Best Tennessee Lakes for Fishing

20 Tennessee lakes meet our fishing bar — each has a cited public-access or conditions signal behind it. Top of the list: Dallas Lake in Meigs County. Ranked by public fishing access, stocking, and piers; surface acreage and live readings are shown where published.

Public fishing areas, stocking, and piers come from TWRA open data; surface acres from USGS NHD or cited research.

  1. 1

    Dallas Lake

    Meigs County, TN27,237 acres

    9 fishing piers

    See full conditions & things to do
  2. 2

    Kentucky Lake

    Decatur County, TN22,907 acres

    9 fishing piers

    See full conditions & things to do
  3. 3

    Old Hickory Lake

    Sumner County, TN22,500 acres

    8 fishing piers

    See full conditions & things to do
  4. 4

    Watts Bar Lake

    Roane County, TN33,441 acres

    7 fishing piers

    See full conditions & things to do
  5. 5

    Nickajack Lake

    Marion County, TN6,928 acres

    6 fishing piers

    See full conditions & things to do
  6. 6

    Tellico Lake

    Monroe County, TN15,159 acres

    3 fishing piers

    See full conditions & things to do
  7. 7

    Reelfoot Lake

    Lake County, TN15,000 acres

    3 fishing piers

    See full conditions & things to do
  8. 8

    J Percy Priest Reservoir

    Rutherford County, TN14,035 acres

    3 fishing piers

    See full conditions & things to do
  9. 9

    Dale Hollow Lake

    Clay County, TN25,511 acres

    2 fishing piers

    See full conditions & things to do
  10. 10

    Center Hill Lake

    DeKalb County, TN17,266 acres

    2 fishing piers

    See full conditions & things to do
  11. 11

    Fort Loudoun Lake

    Blount County, TN13,770 acres

    2 fishing piers

    See full conditions & things to do
  12. 12

    Douglas Lake

    Jefferson County, TN29,661 acres

    1 fishing pier

    See full conditions & things to do
  13. 13

    Cherokee Lake

    Hawkins County, TN29,436 acres

    1 fishing pier

    See full conditions & things to do
  14. 14

    Norris Lake

    Union County, TN23,595 acres

    1 fishing pier

    See full conditions & things to do
  15. 15

    Tims Ford Lake

    Franklin County, TN7,745 acres

    1 fishing pier

    See full conditions & things to do

More best-of lists for Tennessee lakes

Tennessee fishing — frequently asked

What is the best lake for fishing in Tennessee?

Dallas Lake in Meigs County tops the list — 9 fishing piers. 20 Tennessee lakes qualify for this list overall.

How is this Tennessee fishing list ranked?

Every lake on the list has a cited public-access or conditions signal — never an opinion. We rank by stocking program presence, species count, fishing-pier count, and number of public fishing areas — all from TWRA. LakeVibe doesn't invent rankings: a lake only appears here when the data already supports it.

Which Tennessee lakes are best for fishing?

Our top picks are Dallas Lake, Kentucky Lake, Old Hickory Lake, Watts Bar Lake. Tap any lake for its full conditions, things to do, and where to stay.