Tennessee fishing rules

Legal gear

• Hooks and barbless rules

  Unless a proclamation says otherwise, an angler is limited to 3 hooks per rod, pole, or hand-held line. A single, double, or treble hook each counts as one hook. That cap does not apply to a sabiki rig, also called a piscatore rig, used for shad or herring. The statewide page does not set a general barbless-hook rule. Some waters, including the East Fork of the Obey walleye run from January 1 through April 15, restrict anglers to one single-barb hook or a single-hook lure.

• Rods per angler

  Unless the guide or a proclamation says otherwise, there is no limit on the number of poles an angler may fish at one time. A pole or rod limit means the number of lines that are baited or in the water at once. Sport anglers may also use trotlines totaling no more than 100 hooks, up to 25 limblines with one hook each, and up to 50 jugs or blocks with one hook each. Those devices must be marked and run at least once every 24 hours.

• Nets

  The statewide creel page allows a sport angler one slat basket, tagged for $10 a year, for nongame fish and catfish only, checked at least every 72 hours. Seines and cast nets are closed on some proclaimed waters, including parts of trout streams where possession of seines, cast nets, and minnow or crayfish traps is prohibited. Minnow-seine mesh sizes are in the live-bait section of the TWRA guide. Game fish taken on a trotline still count toward the local creel.

• Snagging

  Snagging is defined as taking fish by manipulating or jerking hooks so they impale the fish. Grabbling, gigging, grab hooks, snagging, archery, crossbow, and speargun are open year-round except where fishing is closed, within 100 yards below dams, and on the waters and dates listed on the statewide page. Nongame fish may be taken with no limit by those methods. Game fish, sturgeon, and alligator gar may not. Catfish, paddlefish, and skipjack follow the local limits. Several tailwaters and reservoir arms are closed to snagging for named date ranges, including parts of Cherokee, Watts Bar, and the South Holston tailwater.

• Spearing and bow

  Gigging is taking fish with a handheld pole or spear. A spear gun propels a spear through the water. Those methods, along with archery and crossbow, follow the same year-round season and the same closures as snagging. Game fish, sturgeon, and alligator gar may not be taken that way. Gigging is closed on the East Fork of the Obey River and its tributaries from January 1 through April 30. Shooting fish or turtles with a firearm or air gun is prohibited.

• Bait and live transport

  Live fish, crayfish, or salamanders may not be intentionally released or stocked into Tennessee waters away from the water where they were harvested. It is unlawful to possess or transport live silver carp, bighead carp, black carp, blueback herring, marbled crayfish, New Zealand mudsnails, round goby, rudd, ruffe, snakeheads, swamp eels, or zebra mussels. Which minnows may be sold or moved is in the bait-species section of the TWRA guide. A county-of-residence fishing license, $10, allows natural bait other than minnows, and no artificial lures, only in the angler's county of residence.

Bag and size limits

These are the statewide or default limits. A named lake, river, or marine area can replace every figure below.

• Black bass

  No more than 5 black bass a day in any combination. The group includes largemouth, smallmouth, spotted, Alabama, and Coosa bass. There is no statewide minimum length. Many reservoirs use a protected length range instead. The possession limit is twice the daily creel, and an angler may not have more than one daily creel while afield. A fish altered so species or length cannot be told is unlawful while afield.

• Crappie, sunfish, and white bass

  Crappie, all species combined, are 15 a day with a 10-inch minimum, except Region 1, where the creel is 30 and there is no minimum unless a water is listed otherwise. Rock bass, or redeye and shadow bass, are 20 a day with no minimum. White bass are 15 with no minimum. Redear sunfish are 20 with no minimum. Yellow bass, bluegill, warmouth, bream, bullheads, pickerel, northern pike, yellow perch, and nongame species have no statewide creel and no minimum.

• Striped bass, walleye, sauger, muskellunge, and trout

  Striped bass or hybrid striped bass, any combination, are 2 a day with a 15-inch minimum. Walleye are 5 a day with a 16-inch minimum. Sauger or sauger-walleye hybrids are 10 a day with a 15-inch minimum. Muskellunge is 1 a day with a 36-inch minimum. Trout of all species combined are 7 a day with no statewide minimum, and only 2 of those 7 may be lake trout. Named trout streams often use a lower creel. Those exceptions are in the trout section of the TWRA guide.

• Catfish, gar, sturgeon, and paddlefish

  Only one catfish over 34 inches may be harvested per day. There is no harvest limit on catfish under 34 inches. Alligator gar and shovelnose sturgeon may not be harvested and must be returned immediately. Paddlefish may be harvested from April 24 through May 31, 2 a day, no size limit, and culling is prohibited, with exceptions on Center Hill, Cherokee, and Watts Bar. Skipjack herring are 100 a day.

Sources

• TWRA Tennessee fishing guide and regulations
• TWRA statewide creel and length limits
• TWRA license structure and fees
• TWRA fishing in Tennessee, including free fishing day
• TWRA frequently asked questions on who needs a license