Tennessee creek is an awesome little fishery near Leadville CO that can provide a day of seclusion when the larger rivers are busy. The creek flows from Tennessee pass toward Leadville before eventually merging with the East fork of the Arkansas forming the true headwaters of the Arkansas river. This scenic river is reminiscent of the dream stream section of the South Platte River, just without the myriad of people to fend off for a spot to fish. Slow meandering oxbows create large holes, undercut banks, and flats that hold eager trout.

Don’t let the size of the river deter you, while your average catch consists of either browns in the 14″ range or brookies ranging from 8-12″; there are larger fish to give a nice surprise. I have seen and caught many fish in the 18-22″ range and have seen photographic evidence of much larger trout. Many of the holes on Tennessee creek are deeper than they appear and provide more than enough structure to hold large hungry brown trout. Typically a hopper/dropper rig drifted along the grassy cut-banks or a streamer stripped through the deep troughs will bring fish to the net.