Waters · Lakes · TN · Mon, Aug 24

How's the bite at Watauga Lake today? Picky — mid-morning is your stretch.

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
Minor
2:39 AM–3:39 AM
Moonset
Major
9:49 AM–11:49 AM
Moon underfoot
Minor
5:52 PM–6:52 PM
Moonrise
Major
10:13 PM–12:13 AM
Moon overhead

Sunrise 6:53 AM · sunset 8:07 PM · tomorrow's first major 10:37 AM–12:37 PM · windows on every water

Solunar · computed updated 5:09 AM

Conditions right now

Water level
1951.82ft
-0.09 ft in 24h
NOAA NWPS WTGT1 updated 4:00 AM
Pressure
30.06inHg
rising · +1.7 hPa/12h
NOAA KTRI updated 4:53 AM
Wind
0mph N
NOAA KTRI updated 4:53 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.

Watauga Lake water level today

1951.82 ft down 0.09 ft in 24 hours

That sits 0% of the way up the band it has held over the last 8 days, between 1951.82 and 1952.31 ft. Over the week it is down0.47ft.

08-16 1951.82–1952.31 ft 08-24
NOAA NWPS WTGT1 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 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?
5 out of 10 — picky. Work for it. The strongest stretch is 9:49 AM–11:49 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 9:49 AM–11:49 AM and 10:13 PM–12:13 AM, with minor windows at 2:39 AM–3:39 AM and 5:52 PM–6:52 PM. Sunrise is 6:53 AM and sunset 8:07 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 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 Watauga Lake right now?
1951.82 ft, read at 4:00 AM from NOAA NWPS station WTGT1. Over 24 hours it is down 0.09 ft.
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.