Upper Watauga River North Carolina Fishing Report & Options for Selecting Flies: Email us at (sales@perfectflystore.com) with the dates you will be fishing and we will send you a list of our fly recommendations. Please allow up to 24 hours for a response. If you provide a budget for flies, we will select them to match the budget and get them to you on time for your trip. Your can also call us at 800-594-4726 and we will help you decide what flies and gear to use. All orders are shipped free in the U.S. Orders over a $100 are shipped free via Priority Mail.
We also have custom Perfect Fly selections in 3 different price ranges for this stream that come with or without fly boxes. They make excellent gifts. Click Here To Order or Call us at 800 594 4726 or email us at sales@perfectflystore.com.
Type of Stream
Freestone
Species
Rainbow Trout (wild and stocked with
holdovers)
Brown Trout (wild and stocked with
holdovers)
Brook Trout (stocked with holdovers)
Size
Medium
Location
Northwestern North Carolina
Nearest Towns
Boone
Season
Year-round
Access:
Good
Non-Resident License
State of North Carolina
Weather
Season:
The season runs year-round
Winter:
Trout can be caught many days during the Winter
Spring:
Spring is the best time for fly fishing the Upper Watauga River because of its hatches.
Summer:
Summertime is marginal, the water can become too warm.
Fall:
Fall is a beautiful time to fish this stream and a good time to catch one of its large brown trout.
Recommended Tackle & Gear
Fly Line:
4, 5 or 6 weight
Leaders:
Dry fly: 9 to 12 ft., 5 or 6X Nymphing:
71/2 ft., 3 or 4X, Streamers 0-2X
Tippets:
Dry fly: 5 or 6X, Nymphing: 3 or 4X,
Streamer 0-2X
Best Fly Rods:
Perfect Fly Supreme Four, Superb Five
or Ultimate Six
Fly Reels:
For 4/5/6 fly line
Fly Floatants and Misc Items:
Floatants, KISS Strike Indicators
Tools & Accessories:
Nippers, forceps, retractors, etc.
Options For Selecting Flies:
1. Email us (sales@perfectflystore.com)
with the dates you will be fishing this stream and we will send you a list of our fly suggestions. Please allow up to 24 hours for a response.
2. Call us 800-594-4726 and we will help you decide which flies you need
3. Email us (sales@perfectflystore.com)
with a budget for flies and we will select them to match the budget and get them to you in time for your fly fishing trip.
All orders are shipped free in the
U. S. Orders over $100 are shipped via Priority Mail.
Copyright 2016 James Marsh
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. The problem with the uppermost parts of the Watauga River in this area is access, or I should say the lack of it. Most of the stream runs through private property; however, the parts that’s on public land are worth fishing. The stream holds brook, brown and rainbow trout.
The Watauga River starts out at the bottom of Grand Father Mountain in North Carolina at Banner Elk, North Carolina, near Boone. From its beginning downstream to North Carolina #1580, the stream is under the state’s wild trout regulations. It’s very small and there’s
little water to fish because above the bridge at Highway #1580, it flows mostly through private property. From the North Carolina #1580 bridge downstream to the mouth of Boone Fork Creel, a tributary stream, it flows entirely on private property.
From the North Carolina Highway #1557 bridge to the Highway #105 bridge, and from North Carolina #1114 bridge to the North Carolina #194 bridge at Valle Crucis, the stream falls under the state’s “Delayed Harvest” regulations. There’s about two miles of fishing
in the “Delayed Harvest” section.
North Carolina Highway #105 runs along the stream for over a half mile just above the bridge in this section. Upstream from that point, Shulls Mill Road follows along the river for almost a mile in the “Delayed Harvest” section. Access is easy from the Shulls Mills
Road with plenty of parking areas and spaces.
The Watauga isn’t exactly a small stream in the “Delayed Harvest” area. It’s rather large, averaging about forty feet wide and even wider in places.
The river flows along a golf course in one area. It flows on a low decline in this area and is open enough that casting isn’t a problem. It has plenty of large boulders and rocks distributed throughout its waters creating many holding places for the trout.
There are plenty of both wild and large holdover trout in the upper Watauga River in the “Delayed Harvest” area and above there in the headwaters. It’s a good place to catch a large brown trout. It’s by no means a great destination stream, but one well worth fishing if you are in the area.