West Branch Clarion River

Type
Freestone river, Pennsylvania (East)
Designation
Catch and release · Fly-fishing only
USGS gauges
1 live
Guides
None listed
Shops
None listed

Today on the West Branch Clarion River

Reading the gauge…

Regulations & access Guides & shops

The West Branch Clarion River is a freestone river in Pennsylvania, listed as Catch and release by Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission.

More about the West Branch Clarion River

1 USGS gauge on the water reports flow.

Updated · Sources: Catch-and-Release Fly-Fishing Only, USGS Water Data

Representative photograph of similar water; not a photograph of this place.
Representative photograph, not this water.
Where it is

West Branch Clarion River is a freestone river in Pennsylvania.

Flow now at the gauge
Reading the gauges…

Follow West Branch Clarion River for flow alerts

Pick one of its USGS gauges and hear from us when the flow moves into or out of its usual range for the date, or crosses a flow you set. We check the public USGS reading every 2 hours and email only when it crosses, at most once every 6 hours. Flow alone is not a fishing forecast or a safety call.

Follow this water

Signed in: one step. Otherwise we email a confirmation link first. Every alert has one-click links to stop it.

Where to fish

About this

Start from the agency's public access map. Nothing on this page grants or implies access: check the agency map, posted signs and landowner permission before you fish.

Nothing on this page grants or implies access.

West Branch Clarion River on the map

About this

Gauges, shops and guides within 40 miles

Map of West Branch Clarion River: gauges, shops and guides

Map of West Branch Clarion River with 1 USGS gauge.

Restrooms near West Branch Clarion River

Restrooms near West Branch Clarion River

Restrooms within 2 miles of West Branch Clarion River in a straight line, nearest first, with what anglers found when they went. The map says a restroom is there, not whether it is clean or open today.

No restroom mapped within 2 mi yet — add one you know.

Campgrounds, fishing access sites and boat ramps often have one that isn't on the map yet.

Restroom locations and map details: © OpenStreetMap contributors, Open Database License, read Oct 24, 2026. Ratings, answers and photos are members' own; who shared them is never shown, and every photo is reviewed before it appears. Visits older than 18 months no longer count. Distances are straight-line miles, not driving. Nothing here grants access to private land. Community guidelines.

More water near West Branch Clarion River

  • The Allegheny River curving through wooded hills in Venango CountyDelayed HarvestRepresentative photo · not East Branch Clarion River
    Photo credit

    The Allegheny River in Venango County, Pennsylvania. Photo: Ken Lund from Reno, Nevada, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not East Branch Clarion River.

    East Branch Clarion River

    Pennsylvania · about 7 mi

  • Aerial view of the town of Tyrone in a green valley between forested ridgesDelayed HarvestRepresentative photo · not Big Mill Creek
    Photo credit

    Tyrone, Pennsylvania, from the air: Bald Eagle Creek meets the Little Juniata River in the town (the creek is not visible at this distance). Photo: Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Big Mill Creek.

    Big Mill Creek

    Pennsylvania · about 8 mi

  • Spring Creek flowing through Talleyrand Park in Bellefonte, with willows and a stone wall on the bankDelayed HarvestRepresentative photo · not Kinzua Creek
    Photo credit

    Spring Creek in Talleyrand Park, Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. Photo: Nicholas A. Tonelli, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Kinzua Creek.

    Kinzua Creek

    Pennsylvania · about 13 mi

  • Fishing Creek in Clinton County, a broad, calm creek between trees with a hill behindCatch and releaseRepresentative photo · not Marvin Creek
    Photo credit

    Fishing Creek from PA Route 150, Clinton County, Pennsylvania. Photo: Ruhrfisch, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Marvin Creek.

    Marvin Creek

    Pennsylvania · about 14 mi

    Brook trout

  • Black-and-white view of the Little Juniata River flowing under a steel truss bridge between wooded banksTrophy / quality trout waterRepresentative photo · not East Branch Tunungwant Creek
    Photo credit

    The Little Juniata River at the 1898 Birmingham Bridge, near Birmingham, Pennsylvania (black-and-white survey photograph). Photo: Jet Lowe, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Not East Branch Tunungwant Creek.

    East Branch Tunungwant Creek

    Pennsylvania · about 21 mi

    Brown trout

  • Sunrise through bare trees over a misty, still pool on Penns CreekClass A Wild TroutRepresentative photo · not Waldy Run
    Photo credit

    Sunrise on Penns Creek, Union County, Pennsylvania. Photo: WiiWillieWiki, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Waldy Run.

    Waldy Run

    Pennsylvania · about 21 mi

    Brook trout

Sources Pennsylvania where to fish mapsOverture Maps places (guide map points)

Where the map point comes from

Position: the USGS gauge West Branch Clarion River at Wilcox, PA.

The map shows USGS gauges (tap one for its flow reading), and shops and guides within 40 miles that publish a street address on their own website. Everyone else is in the lists below.

Regulations

About this

Seasons, limits, special regulations and closures for each reach are on the agency pages below. Read them before you go.

2 official designations

Each comes from the agency's own published list; where the list names a reach it is quoted. A designation applies to the listed reach, not necessarily the whole water.

The water on the map

About this

Measured from the NHDPlus High Resolution (flowlines and waterbodies) (U.S. Geological Survey, read 2026-11-04) for this water’s own mapped feature. Rounded figures; they describe the channel, not today’s conditions.

Length
20.9 mi (19.9 in PA)
Drains
93.5 sq mi
Drop
804 ft · 38.5 ft/mi
Flows into
Clarion River
Watershed
Clarion

Guides and shops near West Branch Clarion River

About this

Listings marked Unclaimed are built from open map records and the business's own website: confirm licensing, rates, dates and hours directly.

Guides

No guide within 40 miles yet.

Shops nearby

No shop nearby yet.

How these are chosen

Guides whose own website names this water come first, nearest first. Distances are straight-line.

Shops: fly shops first. A distance is shown when the shop’s website gives its location (within 60 miles); otherwise the shop is in one of the towns within 25 miles of the water.

Guide and shop listings come from the Legendary directories.

Species and hatches

About this

The hatch and season chart for this water's region.

When the bugs come off

Regional hatch months: Catskills and the Northeast
About this chart

8 hatches charted for the region, not measured on this water. From Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission.

  1. January: no charted hatch
  2. February: no charted hatch
  3. March: no charted hatch
  4. April: 3 charted hatches
  5. May: 2 charted hatches
  6. June: 1 charted hatch
  7. July: 1 charted hatch
  8. August: 1 charted hatch
  9. September: 2 charted hatches
  10. October: 1 charted hatch
  11. November: no charted hatch
  12. December: no charted hatch

Blue Quill (April) · Hendrickson (April) · Quill Gordon (April) · Green drake (May) · Mayflies (best hatches) (May) · Mayflies, stoneflies and caddisflies (June to September) · and 2 more on the chart

Plan a trip here

About this

None of our destination hubs is within 40 miles in a straight line. The trip planner builds a trip around the water itself: the guides and shops listed within 40 miles of it, its gauges and its nearest towns and airports.

No hub within 40 miles

Gear checklist

About this

A practical checklist for fly fishing small mountain trout streams: a short 3–4 weight rod, light line, a few buoyant dries and simple wet-wading gear, with estimated prices and where to buy.

An angler stands on a boulder at the edge of a fast forest stream and fishes the run

Small mountain streams

7′6″–8′6″ rod, 3–4 weight, floating line · Brook, cutthroat, rainbow and brown trout

Open the checklist
Videos for this water (5)

Watch: reading a trout stream

About this

Seams, shelves and soft water, shown on real rivers.

Public YouTube videos from established channels, chosen by us to support this page. Not sponsored; the creators are not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear.

  • How I Learned to Read Water (Fly Fishing)Embedded from YouTube · Mad River Outfitters · not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear. Watch on YouTube
  • How To Read The Water with Tom RosenbauerEmbedded from YouTube · The New Fly Fisher · not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear. Watch on YouTube
  • Reading the Water to Successfully Locate TroutEmbedded from YouTube · Orvis Guide to Fly Fishing · not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear. Watch on YouTube

Not sponsored All videos on reading water

Watch: nymphing basics

About this

Indicator rigs, depth and detecting the take.

Public YouTube videos from established channels, chosen by us to support this page. Not sponsored; the creators are not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear.

  • 90° Nymph RigEmbedded from YouTube · Huge Fly Fisherman · not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear. Watch on YouTube
  • Casting with an Indicator & Better Nymphing TechniquesEmbedded from YouTube · The New Fly Fisher · not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear. Watch on YouTube

Not sponsored All videos on nymphing

Fish Tales

About this

Trip stories anglers chose to share publicly and tagged with West Branch Clarion River.

No stories from here yet.

Sources for this page

Not a statement of access, fish presence or conditions.

Something wrong?

All 11 sources and dates

A water page organises discovery. It does not assert public access, legal access, current fish presence, guide availability or fishing conditions.

Flows, gauge statistics and flood stages come from USGS and the National Weather Service when the page is shown. Regulations, stocking, species and season statements link to the agency that publishes them; this page copies only the species names and the quoted sentences. Guide and shop listings come from the Legendary directories. Position: the USGS gauge West Branch Clarion River at Wilcox, PA. Water type is our own classification.