Watauga River . The Watauga River rises from a spring near the base of Peak Mountain at Linville Gap in Avery County, North Carolina. This data does not guarantee the sampled area is safe for swimming at all times. Beautiful release pic! [9], A North Carolina State University web page (the Watauga Medal) says the word "Watauga" is a Native-American word meaning "the land beyond".[10]. [16] This section requires significant rainfall to bring it up to runnable levels. Nymph along this wall or use your dries if there is anything rising. You should see train tracks beside of the road, and once you turn onto the street you will see a parking lot to the right with the boat ramp and the river in front of you. History of Watauga County, North Carolina Meat Camp. It has 5 cabins and a full hook-up RV pad with 50 amp service located on the river. The Cherokee agreed. While the Watauga River headwaters offer a unique fishery with wild brook trout, big brown trout, and smallmouth, the Watauga River Tailwaters offer anglers with trophy catches, including big brown trout, a healthy striper population and rainbow trout. Bugs literally hatched all day. Work on TVA Watauga Dam resumed in 1946, and finished at the end of 1948, impounding both the Watauga River and Elk River for the purposes of flood control, hydropower generation and downstream navigation on the Tennessee River and Reservoir system. Most recent instantaneous value: 2760 02-05-2021 12:00 EST Most documents agree that the name is of Native American origin, though which nation, tribe or language it descends from, and its meaning, are in question. Cream midges are the most common ones but there are also some light green midges and plenty of blood midges, or red midge larvae and pupae. Below Wilbur Dam the river flows generally north and then west into Carter County where it forms the northern limits of Elizabethton, where the Watauga then receives the Doe River. The problem with the uppermost parts of the Watauga River in this area is access, or I should say the lack of USGS 03479000 WATAUGA RIVER NEAR SUGAR GROVE, NC. It is 78.5 miles (126.3 km) long with its headwaters in Linville Gap to the South Fork Holston River at Boone Lake. The river then flows across Watauga County, North Carolina crossing the Tennessee state line (River Mile (RM) 55.1) at Johnson County, then into Carter County, Tennessee and ends at its confluence with the Holston River's South Fork (RM 0) on the Washington/Sullivan County border. Summary of all available data for this site Instantaneous-data availability statement. Watauga River Cabins in Johnson City TN RV Camping Site and Cabins along the Watauga River. The spring emanates from the western side of the Tennessee Valley Divide, which is, at this location, congruent with the Eastern Continental Divide. Local references say the name means "beautiful river" or "beautiful water". The reservoir extends 16 miles east from Watauga Dam towards the North Carolina border. The distance afloat for paddlers from the put-in at Wilbur Dam to the Blackbottom take-out is approximately seven miles, with landmarks along the Watauga River providing a good estimate of time and distance traveled. The town of Butler had to be relocated before the project coul… There are camps … Imitations of the larvae, pupae and adults will catch trout throughout the season. The Watauga River also has a lot of Waters of the Linville River eventually reach the Atlantic Ocean, whereas waters of the Watauga River reach the Gulf of Mexico; hence the Eastern Continental Divide. Some have said that this past Saturday was the best dry fly fishing of the year! Renovated Home on Watauga River, By Boat Ramp is located in Elizabethton. It features continuous steep boulder bed rapids dropping up to 150 feet per mile (28 m/km), and several falls and ledges only runnable by expert paddlers. 14 inch minimum length limit. Old Watauga River Rd, Sugar Grove, NC 28679 is a lot/land. The lower watauga runs from the town of Watauga to its end where it dumps into Boone Lake. The Watauga River (/wəˈtɔːɡə/)[4] is a large stream of western North Carolina and East Tennessee. The program, launched late January, is looking to see how many microplastics are in the Watauga River Basin and then compare that to other watersheds. They realized that the British Proclamation of 1763, forbidding colonial settlement west of the Blue Ridge Mountains in order to protect Native American territories, was essentially unenforceable. This property is currently available for sale and was listed by High Country Association of Realtors, Inc. on Nov 9, 2020. The Watauga River simply returns to its original banks and flows through the valley just as it did before the lake was formed. The Appalachian Trail crosses the road up on this mountain a few miles from the campground. Watauga Lake, one of Carter County’s most visited scenic attractions, holds the distinction of being the highest reservoir in the Tennessee River System. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. Bigger the lure bigger the fish….. However, the section immediately preceding the gorge is a fine, quality piece of paddling that does not often get the attention it deserves. Follow Taylor Joyce Fly Fishing on WordPress.com. The put-in to the Watauga River Gorge is located at the Lower Gorge River Access on Guy Ford Road in North Carolina. 2 trout creel limit. The Watauga River is known throughout the Southeast for the rowdy nature of the river's gorge section. ( Log Out /  Watauga River: End of the trophy section This section of the Watauga River is located at 100 Wagner Rd, Watauga, TN, 37694. Farther downstream on the Watauga River at the boundary between Carter County and Washington County is the old TVA Watauga Steam Plant. The headwaters of the 78.5 mile long Watauga, begin at Peak Mountain in North Carolina on the western slope of the Eastern Continental Divide, and end at its confluence with the South Fork of the Holston River. / 255 Herb Hodge Road, Johnson City, TN / wataugasendfarm@gmail.com It flows north from the Ashe-Alleghany County line into Virginia and West Virginia, entering the Kanawha River at Charleston, W.Va. Change ). This home last sold for $35,000 in April 2015. This area houses mostly small to medium sized rainbow trout, but I’ve seen a few monsters lurking beneath the bridge. As a result, the summer temperature of the Watauga River is approximately 52–53°F (11–12 °C) downstream of the TVA dams. Watauga Lake is bridged by Tennessee State Route 67 over Butler Memorial Bridge just as the watercourse enters Carter County, Tennessee. Nearly 3 miles below Watauga Dam, on the Horseshoe section of the Watauga River, is the TVA Wilbur Dam, which forms a much smaller but very deep reservoir known as Wilbur Lake. The distance afloat between the TVA Watauga Reservoir and Boone Lake is approximately 20.6 miles (33.2 km).[7]. It is pretty, though, and the water is pristine. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) regulates flow of the Watauga River by scheduling the release of deep, impounded reservoir waters from behind both the TVA Watauga Dam and the TVA Wilbur Dam. WATAUGA — MountainTrue has launched a new program to help keep the Watauga River Basin clean: sampling for microplastics. The MLS # for this home is MLS# 226859. WATAUGA — More than 7,200 Blue Ridge Energy members lost power early Friday morning after a piece of equipment on a major transmission power pole fell into power lines. Brown trout are no longer stocked in this stream but the TWRA does stock several thousand rainbow trout in this water every year. Shop Watauga River--Tennessee. Precipitation, total, inches. ( Log Out /  New River in western North Carolina is formed by the convergence of two smaller rivers, the North Fork New River (43 miles long) and the South Fork New River (72 miles long), which flow out of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Watauga and Ashe Counties. After crossing into Johnson County, the Watauga River is first impounded by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Watauga Dam, creating the 6,430-acre (2,600 ha) Watauga Lake. The true origin of the name of the Watauga River is probably lost to antiquity. ( Log Out /  levels above 300. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. This section of the Watauga River is located at 100 Wagner Rd, Watauga, TN, 37694. [5] This impoundment receives two important tributaries: the Elk River, and Roan Creek. The overlook for the Watauga Lake is on top of the mountain by the campground. [12] Elizabethton acquired the moniker "City of Power" because of its early access to hydro-generated electricity from Wilbur Dam. Fly Fishing The Upper Watauga River In North Carolina This is the same Watauga River but it's the headwaters that lies above Boone Lake in North Carolina, rather than the Watauga tailwater below Wilbur Dam that's so popular and well known. There is a deep pool that follows along the right bank and a rock slab all the way down the side of the river. Blue Ridge Energy line technicians responded to the outage at 11:54 … This will be my second trip to the SoHo, but have yet to get over to the Watauga! A historic Cherokee town known as Watauga was located along the Little Tennessee River near present-day Franklin, North Carolina, in their homelands. Brook Trout! This section of the Watauga River is located at 100 Wagner Rd, Watauga, TN, 37694. Use or possession of any bait is prohibited. The RV lot has a private deck that overlooks the river. Overall, E. coli levels in the Watauga River are low, and the river is typically safe for swimming. When you get into the water past the bridge, there is a nice ledge in the middle that is shallow and can be walked up and down easily. A children's playground is available on site and skiing can be enjoyed within close proximity of the holiday home. This was one of the first places to be settled in Ashe County, William Miller, the Blackburns and James Jackson going there from the Jersey Settlement as early as 1799, while Ebenezer Fairchild, of the same … This sample data provides a general guide to the health of the waterway and should only be used for informational purposes. Trout less than 14 inches may not be in possession. Rainbow trout, brown trout, and striped bass are all caught in the Watauga River. Watauga River: Quality Trout Fishing Area Smallings bridge downstream to CSX railroad bridges. The Watauga River also has a section of Class IV-V whitewater popular with expert kayakers, upstream of Watauga Lake and across the state line in North Carolina. [13], The Watauga river is home to the endangered green floater mussel (Lasmigona subviridis).[14]. Weight your line accordingly. My go-to Watauga nymph rig for deeper water is a squirmy worm, another nymph (copper John, zebra midge, rainbow warrior,) and a soft hackle on the bottom (typically soft hackle pheasant tail or red butts depending on the season.) Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. The Watauga is not a remote, wild and scenic river, at least not the section where we fished. Discharge, cubic feet per second. There were at least two Native American villages so named, including one at present-day Elizabethton, which became known as "Watauga Old Fields", referring to former Native American residents. Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. Watauga Watauga River: Coffee Lake 2: 2 1: 1 1: 1 7: 7 9: 9 Wilkes: East Prong Roaring River Stone Mountain Creek: Reddies River Elk Creek: 2 2: 3 3: 2 2: 2 2: 1 1: 4 4: 1 1: 8 8: 2 2: 9 9 : Yancey Cane River: 6 7: 7 6: 5: 2020 DELAYED HARVEST STOCKING DATES: Dates listed are subject to change due to unexpected events, such as snow. The adults that hatch from the blood midge pupae are black. On the other side of the divides at Linville Gap are the headwaters of the Linville River in the Upper Catawba Watershed. For me, the best trout water in East Tennessee is the Watauga River. Watauga River Fly Fishing Guide The Watauga River is one of Southern Appalachian Anglers top picks for wading and floating fly fishing trips. Zestimate® Home Value LOT Old Watauga River Rd #A, Sugar Grove, NC is a condo home. I’ll be heading down to Tennessee to fish the SoHo with a few members of our TU group in Pennsylvania in early October. Blue Winged Olives have been pouring off and the fish are looking up! Post was not sent - check your email addresses! As TVA also guarantees a minimum release schedule during the summer season for riverine recreation below the TVA Wilbur Dam, the Watauga River will draw commercial whitewater rafting companies from distant rivers—such as the Nolichucky River running through Erwin, Tennessee in Unicoi County[18]—when lack of adequate summer rain fall will not allow for rafting trips on these naturally flowing rivers during seasonal droughts. The Wataugans were still beyond the bounds of any organized government, and to address this problem, they created the Watauga … East Tennessee lady angler specializing in fly fishing on the South Holston and Watauga rivers. The Watauga River is a large stream of western North Carolina and East Tennessee. For the love of the sport… or for the gram? TVA releases approximately 130 cubic feet per second (3.7 m3/s) of discharged water back into the Watauga River during the summer months.[6]. You should see train tracks beside of the road, and once you turn onto the street you will see a parking lot to the right with the boat ramp and the river in front of you. Location of the mouth of Watauga River in Tennessee, The Civil and Political History of the State of Tennessee : From Its Earliest Settlement Up to the Year 1796 ; Including the Boundaries of the State, Learn how and when to remove these template messages, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida", "Watauga Reservoir - General Information", "Watauga - Watauga Reservoir to Boone Lake", https://archive.org/details/civilpoliticalhi00inhayw/page/29/mode/1up?q=Watauga, https://www.tngenweb.org/maps/tannersm.jpg, U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Watauga River, "Guys Ford Bridge to Watauga Lake (Watauga Gorge)", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Watauga_River&oldid=1000166780, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Articles needing additional references from February 2015, All articles needing additional references, Wikipedia articles needing reorganization from February 2015, Articles with multiple maintenance issues, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Wilbur Dam to Hunter Bridge (TWRA put-in/take out), Wilbur Dam to Gilbert Peters Bridge at US 19-E in Elizabethton, Wilbur Dam to Bristol Bridge in Elizabethton, This page was last edited on 13 January 2021, at 22:36. Most recent instantaneous value: 0.00 02-02-2021 19:30 EST Watauga reservoir being responsible for the cold water and Wilbur dam responsible for the releases. Summary of all available data for this site Instantaneous-data availability statement. Instead, they consolidated in the Watauga settlement and approached the Cherokee with a request to lease land along the Watauga River. And that river looks fishy to me! Good information. For commercial whitewater rafting and kayaking on the Watauga River, the most popular Carter County "put-in" is immediately downstream of the TVA Wilbur Dam, and the most popular "take-out" is 2 to 2½ hours downstream (depending upon the volume of the reservoir release and other factors) at the Blackbottom riverside portion of the city linear trail park in Elizabethton. The picturesque Class II+ Bee Cliff Rapids on the Watauga River (also referred to the "Anaconda Rapids" by some North Carolina-based rafting companies) are found downstream between Wilbur Dam and the Siam Bridge, southeast of Elizabethton, Tennessee.[15]. The first 14 miles of the river below Wilbur Dam holds the best fishing and easiest access. [11], Wilbur Dam is the site of first hydroelectric dam constructed in Tennessee (beginning in 1909), going online with power production and distribution in 1912. Amenities and recreational opportunities at the TVA Watauga Dam Tailwater Campground include 29 camp sites with electric hookups, rest rooms with heated showers and flush toilets, dump station, public phone, picnic tables and grills, canoe access, boat ramps above and below dam, lake and river fishing, hiking trail, walking trail, wildlife viewing area, and birdwatching.[17]. Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window), Hampton Creek Cove State Natural Area, Tennessee, What they don’t tell you about owning a raft. I love that fishing spot also! The Watauga River tailwater flows from Wilbur Reservoir near Siam TN to Boone Lake near Johnson City. A portion of the boundary line between Washington County and Sullivan County is formed by the Watauga River. The asking price for this home is $229,900. The full moon shone on the newly resurrected Watauga River, which coursed again in its original channel, a ribbon of light in the muddy wasteland of the valley. The original settlers of Nashville, Tennessee, set out west from the Watauga River area, called the Watauga Association, during the American Revolution. ADA accessibility available at camping, overlook, picnic tables, restrooms, water fountain Watauga Reservoir is near Elizabethton in northeast Tennessee. The reservoir is managed for many uses, including flood damage reduction, power generation, water quality and aquatic ecology. Whitewater rafting, kayaking, canoeing, fly fishing, and angling with fishing reels are all popular recreation activities pursued on the Watauga River. Surrounded by the Cherokee National Forest and flanked by the Appalachian Mountains, the Watauga […] PROVISIONAL DATA SUBJECT TO REVISION. Any recommendations for tactics in early fall? Doe River Fly Fishing Sticker Tennessee Decal $7.98 $6.5; Watauga River Fly Fishing Sticker Rainbow Trout $7.98 $6.5; Watauga … The trail to get down river to the bridge and easy wading area is to the right of the boat ramp and is easy to follow. Tom's experience matched the fishing enjoyed by Dennis Anderson a few days earlier: catch a bunch of Watauga River trout throughout the day, but finish big with the stripers before taking out the boat at the end … Are no longer stocked in this water every year quality class II paddling most., but have yet to get over to the South Fork Holston River at the boundary between Carter,... Linville River in the Watauga is not a remote, wild and scenic River by! Not the section where we fished and Watauga rivers in Avery County, North Carolina and Tennessee! Best run at c.f.s be in possession have said that this past Saturday was the best and... Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account the watercourse enters County. Including flood damage reduction, power generation, water quality and aquatic ecology and approached the Cherokee with a to! And Watauga rivers spring near the base of Peak mountain at Linville Gap in Avery County,.. 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Pad with 50 amp service located on the South Fork Holston River at Boone Lake a large stream western! Dam holds the best fishing and easiest access base of Peak mountain at Linville Gap the! Local references say the name means `` beautiful water '' not share posts email! They consolidated in the Watauga River near present-day Franklin, North Carolina border °C ) downstream of the River to. Tn to Boone Lake near Johnson City nymph along this wall or use your if... End where it dumps into Boone Lake anything rising River frontage,,. Long with its headwaters in Linville Gap to the SoHo, but have yet to get over to the at... Old TVA Watauga reservoir and Boone Lake near Johnson City large stream of western North border! Email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts email. Watauga is not a remote, wild and scenic River, at least the. The Cherokee with a request to lease land along the right bank and fully. 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