Nothing live is published for this water, so there is no reading or verdict today. The readings section below says what we checked.
Paint Creek is a freestone river in Tennessee, listed as Wild Trout Water by Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (official Tennessee Fishing Guide, eRegulations edition).
2 guides and 1 shop nearby are listed here.
Paint Creek is a freestone river in Tennessee. The nearest destination hub is across the state line: the Asheville & Western North Carolina hub (North Carolina) is 30 mi away in a straight line but 41 by road, much of it on back roads. Tennessee has 2 waters named Paint Creek in the USGS Geographic Names Information System; this page is the stream whose mouth is in Greene County, the one the agency list names.
No real-time gauge on this water. We found no active USGS gauge on Paint Creek or on its stream system within about 25 miles, and no dam operator publishes data for it. A missing gauge says nothing about the water itself. Find the gauges nearest Paint Creek
Start from the agency's public access map. Nothing on this page grants or implies access: check the agency map, posted signs and landowner permission before you fish.
Nothing on this page grants or implies access.
Shops and guides within 40 miles
Map of Paint Creek: gauges, shops and guides
Map of Paint Creek, and shops and guides with an exact address within 40 miles.
Restrooms within 2 miles of Paint Creek in a straight line, nearest first, with what anglers found when they went. The map says a restroom is there, not whether it is clean or open today.
No restroom mapped within 2 mi yet — add one you know.
Campgrounds, fishing access sites and boat ramps often have one that isn't on the map yet.
Restroom locations and map details: © OpenStreetMap contributors, Open Database License, read Oct 24, 2026. Ratings, answers and photos are members' own; who shared them is never shown, and every photo is reviewed before it appears. Visits older than 18 months no longer count. Distances are straight-line miles, not driving. Nothing here grants access to private land. Community guidelines.
Wild Trout WaterRepresentative photo · not Rocky ForkThe Watauga River at Sycamore Shoals, Elizabethton, Tennessee. Photo: Jan Kronsell, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Rocky Fork.
Tennessee · about 14 mi
Special-regulation trout waterRepresentative photo · not Horse CreekSouth Holston Dam releasing into the South Holston River tailwater, near Bristol, Tennessee. Photo: Tennessee Valley Authority, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Not Horse Creek.
Tennessee · about 15 mi
Freestone riverFrench Broad River in North Carolina · not this reachThe French Broad River in Henderson County, North Carolina. Photo: Pollinator (English Wikipedia), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not this reach.
Tennessee · about 19 mi
Tailwater trout fisheryRepresentative photo · not Holston RiverThe West Prong of the Little Pigeon River at the Old Mill dam, Pigeon Forge. Photo: Brian Stansberry, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Holston River.
Special-regulation trout waterRepresentative photo · not Boone ReservoirLake Jocassee from a canoe, South Carolina. Photo: TimothyJ from Atlanta, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Boone Reservoir.
Tennessee · about 39 mi
Special-regulation trout waterRepresentative photo · not Fort Patrick Henry ReservoirLake Greenwood, South Carolina. Photo: JCMLuis, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Fort Patrick Henry Reservoir.
Tennessee · about 41 mi
Seasons, limits, special regulations and closures for each reach are on the agency pages below. Read them before you go.
Each comes from the agency's own published list; where the list names a reach it is quoted. A designation applies to the listed reach, not necessarily the whole water. Listed in the finder under trout.
On the Wild Trout Streams list (Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (official Tennessee Fishing Guide, eRegulations edition), read 2026-10-16). All waters with this designation
On the Delayed Harvest Areas list (Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (official Tennessee Fishing Guide, eRegulations edition), read 2026-10-16). All waters with this designation
Measured from the NHDPlus High Resolution (flowlines and waterbodies) (U.S. Geological Survey, read 2026-11-04) for this water’s own mapped feature. Rounded figures; they describe the channel, not today’s conditions.
Whole Paint Creek, not only this reach.
Listings marked Unclaimed are built from open map records and the business's own website: confirm licensing, rates, dates and hours directly.
White Pine, TN · 29 mi
Lake & stillwater · Beginners & lessons · South Holston & French Broad
Nearby
Johnson City, TN · 36 mi
Float trips · Wade trips · Watauga & South Holston
Nearby
What 2 nearby guide websites mention: what guides advertise, not a survey or a promise of what you will catch.
Named on 2 nearby guide websites
17 hatches charted for the region, not measured on this water. From North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.
Midges (all year) · Blue-winged olive (February to March, May, October to December) · Early black stonefly (February to March, October to December) · Blue Quill (March to April) · Quill Gordon (March to April) · Black caddis (April to May) · and 11 more on the chart
The Asheville & Western North Carolina hub (North Carolina) is 30 mi away in a straight line but 41 by road, much of it on back roads, so we don't call Paint Creek near it. The trip planner builds a trip around the water itself: the guides and shops listed within 40 miles of it, its gauges and its nearest towns and airports.
Nearest hub: Asheville & Western North Carolina, across the state line
A practical checklist for fly fishing small mountain trout streams: a short 3–4 weight rod, light line, a few buoyant dries and simple wet-wading gear, with estimated prices and where to buy.
7′6″–8′6″ rod, 3–4 weight, floating line · Brook, cutthroat, rainbow and brown trout
Open the checklistSeams, shelves and soft water, shown on real rivers.
Public YouTube videos from established channels, chosen by us to support this page. Not sponsored; the creators are not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear.
Not sponsored All videos on reading water
Indicator rigs, depth and detecting the take.
Public YouTube videos from established channels, chosen by us to support this page. Not sponsored; the creators are not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear.
Not sponsored All videos on nymphing
Trip stories anglers chose to share publicly and tagged with Paint Creek.
No stories from here yet.
Not a statement of access, fish presence or conditions.
A water page organises discovery. It does not assert public access, legal access, current fish presence, guide availability or fishing conditions.
Flows, gauge statistics and flood stages come from USGS and the National Weather Service when the page is shown. Regulations, stocking, species and season statements link to the agency that publishes them; this page copies only the species names and the quoted sentences. Guide and shop listings come from the Legendary directories. Position: a point on the mapped channel of “Paint Creek”, halfway along its length in Tennessee, from the USGS high-resolution hydrography (NHDPlus HR), read 4 Nov 2026. It marks the water, not a particular access or reach. Water type is our own classification.
Wild Trout WaterRepresentative photo · not Rocky ForkThe Watauga River at Sycamore Shoals, Elizabethton, Tennessee. Photo: Jan Kronsell, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Rocky Fork.
Tennessee · about 14 mi
Special-regulation trout waterRepresentative photo · not Horse CreekSouth Holston Dam releasing into the South Holston River tailwater, near Bristol, Tennessee. Photo: Tennessee Valley Authority, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Not Horse Creek.
Tennessee · about 15 mi
Freestone riverFrench Broad River in North Carolina · not this reachThe French Broad River in Henderson County, North Carolina. Photo: Pollinator (English Wikipedia), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not this reach.
Tailwater trout fisheryRepresentative photo · not Holston RiverThe West Prong of the Little Pigeon River at the Old Mill dam, Pigeon Forge. Photo: Brian Stansberry, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Holston River.
Special-regulation trout waterRepresentative photo · not Boone ReservoirLake Jocassee from a canoe, South Carolina. Photo: TimothyJ from Atlanta, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Boone Reservoir.
Tennessee · about 39 mi
Special-regulation trout waterRepresentative photo · not Fort Patrick Henry ReservoirLake Greenwood, South Carolina. Photo: JCMLuis, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Fort Patrick Henry Reservoir.
Tennessee · about 41 mi
Hot Springs, North Carolina
River cabins · 5.7 mi
