Greenbrier River Fishing Guides and Conditions, West Virginia

About the Greenbrier River

The Greenbrier runs one hundred and sixty-five miles from the high country near Durbin south through Marlinton, Ronceverte and Alderson to the New River at Hinton, and it does so without a single dam. That makes it the longest undammed river in the eastern United States and gives it something few Appalachian rivers still have: a natural flow regime, a healthy gravel bed and a smallmouth population that reproduces on its own.

Most guided days are smallmouth days, floated in a raft or canoe through long gravel-bar and ledge water with hardwood ridges on both banks. The fish are wild, they average respectable rather than enormous, and they eat topwater with enthusiasm from June through October. Rock bass fill in between them, muskellunge hold in the deeper pools and get targeted by specialists, and the upper river above Marlinton stays cold enough to hold trout, with stocking in the accessible reaches and wild fish in the tributaries.

The Greenbrier River Trail, a rail trail of nearly eighty miles, follows the river from Cass to Caldwell and provides bank access along the whole upper and middle river. Between that and the frequent bridges and low-water crossings, this is an easy river to reach on foot as well as by boat.

The Alderson gauge reads most of the basin. Summer floating flows in the low hundreds of cfs are typical and wade well; the river gets thin in a dry August and can require dragging. Spring flows and storm response are quick and substantial, and the river colors fast and clears within a couple of days.

Marlinton, Ronceverte and Lewisburg cover lodging, food and outfitters.

Access

Durbin and Cass: upper river access, trout water and the head of the rail trail.
Marlinton: town access and a major rail trail trailhead.
Buckeye and Seebert: accesses near Watoga State Park.
Renick and Anthony: middle river accesses on the rail trail corridor.
Ronceverte and Caldwell: accesses near Lewisburg at the bottom of the trail.
Alderson: town access at the gauge; Hinton sits at the New River confluence downstream.

Seasons

March through May: high water, pre-spawn smallmouth and stocked trout on the upper river.
June through August: the main float season, topwater smallmouth, low clear water by late summer.
September and October: the best month of the year, falling water and aggressive fish, fall color.
November through February: musky water; smallmouth in the deep pools.