West Virginia · Warmwater river · South
New River — New River Gorge
Large warm/coolwater river with public-access reaches.
West Virginia · public-access reaches. This page is what the desk knows about the water itself. What it is doing today — flow, water temperature, weather, and the hazards those produce — is a reading with a date on it, and it lives in Trip Prep.
Plan a trip on New River — New River GorgeStores this page so it opens with no signal. Live flow and weather are never stored.
Who manages it
West Virginia Division of Natural Resources
These links were checked against the live agency site on 2026-09-01. Rules for a water change inside a season, so the agency’s own page on the day you go is the only current answer — this desk does not hold one.
Directory review
Review provenance unavailable
The fleet directory names this water differently, and nothing records which of its records is the New River — New River Gorge this desk plans on, so the desk will not borrow a review date from any of them. Linking them is a review task for the directory’s owner, not a guess for this page. The directory’s record:
The agency links on this page were checked on 2026-09-01; check the agency’s own page the day you go.
How access works here
Ramp-served, bank access at public land
Warmwater rivers are usually worked from a boat. Bank access concentrates at parks, conservation areas and public bridge right-of-way rather than running continuously.
Launch · Ramps are the normal access. Check ramp condition against current stage — a low-water ramp can end above the waterline.
Parking · Parking is at designated access points. A pullout that looks fine is not automatically legal or safe to leave a vehicle in.
West Virginia publishes a hunt-fish map and a stream access point list.
Gauge
A public gauge is mapped
Flow and water temperature for this water are read from USGS site 03185400, New River at Fayette, WV. It is an official public gauge, not a fishing pin: it describes the river at one point, and the reach you stand in may be doing something else.
Species · derived
6 plausible here
Derived from water class (warmwater river) and South range — not a stocking record. Confirm species, seasons and any closures with West Virginia Division of Natural Resources.
Smallmouth bass
67–78°F published preference · handling becomes a conservation problem at 84°F
Largemouth bass
75–86°F published preference · handling becomes a conservation problem at 90°F
Spotted bass
70–82°F published preference · handling becomes a conservation problem at 88°F
Channel catfish
75–85°F published preference · handling becomes a conservation problem at 92°F
Striped bass
65–75°F published preference · handling becomes a conservation problem at 77°F
Common carp
70–84°F published preference · handling becomes a conservation problem at 92°F