BirdTrout
Meadow Branch, West Virginia
11.5 mapped river miles, draining 20 square miles, in the Conococheague Opequon basin watershed. No gauge stands in it; the nearest is 9.2 miles away, and it is the only temperature evidence on this page — what WV DEP publishes is the Category B-2 trout water designation below — WV DEP's finding under 47 CSR 2 that a stream sustains a year-round trout population, which is a statement about the fishery rather than about the temperature it runs at.
50°F and colder is cold, through cold-transitional and cool, to warm above 70°F — the same four bands, breaking at 58, 64 and 70°F, that the app paints. Grey is water nobody has measured.
The nearest live reading
The nearest gauge is 9.2 miles away, at Cacapon River Near Great Cacapon, Wv — not a reading of this water, but of what the region is doing today.
Thermal classification
There isn't one. WV DEP publishes no temperature classification for any water in West Virginia. What it publishes is the Category B-2 trout water designation below — WV DEP's finding under 47 CSR 2 that a stream sustains a year-round trout population, which is a statement about the fishery rather than about the temperature it runs at — so this river draws grey on the map above, and grey here means unmeasured rather than warm. The only temperature on this page is the live reading from the nearest USGS gauge, 9.2 miles away; it is a reading of that water, not this one.
Questions about this river
- Meadow Branch fishing report — what it reads right now
- How to get to Meadow Branch — access, parking and public land
- Meadow Branch fishing regulations — season, size and gear by reach
WV DEP classification
WV DEP classifies this water as Trout waters — whole assessment unit. 47 CSR 2 defines trout waters as water that sustains a year-round trout population, and excludes by name water stocked every year that does not hold trout over — so this is a finding about a wild or holdover fishery rather than about the stocking truck. It is not the season and creel rules — those are WVDNR's, change yearly, and live with that agency.
WV DEP water quality standards, 47 CSR 2 →
Access
2 mapped WV DEP access sites within a quarter mile of the water, upstream first: Myers Point (RM 6.4), Sleepy Creek Lake Dam (RM 4.8). 0 walk-in, 2 boat or canoe launches.
Public land on the river
1 unit of public or open-access land touches this river, 22,235 acres in total. Acreage is the whole unit, not the part beside the water.
| Unit | Owner | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| Sleepy Creek Wildlife Management Area | state natural-resources agency | 22,235 |
Species
WV DEP designates this as trout water — Trout waters — whole assessment unit — without naming the species. No fish survey or stocking record for this water is in the files this site reads.
Tributaries and watershed
1 named stream meets this one. Confluence miles are above the mouth; the longest twelve are listed.
- Roaring Run 3.1 mi · RM 7.8
Meadow Branch sits in HUC 8 02070004, the Conococheague Opequon basin, and drains 20 square miles, Strahler order 2 at the mouth. 15 NHD reaches carry the name for 21.7 miles in total — more than the 11.5 miles of drawn mainstem, because NHD counts side channels and braids as their own reaches.
Other water nearby
The closest 6 rivers on this site, straight-line from the middle of this one — not drive time.