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Caney Fork River – Scouting Trip Report #1

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The Caney Fork River at Scott's Gulf

The Caney Fork River is a tailwater (a river flowing from a dam) that begins at the Center Hill Dam close to Lancaster, TN, and flows down to just outside Gordonsville, TN.  The river map below is from Canoe the Caney at http://www.canoethecaney.com/the-river/river-map.html.

This is about an hour outside Nashville, TN off I-40. There are several boat launches and walk-in access points. The first access outside Nashville (travelling East on I-40) is at the Rest Area off I-40. There is a parking area dedicated to anglers at that rest area.

You can get a feel (and see some photos) for what catches fish on the Caney on this blog, or this one, or this one. As you’ll see from these reports, the Caney is normally “gin clear.” I’m not sure where this started, but several web pages use the phrase. Bottom line is that the Caney is clear, and the fly fishing is supposedly technical.

This and the next few posts will cover my scouting trip up to the Caney (we’re in Memphis, South of it) on Saturday, July 15, 2017. I’ll summarize: The Caney was neither clear nor wadeable. There were plenty of floaters, canoes, and kayaks on the water. The water was running deep and fast, and water through the dam was churning up a froth in the spillway.

The generation schedule recording said clearly that Center Hill generation will be supplemented by sluice gate releases. It would be this way “until further notice.” I’ll post more information in later entries. Before you plan a trip, be sure to check the generation schedule. to do this, call 1-800-238-2264 and select 4 – 37 – #.

A map of the Caney Fork River from www.canoethecaney.com.

A river map courtesy of http://www.canoethecaney.com/the-river/river-map.html.

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