Tennessee brook trout fishing is best known for its high elevation streams in the smoky mountains. A lot of streams don’t see much fishing pressure so double-digit days are not out of the question.
Tennessee Brook Trout Fishing
Fishing for brookies in Tennessee is a bucket list trip for anglers. Not only are they chasing after high elevation native fish, but they’re also doing it in the Great Smoky Mountains. An area that’s known for both how wild it is as well as its beauty.
With over 2,100 miles of streams, there is no shortage of spots you can throw a fly to. Below, we have a list of some of the better brook trout spots in the state. Check them out and see which ones you have been to or want to go to!
Left Prong Hampton Creek
The left prong of Hampton Creek is considered one of the best Tennessee brook trout streams in the state. This is in thanks to a restoration project that was completed by the Overmountain Chapter of Trout Unlimited.
You’ll need to be stealthy here. Keep your shadow off the water and fly line too. Any loud noises or a fly landing too loudly could spook them and you’ll be hiking to the net spot.
Fish this creek the way you would any normal brookie stream. Hit the pools and any deeper runs. Work from back to front and if you’ve cast your fly around 15 times and haven’t caught anything then you’ve either spooked it or there is no fish and you should move on.
Rocky Fork Creek
The last mile of Rocky Fork is seasonally stocked and can be fished without any sort of special regs. So, if you want to fly fish down there then checking the stocking schedule would be your best bet as it will get busy during this time.
The higher elevations have some great native brook trout fishing though. You’ll be hiking around three miles before you start getting into the natives though. So, be prepared with water, snacks, and comfortable hiking shoes. The extra hiking is nice as it keeps many anglers away from this section.
As an added bonus you will also run into some wild rainbow trout in this creek. Dries work very well from spring through the end of fall. Dropping a nymph off the shank of your dry is a good strategy for when you find one of those deeper pools.
This is a very long trail so you can decide to get pretty far back if you really want to. The further up you go the less pressure you’re going to find from other anglers. Just be prepared to do some bushwhacking to get to the stream ins some spots.
Sycamore Creek
With about four miles of fishable water and a trail running parallel, Sycamore Creek is a great spot to fish from. Two miles up the trail you’ll find that this creek is loaded with native brookies.
Dry fly fishing can be great here and if you’re feeling up to it you could even get out and throw some dries in the winter. You may not be as successful as you would in the warmer months, but you might be surprised at how many rises you actually get out of these fish.
During the warmer months, your dry fly selection is not too important. They are opportunistic feeders and will attack most things that land on the water. The most important thing is not to not spook the trout when approaching the water. Keep a low profile, and wearing dark clothes will help tremendously.
Little River
On top of being a solid brook trout stream, the Little River is one of the best trout streams in the US. It contains wild rainbow and brown populations and also smallmouth bass.
The East Prong of the river has some great native brook trout and wild rainbow trout fishing in the upper part of the stream. There are also some absolute monster brown trout in the southern reaches. Reports have come in as large as 20″ browns live down there.
The upper reaches will take you some time to get back up there but you will be rewarded with some great fly fishing if you take the time and effort to get there. Hard fighting southern strain native brook trout will take all kinds of flies and wild rainbows can also be located throughout most of the stream.
The middle prong and west prong also have wonderful brook trout fishing. Overall, this should a piece of water that you have on your bucket list to fish.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
We listed some bodies of water above that are located in the park but there are many other creeks and other small streams that hold native brook trout. If you’re not familiar with the term “blue lining” then you should make yourself familiar because the GSMNP has some wonderful fishing there.
Blue Lining is looking on a map for those small blue lines that mark tiny streams. Most of the time these are either unfished or have very low fishing pressure put on them. Low-pressure water means fish are more willing to take a fly.
The next fun part is figuring out how you can access these areas because it is usually not easy. Blue lining can create some very memorable fishing days and can b a great way to get out and explore.
Grab a map of the GSMNP and start looking at all the small blue lines that run through it. The easiest way to find a new spot is to locate a good trout stream (any of the above) and then look upstream on the map for any tributaries.
Part of the risk of blue lining is that the maps don’t always accurately refelt the stream. Sometimes there might not be any water because it’s seasonal. Or, there might just not be any fish. So, there is a slight risk of fishing this way, but it could also be a great payoff.
Final Thoughts
It’s not too hard to find Tennessee brook trout. They are located in most streams in the national park as well as many other cold stream rivers. Have you ever fished any of the rivers above? Did I miss any? Let me know if the comments below.
