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Caney Fork River Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

The Caney Fork below Center Hill Dam: a stocked tailwater that TWRA manages under special trout limits.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Water temp
~47 F est.
Air / High
76 / 77 F
Wind
NE 3 mph

Sources: Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

3/5Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Caney Fork River fishes cold and honest: earn your bites in the deep stuff. Today brings clear skies, wind NE around 3 mph, steady pressure near 1021 hPa and a high of 77. Water sits around 47 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:19 AM-11:19 AM and 9:47 PM-11:47 PM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Rainbow troutExcellent

In cold water rainbows use the deepest pools in rivers (Vermont), so slow, deep drifts there are the usual approach; Michigan DNR notes lake rainbows are also taken with bait or by jigging through the ice.

Brown troutExcellent

Below 50Β°F, fish slowly through the deeper pools; in early spring on the Great Lakes, Michigan DNR notes browns are often caught inshore before other species start biting.

Brook troutExcellent

Below 50Β°F is the fall spawning band (40-50Β°F in Vermont), so stay off spawning gravel. In winter Maine IFW finds pond fish close to shore in 4 to 12 feet of water under the ice.

Tomorrow: Similar at 76 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made β†’

Before you go

Tennessee requires a fishing licence from age 13, from $33.00 for residents. What a Tennessee licence costs and where to buy it β†’

Chasing rainbow trout here? Check the size and bag limits with TWRA before you keep anything. The season dates for Tennessee, read off the agency, are on the Tennessee seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings.

No live gauge on this water

Conditions here are modeled from weather, season and the nearest stations. Water readings appear when a USGS gauge is available.

30405060JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~47 F now

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp76 F
High / Low77 / 37 F
WindNE 3-4 mph
Pressure1021.4 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset06:57 / 17:57
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~47 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Which day to fish Caney Fork River this week

The best day on Caney Fork River this week looks like Saturday Oct 24, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today.

Best day this week: Saturday, Oct 24 β€” good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Fair

A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Solunar majors
9:19 AM-11:19 AM and 9:47 PM-11:47 PM
Minor period
3:41 AM-4:41 AM
Sun
06:57 to 17:57
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Partly cloudy, 6 mph
Rain chance
0%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Caney Fork River: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Rainbow trout illustration

Rainbow trout

Spring and fall in most lakes; rivers fish year-round while the water stays cool

A cold-water trout native to Pacific drainages from Alaska to Baja California, now stocked in most states and fished in rivers, tailwaters and lakes. In cold water rainbows use the deepest pools in rivers (Vermont), so slow, deep drifts there are the usual approach; Michigan DNR notes lake rainbows are also taken with bait or by jigging through the ice.

Brown trout illustration

Brown trout

Spring along Great Lakes shorelines; low light and overcast days in rivers; fall spawning runs

A European trout first stocked in the US in 1883 and now fished in rivers and lakes nationwide; it tolerates warmer water than other trout, and mature stream fish feed mostly at night. Below 50Β°F, fish slowly through the deeper pools; in early spring on the Great Lakes, Michigan DNR notes browns are often caught inshore before other species start biting.

Brook trout illustration

Brook trout

Spring and fall in ponds and lakes, when fish come shallow; summer in the coldest headwater streams

The brook trout is a char native to eastern North America, a fish of cold, clean streams and ponds, and the state fish of Michigan. Below 50Β°F is the fall spawning band (40-50Β°F in Vermont), so stay off spawning gravel. In winter Maine IFW finds pond fish close to shore in 4 to 12 feet of water under the ice.

When to come: the Caney Fork River calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Rainbow trout
Brown trout
Brook trout
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 47 F (estimated, not a reading).

30405060JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~47 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Caney Fork River today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 77 F, wind to 8 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 78 F, wind to 6 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 77 F, wind to 7 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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Before you go

License

Tennessee requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

TWRA special rules, Center Hill Dam to the Cumberland River including tributaries: 5 trout a day in combination; rainbow, brook and cutthroat trout under a 14-20 inch protected length range, with only 1 over 20 inches kept; brown trout 1 a day with a 24-inch minimum. Fish with a valid Tennessee license.

Access

TWRA describes public access as excellent for bank, wade and boat fishing, and its forecast names the Stonewall access and Betty's Island. Check the generation schedule before wading.

About this water

26 miles of the Caney Fork from Center Hill Dam to the Cumberland River at South Carthage, Smith County, Tennessee; trout water in the upper 15 miles.

Fishing Caney Fork River: the full guide

A tailwater in Smith County

TWRA calls the Caney Fork below Center Hill Dam some of the best trout fishing in middle Tennessee. The river runs 26 miles from the dam, near Lancaster in Smith County, to the Cumberland River at South Carthage. Trout water extends about 15 miles, from the dam to the Stonewall access, and TWRA says the best year-round fishing is in the upper 9 miles.

Stocked, not self-sustaining

The water stays cold enough for trout all year, but TWRA reports no natural reproduction, so it stocks the river. Its tailwater list shows rainbow, brook, brown and cutthroat trout stocked from March through December. Many fish hold over, the river supports a good population of large brown trout, and it holds the Tennessee brook trout record.

The 2026 sampling report

TWRA's biologist reports that the dam's orifice came back online in June 2024, that summer and fall 2025 brought some of the worst oxygen and temperature conditions in years, and that overwinter abundance in early 2026 was about 30% below 2025. Large fish fared better: slot-sized rainbow trout tripled, brown trout over 16 inches rose nearly 20%, and the highest numbers were between the dam and Betty's Island.

Generation

When the generators at Center Hill Dam start, the river can rise several feet very quickly. TWRA tells waders to leave time to get out, to let the water drop after generation stops, and to check schedules on the TVA Center Hill page or the TVA Lake Info app.

Common questions

Where do I check generation?

TWRA points to the Tennessee Valley Authority's Center Hill page and the TVA Lake Info app. The river can rise several feet quickly once generators start.

How big are the brown trout?

TWRA's 2026 survey found a strong group of 16- to 20-inch brown trout and says browns here grow about 4 inches a year. Any brown under 24 inches must be released.

When is it stocked?

TWRA stocks the tailwater from March through December, and the river is open to fishing all year.

Is fishing good at Caney Fork River right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Nearby waters

Center Hill Lake18 miDale Hollow Lake37 miPercy Priest Lake39 miOld Hickory Lake45 miBarren River Lake56 miTims Ford Lake67 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 36.1300, -85.8300 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
Pages checked
The facts in the written guide were checked against these pages, from the agencies and operators that manage the water, on October 8, 2026. Anything we could not verify was taken out.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written text was drafted with AI assistance from the official pages listed above, and its facts were checked against those pages by automated verification on October 8, 2026; anything that could not be verified was taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.