release, so check the Tims Ford schedule before you commit.
Region: Middle Tailwater · Fish for: Rainbow Trout, Brown Trout · USGS gauges: Elk River above Fayetteville, Elk River at Prospect (lower)
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French Broad River
One of East Tennessee's great smallmouth and muskie rivers, the French Broad runs big and green from the North Carolina line down to Douglas Lake near Newport. Float water for the most part — the gauge frames boat and bank safety, not a wading maximum.
Region: East Tennessee · Fish for: Smallmouth Bass, Muskellunge · USGS gauges: French Broad River Near Newport, Tn
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Buffalo River
Tennessee's longest unimpounded river — a clear, gravel-bottomed float-and-wade smallmouth stream winding through the western Highland Rim. No dam controls it, so it runs on rain: low and gin-clear in summer for wading, up and paddle-only after a storm. Smallmouth, rock bass and spotted bass dominate, with catfish, gar and redhorse in the deeper holes.
Region: Middle Smallmouth · Fish for: Smallmouth Bass, Rock Bass · USGS gauges: Buffalo River near Flat Woods (upper), Buffalo River below Lobelville (lower)
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Big South Fork of the Cumberland
The Big South Fork carves a wild gorge through the plateau, its clear pools and rapids holding hard-pulling smallmouth, rock bass and a few muskie. Formed where Clear Fork meets New River, it is float-and-wade water — fishable when the gorge is low and green, dangerous on the rise.
Region: Cumberland Plateau · Fish for: Smallmouth Bass, Rock Bass · USGS gauges: Clear Fork Near Robbins, Tn, New River At New River, Tn, South Fk Cumberland River At Leatherwood Ford, Tn
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Harpeth River
Nashville's home smallmouth river — a State Scenic River looping through Franklin, Bellevue and Kingston Springs with easy urban and state-park access. It's a flashy, rain-driven limestone stream: low and clear for summer wading, brown and pushy after a storm. Smallmouth, rock bass and spotted bass headline, with the famous Narrows of the Harpeth as its signature float.
Region: Middle Smallmouth · Fish for: Smallmouth Bass, Rock Bass · USGS gauges: Harpeth River at Franklin (upper), Harpeth River at Bellevue (middle), Harpeth River near Kingston Springs (lower)
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Tellico River
A gorgeous Cherokee National Forest freestone that plunges out of the mountains past Bald River Falls — heavily stocked put-and-take rainbows and browns down low, wild rainbows and native brook trout in the cold upper tributaries. A roadside pocket-water river with a stocked trophy section, it fishes on rainfall and flow rather than a dam release.
Region: East Mountains · Fish for: Rainbow Trout, Brown Trout · USGS gauges: Tellico River at Tellico Plains
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Wolf River
The Wolf runs from the spring-fed swamps of the Ghost River near Moscow through Germantown and Memphis to the Mississippi. The upper river is clear, wadeable smallmouth and largemouth water through a protected corridor; the lower urban reaches turn to catfish and bass along the Wolf River Greenway.
Region: West Lowlands · Fish for: Smallmouth Bass, Largemouth Bass · USGS gauges: Wolf River At Lagrange, Tn, Wolf River At Rossville, Tn, Wolf River At Germantown, Tn, Wolf River At Hollywood St At Memphis, Tn
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Nolichucky River
A big, brawling mountain river out of the North Carolina high country through the Nolichucky Gorge into East Tennessee — world-class Class III–IV whitewater up top and a genuinely great smallmouth float below Erwin. Smallmouth, rock bass and even a plateau-style musky population make the lower river a standout. Note: the 2024 Hurricane Helene flooding reshaped the gorge and closed some outfitters — scout access before you go.
Region: Northeast Mountains · Fish for: Smallmouth Bass, Rock Bass · USGS gauges: Nolichucky River at Embreeville (upper), Nolichucky River below Nolichucky Dam (middle), Nolichucky River near Lowland (lower)
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Cumberland River
Middle Tennessee's big-water artery — a deep, lock-and-dam navigation river running through downtown Nashville and on past Cheatham Dam. This is a bank-and-boat fishery, not a wade river: trophy blue and flathead catfish, striped bass and hybrids, sauger and white bass run below the dams and in the tailwaters. Rising water here means slippery banks and heavy current, not a wading decision. (Note: the Cheatham Dam tailwater lacks an active USGS gauge; flow shown is the Nashville gauge upstream.)
Region: Big River · Fish for: Striped Bass, Blue Catfish · USGS gauges: Cumberland River at Nashville
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Little Pigeon River (West Prong)
The West Prong tumbles straight out of the high Smokies through Gatlinburg — a steep, boulder-strewn brook-and-rainbow stream where the native Southern Appalachian brook trout is the prize up top. Small, cold and roadside-accessible along Newfound Gap Road inside the park, it turns to warmer smallmouth and rock-bass water by the time it reaches Sevierville. Freestone flow, not a dam.
Region: Smoky Mountains · Fish for: Brook Trout (Southern Appalachian), Rainbow Trout · USGS gauges: West Prong Little Pigeon nr Gatlinburg (headwater), Little Pigeon River at Sevierville (lower)
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Sequatchie River
The Sequatchie runs the length of its namesake valley, a clear, gentle smallmouth float from Dunlap down past Whitwell toward the Tennessee River. Easy paddling, wadeable shoals and dependable smallmouth make it a favorite summer river.
Region: Southeast · Fish for: Smallmouth Bass, Largemouth Bass · USGS gauges: Sequatchie River Near Whitwell, Tn
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Emory & Obed River
The Obed–Emory system carves the wildest gorge on the Cumberland Plateau — a National Wild & Scenic River of sandstone bluffs, whitewater, and clear smallmouth-and-musky water. It's a flashy, undammed plateau river that swings from bony-low to raging in a single storm, so time it carefully. Smallmouth and rock bass headline, with a rare plateau musky population in the deeper runs.
Region: Cumberland Plateau · Fish for: Smallmouth Bass, Rock Bass · USGS gauges: Obed River near Lancing, Emory River at Oakdale (lower)
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Ocoee River
Famous as the 1996 Olympic whitewater venue, the Ocoee is a TVA-controlled river of dam bypasses and scheduled recreation releases in the southeast corner of the state. The upper river around Copperhill and the free-flowing sections hold smallmouth and rock bass, with stocked and contextual trout in the coldest water. Because the whitewater reaches run on TVA release schedules, fishing centers on the upper river and off-release windows — always check the schedule.
Region: Southeast · Fish for: Smallmouth Bass, Rock Bass · USGS gauges: Ocoee River at Copperhill (upper)
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Powell River
A clear Claiborne County smallmouth and muskie river running out of Virginia down to the head of Norris Lake. One of the state's best floats for numbers of smallmouth, with rock bass, redbreast and a shot at a muskie in the lower reaches.
Region: East Tennessee · Fish for: Smallmouth Bass, Muskellunge · USGS gauges: Powell River Near Arthur, Tn
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Collins River
A Cumberland Plateau smallmouth-and-musky river draining the Barrens near McMinnville down to the Caney Fork at Great Falls. It's one of the rare southern rivers holding native muskellunge alongside a strong smallmouth and rock-bass fishery. Float-and-wade water that rises and falls on rain, ending in the dramatic gorge at Rock Island State Park.
Region: Middle Smallmouth · Fish for: Smallmouth Bass, Muskellunge · USGS gauges: Collins River near McMinnville
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Pigeon River
Once wrecked by paper-mill pollution and now recovering, the Pigeon runs cold and fast out of the Smokies through Hartford to Newport. The upper river holds stocked and wild trout; the lower reaches warm into smallmouth water once the whitewater crowd clears out.
Region: Smoky Mountains · Fish for: Rainbow Trout, Smallmouth Bass · USGS gauges: Pigeon River At Newport, Tn
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Stones River
The Stones River drains the Murfreesboro area through its East and West forks into J. Percy Priest Lake, then runs on to the Cumberland below the dam. Smallmouth and largemouth up top, with crappie, catfish and the occasional striper prowling the tailwater.
Region: Middle Smallmouth · Fish for: Smallmouth Bass, Largemouth Bass · USGS gauges: East Fork Stones River Near Lascassas, Tn, West Fork Stones River At Murfreesboro, Tn, Stones River At Us Hwy 70 Near Donelson, Tn
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Obey River
The upper Obey is a highland-rim smallmouth stream; below Dale Hollow Dam it turns cold, giving up stocked trout and walleye in the tailwater. Read the upstream freestone gauge for the wadeable reaches and the TVA schedule for the tailrace.
Region: Upper Cumberland · Fish for: Smallmouth Bass, Rock Bass · USGS gauges: West Fork Obey River Near Alpine, Tn
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Hatchie River
The last major unchannelized river in West Tennessee — a wild, meandering bottomland stream winding through cypress-tupelo swamp and national wildlife refuge. This is a stage-and-access fishery, not a wade river: at high water it spreads into the floodplain forest. Trophy catfish, largemouth and spotted bass, bowfin and gar fill its tannic runs and oxbows.
Region: West Lowlands · Fish for: Blue Catfish, Flathead Catfish · USGS gauges: Hatchie River at Bolivar (upper), Hatchie River at Rialto (lower)
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Doe River
A pretty Carter County freestone river that spills out of the Roan highlands through Hampton and Elizabethton. The upper river holds wild and stocked trout in cold pocket water; lower down it warms into smallmouth and rock bass.
Region: Northeast Mountains · Fish for: Rainbow Trout, Smallmouth Bass · USGS gauges: Doe River At Elizabethton, Tn
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Mississippi River
Tennessee's western border and one of the country's great catfish rivers, the Mississippi at Memphis gives up trophy blue and flathead catfish from its wing dams, bars and deep holes. This is heavy-tackle, boat-and-bank water — the gauge frames river stage and current, never a wading level.
Region: Big River · Fish for: Blue Catfish, Flathead Catfish · USGS gauges: Mississippi River At Memphis, Tn
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Red River
A quiet north-central smallmouth and catfish river running from Kentucky down past Port Royal to the Cumberland at Clarksville. Long float sections, clear on normal flows, with good smallmouth in the upper reaches and catfish in the deeper lower water.
Region: Middle Smallmouth · Fish for: Smallmouth Bass, Channel Catfish · USGS gauges: Red River At Port Royal, Tn
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Chickamauga Creek
The North and South Chickamauga creeks drain the Chattanooga area to the Tennessee River, offering close-to-town smallmouth and spotted bass in their gorge and greenway reaches. The North Chickamauga gorge is scenic pool-and-drop water; South Chickamauga runs a long urban greenway.
Region: Southeast · Fish for: Smallmouth Bass, Spotted Bass · USGS gauges: North Chickamauga Cr At Mile Straight, Tn, South Chickamauga Creek Near Chickamauga, Tn
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Falling Water River
Best known for the plunge at Burgess Falls, the Falling Water River holds smallmouth and rock bass in the plateau reaches above the gorge. Wade the upper river; the falls stretch is scenery, not fishing water.
Region: Upper Cumberland · Fish for: Smallmouth Bass, Rock Bass · USGS gauges: Falling Water River Near Cookeville, Tn
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Big Sandy River
A slow West Tennessee river backing into the Big Sandy arm of Kentucky Lake near Bruceton. Crappie, largemouth and catfish stack in its lower, lake-influenced reaches, with duck-country backwaters all around.
Region: West Lowlands · Fish for: Crappie, Largemouth Bass · USGS gauges: Big Sandy River At Bruceton, Tn
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Roaring River
A clear Jackson County smallmouth stream that tumbles off the highland rim down to Cordell Hull Lake. Small, wadeable and lightly pressured — best on low, green flows in summer and fall.
Region: Upper Cumberland · Fish for: Smallmouth Bass, Rock Bass · USGS gauges: Roaring River Near Hilham, Tn
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Piney River
A small Hickman County smallmouth stream feeding the Duck River near Vernon. Clear, wadeable and lightly fished, with smallmouth, rock bass and redbreast in the pools and riffles.
Region: Middle Smallmouth · Fish for: Smallmouth Bass, Rock Bass · USGS gauges: Piney River At Vernon, Tn
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Shoal Creek
A south-central smallmouth creek running out of the highland rim through Lawrence County toward the Tennessee River. Named for its long rocky shoals, it fishes best as a warm-season wade for smallmouth and panfish.
Region: Middle Smallmouth · Fish for: Smallmouth Bass, Largemouth Bass · USGS gauges: Shoal Creek At Iron City, Tn
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Calfkiller River
A small, scenic White County smallmouth river running past Sparta toward the Caney Fork system. Wade-friendly and clear on normal flows, with rock bass and redbreast filling out the day.
Region: Upper Cumberland · Fish for: Smallmouth Bass, Rock Bass · USGS gauges: Calfkiller River At Hwy 70 At Sparta, Tn
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Obion River
A classic West Tennessee bottomland river, the Obion runs low and muddy through the Gulf Coastal Plain from its forks near Martin and Greenfield down toward the Mississippi. Catfish, crappie and largemouth hold in the sloughs, oxbows and channelized reaches.
Region: West Lowlands · Fish for: Channel Catfish, Crappie · USGS gauges: South Fork Obion River Near Greenfield, Tn, North Fork Obion River Near Martin, Tn (Ce), Obion River At Hwy 51 Near Obion, Tn
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Forked Deer River
Another West Tennessee bottomland system, the Forked Deer's forks wind through the coastal plain past Dyersburg toward the Mississippi bottoms. Catfish and crappie are the mainstay, with largemouth and flathead in the deeper holes and oxbows.
Region: West Lowlands · Fish for: Channel Catfish, Crappie · USGS gauges: South Fork Forked Deer River Near Owl City, Tn, Middle Fork Forked Deer River Near Fairview
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Loosahatchie River
A quiet bottomland river north of Memphis, the Loosahatchie winds through the Shelby County flats to the Mississippi. Channel cats, largemouth and crappie hold in its snags and slow bends, with easy bank access off the greenway corridor.
Region: West Lowlands · Fish for: Channel Catfish, Largemouth Bass · USGS gauges: Loosahatchie River Near Arlington, Tn
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