Share your catch
US

Lake Moomaw Fishing Report

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

A 2,530-acre lake behind Gathright Dam with 43 miles of undeveloped shoreline, where Virginia stocks brown and McConaughy rainbow trout fingerlings every year.

2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Water temp
~62 F est.
Air / High
65 / 66 F
Wind
NE 3 mph

Sources: 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.

Lake Moomaw rewards those who follow the bait as the water cools. Today brings clear skies, wind NE around 3 mph, rising pressure near 1024 hPa and a high of 66. Water sits around 62 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:54 AM-11:54 AM and 10:23 PM-12:23 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Rainbow troutExcellent

This band overlaps Vermont's 54-66Β°F stream preference: fish feed across riffles, runs and pocket water, and in lakes WDFW says spring and fall bring them near the surface.

Brown troutExcellent

Close to Vermont's 53-66Β°F optimum, browns feed more freely; in fall, pre-spawn fish move toward tributaries and gravel, so fish streamers and keep off the redds.

Smallmouth bassGood

Spring pre-spawn and fall: Iowa DNR notes the larger bass come up to shallow structure, where a shallow-running minnow bait or a spinnerbait just under the surface works.

Largemouth bassGood

In spring, pre-spawn bass push shallow as the water climbs through the mid-50s; in fall they feed actively until the water cools into the low 50s, then drop back toward deeper structure.

Catfish (blue, channel)Good

In spring after ice-out, Iowa finds channel cats feeding on winter-killed shad on the shallow, warmer mudflats at the upper ends of reservoirs; cut bait on the bottom works there.

Yellow perchGood

Spring and fall: perch hold shallower and, by Michigan DNR's account, feed through the day, so shoreline weed edges, flats and the shallows near spawning areas are worth searching.

CrappieFair

Pre-spawn fish move toward shallow coves, and Iowa DNR points to wading as an effective way to reach them in spring; minnows or small jigs under a float.

Tomorrow: Cooler at 60 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

Virginia requires a fishing licence from age 16, from $23.00 for residents. What a Virginia licence costs and where to buy it β†’

Chasing smallmouth bass here? Check the size and bag limits with DWR before you keep anything. The season dates for Virginia, read off the agency, are on the Virginia seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings.

No live gauge on this water

Conditions here are modeled from weather, season and the nearest stations. Water readings appear when a USGS gauge is available.

4050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~62 F now

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp65 F
High / Low66 / 38 F
WindNE 3-4 mph
Pressure1023.7 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain5% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:36 / 18:31
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~62 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 Lake Moomaw this week

The best day on Lake Moomaw this week looks like Saturday Oct 24, at 3 out of 5, against 2 today.

Best day this week: Saturday, Oct 24 β€” fair at 3/5, steady pressure, neither help nor hindrance.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Tough

Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Solunar majors
9:54 AM-11:54 AM and 10:23 PM-12:23 AM
Minor period
4:16 AM-5:16 AM
Sun
07:36 to 18:31
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Clear, 7 mph
Rain chance
0%

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

Species guide

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

Smallmouth bass illustration

Smallmouth bass

Best: spring and fall, when bigger fish come shallow

A bronze-brown black bass of clear, cool streams and rocky lakes, with dark vertical bars instead of a side stripe. Michigan DNR says its southeastern coast, from Port Huron to Lake Erie, is known nationally for both the size and the number of its smallmouth. Spring pre-spawn and fall: Iowa DNR notes the larger bass come up to shallow structure, where a shallow-running minnow bait or a spinnerbait just under the surface works.

Largemouth bass illustration

Largemouth bass

Best: the spring pre-spawn and the fall feed

A warm-water sunfish of lakes, reservoirs, ponds and slow river backwaters that holds tight to cover: weeds, logs, rock ledges and docks. In Texas, TPWD surveys rank it "by far" the freshwater fish anglers most want to catch. In spring, pre-spawn bass push shallow as the water climbs through the mid-50s; in fall they feed actively until the water cools into the low 50s, then drop back toward deeper structure.

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. This band overlaps Vermont's 54-66Β°F stream preference: fish feed across riffles, runs and pocket water, and in lakes WDFW says spring and fall bring them near the surface.

Catfish (blue, channel) illustration

Catfish (blue, channel)

Year-round, best at dusk and after dark

Three big catfish share most of the country's rivers and reservoirs: the channel catfish, the most widespread; the blue catfish, the largest; and the flathead, which hunts live fish. All feed mostly on or near the bottom. In spring after ice-out, Iowa finds channel cats feeding on winter-killed shad on the shallow, warmer mudflats at the upper ends of reservoirs; cut bait on the bottom works there.

Crappie illustration

Crappie

Best: the spring spawn; summer around docks, brush and the thermocline

Two slab-sided panfish, the white crappie and the black crappie, that gather around submerged timber, brush piles, docks and bridge pilings in lakes, reservoirs and slow river backwaters. Texas Parks and Wildlife counts crappie as the state's most popular panfish. Pre-spawn fish move toward shallow coves, and Iowa DNR points to wading as an effective way to reach them in spring; minnows or small jigs under a float.

Yellow perch illustration

Yellow perch

Caught all year, including under the ice through winter

Yellow perch are schooling panfish of the Great Lakes and northern lakes, and Michigan DNR calls them the game fish most often caught in that state. Spring and fall: perch hold shallower and, by Michigan DNR's account, feed through the day, so shoreline weed edges, flats and the shallows near spawning areas are worth searching.

Brown trout illustration

Brown trout

Spring along Great Lakes shorelines; low light and overcast days in rivers; fall spawning runs

A European trout first stocked in the US in 1883 and now fished in rivers and lakes nationwide; it tolerates warmer water than other trout, and mature stream fish feed mostly at night. Close to Vermont's 53-66Β°F optimum, browns feed more freely; in fall, pre-spawn fish move toward tributaries and gravel, so fish streamers and keep off the redds.

When to come: the Lake Moomaw 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
Smallmouth bass
Largemouth bass
Rainbow trout
Catfish (blue, channel)
Crappie
Yellow perch
Brown trout
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 62 F (estimated, not a reading).

4050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~62 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 Lake Moomaw 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 70 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 70 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 72 F, wind to 7 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

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

Regulations

Virginia fishing license. DWR's Lake Moomaw page lists two trout a day with a 16-inch minimum and no trout license or National Forest stamp required on the lake; five black bass, 10 yellow perch, 25 crappie, 25 rock bass, 50 sunfish, 20 of each catfish species and 5 chain pickerel a day. The Jackson River tailwater has its own trout slot and limit (DWR). Check the current DWR regulations before you go.

Access

Boat ramps at Bolar Flats, Fortney Branch and Coles Mountain (DWR). Below the dam, DWR lists public access to 18 miles of legally navigable water down to Covington, including sites at Gathright Dam, Johnson Springs, Smith Bridge and Indian Draft.

About this water

A 2,530-acre Army Corps of Engineers reservoir on the Jackson River behind Gathright Dam, in Bath and Alleghany counties, Virginia.

Fishing Lake Moomaw: the full guide

The lake

Virginia DWR describes Lake Moomaw as a lake in a canyon once called Kincaid Gorge, in the Alleghany Highlands, formed where Gathright Dam backs up the Jackson River for more than 12 miles. It covers 2,530 surface acres, reaches 152 feet at its deepest and has 43 miles of undeveloped, wooded shoreline. The Army Corps of Engineers runs the dam, and DWR and the US Forest Service manage the fishery and the land around it.

Trout

DWR stocks about 35,000 McConaughy rainbow and 35,000 brown trout fingerlings in the lake each year. Its Lake Moomaw page sets a limit of two trout a day with a 16-inch minimum and says that neither a trout license nor a National Forest stamp is needed to fish the lake.

Bass, perch and the rest

DWR's species list adds smallmouth and largemouth bass, channel catfish, yellow bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, redear sunfish, pumpkinseed, rock bass, redbreast sunfish, yellow perch, chain pickerel and alewives. The lake produced Virginia's state-record yellow perch, 2 lb 7 oz, in 1999.

The Jackson River below Gathright Dam

DWR says the tailwater holds wild rainbow and brown trout, smallmouth bass, rock bass and redbreast sunfish. Rainbows from 12 to 16 inches and browns under 20 inches must be released, and the limit is four trout a day with only one brown; there are no gear restrictions from the dam to the water treatment plant in Covington, and a three-mile special-regulation reach lies above the Muddy Run swinging bridge. Riverfront landowners have won civil trespass claims against anglers on two portions of the river that DWR marks on its map, so check it before wading.

Common questions

Do I need a trout license for Lake Moomaw?

No. DWR says neither a trout license nor a National Forest stamp is required on the lake; the limit is two trout a day, 16 inches minimum.

What trout are stocked?

About 35,000 McConaughy rainbow and 35,000 brown trout fingerlings a year (DWR).

What is the Jackson River access issue?

DWR marks two portions of the tailwater where riverfront landowners have won civil trespass claims against anglers. The rest of the 18 miles to Covington is legally navigable water with public access sites.

Is fishing good at Lake Moomaw 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

Jackson River1 miCranberry River33 miGreenbrier River41 miWilliams River42 miSummersville Lake55 miBluestone Lake56 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 37.9300, -79.9500 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.