The Clinch River originates in southwestern Virginia and enters Tennessee in Hancock County. Norris Dam impounds the Clinch River 122 miles downstream in Anderson County, forming 34,213-acre Norris Reservoir. Rainbow trout were stocked in the tailwater shortly after completion of the dam in 1936 and subsequently the Tennessee Game and Fish Commission (later TWRA) began stocking trout in 1950 managing the river as a year-round fishery. TVA addressed chronic low dissolved oxygen (DO) levels and a lack of minimum flow by replacing both turbines with a more efficient auto-venting system installing a re-regulation weir about 2 miles downstream of the dam.
The Norris tailwater currently supports an excellent 12.5-mile fishery for rainbow and brown trout before entering Melton Hill Reservoir. It is particularly renowned for the large trout it produces, including the current state record brown trout (28 lbs., 12 oz.). Put-and-take and put-and-grow management is accomplished by annually stocking both adult and fingerling trout. There is a small amount of natural reproduction in the tailwater and by rainbow trout in a tributary (Clear Creek), but recruitment to the fishery is minimal. TWRA’s current management goal for the Norris tailwater is to enhance the quality of trout angling opportunities available to the variety of anglers who fish there. Accordingly, TWRA’s management plan for this fishery features increased stocking rates for rainbow and brown trout fingerlings, along with several other actions intended to ultimately fulfill the management goal for this extremely valuable trout fishery. The prescribed annual stocking rates are 296,000 rainbow trout (260,000 fingerlings) and 120,000 brown trout. Beginning March 1 2008, trout regulations were changed. The new regulations are as follows:
14-20 inch protected length range (PLR) or “slot limit” for all trout. The daily creel limit will remain at 7 fish, one of which may exceed 20 inches. This regulation applies to the tailwater from Norris Dam downstream to the Highway 61 Bridge (including tributaries). There are no gear or bait restrictions.
