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Caney Fork River. From Center Hill Dam near the community of Laurel Hill, the Caney Fork flows for 28 miles to the northwest, eventually emptying into the Cumberland River at the town of Carthage. Located about an hour's drive due east from Nashville, the Caney Fork is also the midstate area's most popular trout fishing destination. The Caney Fork River snakes through eastern middle Tennessee, offering pastoral floats with occasional rapids and excellent fishing. The Center Hill Dam impounds the river, with good trout fishing directly below the dam. At the tail end of the lake is Rock Island State Park, featuring a natural sand beach across from scenic high bluffs. Several waterfalls are in the park. It is, of course, the trout fishing that attracts most of the visitors to the Caney Fork below 18,220-acre Center Hill Lake. Each year the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Authority releases up to 125,000 brown and rainbow trout into the flow (usually 80 percent are rainbows).
The fish range from 4-inch fingerlings to catchable-sized adults. The TWRA uses boats to stock the Caney Fork along its entire length, unlike the procedure on most tailwaters, in which fish are simply dumped from bridges or other access points. For this reason, the entire 28 miles of water provide fairly dependable fishing. The Caney Fork is noted for producing quality trout as well as quantity. Rainbows of 2 to 3 pounds tend to be common, while fish of that species in the 6- to 10-pound range also occasionally turn up.
Some very good spots for Fly Fishing are Happy Hollow and Betty's Island. |
