Fishing reports
15828 reports across all 50 states — current conditions and what's biting.
Colorado tailwaters carry the load as drought lingers
Colorado's dam-managed tailwaters remain the play as the state's drought drags into the second half of September. Pat Dorsey Fly Fishing points anglers toward tailraces below reservoirs while freestone rivers struggle, noting many of those stretches are still fishing well despite the conditions. Cutthroat Anglers, which guides the South Platte headwaters around Summit County, is urging anglers to carry a thermometer and back off once water temperatures climb into territory that stresses trout. Colorado Trout Hunters adds that South Platte tailwater stretches, managed for cooler downstream releases, continue to outfish the freestones this season.
Nanticoke Crappie Bite Turns On With Fall Shift
Fall is settling into Delaware's freshwater fisheries, and the Nanticoke River is leading the way. Smith Bait and Tackle in Leipsic, cited in The Fisherman — NJ/DE Freshwater, reports anglers working the Nanticoke are coming home with stringers of nice crappie, taken on twister jigs fished under floats, the clearest sign yet that the fall transition has fish grouping up and feeding. The same shop report also noted largemouth bass turning on with minnows at other Delaware ponds, another marker that the broader seasonal shift is underway statewide.
Snake River steelhead run reported at record lows this fall
Hatch Magazine reports that this year's Columbia and Snake River steelhead run is tracking as the smallest ever recorded, with only about 52,000 fish tallied above Bonneville Dam since counting began July 1. That's the number anglers working the Snake River and South Fork stretches in Idaho need to know this week: fewer fish are moving through than in a typical fall, so plan around patience and cover water methodically rather than expecting steady action.
Early fall transition stirs bass and crappie on Eufaula, Red River
Late September marks the start of the fall transition across eastern Oklahoma's reservoir systems, the seasonal window anglers watch for on Lake Eufaula and the Red River. As surface layers begin cooling, Largemouth Bass shift from summer offshore structure toward baitfish schools in open water and along creek arms, a pattern Tactical Bassin details in its current fall-transition breakdown — favoring jerkbaits and moving baits over slower presentations as fish key on shad.
Delta bass fishing enters the early fall transition
The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is sliding into its early fall window, the stretch when summer's heat starts to break and largemouth bass begin repositioning around baitfish rather than holding deep on summer structure. No live buoy, gauge, or tide readings came back for the Delta this cycle, and none of this week's angler intel reported directly from the system, so this update leans on the seasonal pattern rather than a fresh bite report.
Columbia steelhead run hits historic low as fall sets in
This year's Columbia River steelhead run is shaping up to be the smallest ever recorded, per Hatch Magazine. Fish counts above Bonneville Dam have totaled just over 52,000 since tallying began July 1, the worst return since counting started at the dam. For anglers working the Columbia this week, that means a genuinely slow season, with far fewer fish moving through than a typical fall run and less consistent action to plan around.
Yellowtail Shots Continue as Bonito Bite Blankets the SoCal Bight
Water in the LA Bight is holding at 77°F at NOAA CO-OPS station 9410170, with Santa Monica Bay slightly cooler at 73.8°F on station 9410230, both readings logged this afternoon. Western Outdoor News — Saltwater reports the bonito bite is on from Point Conception to Point Loma, with anglers picking up shots at yellowtail along the same stretch as the season shifts from summer crowds toward fall. The warmer LA Bight reading versus the cooler Santa Monica side hints at the kind of temperature break bait and yellowtail tend to stack along.
Fall transition takes hold as Lake Superior trout stay stubborn
Minnesota's North Shore continues its slow-bite stretch on Lake Superior, with anglers reporting fairly slow fishing for 18-29 inch Lake Trout in the latest MN DNR Lake Superior Summer Fishing report, continuing a pattern that has held through the past several weeks near Duluth and Two Harbors. On the state's inland waters, Fishing the Midwest notes anglers are blending traditional walleye tactics like jigging live bait and pulling crankbaits with newer Forward-Facing Sonar approaches as the calendar turns toward fall. Bass anglers should take note too: Tactical Bassin's early-fall coverage points to largemouth schooling up and keying on baitfish as the transition sets in, a pattern echoed for crappie by Wired 2 Fish, which describes fish relocating as water cools this time of year.
WI Sturgeon Season Opens as Fall Bite Transition Begins
Wisconsin's hook-and-line lake sturgeon season opened Sept. 5 and runs through Sept. 30 on eligible waters, per the WI DNR — anglers need the general 2026 license plus a valid sturgeon tag, and eligible waters vary, so check DNR regs before targeting one. That opener lands right as the broader fishery tips into fall transition: per Fishing the Midwest, weeds still holding green growth are concentrating baitfish and the predators feeding on them, while thinning beds push fish toward deeper adjacent cover. Wired 2 Fish notes crappie are following the same baitfish shift, sliding off summer haunts toward staging structure as surface temperatures ease.
Grand River mouth eases into early fall transition
Lake Michigan and the Grand River mouth are settling into the early fall transition, the seasonal shift when cooling surface water starts pushing baitfish — and the gamefish following them — off summer patterns. The MI DNR's Weekly Fishing Report reminds anglers that conditions on the Great Lakes can change daily, even hourly, with wind and rain, so picking a stable weather window matters more than usual this time of year.
Montana hoot-owl limits ease as rivers cool into fall
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks lifted hoot-owl fishing restrictions on the Smith and Sun Rivers on Aug. 28 as water temperatures cooled, then followed with similar relief on streams across western and southwest Montana (including the upper Clark Fork, the lower Bitterroot, and Silver Bow Creek), per MT FWP Fishing News. That's the clearest sign yet that Montana's rivers are sliding out of the summer heat-stress window that forced those afternoon closures in the first place. September also opens Bear Aware Month statewide, per the same feed, worth keeping in mind for anyone wading or floating early or late in the day.
Door County, Sheboygan Settle Into the Fall Feeding Shift
Lake Michigan's Door County and Sheboygan waters are sliding into the fall transition, with cooling surface temperatures pushing baitfish toward structure and setting up the shoreline patterns anglers lean on through October. Per the WI DNR's Lake Michigan Fishing Report, 2024 was a standout year for the lake's steelhead run, a sign of the strength this fishery carries into fall.
Florida Keys Bite Holds Onto Summer Momentum Into Fall
NOAA CO-OPS readings this morning put water at 86.9°F at station 8724580 and 86.5°F at station 8723970, full summer warmth still holding through the Keys as September closes out. Charter and shop reports back that up. ALL IN Key West called a recent Gulf-side trip "bananas," logging steady reef and bottom action mixed with strong offshore activity, and an earlier report from the same captain noted having to run extra lead to hold bottom against unusually strong current on the reef edge. Bud n' Mary's early-summer report described abundant bait and gamefish spread from the shallow flats out to the Gulf Stream, the kind of pattern that typically fades by now but is clearly still running. Coastal Angler Magazine's current Keys coverage centers on strong blue-water action offshore, another read on a warm-season bite that hasn't broken yet even as the calendar turns toward fall.
Snook lock into their fall pattern in the Lower Laguna Madre
Water in the Lower Laguna Madre is running warm at 87.3°F and 88.9°F at NOAA CO-OPS stations 8775237 and 8779770, still holding a late-summer profile heading into the final days before the equinox. Snook are the region's headline species right now: Texas Fish & Game Magazine calls the Lower Laguna Madre the unquestioned center of Texas snook fishing, and Sport Fishing Mag reports Gulf snook feeding up as fall approaches, with aggressive fish taking swimbaits like Z-Man's Mulletron or Diezel MinnowZ.
Texas upper coast snook bite building as fall transition nears
Water temps are still running summer-warm across the upper coast, 87.3 to 89.6°F this morning at the Galveston-area and Corpus-area CO-OPS stations, holding well above where late-September usually sits. Texas Fish & Game Magazine's look at the upper coast points out that Lower Laguna Madre gets most of the attention for snook, but the species pushes north along the Texas coast too, and Sport Fishing Mag reports Gulf snook are already feeding up as days shorten ahead of their move to winter holding water, with swimbaits like the Z-Man Mulletron and Diezel MinnowZ working on aggressive fish. Tides are rolling through an overnight high, peaking between roughly 2:32 and 4:47 a.m. CDT across the three stations, into an evening low near 6:27 to 6:51 p.m., setting up a falling tide through the afternoon.
Late-Summer Warmth Lingers in Mississippi Sound as Fall Approaches
Mississippi Sound is still running warm for late September. NOAA CO-OPS station 8747437 logged 87.1°F overnight into Monday, and station 8741533 near the eastern side of the Sound read a close 86.4°F on the same tide cycle. Both readings came from the same early-morning window, a fair sign the whole Sound is holding a consistent temperature rather than showing a patchy warm-cool split. That's late-summer water for a month usually associated with the season's first real cool-down. It lines up with this week's broader Sound news: the Mississippi Advisory Commission on Marine Resources met September 15 in D'Iberville to review the state's marine-resource program, alongside an open bid for oyster spat-on-cultch deployment meant to rebuild reef structure ahead of fall. Water this warm keeps baitfish and forage activity going later into the year than a typical calendar cool-down would suggest, which tracks with what's normal for this part of the northern Gulf coast in late September.
Gulf Coast snook push into fall feeding mode
Gulf water held steady at 85 to 86°F at our two CO-OPS stations early this morning, still summer-warm for the third week of September. That lingering heat lines up with what Sport Fishing Mag is reporting for the Gulf snook fishery right now: fish are feeding up hard as the fall transition gets underway, pushing toward their winter holding areas, with swimbaits like the Z-Man Mulletron and Diezel MinnowZ producing well as the bite turns aggressive. Separately, Florida Sea Grant flagged a rare rust tide algae detection in Charlotte Harbor this week — a different organism than red tide, but worth knowing if you're working that stretch of coast, since researchers are still tracking how far it has spread. Tide movement is strong through the pre-dawn hours: one station shows a high near 2 AM tapering to a low by 6 AM, while the other runs low near 3:45 AM and builds to a high by 9:39 AM, so there's real current working through the early morning window.
Louisiana Delta Gets a Boost as State Launches First Redfish Restocking
Water temperature is holding at 86.4°F this morning at both the Grand Isle (NOAA CO-OPS station 8761724) and Mississippi Delta (station 8760922) readings, still deep in late-summer range for the Gulf Coast & Delta. The bigger news this week comes from Louisiana Sportsman — Fishing: LDWF, CCA Louisiana and RFRI released more than 150,000 hatchery-raised redfish into Louisiana waters, the state's first redfish restocking effort. It's a stock-building move rather than a bite report, but it puts redfish squarely at the center of this fishery's outlook.
Shoreline stripers keep firing along the Santa Cruz coast
Water temperatures are running cool across our two NorCal tide stations, 55.2°F and 52.3°F, consistent with the seasonal upwelling pattern along this stretch of coast. Western Outdoor News — Saltwater reports shoreline striped bass action holding near Santa Cruz this week, with anglers working the surf behind moving bait schools and diving birds to connect with fish close to the beach. Allen Bushnell's report called nearshore fishing very good overall, with the striper bite standing out as the week's most notable Northern California coastal action.
Building tides sharpen timing windows on the Oregon Coast
NOAA's South Beach station puts the open Oregon Coast water at 56.7°F this morning, while the Astoria gauge near the Columbia River bar reads a warmer 62.1°F, where estuary flow mixes into the tide. That split is typical for this time of year, as the open coast cools ahead of the river-mouth water. Low tide at South Beach falls near 3:22 a.m. local, building through the morning to a high around 10:25 a.m.; at Astoria the low sits near 4:30 a.m. with the high following around 11:10 a.m.
Gulf snook and albies mark the fall turn in Mobile Bay
Gulf water held at 87.4°F this morning at NOAA CO-OPS stations 8735180 and 8736897, still summer-warm as the third week of September wraps up. That reading sits against a real fall shift building along the coast: Sport Fishing Mag reports Gulf snook are starting to migrate toward their winter holding areas as the days shorten, with swimbaits like the Mulletron and Diezel MinnowZ working on aggressive fish. The same outlet's fall migration piece flags false albacore beginning to show on the surface as the seasonal push gets underway, a pattern worth watching as it extends west along the Gulf. On the Pensacola Fishing Forum, one angler working the back side of Blacks Island reported heavy bait schools and credited a wetter August-into-September stretch with keeping red tide from taking hold, welcome water-quality news for the broader Gulf coast, though it comes from a single unconfirmed post rather than a shop or agency report.
Albies push through the Sound and Montauk as fall run builds
False albacore are showing up on both ends of the run this week: On The Water's Long Island report has them pushing west through Long Island Sound and filling in off Montauk as the fall migration gathers pace. Big fluke are moving too, working their way out of the South Shore inlets and out of Western Sound backwaters on the same tide cycle, an exit that has kept the bite lively even as numbers thin toward the season's close. Water is holding near 70°F off Montauk (NOAA station 8510560) and closer to 73°F in western Long Island Sound at Kings Point (station 8516945), still warm enough to keep both species active through the week. Striped bass are the outlier: Saltwater Edge's latest forecast, filed from Rhode Island, describes the striper bite as lackluster for most anglers right now, with improvement expected once chilly nights and a northerly wind set up, the same cooling pattern due to work its way down toward Long Island.
Fall Walleye and Lake Trout Bite Heats Up on NY's Great Lakes
Walleye and lake trout continue to deliver across New York's Great Lakes waters as the fall transition sets in. Brookdog Fishing Co., running out of Buffalo and Niagara, reports the walleye bite has stayed strong for five consecutive weeks and lake trout action out of Barcelona has been especially good, with deep-water jigging producing several client firsts this month. Smallmouth bass are also picking up as September wears on, per the same reports. Statewide, the NY DEC's September 18 Fishing Line issue flags the fall-run push into Lake Ontario tributaries and confirms a temporary closure on the Salmon River's Lower Fly Fishing Section, worth noting for anyone routing that direction. The same cooling-water cues moving Great Lakes gamefish onto structure and bait are on the same calendar for Hudson Valley and Finger Lakes waters this time of year.
Snook and Redfish Keep Sarasota Bay Bite Rolling as Fall Nears
Water temperatures are holding in the mid-to-upper 80s at both Tampa Bay-area tide stations this morning, 87.1°F and 85.8°F, and the inshore bite matches. Capt. Kelly Kurtz, fishing out of CB's Saltwater Outfitters on Siesta Key, reports an active bite in Sarasota Bay for snook, redfish, and spotted seatrout. Capt. Chuck Cress, also with CB's, put clients on several redfish and small snook this week working a rising tide with a popping cork and live shrimp. Snook is the headline species right now: Capt. Rick Grassett's September forecast for CB's notes the fishing should stay good through the month, with fish still holding in the surf and around ICW docks and bridges close to passes as the heaviest summer heat eases. Separately, Florida Sea Grant flagged a rare detection of the alga Margalefidinium polykrikoides, a 'rust tide' species distinct from red tide, in Charlotte Harbor, worth watching if you're fishing that far south this week.