The 5 Best Fish to Catch in Tennessee This Summer

Tennessee is home to dozens of popular lakes, rivers, creeks, ponds, and reservoirs. Each environment presents a new fishing opportunity. To help you narrow down your choices, we’ve put together this short fishing guide.

What are the best fish to catch in Tennessee this summer? Read on to find out!

1. Catfish

Do you have a favorite catfish species? Tennessee has a lot of choices, but one of the most popular is the channel catfish. Channel catfish are bottom dwellers who lead a carnivorous lifestyle. They also have highly sensitive barbells that look like whiskers. The barbells help them detect prey by tasting the water around them. These fish can live for 15 years and grow to be quite large! The record for the largest channel catfish ever caught belongs to a 58-pounder caught in South Carolina.

In Tennessee, you can find channel catfish in virtually every body of water. However, certain areas are known for being catfish hotspots. Reelfoot, Douglas, and Woods lakes are all great places to start your trip. You can also try your luck on the Tennessee River. Some of the best catfishing spots along the river include the Chickamauga Dam and Chester Frost Park. These are the type of spots that are famous for harboring gigantic catfish.

Make sure you bring enticing bait, high-quality tackles, and a lot of patience. Before you know it, you’ll be taking a victory photo with the biggest catfish you’ve ever caught!

2. Largemouth Bass

Go after one of the most widely distributed sports fish: the largemouth bass. It’s more than earned its name as one of the best fish to catch in Tennessee this summer. Largemouth bass are found in almost all U.S. states, and Tennessee is an excellent choice for summertime fishing.

Most famous for their large mouths, these fish can grow quite big. If you get lucky, you could catch one that weighs more than 20 pounds! However, 12 pounds tends to be the average.

Lucky for you, largemouth bass aren’t known for being smart. Unlike trout, catching these game fish is much easier, even if you’re a novice. However, you’ll have to know how they think and act if you want to be one step ahead.

Target the bass in submerged vegetation about 4 feet deep. For the best results, try night fishing too. You’ll escape the hot sun, and the bass will be actively feeding. Bring tempting bait like crawfish and minnows; bass love it. After all, they’re carnivorous fish. Any bait that mimics their natural prey will also entice them to bite.

3. Smallmouth Bass

Smallmouth bass are native to Canada. However, you can find them throughout Tennessee. Unlike largemouths, these fish have a short lower jaw, earning their “smallmouth” name. They’re adept swimmers and can go as fast as 65-98 cm/second. You’ll usually find them swimming around clear waters and by swift currents. If the lake has a rocky bottom, it’ll likely be a smallmouth bass haven.

The best bait includes jigs, jerk baits, topwater lures, and blade baits. Smallmouth bass are fond of crawdads and crayfish, and they’ll also go after insects. Creating a hard plastic lure can get you results too. But, if you’re fishing deep water, use jigs.

4. Rainbow Trout

Rainbow trout are named for their vibrant coloration. They can sport green, silver, yellow, and blue colors. They have two hearts: one to pump blood and one to help with deoxygenated blood. These fish are abundant in Tennessee, and they’re not going anywhere. Females can spawn thousands of eggs each season and always return to their birthplace to spawn.

Even though they’re native to the Pacific Ocean, rainbow trout have a wide distribution. You’ll find them in the cold-water streams and clear waters in Tennessee. Deep lakes are usually a great start. Plan on starting fishing just after sunrise and continuing until about 10 A.M. You can try again in the late afternoon. However, once it starts creeping into the evening, you should call it a day.

Bring bait like salmon eggs, grubs, and minnows for the most bites. There are a lot of different ways you can fish for rainbow trout. However, one of the easiest involves retrieving a fly. You could also try still fishing; it’s a foolproof method. Have a few techniques prepared; trout change what they’re doing momentarily.

5. Crappie

Another one of the best fish to catch in Tennessee this summer is crappies. These fish taste great, and they’re abundant throughout North America. Their name comes from a Canadian French word, “crapet.” The word references all of the different fish in the sunfish family. These energetic fish can swim fast and live an impressive 15 years. However, they reach maturity at 2-4 years of age.

When targeting crappie, focus on shallow bodies of water that are slightly turbid. If a lake or stream has fallen trees in it, there’s probably crappie nearby. You can try fishing at dawn and dusk for the best results. These fish like feeding in low light, so night fishing is another good option.

Most successful anglers either use a jig, a minnow, or both. One of the best methods involves using a spider rigging method (which can be done with minnows or jigs). You can also try chumming the waters to attract more fish. You’ll find larger crappie in the shallow water by shallow flats and main lake humps.

Summary of 5 Best Fish to Catch in Tennessee This Summer

Here are the five best fish to reel in while in the state of Tennessee:

The photo featured at the top of this post is © iStock.com/SteveOehlenschlager