The Watauga River is fishing superbly right now, but it's not for rookies. It's 3rd year graduate school classes out there right now. Fish are not in their normal holding lanes. They are in the 2nd and 3rd lanes but stacked up this. We're having good success on smaller midge larva, peacock soft hackles and hare's ear nymph patterns. When the water is up (50% of the time it is this year), the streamers are golden. These fish are attacking the olive or black buggers and the big fish are all over the articulated baitfish patterns in lighter colors. It really is an EXCELLENT time to be fishing the watauga but it's not for the beginner fisherman.