TROPHY TROUT
The Cumberland River is by far our greatest trophy water. As mentioned, it is home to three separate state-record trout catches. Additionally, anglers each year go there and catch the largest trout of their lives. It's truly a mecca for trout anglers.

At Cumberland, anglers can find most anything they desire. There are plenty of smaller fish to simply take home for the table. But Cumberland's real prize is its trophy potential for both rainbow and brown trout.

Regulations are in place that allow anglers to harvest smaller fish, but also to protect them and allow them to reach trophy size. Brown trout are governed by a 20-inch size limit, and only one fish longer than 20 inches may be kept per day.

As a result, there are some enormous browns in this river. The state record caught here in 2000 weighed a remarkable 21 pounds!

Rainbow trout are also protected. There is a 15- to 20-inch slot limit on rainbow trout and all fish caught within the slot must immediately be returned to the water. There is a five-fish daily limit on harvested rainbows, but only one may be longer than 20 inches.

Those who want only a few trout to eat may take home five fish that are shorter than 15 inches long. However, there is a possibility of landing a whopper rainbow, and perhaps even breaking the state record of 14 pounds, 6 ounces, which was caught at Cumberland in 1972.

The Cumberland River and tailwaters below the dam receive an astounding number of trout each year: around 161,000 rainbow trout are released there each year through monthly stockings from April to November. Another 30,000 browns are also stocked each year -- usually in a one-time stocking. However, in some years, additional brown trout have been stocked if the hatchery has too many fish.

Stockings are no longer announced for the Cumberland tailwaters. The river receives a tremendous amount of fishing pressure, and anglers would often be lined up and waiting for the stocking truck to arrive.

Additionally, there have actually been reports of people using illegal dip nets to acquire the newly stocked trout. Not announcing the stocking times allows these trout a better chance to spread out.

We have a brand-new location added to our trophy trout waters. Last year, Chimney Top Creek in Wolfe County was highlighted as water that may show signs of yielding trophy caliber fish at some point.