Waters · Lakes · TN · Wed, Oct 7

Watauga Lake water level today 1948.03 ft, falling

Bite index 6/10 — Biting — fish it after dark.

Worth a cast.

Built from solunar, pressure, level, wind. This water has no live gauge for every reading — see the sources below.

6/10
Biting

Today's bite windows

12 AM6 AMNoon6 PM11 PM
Minor
3:44 AM–4:44 AM
Moonrise
Major
9:56 AM–11:56 AM
Moon overhead
Minor
4:58 PM–5:58 PM
Moonset
Major
10:19 PM–12:19 AM
Moon underfoot

Sunrise 7:28 AM · sunset 7:03 PM · tomorrow's first major 10:42 AM–12:42 PM · windows on every water

Solunar · computed updated 11:02 AM

Conditions right now

Water temp estimated
≈64.7°F
7-day mean of air temperature, ±4.5°F typical
computed from NOAA KTRI updated 10:40 AM
Water level
1948.03ft
-0.11 ft in 24h
NOAA NWPS WTGT1 updated 10:00 AM
Pressure
30.1inHg
steady · +0.34 hPa/12h
NOAA KTRI updated 10:40 AM
Wind
0mph N
NOAA KTRI updated 10:40 AM
Moon
10% waning
Solunar · computed updated 11:02 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.

Watauga Lake level over the last 8 days

1948.03 ft down 0.11 ft in 24 hours

That sits 0% of the way up the band it has held over the last 8 days, between 1948.03 and 1948.65 ft. Over the week it is down0.55ft.

09-29 1948.03–1948.65 ft 10-07
NOAA NWPS WTGT1 updated 10:00 AM

The week ahead

Thu 6 Biting
Fri 6 Biting
Sat 7 Biting
Sun 6 Biting
Mon 6 Biting
Tue 6 Biting
Wed 6 Biting

Forecast days carry solunar and the wind outlook. Pressure and gauge movement land the morning of.

Before you go

A Tennessee fishing license covers this water — $33 a year for residents. TWRA sets the rules and is the one that counts.

What it costs, and who is exempt →

Nearby waters today

Questions people ask about Watauga 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 Watauga Lake.

Is it worth fishing Watauga Lake today?
6 out of 10 — biting. Worth a cast. 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 Watauga Lake?
Today's major windows run 9:56 AM–11:56 AM and 10:19 PM–12:19 AM, with minor windows at 3:44 AM–4:44 AM and 4:58 PM–5:58 PM. Sunrise is 7:28 AM and sunset 7:03 PM. A major landing on first or last light is the stretch worth setting an alarm for.
What is the water temperature at Watauga Lake?
No gauge on Watauga Lake measures it, so this is an estimate: roughly 64.7°F, worked out from the 7-day mean of air temperature at NOAA weather station KTRI (Bristol / Johnson / Kingsport, Tri-City Regional Airport). Checked against the lakes that do have a thermometer, that method lands within about 4.5°F of the real reading and was off by 8.3°F at worst. Treat it as a ballpark, not a measurement — and note the bite index above ignores it entirely, because an error that size would move the verdict as often as it would fix it.
What is the water level at Watauga Lake right now?
1948.03 ft, read at 10:00 AM from NOAA NWPS station WTGT1. Over 24 hours it is down 0.11 ft.
Are water levels rising or falling at Watauga Lake?
Falling. The lake is down 0.11 ft in 24 hours and down 0.55 ft over the week. Over the last 8 days it has held between 1948.03 and 1948.65 ft. Every figure here is a difference between two gauge readings, not a forecast — what the level does next depends on rain and on what the dam releases.
Can you eat the fish you catch in Watauga Lake?
That is a health question and it belongs with the state, not with us. TN publishes fish consumption advisories through its health or environmental agency, and those are the ones that count. We give no eating advice.
Do you need a licence to fish Watauga Lake?
Yes. A Tennessee fishing license covers this water, required from age 13. TWRA sets the rules and is the one that counts.

What a Tennessee license costs, and who is exempt

Where these numbers come from

The Watauga River above Watauga Dam near Elizabethton, read by the Tennessee Valley Authority and republished by NOAA. Full summer pool is about 1,959 ft. No temperature sensor at the gauge, so the depth calls stay open.

No one types these in by hand. If a source goes quiet, the page says so instead of showing you yesterday.