Gauley River Fishing Guides and Conditions, West Virginia

About the Gauley River

The Gauley is famous for six weeks a year. When Summersville Dam draws down in September and October, the Lower Gauley and Upper Gauley become two of the most demanding commercial whitewater runs in North America, and the town of Summersville fills with rafters. For the other forty-six weeks the river is something quieter and, for anglers, more interesting.

Below Summersville Dam the cold release supports a trout fishery that West Virginia stocks and that holds fish through the summer, which is unusual in this part of the state. The tailwater reach fishes best on low releases and gets crowded on weekends in spring. Above the lake, from Craigsville and Camden-on-Gauley upstream, the river is a freestone smallmouth and rock bass stream with pocket water and long pools, and the Cranberry and Williams rivers nearby are among the best wild trout streams in West Virginia.

Below the whitewater canyon the Gauley meets the New at Gauley Bridge to form the Kanawha, and the lower reaches hold smallmouth, walleye and musky.

The Craigsville gauge sits on the upper river above Summersville Lake, so it reads the free-flowing headwaters rather than the dam release. A couple of hundred cfs is normal summer water and wades well; the upper river drops low and clear in late summer and rises fast after mountain storms. For the tailwater below the dam, the release schedule matters far more than any natural gauge.

Summersville and Richwood are the towns. If you are planning a trip in late September, expect the whole county to be booked for rafting.

Access

Camden-on-Gauley and Craigsville: upper river access near the gauge.
Curtin and the Cranberry confluence: headwater access and nearby wild trout streams.
Summersville Lake: reservoir access and boat ramps.
Summersville Dam tailwater: trout access immediately below the dam.
Mason Branch and Woods Ferry: Gauley River National Recreation Area accesses in the canyon.
Swiss and Gauley Bridge: lower river access toward the New River confluence.

Seasons

March through May: stocked trout below the dam, high water and good smallmouth up top.
June through August: tailwater trout on low releases, smallmouth on the upper river.
September and October: whitewater release season dominates the canyon; fish above the lake instead.
November through February: quiet water, tailwater trout and musky in the lower river.