Freestone · Acidic Sandstone · West Virginia, US

Cranberry River

Wide view of the Cranberry River flowing through a forested valley in West Virginia's Monongahela National Forest

Deep in the Monongahela backcountry — a gated, walk-in freestone with native brookies in the Dogway Fork and stocked trout in the main river, a stream that's been clawed back from acid rain by years of liming.

Prime · Brook Trout
Blue Winged Olive · 16-20
Primelive now
About as good as it gets
River steady at a fishable height. On the feed top to bottom — start on the rises with a dry, drop a nymph if they stay down.
90% confidence
What moved it
  • Level1.16 mLast reading 4h ago
  • Water temp10.0°C
  • ClarityClear
Today's fly
Blue Winged Olive
Blue Winged Olive16-20
High-confidence seasonal pick
Conditions on the water
Live gauge
Level
Steady
1.16 m
Last reading 4h ago
Water temp10.0°C
ClarityClear
Weather2°C
WindNE 12 km/h
Pressure1032 hPa
Rain · recent11.5 mm
Rain · ahead0.0 mm

Live readings only. Trends shown where the gauge supports them.

Water temperature for Brook Trout
Ideal
10.0°Cideal 10–16°C
0°14°28°
How to fish it · for Brook Trout
When
Nymphing can work through most of the day.
Where
Cover mixed depths.
Method
Start with tight-line nymphs and adjust if fish rise or drift higher.
Kit
9 ft #4 rod, floating line, 12 ft tapered leader to 4–5 lb fluoro tippet.
Why this works
Excellent — conditions well-balanced, with water temperature particularly in your favour.
Likely species
Hatch timeline · todayPeak at 10am

Hatch predictions

Today's headline hatch shown — see all 5 active hatches hour by hour as a supporter.

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Beyond the hatch · worth watchingambient prey(1)

Hatch predictions

Supporters see what else is on the menu.

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Evidence
Records-basedModerate confidence

Based on species-occurrence records, not local invertebrate surveys.

Through the year
0–3 scale · October highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Sculpin (North America)Hatch
2
3
2
Brown DunHatch
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
Early Black StoneflyHatch
2
3
2
Eastern Golden StoneHatch
2
2

Numbers are intensity 0 (none) to 3 (peak) — a guide, not a guarantee.

Ranked for today
Brook Trout fly box
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Gallery · 2
  1. Wide view of the Cranberry River flowing through a forested valley in West Virginia's Monongahela National Forest
    The Cranberry River from a bridge near Big Rock Campground, Monongahela National Forest
  2. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
About this water

Deep in the Monongahela backcountry — a gated, walk-in freestone with native brookies in the Dogway Fork and stocked trout in the main river, a stream that's been clawed back from acid rain by years of liming. Remote, quiet, and worth the legs.

  • Acidic sandstone
Conservation note

Native brookies (notably the Dogway Fork) alongside stocked trout in the main river; acid-deposition history (liming restoration). brook_trout (char comfort-overlay), rainbow_trout and brown_trout all score post-seed; native brookies handled conservation-first.

Water quality · US Clean Water Act
  • Aquatic life: Impaired
What this classification means

EPA ATTAINS assessment unit 'Cranberry River' (WV-KG-103_04), 2022 Integrated Report. Aquatic Life use: Not Supporting. Listed impairment causes: Metals Other Than Mercury. This is a Clean Water Act assessment-unit classification (the US analogue of WFD), not a live reading.

Status is for the Clean Water Act assessment unit covering this reach.

EPA ATTAINS (Clean Water Act) · WV-KG-103_04

The full read · show the working · for Brook Trout · confidence 90%
How the 85 is built — score × weight = contribution
Temperature100 × 28%28.0
Flow80 × 22%17.6
Clarity95 × 18%17.1
Feeding Time70 × 13%9.1
Pressure75 × 7%5.3
Insect activity67 × 12%8.0
Conditions total= 85
Can you trust it?
Water temperaturelive gauge readinggauge
Level / flowon-river gaugeobserved
Prey activitymodelled from regional profilemodelled
Related guides
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