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Watauga River Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

The TVA tailwater below Wilbur Dam at Elizabethton, stocked with rainbow trout from March through December and home to a Quality Trout Fishing Area.

2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Flow
339 cfs
Air / High
70 / 71 F
Wind
NW 4 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 03486000, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

2/5Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Watauga River is in its winter mode: slow, deep and deliberate. The river is running 339 cfs, dropping and clearing. Today brings clear skies, wind NW around 4 mph, rising pressure near 1022 hPa and a high of 71. Water sits around 47 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 10:04 AM-12:04 PM and 10:32 PM-12:32 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Rainbow troutExcellent

In cold water rainbows use the deepest pools in rivers (Vermont), so slow, deep drifts there are the usual approach; Michigan DNR notes lake rainbows are also taken with bait or by jigging through the ice.

Tomorrow: Similar at 70 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made β†’

Before you go

Tennessee requires a fishing licence from age 13, from $33.00 for residents. What a Tennessee licence costs and where to buy it β†’

Chasing rainbow trout here? Check the size and bag limits with TWRA before you keep anything. The season dates for Tennessee, read off the agency, are on the Tennessee seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings from Watauga River at Elizabethton.

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 03486000.

426587748339 cfs09/2310/0310/1310/23

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp70 F
High / Low71 / 37 F
WindNW 4-5 mph
Pressure1021.9 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:43 / 18:42
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~47 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunset

Which day to fish Watauga River this week

The best day on Watauga River this week looks like Tuesday Oct 27, at 4 out of 5, against 2 today.

Best day this week: Tuesday, Oct 27 β€” good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Tough

Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Solunar majors
10:04 AM-12:04 PM and 10:32 PM-12:32 AM
Minor period
4:25 AM-5:25 AM
Sun
07:43 to 18:42
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Overcast, 7 mph
Rain chance
0%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Watauga River: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Rainbow trout illustration

Rainbow trout

Spring and fall in most lakes; rivers fish year-round while the water stays cool

A cold-water trout native to Pacific drainages from Alaska to Baja California, now stocked in most states and fished in rivers, tailwaters and lakes. In cold water rainbows use the deepest pools in rivers (Vermont), so slow, deep drifts there are the usual approach; Michigan DNR notes lake rainbows are also taken with bait or by jigging through the ice.

When to come: the Watauga River calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Rainbow trout
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 47 F (estimated, not a reading).

30405060JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~47 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Watauga River today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 71 F, wind to 8 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 73 F, wind to 7 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 74 F, wind to 8 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
Only used if we need to ask you about your report. No mailing list, no spam.

Before you go

License

Tennessee requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Tennessee fishing license with trout privileges (a trout supplemental license or an all-species license). Quality Trout Fishing Area, Smallings Bridge to the CSX railroad bridges: 14-inch minimum, 2 trout per day, no bait. Rest of the tailwater: 7 trout statewide, no minimum (TWRA, updated Sept 15, 2026). Watauga arm of Boone Reservoir up to the 11E bridge: 16–22-inch PLR, 7 trout, 1 over 22 inches.

Access

Wilbur Dam tailwater, 774 Wilbur Dam Road, Elizabethton (TVA). Check TVA generation schedules (800-238-2264) before wading.

About this water

A TVA tailwater on the Watauga River from Wilbur Dam through Elizabethton to Boone Reservoir, Carter County, Tennessee.

Fishing Watauga River: the full guide

Wilbur Dam and the tailwater

Wilbur Dam, completed in 1912 and acquired by TVA in 1945, stands 76 feet high and 375 feet across the Watauga River, two river miles below Watauga Dam, at 774 Wilbur Dam Road in Elizabethton. TWRA stocks rainbow trout below it from March through December and lists it among the coldwater tailwaters where trout fishing can be good year-round.

The Quality Trout Fishing Area

From Smallings Bridge downstream to the CSX railroad bridges, TWRA sets a 14-inch minimum and a two-trout daily limit, prohibits using or possessing any bait, and makes it unlawful to possess a trout under 14 inches there. Elsewhere on the river the statewide limit of seven trout applies, with no minimum length.

Generation and safety

TWRA tells anglers to use caution below dams and to check discharge and generation schedules with TVA at 800-238-2264 before fishing. The USGS gauge on this page, 03486000 at Elizabethton, shows how releases change the flow downstream of the dam.

Where the tailwater ends

The river runs into Boone Reservoir, and Boone's trout rules extend up the Watauga arm to the Highway 11E bridge: a 16–22-inch protected length range on all trout and a seven-trout limit, only one longer than 22 inches.

Common questions

What are the rules in the Quality Trout Fishing Area?

Between Smallings Bridge and the CSX railroad bridges you may keep two trout a day, each at least 14 inches, and you may not use or carry any bait.

When is the Watauga stocked?

TWRA's schedule lists rainbow trout stocking below Wilbur Dam from March through December.

Is wading safe below Wilbur Dam?

Only with the generation schedule in hand: TWRA advises caution below all dams and points anglers to TVA's discharge information at 800-238-2264 before they step in.

Is fishing good at Watauga River right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Nearby waters

Watauga Lake6 miBoone Lake8 miSouth Holston Lake14 miLake Hickory60 miDouglas Lake69 miCherokee Lake70 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 03486000 β€” Watauga River at Elizabethton
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 18:00 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 36.3480, -82.2160 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
Pages checked
The facts in the written guide were checked against these pages, from the agencies and operators that manage the water, on October 5, 2026. Anything we could not verify was taken out.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written text was drafted with AI assistance from the official pages listed above, and its facts were checked against those pages by automated verification on October 5, 2026; anything that could not be verified was taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.