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Williams River Fishing Report

Updated Mon, Nov 9, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

A Monongahela trout stream: the Williams runs stocked and native trout through high country.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Flow
49 cfs
Air / High
42 / 54 F
Wind
W 7 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 03186500, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Monday
9
November 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.

3/5Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Williams River fishes cold and honest: earn your bites in the deep stuff. The river is running 49 cfs, dropping and clearing. Today brings clear skies, wind W around 7 mph, steady pressure near 1016 hPa and a high of 54. Water sits around 44 F for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 11:47 PM-1:47 AM and 11:23 AM-1:23 PM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Brown troutExcellent

Below 50°F, fish slowly through the deeper pools; in early spring on the Great Lakes, Michigan DNR notes browns are often caught inshore before other species start biting.

Rainbow troutGood

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.

Brook troutFair

Below 50°F is the fall spawning band (40-50°F in Vermont), so stay off spawning gravel. In winter Maine IFW finds pond fish close to shore in 4 to 12 feet of water under the ice.

Tomorrow: Warmer at 60 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Tue, Nov 10, 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 brook trout 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 WILLIAMS RIVER AT DYER, WV.

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 03186500.

2777041,13049 cfs10/1010/2010/3011/09

Today’s flow against 97 years of November 9

At 49 cfs, the flow at USGS gauge 03186500 (WILLIAMS RIVER AT DYER, WV) is at the 18th percentile for the date: below normal. In half of the 97 years of approved record the daily mean on November 9 was below 177 cfs; the highest was 1,760 cfs and the lowest 2 cfs.

p10 19median 177p90 698

Percentiles of the daily mean flow for this date, from the USGS Water Data Statistics API for gauge 03186500; 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 temp42 F
High / Low54 / 39 F
WindW 7-19 mph
Pressure1015.9 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset06:57 / 17:14
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~44 F est.

Bite planner

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

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Which day to fish Williams River this week

The best day on Williams River this week looks like Sunday Nov 15, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today.

Best day this week: Sunday, Nov 15 — good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Nov 9 — Fair

A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Solunar majors
11:47 PM-1:47 AM and 11:23 AM-1:23 PM
Minor period
7:05 AM-8:05 AM
Sun
06:57 to 17:14
Moon
New Moon, 0% lit
Sky and wind
Overcast, 13 mph
Rain chance
0%

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

Species guide

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

Brook trout illustration

Brook trout

Spring and fall in ponds and lakes, when fish come shallow; summer in the coldest headwater streams

The brook trout is a char native to eastern North America, a fish of cold, clean streams and ponds, and the state fish of Michigan. Below 50°F is the fall spawning band (40-50°F in Vermont), so stay off spawning gravel. In winter Maine IFW finds pond fish close to shore in 4 to 12 feet of water under the ice.

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. Below 50°F, fish slowly through the deeper pools; in early spring on the Great Lakes, Michigan DNR notes browns are often caught inshore before other species start biting.

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 Williams 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
Brook trout
Brown trout
Rainbow trout
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 44 F (estimated, not a reading).

304050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovNov, ~44 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 Williams River today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Sun, Nov 8

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Brown trout led the card at excellent. High of 58 F, wind to 9 mph.

Sat, Nov 7

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Brown trout led the card at excellent. High of 44 F, wind to 9 mph.

Fri, Nov 6

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Brown trout led the card at excellent. High of 63 F, wind to 11 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 license plus trout stamp for stocked water. Catch-and-release sections apply: check current WVDNR regulations.

Access

Forest road pullouts paralleling the river, Tea Creek campground and dispersed camping in the Monongahela National Forest.

About this water

A trout river in the Monongahela National Forest, Webster and Pocahontas counties, West Virginia.

Fishing Williams River: the full guide

A river off the Highland Scenic

The Williams River rises high in the Monongahela National Forest of eastern West Virginia and runs west to the Gauley, paralleled for miles by forest road with the Highland Scenic Highway crossing its headwaters. It holds stocked rainbow and brown trout through the accessible reaches and native brook trout in the cold headwaters and tributaries.

Stocked water and catch-and-release

West Virginia stocks the river through the spring, and a catch-and-release section provides the better fishing for anglers who want quality over quantity. Nymphs, dries and small streamers work through the pocket water, pools and runs. Spring and fall are the seasons; summer warms the lower reaches while the headwaters stay cold.

Native brook trout upstream

The headwaters and small tributaries above the stocked water hold native brook trout in tight, rhododendron-lined pocket water reached on foot from the forest roads. It is small-stream fishing at its most classic: short casts, careful approaches and a willingness to walk. The Cranberry Wilderness lies just to the north.

Webster and Pocahontas county logistics

Access is excellent along the forest road paralleling the river, with dispersed camping, the Tea Creek campground and pullouts through the corridor. Marlinton and Richwood are the nearest towns. This is remote high country: services are scarce, cell coverage is patchy and the weather changes fast.

Common questions

Are there native brook trout?

Yes, in the headwaters and tributaries above the stocked water: tight pocket water reached on foot.

Is access easy?

Unusually so: a forest road parallels the river for miles with pullouts and camping along the corridor.

What is nearby?

The Cranberry Wilderness and Cranberry River lie just north, and the Highland Scenic Highway crosses the headwaters.

Is fishing good at Williams River right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Nearby waters

Cranberry River10 miSummersville Lake25 miElk River36 miStonewall Jackson Lake42 miLake Moomaw42 miJackson River42 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 03186500 — WILLIAMS RIVER AT DYER, WV
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-11-09 at 12:15 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 38.3790, -80.4840 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.
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 guide was drafted with AI assistance. Unlike our newer pages, it does not yet list the official pages its facts were checked against: that audit is under way, and anything it cannot verify will be 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.