California fishing reports
588 reports for California — what's biting, water temps, and where to focus.
Eastern Sierra trout shift to small bugs as fall settles in
The Truckee River is sliding into fall conditions, per Reno Fly Shop's late-September on-the-water report: cooling water has trout keyed on small bugs, with Blue-Winged Olives, midges, and the tail end of the caddis hatch doing the work. Guide Charlie Robinton calls it a good stretch to be on the water, pointing to small profiles like a Pullover BWO, Zebra Midge, or Griffith's Gnat. Nearby, Reno Fly Shop's Heenan Lake season primer flags a quieter, lightly pressured option off Highway 89 near Markleeville, restocked annually once spawning work wraps up — a lower-traffic alternative while the Truckee corridor gets the fall attention.
Northern California saltwater settles into its fall cooldown
NOAA CO-OPS station 9416841 is reading 56.8°F this week, marking the fall cooldown now settling into Northern California's coastal waters. The moon sits in a waning crescent, trending toward new moon and the bigger tidal swings that phase typically brings to SF Bay and Bodega.
Delta anglers eye tidal swings as fall transition sets in
Water temperatures across the central Delta are holding at 72°F this week, per USGS gauges 381126121554801 and 381142122015801. A gauge farther upstream, 11447650, shows the Sacramento system still feeding in at a steady 9,510 cfs and a cooler 67°F. Meanwhile gauge 11455420 logged a sharp negative flow reading of roughly 65,600 cfs, a clear tidal reversal that confirms current direction in that stretch is running on the tide cycle rather than river discharge.
Sacramento-Delta water holds in the upper 60s as fall transition sets in
USGS gauges across the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta are reading in the upper 60s this week: 69°F at gauge 11446980, 68°F at gauge 11446700, and 67°F at gauge 11447650, all recorded this afternoon. Flow at 11447650 is running 9,510 cfs, the only flow reading currently reported among the three stations. That spread of temperatures marks the Delta squarely in its fall cooling slide, with surface readings easing off summer highs but still warm enough to keep fish feeding actively before the deeper chill of late autumn arrives.
Fall yellowtail run pushes north as Central Coast water cools
Central Coast water is holding in its typical early-fall range: Monterey's NOAA station reads 64.4°F this morning while Port San Luis is running warmer at 67.1°F, a gap consistent with this time of year as upwelling eases. Both stations show an afternoon low tide today, 3:49 PM at Monterey and 3:22 PM at Port San Luis. Further down the coast, Western Outdoor News — Saltwater reports a Point Loma half-day boat crushing a strong yellowtail bite on a recent crew trip, a sign the fall yellowtail push is active along the California coast.
Yellowtail Bite Holds for the SoCal Fleet Out of Point Loma
San Diego's NOAA CO-OPS station 9410170 reads 77.5°F this morning, while the La Jolla gauge at station 9410230 sits noticeably cooler at 70.7°F, a reminder that water temperature in the Bight can swing several degrees over a short stretch of coastline. The clearest signal from the fleet this week comes from Western Outdoor News — Saltwater: the half-day boat Daily Double, running out of Point Loma Sportfishing, rewarded its crew with a trip built around yellowtail after "crushing the yellowtail" on a recent run. That matches the yellowtail activity anglers have leaned on through the Bight this fall, and with warm water still holding at the southern station, there's little reason to expect that bite to shut off in the next few days.
Fall transition tides take hold along the Sonoma coast
Arena Cove's tide station read 56.5°F at 5:06 AM Tuesday, holding in the typical range for the Sonoma coast this time of year. The morning tide builds toward a high near 10:12 AM PDT before falling to a 4:21 PM low, with a second station to the north posting its own high around 11:01 AM, a tide pattern anglers working the Bay and Bodega grounds should plan around this week.
Delta tides push back as fall water cooling sets in
Mid-channel Delta temperatures are holding in the low 70s, with USGS gauge 381126121554801 reading 72°F and gauge 381142122015801 at 71°F, while the Sacramento River gauge at Freeport (USGS 11447650) runs several degrees cooler at 67°F on a solid 7,870 cfs outflow. The standout reading is gauge 11455420, logging a flow of roughly -31,500 cfs — a strong negative value that signals an incoming tide overpowering river outflow and pushing water back upstream through the lower Delta channels. That kind of tidal reversal is normal for this stretch of water and matters more for timing a trip than the water temperature does right now.
Sacramento-Delta Settles Into Its Fall Water Pattern
Sacramento-Delta water temperatures are holding in the mid-60s this week. USGS gauge 11447650 logged 67°F with flow at 7,870 cfs, while gauge 11446980 read 67°F and gauge 11446700 read 65°F, all taken overnight on October 7-8. That spread is typical for the system easing out of summer highs, with flow still running at a steady base-level volume rather than a post-storm bump.
Yellowtail still biting south as Central Coast settles into fall pattern
Water across our two Central Coast tide stations is holding in the mid-60s this morning, 65.1°F and 67.8°F, a typical reading as the region eases into its fall pattern. South along the coast, Western Outdoor News — Saltwater reports a San Diego-area crew trip out of Point Loma Sportfishing is still crushing yellowtail, a sign the SoCal yellowtail run remains active even as water temperatures ease. Central Coast anglers watching that trend should expect any late-season yellowtail push to filter north behind it, typically with a lag of days to weeks rather than showing up all at once.
Yellowtail Keep Firing Off San Diego as Fall Warmth Holds
San Diego's yellowtail bite is still paying off heading into the second week of October. Western Outdoor News — Saltwater reports the half-day boat Daily Double, running out of Point Loma Sportfishing, rewarded its crew with a trip framed by the captain as payback for "another great season" after the boat kept crushing yellowtail on the water. That kind of reward trip, rather than a one-off lucky stop, points to a bite that has stayed consistent through the stretch rather than a single hot afternoon. The water backs up the warm read: NOAA CO-OPS station 9410170 logged 78.3°F and station 9410230 came in at 72.9°F, a healthy spread that keeps bait pushed up and game fish feeding through the Bight this week.
SF Bay and Bodega waters ease into the fall cool-down
NOAA's Point Reyes-area station (9416841) logged a water temperature of 56.5°F this afternoon, a seasonal reading that fits the early-October slide toward Northern California's cooler fall water. That drop typically pulls baitfish and the predators following them tighter to structure and deeper water as daylight shortens, a shift anglers along the SF Bay and Bodega stretch should plan around rather than fish through.