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THE ATLAS · NC · FREESTONE

Davidson River

The best month to fish the Davidson River is February. The month to avoid is January. Right now, in August, it is worth going.

  1. January: 46 out of 100
  2. February: 71 out of 100
  3. March: 71 out of 100
  4. April: 71 out of 100
  5. May: 71 out of 100
  6. June: 71 out of 100
  7. July: 71 out of 100
  8. August: 60 out of 100
  9. September: 71 out of 100
  10. October: 71 out of 100
  11. November: 71 out of 100
  12. December: 71 out of 100
AUGUST: GO, WITH CAVEATS60/100

This gauge does not report water temperature, so the check that would rule out water too warm to fight a fish in cannot run for this month. Treat the score as flow and season only, and ask a local shop about temperature before you travel in warm weather.

WHERE IT IS
LOADING THE MAP…

GAUGE 03441000 · COLOURED BY AUGUST

THE NUMBERS

Month by month

MONTHTYPICAL FLOWRANGE (P20–P80)WATERAIR HIGHRAINSCORE
January180 cfs101–28346
February148 cfs101–26371
March157 cfs121–21071
April154 cfs130–21971
May128 cfs100–21671
June92 cfs72–12171
July76 cfs51–11171
AugustNOW70 cfs48–14360
September88 cfs50–14371
October96 cfs52–16971
November93 cfs51–13471
December140 cfs90–18971
WHERE THESE NUMBERS COME FROM

Flow and water temperature are medians of the monthly means reported by USGS gauge 03441000 over 2006-2025. Air temperature and precipitation are ten-year normals from Open-Meteo at this river’s gauge coordinates.

The window is deliberate. USGS’s own full-record statistics for a dammed river reach back before the dam — at Lees Ferry, to 1922, forty-one years before Glen Canyon closed — and describe a river that no longer exists.

Flow is scored against this river’s own fishable band of 92148 cfs. There is no universal band: 8,000 cfs is low water on a big tailwater and a flood on a spring creek.

Water temperature is a ceiling rather than a weight. Above about 68°F a trout that is fought and released frequently dies anyway, so no month above that line is scored as worth booking, however good its flow.

IF THIS MONTH IS WRONG

The Davidson River is at its best in February, flows near 148 cfs.

← RIVERS GOING WELL IN AUGUST

Regulations, licences and access change without notice and are not reproduced here as fact — check the state agency before you travel. A median describes twenty years; it does not forecast your week. Source: U.S. Geological Survey, National Water Information System.