Paint Creek Tennessee Fishing Report & Options for Selecting Flies: 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.
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
Freestone
Species
Rainbow Trout (wild and stocked with
holdovers)
Brown Trout (wild and stocked with
holdovers)
Size
Small to Medium
Location
Northeastern Tennessee
Nearest Towns
Newport
Season
Year-round
Access:
Fair, hiking required
Non-Resident License
State of Tennessee
Weather
Season:
The season runs year-round
Winter:
Trout can be caught on warm days of the winter
Spring:
Springtime is the best time for fly fishing Paint Creek.
Summer:
Very hot summer days would be questionable except
maybe in the highest elevations of the stream.
Fall:
Fall is the best time for catching a big brown from Paint
Creek.
Recommended Tackle & Gear
Fly Line:
4, 5 or 6 weight
Leaders:
Dry fly: 9 to 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 Supreme Four, Superb Five
or Ultimate Six
Fly Reels:
For 4/5/6 fly line
Fly Floatants and Misc Items:
Floatants, KISS Strike Indicators
Tools & Accessories:
Nippers, forceps, retractors, etc.
Copyright 2013 James Marsh
Fly Fishing Paint Creek Tennessee
Paint Creek is a small to medium size stream that’s a tributary of the French Broad River. It can be accessed from Houston Valley Road (highway #107) a few miles from Newport Tennessee. Paint Creek also has a fairly new Delayed Harvest section.
The best sections of Paint Creek are the upper and middle sections of the stream. A trail that leads from the Paint Creek Campground takes you upstream to some of the best water. This trail runs a long way, so there’s plenty of good fishing as far upstream as highway #70.
The lower section of the creek is larger with more open water and large pools. It’s also stocked heavily and frequented by bait fishers. The upper areas have far more wild trout than stockers. Even though the average size wild brown trout is probably only about eight inches, I’m sure there are also some large brown trout to be caught. There are also plenty of wild rainbows that average a small size, but can go up to about twelve inches according to the locals.
Little Paint Creek is the stream’s main tributary. It has a population of wild rainbows and brown trout and can only be accessed by trail.
I will never forget arriving at the campground the first time Angie and I fished Paint Creek. It looked full and there was a crowd of men hanging around the stream near where we parked. When I started getting my waders on to head upstream on the trail, Angie refused
to get out of our SUV. She just doesn’t like crowds and especially when it’s all men. The problem was, I didn’t know anywhere else to fish. After a little griping and about two more hours of driving around and walking a short ways, we finally found a place to start fishing. I’m not exactly sure where we fished even after studying a map. That wasn’t long after the stream suffered from a terrible flood and some roads and trails had been destroyed.
We did catch plenty of trout, mostly all small wild brown trout. None were over twelve inches but we caught several beautiful, colorful little browns, a couple of rainbows and enjoyed fly fishing Paint Creek. We didn’t see another person while we were fishing.