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Tygart Lake Fishing Report

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

A 1,750-acre Corps of Engineers lake near Grafton whose bass, walleye and musky reproduce naturally, with stocked trout in the tailwater below the dam.

2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Flow
3,930 cfs
Air / High
63 / 64 F
Wind
NNE 2 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 03056000, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Tap a marker for today's tip
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.

Tygart Lake lines up a genuinely fishable day across the board. The release below the dam is running 3,930 cfs, falling. Today brings clear skies, wind NNE around 2 mph, rising pressure near 1025 hPa and a high of 64. Water sits around 74 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

MuskellungeExcellent

Main open-water season: cast or troll large bucktails, spoons and plugs along weed edges and other cover where muskies wait in ambush.

Largemouth bassGood

The main feeding season after the spawn: work moving baits along weed edges, points and wood, and follow up with a soft plastic where a fish swirls.

Catfish (blue, channel)Good

Spawning season from late May into summer: Iowa DNR suggests drifting bait under a float along riprap and snags where males guard nests in cavities.

Smallmouth bassGood

Post-spawn and summer feeding: cover rock, wood and current breaks with crankbaits, jigs and tubes, and use live crayfish, minnows or hellgrammites where bait is the plan.

WalleyeGood

Summer pattern: nightcrawlers and leeches on rigs or jigs near bottom, trolled crankbaits to find scattered fish, and the shallows after dark in clear lakes.

CrappieFair

Early in this band crappie are spawning in protected coves; afterward they move to docks, brush piles and standing timber near deeper water.

White bassFair

Summer and early fall schooling season over open water; follow the shad, and try live bait on the bottom at night.

Tomorrow: Similar at 63 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Before you go

West Virginia requires a fishing licence from age 15, from $24.00 for residents. What a West Virginia licence costs and where to buy it →

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

Water and weather

Live readings from Tygart Valley River at Tygart Dam near Grafton, WV (outflow).

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 03056000.

3,4058,52513,6443,930 cfs09/2310/0310/1310/23

Today’s flow against 66 years of October 23

At 3,930 cfs, the flow at USGS gauge 03056000 (Tygart Valley River at Tygart Dam near Grafton, WV (outflow)) is at the 94th percentile for the date: much above normal. In half of the 66 years of approved record the daily mean on October 23 was below 736 cfs; the highest was 11,400 cfs and the lowest 265 cfs.

p10 372median 736p90 2,975

Percentiles of the daily mean flow for this date, from the USGS Water Data Statistics API for gauge 03056000; today’s reading is the latest instantaneous value. Classes follow the ones the USGS used on its WaterWatch maps (retired at the end of 2025): below 10th, much below normal; 10th–24th, below; 25th–75th, normal; 76th–90th, above; over 90th, much above.

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp63 F
High / Low64 / 35 F
WindNNE 2-5 mph
Pressure1025.0 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain8% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:38 / 18:29
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (gauge)61 F USGS
Water temp (seasonal)~74 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 Tygart Lake this week

The best day on Tygart Lake this week looks like Saturday Oct 24, at 4 out of 5, against 2 today.

Best day this week: Saturday, Oct 24 — good at 4/5, steady pressure, neither help nor hindrance.

Today, Oct 23 — 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
07:38 to 18:29
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Partly cloudy, 5 mph
Rain chance
0%

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

Species guide

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

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. The main feeding season after the spawn: work moving baits along weed edges, points and wood, and follow up with a soft plastic where a fish swirls.

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. Early in this band crappie are spawning in protected coves; afterward they move to docks, brush piles and standing timber near deeper water.

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. Spawning season from late May into summer: Iowa DNR suggests drifting bait under a float along riprap and snags where males guard nests in cavities.

White bass illustration

White bass

Best: the spring run up the tributaries, then summer surface schools

A silvery temperate bass of rivers and large reservoirs, also called sand bass, that schools in open water after shad and runs up tributaries to spawn in early spring. Summer and early fall schooling season over open water; follow the shad, and try live bait on the bottom at night.

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. Post-spawn and summer feeding: cover rock, wood and current breaks with crankbaits, jigs and tubes, and use live crayfish, minnows or hellgrammites where bait is the plan.

Walleye illustration

Walleye

Best: spring and late fall, around dawn, dusk and night

A cool-water perch of large lakes, reservoirs and rivers whose reflective eyes are built for low light, so it feeds most at night and in murky water. The Missouri Department of Conservation ranks it among the continent's most important freshwater game fish. Summer pattern: nightcrawlers and leeches on rigs or jigs near bottom, trolled crankbaits to find scattered fish, and the shallows after dark in clear lakes.

Muskellunge illustration

Muskellunge

Fished from late spring into late fall where seasons allow

Muskellunge are solitary, fish-eating ambush predators of the pike family, holding in weed beds and other cover in lakes and rivers of the Great Lakes, upper Mississippi and Ohio basins. Main open-water season: cast or troll large bucktails, spoons and plugs along weed edges and other cover where muskies wait in ambush.

When to come: the Tygart Lake 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
Largemouth bass
Crappie
Catfish (blue, channel)
White bass
Smallmouth bass
Walleye
Muskellunge
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 74 F (estimated, not a reading).

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~74 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 Tygart Lake today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Largemouth bass led the card at excellent. High of 63 F, wind to 6 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Muskellunge led the card at excellent. High of 66 F, wind to 4 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Muskellunge led the card at excellent. High of 66 F, wind to 6 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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Before you go

License

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

Regulations

West Virginia fishing license for anglers 15 and older, plus a trout stamp to fish for trout (WVDNR). See the current WVDNR fishing regulations for bass, walleye and musky limits.

Access

WVDNR access sites: Pleasant Creek WMA ramp, state park Ramps 1 and 2, Cove Run carry-down, and the Tygart Dam tailwater ramp in Grafton City Park; Tygart Lake Marina ramps are open to the public.

About this water

A 1,750-acre, 10-mile-long Corps of Engineers reservoir on the Tygart Valley River near Grafton, Taylor and Barbour counties, West Virginia; dam built 1938.

Fishing Tygart Lake: the full guide

The lake and its fish

Tygart Lake stretches about 10 miles behind Tygart Dam, which the Corps of Engineers built in 1938 two miles south of Grafton in Taylor and Barbour counties. West Virginia State Parks gives the lake 1,750 acres. The WVDNR says it reaches depths of 130 feet and lists bluegill, channel and flathead catfish, crappie, largemouth and smallmouth bass, muskellunge, white bass and walleye. The state park adds that the lake's fish are sustained by natural reproduction rather than stocking.

Habitat structures

The WVDNR has built fish habitat enhancement structures at several places in the lake to give fish cover for spawning and feeding. Buoys mark them on the water, and their locations also appear on the agency's online fishing map, which makes them a sensible first stop on an unfamiliar lake.

The tailwater below the dam

Below Tygart Dam the WVDNR stocks trout once a month from February through May and again in October. The agency names walleye as the main target from December to May, when fish move through the dam, smallmouth bass in summer, and musky as a regular quarry. A concrete ramp just downstream of the dam in Grafton City Park serves this water, and the WVDNR describes a 7.3-mile float from the tailwater to Camp Towles.

Grafton-area logistics

Tygart Lake State Park lies four miles south of Grafton with a lodge, cabins and a 36-site campground open from mid-April through October 31, weather permitting. Its marina rents fishing boats and slips, and the marina ramps and parking are open to the public. Federal rules at Tygart require everyone aboard any vessel, kayaks and paddleboards included, to wear a life jacket.

Common questions

Is Tygart Lake stocked?

The state park says the lake's fish reproduce naturally. The WVDNR stocks trout in the tailwater below the dam monthly from February through May and in October.

How deep is Tygart Lake?

The WVDNR gives depths of up to 130 feet.

Where can I launch?

The WVDNR lists concrete ramps at Pleasant Creek WMA, two at the state park and one below the dam in Grafton City Park, plus carry-down access at Cove Run.

Is fishing good at Tygart Lake 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

Tygart Valley River20 miCheat Lake29 miStonewall Jackson Lake34 miDeep Creek Lake41 miYoughiogheny River48 miSavage River50 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 03056000 — Tygart Valley River at Tygart Dam near Grafton, WV (outflow)
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 17:15 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 39.3000, -80.0300 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.