Watauga river fishing
Watauga River Fly Fishing
Some waters are more fun to fish than others for a variety of reasons. The Watauga River is one such place. With its fast water and deep grassy banks that provide excellent holding areas for trout, to its large boulders that create great spots where trout can be targeted on dry flies or nymphs during any given day's fishing session.
There’s even bluffs made up entirely out of limestone cliffs which provide some awesome scenery as you float down the river with a line in the water. There are 3 sections that we tend to target.
The Tailwater Section
The Tailwater section which begins at Little Wilbur Dam and flows 17 miles downstream where it terminates into Boone Lake. The upper section, from Wilbur Dam to Hunter Bridge, is made up mostly of shallow riffles with deep pools between them. Most of the insects here are midges, scuds and small mayflies. This section has the highest fish number on the river
The Middle Section
This section runs from Hunter Bridge to the TWRA access at Blevins Bridge. This stretch of the river has many shallow riffles and smaller runs. When you pass through Elizabethton, it narrows down to just a few deep pools that must be navigated by boat operators with an understanding on how best get around these obstacles like large ledges separating slow moving waters or even one small waterfall!
The fish here start to decrease in population, but what they lack in numbers they make up for in size! Bugs begin to get a bit larger here, but your smaller flies are still pretty abundant along the banks.
The Trophy Section
This section runs from Blevins Bridge to Persinger Bridge in the small little town of Watauga. This section receives a lot of pressure, due to it having the largest concentration of fish on this river. There are some special regulations here that forbid that use of live bait or scented artificial lures. Regulations say that only 2 fish per day can be kept, and they have to be 14" or larger.
This means that the fish here have a better opportunity for growth! This section must be floated because there is limited public access for wading.
Watauga River Hatch Chart
