Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency

 

Every year on the second Saturday in June (except it is on June 7, 2008!), the TWRA allows all residents and non-residents to fish without a license. Children that are 13 to 15 years of age may fish without a license for the entire week starting on Free Fishing Day and continuing through the following Friday. Children younger than 13 may fish without a license at any time of the year. The TWRA sponsors many Kids Free Fishing Day events and stocks thousand of pounds of catfish to help make the events quality experiences for young anglers.

Link to some State-wide, Kids Fishing Events with details

Below is a listing of the 2008, East Tennessee, Kids Fishing Events. Contact Region IV's Information and Education Coordinator, Allen Ricks, for more information: (423) 522-2449. Those with a 2008 date may again be available in 2009, but have not been finalized.

 

Town/City	Location	Date	Time	# Kids
Alcoa	Alcoa Duck Pond (Springbrook Park Rd)	6/07/2008	8:00am	250
Bean Station	Cherokee Lake 25E fishing pier	6/07/2008	9:00am	30
Bristol	Observation Knob/South Holston Lake	9/06/2008	7:00am	300
Bristol	Steele Creek Park Nature Center	6/14/2008	10:00am	75
Bristol	Lakeview Boat Dock/South Holston Lake	6/14/2008	10:00am	80
Clinton	Eagle Bend Fish Hatchery	6/07/2008	8:00am	1000
Dandridge	Wild Pear Shores	6/07/2008	8:00am	200
Elizabethton	Covered Bridge Doe River	6/14/2008	10:00am	400
Erwin	Fishery Park	5/17/2008	9:00am	200
Greeneville	Dillard Place Cherokee National Forest	6/07/2008	10:00am	400
Hampton	Rat Branch Boat Ramp/Watauga Lake	6/09/2008	8:00am	100
Kingsport	Outdoorsman Club/MM 13 Hwy 11W	5/10/2008	7:30am	125
Kingsport	Warriors Path Park/Patrick Henry Lake	7/12/2008	8:00am	200
Kingsport	Warriors Path Park/Duck Island	7/26/2008	8:00am	100
Kingsport	Cherokee Rod & Gun Club Pond	6/14/2008	8:00am	100
Knoxville	Concord Park - Fort Loudoun Lake	6/07/2008	8:00am	800
Madisonville	Kefauver Park	6/14/2008	7:00am	500+
Mountain City	Ralph Stout Park	6/07/2008	9:00am	100
Norris	Millers Island Parking Lot	6/07/2008	10:00am	?
Tellico Plains	Tellico River - Fish Hatchery	6/07/2008	6:00am	100
Unicoi	Limestone Cove Recreation Area	5/31/2008	9:00am	150

 

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The Region IV Reservoir Fisheries Unit helped out again with the Alcoa Duck Pond Kid's Fishing Rodeo in 2008. Following is a brief summary of the event.

On Saturday, June 7, 2008, the TWRA, Blount Co. Parks and Recreation, and Wal-Mart put on a kid's fishing rodeo at the 7.5-acre Alcoa Duck Pond. More than 150 kids showed up to fish on a hot, muggy morning. The TWRA stocked aver 1,200-pounds of catfish to help improve the young anglers chances of catching fish. A special thanks goes out to the Tennessee Chapter of the American Fisheries Society for donating money to purchase door prizes and beef livers that were used for bait.