We use cookies for analytics and advertising. Cookies necessary for the site to function are always kept. Learn more
Watauga River (Tennessee) — a popular fishing spot. About 116 km long. Flows into South Fork Holston River. Nearby towns: Johnson City and Kingsport. This page shows an hourly bite forecast for today and the week ahead; the algorithm factors in the weather, atmospheric pressure, and the moon phase.
Recorded 5 catches here. Most commonly caught: Largemouth bass, Smallmouth bass, Rainbow trout. Peak season: January–September.
Thursday, September 3
The bite is moderate — fish feed in short bursts. Pressure is dropping — this usually boosts the bite.
Best time — 07:00–09:00 (dawn bite) and 20:00–22:00 (dusk bite).
Work the cover — snags, weed edges, hole entrances; retrieve the lure with pauses.
In clear water, natural colors work best: small jig or minnow bait.
It's a hot day — a hat, sunglasses, and plenty of water are a must.
An average day — best chances during peak windows.
The computed water temperature is around 80 °F — warmer than the 57–75 °F comfort range for Black crappie: in the heat it drops deeper and feeds less often.
Black crappie works the twilight: the peaks are pinned to sunrise and sunset — their times are in the sun-and-moon card above.
Pressure is dropping 0.06 inHg over the day — fish are usually more active ahead of a weather change.
One more input — the moon's feeding windows: within their hours the score sits higher than across the rest of the day. The window times are in the “Solunar feeding periods” card below.
September is an active season for Black crappie here.
These are the same values the bite curve above was computed from. How the forecast works
Clear · feels like +103°
The day is 2 min shorter than yesterday.
Sunshine hours count direct sun only — cloud cover cuts it, so it is shorter than daylight.
The windows are set by the moon's transit and rise, and the forecast above already accounts for them: within these hours the bite score sits higher than across the rest of the day, while the day's overall level still comes from the catch-calibrated model.
What are solunar periods?BiteGuideFrom anglers’ reports
This is a summary of anglers' reports, not a proven cause of the bite: conditions lining up does not mean they drove it.
vertical axis — number of catches
| Value | Catches | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Largemouth bass | 2 | 40% |
| Smallmouth bass | 2 | 40% |
| Rainbow trout | 1 | 20% |
Measured river conditions are available for Watauga River: current gauge height, streamflow, and water temperature when reported by the source.
USGS gauge WATAUGA RIVER AT ELIZABETHTON, TN, 2 mi away · measured 2026-09-03 03:00 · data source · provisional data, subject to revision