Water level
1923.38ft
+0.01 ft in 24h
NOAA NWPS CHAN7 updated 4:00 AM
Waters · Lakes · NC · Mon, Aug 24
How's the bite at Chatuge Lake today? Picky — fish it after dark.
Work for it.
Built from solunar, pressure, level, wind. This water has no live gauge for every reading — see the sources below.
5/10
Picky
Today's bite windows
12 AM6 AMNoon6 PM11 PM
10Peak 9 8Strong 7 6Good 5 4Slow 3 2 1Dead
Minor
2:50 AM–3:50 AM
Moonset
Major
9:56 AM–11:56 AM
Moon underfoot
Minor
5:55 PM–6:55 PM
Moonrise
Major
10:20 PM–12:20 AM
Moon overhead
Sunrise 7:02 AM · sunset 8:12 PM · tomorrow's first major 10:44 AM–12:44 PM · windows on every water
Solunar · computed updated 5:09 AM
Conditions right now
Pressure
30.09inHg
rising · +2.1 hPa/12h
NOAA KRHP updated 4:35 AM
Wind
0mph N
NOAA KRHP updated 4:35 AM
Moon
88% waxing
Solunar · computed updated 5:09 AM
What this means
Largemouth bass, Crappie, Catfish
This gauge reports level but no water temperature, so depth calls stay open. Read the windows and the pressure trend instead.
Chatuge Lake water level today
1923.38 ft up 0.01 ft in 24 hours
That sits 56% of the way up the band it has held over the last 8 days, between 1923.28 and 1923.46 ft. Over the week it is down0.07ft.
08-16 1923.28–1923.46 ft 08-24
NOAA NWPS CHAN7 updated 4:00 AM
The week ahead
| Tue | 6 | Biting | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wed | 6 | Biting | |
| Thu | 6 | Biting | |
| Fri | 6 | Biting | |
| Sat | 6 | Biting | |
| Sun | 6 | Biting | |
| Mon | 6 | Biting |
Forecast days carry solunar and the wind outlook. Pressure and gauge movement land the morning of.
Before you go
A NC fishing license covers this water. The state agency sets the rules and is the one that counts.
Nearby waters today
- 5 Picky Hiwassee Lake NC · 38 km
- 5 Picky Fontana Lake NC · 48 km
- 5 Picky Fort Loudoun Lake TN · 95 km
- 7 Biting Deckers CO · 1952 km
- 8 On fire Eagle River CO · 2057 km
Questions people ask about Chatuge Lake
Answered from the same readings as the rest of this page. Where we have no basis for an answer, there is no entry — spot-by-spot local knowledge is not something we can claim for Chatuge Lake.
- Is it worth fishing Chatuge Lake today?
- 5 out of 10 — picky. Work for it. The strongest stretch is 9:56 AM–11:56 AM. That number is worked out fresh each morning from the solunar windows, the pressure trend, the water level.
- What time should you fish Chatuge Lake?
- Today's major windows run 9:56 AM–11:56 AM and 10:20 PM–12:20 AM, with minor windows at 2:50 AM–3:50 AM and 5:55 PM–6:55 PM. Sunrise is 7:02 AM and sunset 8:12 PM. A major landing on first or last light is the stretch worth setting an alarm for.
- What is the water temperature at Chatuge Lake?
- No gauge on Chatuge Lake measures water temperature. US reservoir gauges report height, not temperature — so rather than estimate it, this page leaves it out and leans on the windows and the pressure trend instead.
- What is the water level at Chatuge Lake right now?
- 1923.38 ft, read at 4:00 AM from NOAA NWPS station CHAN7. Over 24 hours it is up 0.01 ft.
- Can you eat the fish you catch in Chatuge Lake?
- That is a health question, and it is answered officially rather than by us. North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services publishes the fish consumption advisory covering these waters, where an interactive map covers statewide and per-water advisories, including PFOS on the middle and lower Cape Fear. Read it before you keep a meal — we give no eating advice.
- What size fish can you keep in North Carolina?
- It depends on the species, and several have slot limits rather than a simple minimum. Open to harvest today: red drum (channel bass, puppy drum), spotted seatrout (speckled trout), black drum, sheepshead. Seasons here change mid-year by agency order, so the status is re-checked every morning.
Red drum (channel bass, puppy drum) limits · Spotted seatrout (speckled trout) limits · Black drum limits · Sheepshead limits · Check a length against the rules
Where these numbers come from
- Solunar computed 5:09 AM
- NOAA KRHP Andrews-Murphy Airport 4:35 AM
- NOAA MRX gridded forecast 2:26 AM
- NOAA NWPS CHAN7 Hiwassee River above Chatuge Dam near Hayesville 4:00 AM
The Hiwassee River above Chatuge Dam near Hayesville, read by the Tennessee Valley Authority and republished by NOAA. The lake straddles the North Carolina–Georgia line; the dam and the gauge sit in North Carolina. Full summer pool is about 1,928 ft. No temperature sensor at the gauge.
No one types these in by hand. If a source goes quiet, the page says so instead of showing you yesterday.