Clinton

The county ramp on the east side of the Hwy 61 bridge, opposite Eagle Bend Hatchery, and the bank-and-wade site TWRA recorded under construction in 2008. The bridge is where TWRA's trout rule stops.

THE CLINTON CORRIDOR Schematic river line · TWRA GIS coordinates (2008 records)

Clinch River Tailwater Clinton corridor: the Hwy 61 Bridge county ramp and Lewellyn Island Access on a schematic river line; Lewellyn Island drawn beside the line because its position relative to the bridge is status pending

Three things to get right

What you hear	What TWRA actually says
“The trout rule runs on past Clinton.”	It ends at this bridge. TWRA: “Clinch River: Norris Dam downstream to Hwy. 61 bridge, including tributaries.”
“Lewellyn Island is a ramp.”	No ramp, and a 2008 record. Owner and manager “Private Land”; comment: “This site is currently under construction. Should be completed in 2009. Bank and wade fishing only.” Open today, and above or below the bridge: status pending.
“There's a city ramp in town.”	Not on TWRA's layer. Third-party pages name city park launches in Clinton; no agency page we read does. Not printed here. The Hwy 61 Bridge ramp is county-owned and county-managed.

TWRA's own access records, verbatim

Hwy 61 Bridge comment field: “Lauch located on east side of bridge opposite Eagle Bend Hatchery” (sic). Directions: “I-75 to SR 61.” Lewellyn Island Access directions: “Public Safety Lane off Hwy 61 in Clinton.” Both collected in 2008; fee 0 on both.

Generation sets this river

TVA: “Water release schedules shift with weather and power demand. Large amounts of water can be released at any time.” TWRA: “Use caution below dams. Call TVA at 1-800-238-2264 to check dam discharge and generation schedules.” No page we read gives the travel time from Norris Dam to Clinton; TVA's schedule, written in generators, and its observed outflow are the release information published.

LIMESTONE DRIFT

CLINCH RIVER TAILWATER Access & limits

Clinton access sites (TWRA GIS, read 17 Oct 2026; 2008 records)

Site	Launch	Notes
Hwy 61 Bridge 36.12355, −84.11375 · County	Concrete, 1 lane, to 17 ft	Paved, under 25 spaces, trailer spaces 5–10, fee 0, no restroom, no handicap parking flag, motorized flag set. East side of the bridge opposite Eagle Bend Hatchery (TWRA comment). Collected 03-Dec-08.
Lewellyn Island Access 36.12759, −84.12545 · Private Land	None — bank, wade	Paved, over 25 spaces, fee 0, handicap parking flag set, sunrise-to-sunset flag set. “Under construction” in the 16-May-08 record; status today pending.
Upstream, for reference	—	Peach Orchard (TWRA ramp, 36.19088, −84.11958): card 23-2. The dam-reach sites: card 23-1.

Trout: this water's own rule (TWRA, read 17 Oct 2026)

Water	Daily	Size
Clinch River, Norris Dam to Hwy. 61 bridge, incl. tributaries — all trout	7	14–20 in PLR; only 1 over 20 in
Statewide default (for comparison)	7 any combination	None; 2 lake trout max
Clear Creek, Hwy. 441 up to the second dam	Closed Nov. 1–Mar. 31 to all fishing; bait harvest and bait-harvest gear prohibited

PLR is TWRA's abbreviation for protected length range: a trout inside the range goes back (our gloss; the guide PDF's definition was not readable). No bait or tackle restriction is listed for the Clinch River on TWRA's trout regulations page. Species stocked: brook, brown, rainbow, March through August (TWRA).

Everything else — black bass, walleye and the rest fall under Tennessee's statewide table in the 2026–27 guide, which we could not read this run: status pending. A Tennessee licence with trout privilege is required; no price is printed here.

Flow: TVA Norris Lake Levels page (observed headwater, tailwater, outflow; the release schedule in generators; next-day schedule usually by 6 p.m.) or 1-800-238-2264. No live USGS gauge on the reach; the Clinton-area USGS sites hold only 1970s samples. Hatchery: “Eagle Bend Hatchery” is named only in TWRA's bridge record; nothing else about it was read.

Sources: TVA (Norris Lake Levels, Norris hydroelectric and Hazardous Waters pages), TWRA (Tennessee Statewide Trout Regulations page; Boating & Fishing Access Sites GIS layer, read 17 Oct 2026; tailwater trout page), USGS NWIS 03533000 and 03534612.
Conditions change. Check TVA's schedule or call 1-800-238-2264 before you go. Built October 2026.

limestonedrift.comAlerts and the water page

Water alerts. We email when the release pattern, the access or the regs on this tailwater actually change. limestonedrift.com/alerts/?w=clinch-river-tailwater