What beautiful waters we have to play on in Knoxville! Our area’s access to our backyard rivers, with the Holston and French Broad rivers coming together to form the Tennessee River that flows right past downtown, produces fishing that’s impressing anglers from all around the country. This weekend, anglers will storm the Tennessee, French Broad and Holston rivers for the sixth annual Three Rivers Carp Cup. This lively tournament calls all fly fishermen competing for titles like “Carp King” and a year’s worth of bragging rights for biggest smallmouth and weirdest catch.
Spots are still available to register for this year’s Carp Cup. Festivities will kick-off with a meet and greet on Friday night at the Outdoor Knoxville Adventure Center with a film showing from the Orvis “Down the Hatch” film fest. Saturday, anglers hit the water bright and early and spend the day fishing, capturing their notable catches on film and then compare their trophies with a final weigh-in and awards ceremony at the Outdoor Knoxville Adventure Center.
During the tournament, all water from either Douglas Dam on the French Broad River or Cherokee Dam on the Holston River and the confluence with the Tennessee River is open to be contestants.
The French Broad River, a beautiful river beginning west of the Eastern Continental Divide, flows northwest through the Appalachian Mountains. Around the Knoxville area, the river tames and offers fantastic views of rising hills and scenic farmland, broken by occasional islands and shoals.
The Holston River below Cherokee Dam is the longest and possibly most scenic tailwater in the Tennessee Valley and one of Tennessee’s premier fly fishing destinations. From Cherokee Dam, the river flows 52 miles to Knoxville, where it joins the French Broad River.
The Tennessee River is a 652-mile long major waterway, eventually joining the Ohio River in Kentucky. The river is very accessible to anglers around Knoxville and you have the unique chance to view downtown Knoxville as you paddle alongside the abundant wild life such as river otters and beavers.
Find out more info on the Carp Cup here. For more information about fishing and other water sports in Knoxville, visit OutdoorKnoxville.com