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Home › Waters › West Virginia › Tygart Lake
Lake · North-central West Virginia, Taylor County, the Tygart Valley River impoundment south of Grafton at Tygart Lake State Park · West Virginia

Tygart Lake Fishing Guides

A steep-sided Corps of Engineers impoundment on the Tygart Valley River below Grafton, gauged for lake elevation, with a state park on its shore and a strong walleye and smallmouth reputation.

An angler standing in a bass boat along a wooded reservoir shoreline
Gauge location. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

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About the Tygart Lake

Tygart Lake sits in a steep sandstone valley on the Tygart Valley River just south of Grafton, formed by one of the oldest Corps of Engineers dams in West Virginia. It drains eleven hundred and eighty-two square miles of the north-central highlands, and the shape of the reservoir tells you how it fishes. It is long, narrow and deep with rocky, tree-lined shorelines dropping straight into the water, so there is very little shallow flat and a great deal of vertical structure.

The gauge here reads lake elevation, which is the number that matters on a flood control reservoir. Tygart is drawn down through the autumn and refilled in spring, and the elevation reading tells you whether the ramps are usable, how far the water has pulled back from the shoreline timber, and where fish are likely to be holding. A full pool puts fish on the flooded brush and rock; a deep winter drawdown concentrates them on the main channel points and ledges.

Walleye are the fish the lake is best known for, and they are the reason boats are on the water before dawn in spring and after dark in summer. Smallmouth bass fish the rock and are consistent through the season, with largemouth and spotted bass in the coves. Muskellunge are present and genuinely caught, crappie stack on submerged brush, and catfish work the deeper water. The tailwater below the dam adds another fishery worth knowing about.

Access is straightforward because Tygart Lake State Park occupies a good stretch of the eastern shore, with a lodge, campground, marina and ramp. Grafton is minutes away for anything else, and the lake’s steep banks mean a boat helps considerably, though the park shoreline and the dam area both fish from the bank.

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Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

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Pool right now

1,090.85ft NAVD88
  • 24 hours-1.23 ft ↓ falling

Reading taken 1h ago at USGS 03055500, TYGART LAKE NR GRAFTON, WV. Elevation is the surface of the lake above the survey datum, not depth. Source.

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Posting to Tygart Lake.

JPG, PNG or WebP, up to 12 MB. We resize it and strip the location data out of the file.

The name shown under the photo. Leave blank to stay anonymous.

Reader photo license v1.0 — the short version:

  • You grant Guided Floats, LLC a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to publish, resize and crop your photo on guidedfloats.com and in GuidedFloats’ own social posts and apps. You keep the copyright and can use the photo anywhere else.
  • You confirm that you took the photo yourself, that publishing it does not infringe anyone else’s rights, and that anyone recognisable in it (or a parent or guardian, if they are under 18) is happy for it to appear here.
  • Credit is printed beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, using the credit name you give us. Leave it blank and we use your name; write “Anonymous” for no name. Your email address is never published.
  • Withdrawing is one email to hello@guidedfloats.com naming the photo. It comes off the site within 7 days.
Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

Lake level alert

Tell me when the pool at Tygart Lake ft (NAVD88)

Now: 1,090.85 ft pool elevation, read 5:15 pm CDT, Sun Oct 18, 2026 (USGS 03055500, TYGART LAKE NR GRAFTON, WV).

We never use this address for anything else and never share it. See the privacy policy.

Access

Tygart Lake State Park - the park on the lake's eastern shore, with a lodge, campground, marina and boat ramp.
Grafton - the Taylor County seat just north of the dam, with services, tackle and lodging.
Tygart Dam - the Corps of Engineers structure at the lake's foot, with a tailwater fishery below it.
Tygart Valley River - the river above and below the lake, with smallmouth fishing and a separate character.
Clarksburg - the larger city to the west, with full services and highway access.
Morgantown - the regional city north, with guides, tackle shops and everything a longer trip needs.
Pruntytown - the small community near the park, a local landmark on the approach.

Seasons

Spring: the prime season, with walleye spawning and moving shallow and smallmouth active on the rock as water warms.
Summer: fish go deep and night fishing for walleye comes into its own, with panfish and catfish dependable.
Fall: drawdown concentrates fish on main channel structure and smallmouth feed hard before the cold.
Winter: low pool and cold water, with the tailwater below the dam usually the more productive option.

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Questions

What species can you catch on the Tygart Lake?

Anglers target Black Crappie, Bluegill, Channel Catfish, Common Carp, Flathead Catfish, Freshwater Drum, Hybrid Striped Bass, Largemouth Bass, Muskellunge, Rock Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Spotted Bass, Walleye, White Bass, White Crappie, Yellow Perch on the Tygart Lake in West Virginia.

Where can you access the Tygart Lake?

Tygart Lake State Park - the park on the lake's eastern shore, with a lodge, campground, marina and boat ramp. Grafton - the Taylor County seat just north of the dam, with services, tackle and lodging. Tygart Dam - the Corps of Engineers structure at the lake's foot, with a tailwater fishery below it. Tygart Valley River - the river above and below the lake, with smallmouth fishing and a separate character. Clarksburg - the larger city to the west, with full services and highway access. Morgantown - the regional city north, with guides, tackle shops and everything a longer trip needs. Pruntyto...

When is the best time to fish the Tygart Lake?

Spring: the prime season, with walleye spawning and moving shallow and smallmouth active on the rock as water warms. Summer: fish go deep and night fishing for walleye comes into its own, with panfish and catfish dependable. Fall: drawdown concentrates fish on main channel structure and smallmouth feed hard before the cold. Winter: low pool and cold water, with the tailwater below the dam usually the more productive option.

Where are the fishing regulations for the Tygart Lake?

Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the West Virginia agency site: https://wvdnr.gov/fishing/fishing-regulations/