Waters · Lakes · TN · Wed, Sep 30

Watts Bar Lake water level today 740.7 ft, falling

Bite index 5/10 — Picky — get there by six.

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
Major
3:26 AM–5:26 AM
Moon overhead
Minor
11:31 AM–12:31 PM
Moonset
Major
3:56 PM–5:56 PM
Moon underfoot
Minor
9:16 PM–10:16 PM
Moonrise

Sunrise 7:33 AM · sunset 7:24 PM · tomorrow's first major 4:26 AM–6:26 AM · windows on every water

Solunar · computed updated 10:30 AM

Conditions right now

Water temp estimated
≈64.8°F
7-day mean of air temperature, ±4.5°F typical
computed from NOAA KMMI updated 8:35 AM
Water level
740.7ft
-0.09 ft in 24h
NOAA NWPS WBOT1 updated 9:00 AM
Pressure
30.13inHg
rising · +2.7 hPa/12h
NOAA KMMI updated 8:35 AM
Wind
0mph N
NOAA KMMI updated 8:35 AM
Moon
81% waning
Solunar · computed updated 10:30 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.

Watts Bar Lake level over the last 8 days

740.7 ft down 0.09 ft in 24 hours

That sits 42% of the way up the band it has held over the last 8 days, between 740.54 and 740.92 ft. Over the week it is down0.01ft.

09-22 740.54–740.92 ft 09-30
NOAA NWPS WBOT1 updated 9:00 AM

The week ahead

Thu 6 Biting
Fri 7 Biting
Sat 6 Biting
Sun 6 Biting
Mon 6 Biting
Tue 5 Picky
Wed 6 Biting

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

Watts Bar Lake boat ramps and public fishing access

Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency lists 41 public access points on Watts Bar Lake. These are the 8 closest to our gauge — the farthest one the agency lists sits 32 mi away.

Access data from Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. Distances are straight-line from our gauge, not driving distance.

Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency · public access inventory

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 Watts Bar 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 Watts Bar Lake.

Is it worth fishing Watts Bar Lake today?
5 out of 10 — picky. Work for it. The strongest stretch is 3:26 AM–5:26 AM. That number is worked out fresh each morning from the solunar windows, the pressure trend, the water level.
What time should you fish Watts Bar Lake?
Today's major windows run 3:26 AM–5:26 AM and 3:56 PM–5:56 PM, with minor windows at 11:31 AM–12:31 PM and 9:16 PM–10:16 PM. Sunrise is 7:33 AM and sunset 7:24 PM. A major landing on first or last light is the stretch worth setting an alarm for.
What is the water temperature at Watts Bar Lake?
No gauge on Watts Bar Lake measures it, so this is an estimate: roughly 64.8°F, worked out from the 7-day mean of air temperature at NOAA weather station KMMI (Athens McMinn County 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 Watts Bar Lake right now?
740.7 ft, read at 9:00 AM from NOAA NWPS station WBOT1. Over 24 hours it is down 0.09 ft.
Are water levels rising or falling at Watts Bar Lake?
Holding steady. The lake is down 0.09 ft in 24 hours and down 0.01 ft over the week. Over the last 8 days it has held between 740.54 and 740.92 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 Watts Bar 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 Watts Bar 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 Tennessee River above Watts Bar Dam, read by the Tennessee Valley Authority and republished by NOAA. This is the pool above the wall, not the tailwater below it. 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.