Watauga River: End of the trophy section

This section of the Watauga River is located at 100 Wagner Rd, Watauga, TN, 37694.

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. 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.

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. There is a deep pool that follows along the right bank and a rock slab all the way down the side of the river. Nymph along this wall or use your dries if there is anything rising.

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.) Weight your line accordingly.

This area houses mostly small to medium sized rainbow trout, but I’ve seen a few monsters lurking beneath the bridge.