Fly and Gear ordering and delivery: We can get flies to you within two to three business days from the time you place your order via Priority Mail. If you provide a budget for flies, we will select them to match the budget and get them to you on time for your trip. Please see the bottom of this column for ordering options.
We also have custom Perfect Fly selections in 3 different price ranges for this stream that come with or without fly boxes. They make excellent gifts. Click Here To Order or Call us at 800 594 4726 or email us at sales@perfectflystore.com.
Type of Stream
Tailwater
Species
Brown Trout
Brook Trout
Rainbow Trout
(Stocked with holdovers)
Location
Middle Tennessee
Size:
Medium
Nearest Towns
Cookville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee about 65 miles
Season
Year-round
Access:
Fair-Good
Special Regulations
None
Non-Resident License
Tennessee Wildlife Resources
Agency
Seasons:
The fly-fishing season is year-round on the Caney Fork River.
Winter:
It is possible to catch trout on the coldest
days of the winter.
Spring:
Springtime is prime time on the Caney Fork River
Summer:
The hot days of summer will produce fish if the right tactics are used.
Fall:
Autumn is a great time for fly fishing the
Caney Fork River and the best opportunity to catch a large brown trout.
Recommended Tackle & Gear
Fly Line:
5 or 6 weight
Leaders:
Dry fly: 9 & 12 ft., 5 or 6X, Nymphing:
71/2 ft., 3 or 4X, Streamers 0-2X
Tippets:
Dry fly: 5 or 6X, Nymphing: 3 or 4X,
Streamer 0-2X
Best Fly Rods:
Perfect Fly Superb Five or Ultimate Six
Fly Reels:
For 5/6 fly line
Fly Floatants and Misc Items:
Floatants, KISS Strike Indicators
Tools & Accessories:
Nippers, forceps, retractors, etc.
Fly and Gear ordering and delivery:
Email us at (sales@perfectflystore.com) with the dates you will be fishing and we will send you a list of our fly recommendations. We can get flies and gear to you within two to three business days from the time you place your order via Priority Mail. If you provide a budget for flies, we will select them to match the budget and get them to you on time for your trip. Your can also call us at 800-594-4726 and we will help you decide what flies and gear to use. All orders are shipped free in the U.S. If under a $100 order requiring Priority mail is a charge of only $8.10. Orders over a $100 are shipped free via Priority Mail.
Copyright 2013 James Marsh
Caney Fork River – Fly Fishing Report – April 12, 2024 Good conditions exist for drift boats. Light Green Midges rigged with the larva and pupa in tandem as mentioned below have been working good. Blue-winged olives, Little Black Caddis and Little Brown stoneflies are hatching.
Afternoon Water Temperature: 46 (varies with distance from dam)
Clarity: clear
TVA Release Schedule Center Hill:
7 Day Weather Forecast: (click the link below for more detailed weather information)
Recommended Trout Flies:
Brown Sculpin and White Belly Sculpin and Articulated streamers, size 6/4
Black Matuka and Olive Matuka Sculpin, size 4/6
Blue-winged Olives: size 16, 18 nymph, emergers, duns and spinners
Aquatic Worms, size 12, pink, red, and others
Midges: Light Green and Red (Blood) midges sizes 20/22, larva, pupa and adult. Our larva and pupa midge flies, pre-rigged in tandem, are very popular here. You can fish them under a strike indicator keeping the larva fly near the bottom. https://perfectflystore.com/product/pre-rigged-tandem-midge-larva-pupa-tippet
Little Brown Stoneflies: 12, nymphs and adults
Little Black Caddis, size 18, pupa and adults
Fly Fishing Caney Fork River Tennessee: The Caney Fork River Tailwater is located below Center Hill Lake and Dam in middle Tennessee, just off Interstate I-40. It is stocked by the TWRA (Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency). The stream averages from thirty to ninety feet wide and flows slow whenever the turbines are not running. The water flows from the deep water of Center Hill Lake through the dam at about fifty-five degrees year-round. The river can be waded, fished from the bank or fished from a canoe, water craft or drift boat.It is always advisable to check on the discharge schedule prior to fishing Caney Fork because it greatly affects how you must fish the river. The water rises suddenly and fast. There are three primary access areas – the dam, Happy Hollow, and Betty’s Island.
Fly Fishing Guide to the Caney Fork: Small flies are the key to catching trout from the Caney Fork Tailwater. The trout feed mostly on midges and the most effective flies are midge larvae and pupae imitations. At certain times of the year streamers also work good. The Caney Fork section that holds trout extends from the Center Hill Dam all the way down to the Cumberland River. You can wade the river, fish it from the banks, or from a boat. Canoes work well when the current is slow. Drift boats work only when the dam is generating enough current to clear the rocks, otherwise, the river is very shallow. The river bed consist most of small, small size cobble and is fairly easy to wade in most places. There’s a lot of moss covering the bottom which helps maintain its aquatic insect population. The number of aquatic insect species is rather low but it has a good population of those that do exist there.The area below the dam can be fished from the manager’s resource area, or you can cross the dam on highway #141 and fish from several access points from pull off areas along the road. There’s also an access at Happy Hollow with a boat ramp. Betties Island is another point you can access the river and launch a boat. There are usually a lot of bait fishermen on the river. The state stocks a huge number of trout and the locals take advantage of it. The river can become crowded at times. When it comes to fly size, it seems you need to go from one extreme to the other. We think the best method, day in and day out, is to fish imitations of midges. The naturals range in sizes from a hook size 20 up to 26 and smaller. They are very plentiful. Scud and sowbug imitations also work great at times. Black flies are another very plentiful insect and imitations of them work at times. On the other end of the size spectrum are the streamers that imitate baitfish. They consistently work for the larger trout in the river. When you are fishing BWOs, midges, black fly, scud and sowbug imitations, we recommend a long, light leader at least 9 foot long. Lengths including the tippet, are better in the 12 foot range at times. The leader size for these small files should be a 6X, and if the trout feeding on midges and become rather difficult to catch, you may even want to go down to a 7X size.
Caney Fork Hatches and Trout Flies: Our information on aquatic insects is based on our stream samples of larvae and nymphs, not guess work. We base fly suggestions on imitating the most plentiful and most available insects and other foods at the particular time you are fishing. Unlike the generic fly shop trout flies, we have specific imitations of all the insects in the Caney Fork River and in all stages of life that are applicable to fishing. If you want to fish better, more realistic trout flies, have a much higher degree of success, give us a call. We not only will help you with selections, you will learn why, after trying Perfect Flies, 92% of the thousands of our customers will use nothing else. 1-800-594-4726. There are a few mayflies and caddisflies that emerge on the Caney Fork River but the hatches are not consistent day in and day out. Blue-winged Olives hatch at different times of the year, depending on the species. The baetis species normally hatch from January through March and again during October and November. There are species of Little BWOs that appear occasionally. The river has a good population of both scuds and sow bugs and at times it seems they are the preferred food of the trout. Black flies also are very abundant. We have imitations of the Black Flies’ larvae, pupae and adults. There are at least two species of Cinnamon Caddis. They can hatch off and on from June through the first part of October. LIttle Sister caddis are also present in certain areas of the river. They hatch in late June and on into the first two weeks of July. Other species are present but not in large quantities. When they are running the generators, streamers are usually the preferred flies. There’s a lot of shad in the river as well as other species of baitfish and minnows. The river has some huge holdover brown trout. Trout from twenty to twenty-five inches long are not uncommon. They primarily eat baitfish. Most of the time you will be better off fishing a midge larva or pupa imitation. If you notice any midges hatching, use the midge pupa imitation. If you don’t, fish a midge larva imitation just above the bottom. We prefer to fish either of them without a strike indicator, but strike indicators do work fairly well on the Caney Fork River. You should add a small amount of split shot above the larva imitation and adjust the indicator depending on the depth and speed of the water. You can fish imitations of scuds and sowbugs the same way as the midge larva flies. Add some weight to the tippet a few inches above the fly and fish them on or just above the bottom. Strike indicators can also be used with them if you prefer. Double or tandem rigs are popular on the Caney Fork. Some anglers fish a larger mayfly nymph and a small midge larva or pupa together. Others fish two midge flies a few inches apart, both a midge larva and a pupa imitation. We don’t prefer these multiple rigs but they do catch trout.If you haven’t done so already, please give our “Perfect Flies” a try. We feel sure you will find them to be very effective on the Caney Fork tailwater. Our Scud and Sowbug imitations are the most realistic and most effective imitations you can buy. One method to use fishing streamers requires a lot of cast and plain work but it can be very effective with there’s a lot of current. They also work sight fishing to individual trout, especially during the late Fall and early Winter when the brown trout are in the process of spawning. Our “Perfect Fly” Shad, is an excellent streamer to use on the Caney Fork River.