Fly Fishing the Hiwassee River. Dane Law

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      Hiwassee River (Southeast Tennessee)

       Location: The Hiwassee runs through the southeast corner of Tennessee next to Georgia and North Carolina, with Reliance, Tennessee, being the fly-fishing hub. The nearest town on some maps will be Cleveland, Tennessee. The river is 45 minutes from Chattanooga and about 2 hours from Atlanta and Nashville.

      This tailwater trout fishery begins at the north side of Unicoi Gap in Towns County, Georgia and drains 750,000 acres of the Chattahoochee National Forest before flowing into Lake Chatuge. Once the river leaves Georgia, it flows north into

      Hiwassee Lake in North Carolina. From this point, it flows east into Tennessee. In Reliance, below Appalachia Powerhouse, the Hiwassee River emerges as a high-mountain tailwater fishery. The icy cold water is not released from generators below the dam, but rather is piped from the base of the dam for 12 miles through the mountains through two huge tubes. This is where the 18-mile stretch locals call the “Big Hi” begins. Here, the waterway is classified as a state scenic river. It runs through the Cherokee National Forest, with virtually no development through the corridor. This wild and natural fly-fishing experience is easily accessible from many major cities in the southeast U.S.

      The fishery is predominantly rainbow and brown trout, with a few native warmwater species. The river is stocked with trout throughout the year, with good holdover. There is a minimum harvest allowed during spring and summer, with catch-and-release from October through February. There is also some natural reproduction in the mountain feeder streams. Some remote gravel bars of the

      upper river may contain fall brown trout spawning areas.