West Virginia's winter is mostly trout. Delayed Harvest streams turn catch and release on November 1, the fall stocking is over by then, and the stocking trucks are back in January; the catch-and-release and fly-only streams fish whenever the water clears. Walleye and sauger below the Ohio and Kanawha locks carry the rest, and every license and stamp runs out on December 31.
What to fish for in early November
The mountains and the big rivers fish on opposite schedules. Up high, the fish already in the streams carry the first weeks, the catch-and-release and fly-only water holding them best, and the new year's stockings bring fresh fish from January; down on the Ohio, the Kanawha and the New, the river fish crowd into the deep, slow water below the dams and the riffles, waiting for the first warm rain at the end of winter.
Rainbow Trout
Stocked again from early January, the fish piling into the slow pools near the stocking points and spreading out over the weeks that follow.
Where. The stocked streams and lakes statewide, and the catch-and-release and Delayed Harvest stretches, Shavers Fork, the Williams and Paint Creek among them.
The rainbow trout waters we forecast Water Forecast Shavers Fork Today's forecast Brook Trout
Native fish in the small headwater streams, spawned out and mostly left alone in the cold, worth the walk only on a mild day of low, clear water.
Where. The headwaters of the Monongahela National Forest, above the stocked water on the Elk, the Cranberry, Seneca Creek and Shavers Fork.
Walleye
Holds in the deep water below the locks and in the river pools through the cold, and starts toward the riffles late in February.
Where. The tailwaters below the Ohio and Kanawha locks, and the New and the Greenbrier, where the bigger fish are protected.
The walleye waters we forecast Water Usual water now Forecast Summersville Lake about 56F Best Wed, Nov 11, A+Today's forecast Smallmouth Bass
Slows down and drops into the slowest, deepest pools, catchable on a slow jig on a mild afternoon.
Where. Eddies and deep pools of the New, the Greenbrier and the South Branch of the Potomac.
The smallmouth bass waters we forecast Water Usual water now Forecast New River at Thurmond about 55F Today's forecast Musky
A cold-water fish for the few who chase it, holding in the slow pools and taking a big, slowly worked bait on the mild days.
Where. The slow pools of the Elk and the Little Kanawha, and the lakes that carry it, North Bend and Stonewall Jackson among them.
Usual water now is that water's normal for this point in the season: a lake's modeled seasonal curve or a river gauge's long-run average, not this year's reading. The forecast link reads this week's.
What changes soon
Nothing on this report's calendar for West Virginia in the next six weeks.
In the last two weeks
- Sun November 1Delayed Harvest streams turn catch and release in Georgia, South Carolina and West Virginia, and on Big Soddy Creek in Tennessee; those in North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and Kentucky have been catch and release since October 1.
Every date for West Virginia from November to February (3)
- Sun November 1Delayed Harvest streams turn catch and release in Georgia, South Carolina and West Virginia, and on Big Soddy Creek in Tennessee; those in North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and Kentucky have been catch and release since October 1.
- Thu December 31Every West Virginia, Delaware and District of Columbia license expires at midnight.
- Fri January 1West Virginia's regulations for the new year take effect, with a two-line limit on trout-stocked lakes.
This week's fishing reports
This report covers the season. For what was caught this week, read the people who report on this water.
Nobody reports conditions in West Virginia in winter, the agency included. From January the DNR's stocking page says each day where trout went, and last winter three weekly releases listed every water stocked, but nobody reports the New, the Gauley, the Greenbrier, the Ohio, the Kanawha or the lakes.
Where to fish in West Virginia, area by area
Each water links to its live forecast. The engine outlook in these areas was generated November 3, 2026, for the 14 days from that date; good hours are the hours at or above a B+.
The Allegheny trout country
Elk River · Cranberry River · Williams River · Shavers Fork · Seneca Creek
The high country of the Monongahela National Forest, where the Elk, Cranberry, Williams, Shavers Fork and Seneca Creek begin and the South Branch of the Potomac runs north through its gorges. Stocked water, catch-and-release and fly-only stretches, and native brook trout in the headwaters.
Who reports here. Nobody reports conditions here in winter. Nothing is stocked after the fall stocking ends in October; from January the DNR posts each day's stocked waters on its stocking page and hotline, never ahead, and last winter three weekly releases listed every water stocked.
Engine outlook
- Its best day in this outlook has passed.
The New, the Gauley and the Greenbrier
New River · Gauley River · Greenbrier River · Bluestone River
Big, rocky rivers in the south of the state: the New through its gorge, the Gauley below Summersville Dam, and the long Greenbrier, with smallmouth, muskellunge and walleye. They are float and wade rivers, and their levels swing with rain and with the releases from the dams.
Who reports here. No shop, guide or agency publishes a winter report for the New, the Gauley or the Greenbrier.
Engine outlook
- Its best day in this outlook has passed.
The Ohio and the Kanawha
Ohio River · Kanawha River
The Ohio along the western border and the Kanawha from Charleston to Point Pleasant, both navigation rivers held in pools by locks and dams. Sauger, walleye, hybrid striped bass and big catfish gather in the tailwaters below the dams.
Who reports here. Nobody reports either river in winter, from a shop, a guide or the agency, so what happens below the locks goes unrecorded.
The West Virginia lakes
Summersville Lake · Sutton Lake · Burnsville Lake · Stonewall Jackson Lake · Tygart Lake
Reservoirs in the hills of the middle of the state, Summersville, Sutton, Burnsville, Stonewall Jackson, Tygart and Bluestone, with Cheat Lake near Morgantown, mostly deep and steep-sided, and most of them drawn down through the cold months.
Who reports here. None of these lakes has a winter reporter.
Engine outlook
- Best: Wed, Nov 11, A+9 good hours60F modeled from this lake's own seasonal curvebest run 5h
The rules from November to February
What changed this time
- The fishing regulations run by the calendar year, so new ones take effect on January 1. The Natural Resources Commission voted on the 2027 regulations on July 30, 2026, and no result had been published by October 19. Among the proposals: the New River and Greenbrier bass slots and the New River catch-and-release section would cover smallmouth only, and the Fayette County Park ponds would become water for children and for anglers with a Class Q permit.
- Winter stocking returned on January 8 last year, and the DNR listed the waters stocked in three weeks of January and February. Daily stockings are never announced ahead: the DNR posts each day's waters on its stocking page by the end of the day, and on its hotline.
Read on October 19, 2026, from the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources (its fishing regulations summary, its stocking page and its news releases).
Licenses, and which state's rules apply
- Visitors need a nonresident fishing license, for the year or for one day, and either one needs the conservation and law enforcement stamp with it. Fishing for trout takes a trout stamp as well, and fishing on National Forest land a National Forest stamp. Anglers under 15 need no license or trout stamp.
- Residents need a fishing license and the conservation stamp, and a trout stamp for trout unless their sportsman license already includes one. Every license and stamp runs the calendar year and expires on December 31, whenever it was bought.
- Border agreements cover residents of the neighboring state only. An Ohio or West Virginia resident license is good on the Ohio River, its embayments and either bank. Maryland and West Virginia residents may fish the Potomac, its North Branch and Jennings Randolph Lake from either shore, and there Maryland's rules apply. Kentucky and West Virginia residents may fish the Big Sandy and Tug Fork main stems, under their own state's rules from a boat and the bank state's rules from the bank.
Bait, gear and fish you cannot keep
- Darters may not be possessed or used as bait anywhere. No fish at all, dead or packaged minnows included, may be used as bait on the East and West Forks of the Greenbrier, the Gauley above the Route 55/20 bridge at Curtin with the Cherry, Williams and Cranberry, Camp Creek in Mercer County or Manns and Glade creeks. Unused bait may never be released, and a game fish may be used as bait only if it was caught on rod and line or bought from a licensed dealer.
- Catching your own bait takes a fishing license: a seine no longer than 8 feet or deeper than 4, a throw net of 12 feet radius or less, or minnow traps with openings of an inch or less, tagged and checked every 24 hours. The limit is 50 minnows and 50 crayfish.
- From January 1 through May 31, no more than two lines may be fished in a lake or pond the DNR stocks with trout, and nobody may fish within 200 feet of DNR crews while they stock.
Lakes, ponds and rivers
- Trout are six a day in any combination with no size limit. On catch-and-release trout streams every trout goes back, only artificial flies and lures without scent may be used, lures with more than one hook must be barbless, and fishing is in daylight only. On fly-fishing-only streams only conventional fly tackle is allowed, spinning and spincast reels are not, and every fish is released.
- Delayed harvest streams are catch and release from November 1 through May 15: the Clear Fork of the Guyandotte, Middle Wheeling Creek, Paint Creek, Shavers Fork and the Williams River.
- Black bass are six a day in combination with no statewide size limit, but on the Ohio River every bass under 12 inches goes back. The two South Branch of the Potomac catch-and-release areas in Hardy and Hampshire counties release every bass, and on the New River smallmouth from 14 to 22 inches go back; check whether that slot still covers largemouth and spotted bass, which the Commission has proposed to release from it.
- Walleye are eight a day with no statewide size limit. On the Ohio River and the Kanawha up to Winfield they are two a day of at least 18 inches, and on the New, Greenbrier, Gauley, Elk, Coal and Bluestone and the upper Kanawha every walleye from 20 to 30 inches goes back, two a day with one over 30.
- Muskellunge are one a day of at least 30 inches, 40 on North Bend Lake and 52 on Stonewall Jackson Lake. Striped, hybrid striped and white bass are 30 a day together with no more than four over 15 inches, four of at least 15 inches on Beech Fork, Bluestone, Mount Storm and R.D. Bailey lakes and the lower Kanawha, and none on Rollins Lake. Paddlefish and sturgeon go back at once.
Read on these agency pages: WVDNR: 2026 West Virginia Fishing Regulations Summary (PDF), WVDNR news release, January 7, 2026: licences and stamps expired December 31.
The season at a glance
What these months usually do
Each lake's own seasonal curve, the one the engine scores the lake on: what these dates usually do, modeled rather than measured, and not a forecast for this year.
| Water | Nov 1 | Dec 1 | Jan 1 | Feb 1 | Feb 28 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summersville Lake | 57F | 47F | 41F | 38F | 40F |
Each river's own gauge: its average for these dates across the years it has recorded, measured, and not a forecast for this year.
| Water | Nov 1 | Dec 1 | Jan 1 | Feb 1 | Feb 28 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New River at ThurmondNEW RIVER AT THURMOND, WV, 1990 to 2021 | 56F | 47F | 42F | 40F | 43F |
The moon from November to February
| Month | New moon | Full moon |
|---|---|---|
| November 2026 | Mon, Nov 9 | Tue, Nov 24 |
| December 2026 | Tue, Dec 8 | Wed, Dec 23 |
| January 2027 | Thu, Jan 7 | Fri, Jan 22 |
| February 2027 | Sat, Feb 6 | Sat, Feb 20 |
The U.S. Naval Observatory's dates, on local time.
Daylight in each area from November to February
Worked out for one place in each area, on its own clock.
| Area | Shortest day | Earliest sunset | Latest sunrise |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Allegheny trout countryat Shavers Fork | 9h 28m, Dec 21 | 5:00pm, around Dec 7 | 7:39am, around Jan 5 |
| The New, the Gauley and the Greenbrierat New River at Thurmond | 9h 32m, Dec 21 | 5:06pm, around Dec 7 | 7:42am, around Jan 5 |
| The Ohio and the Kanawhaat Kanawha River at Charleston | 9h 29m, Dec 21 | 5:08pm, around Dec 7 | 7:45am, around Jan 5 |
| The West Virginia lakesat Summersville Lake | 9h 30m, Dec 21 | 5:05pm, around Dec 7 | 7:42am, around Jan 5 |