Fishing reports
15021 reports across all 50 states — current conditions and what's biting.
North Coast tides turn early as fall cool-down takes hold
Water temperature at NOAA CO-OPS station 9416841 read 54.3°F overnight, a seasonal cue that the San Francisco Bay and Bodega Bay stretch of the North Coast is sliding toward its fall norms. Both area tide stations are running the same rhythm this week: high water near 5:30am easing into a mid-morning low around 9:06am at station 9416841 and 9:52am at station 9418767. That early-high, late-morning-low swing sets up a clean window from first light into mid-morning for anyone working current or structure before the tide goes slack.
Fall mullet run has Snook, Tarpon stacked up on FL's Atlantic Coast
Water temps are holding firm along Florida's Atlantic Coast, with NOAA CO-OPS station 8722670 reading 84°F and station 8720218 at 82°F as of early this morning. Per Snook Nook in Stuart, the fall mullet run has inshore waters alive with Snook and Tarpon stacking up on the bait schools, alongside jacks and sharks working the same pods. The shop notes the recent full moon and higher king tides slowed things late in the month, but anglers fishing the early morning and evening windows kept finding the better bite.
Delaware Bay stripers and tog turn on as nor'easter clears
NOAA CO-OPS station 8537121 recorded 67.8°F overnight, with the next high at 2:28 a.m. and the next low at 8:51 a.m. local. The Fisherman — Southern NJ reports Delaware Bay's sod banks lit up with striped bass on flood tide, best on naked bucktails and Mag Darters, with fish running 16 to 29 inches and the occasional striper past 31. The same report notes a strong tautog bite at the bay's bridges and lighthouses on sandfleas and green crabs, plus black sea bass stacked on the wrecks and reefs heading into that season. After a washout week from the nor'easter, the report says peanut bunker, mullet and spearing are holding thick in the back bays, setting up a hard striper push now that the storm has cleared. The Fisherman — NJ/DE Surf adds that blackfish, weakfish, stripers and bluefish all kept Cape May anglers busy on most tides right up until the blow arrived.
Fall bite builds in Raritan Bay as bluefish and sea bass turn on
Water temperature at the Sandy Hook gauge reads 67.1°F this morning, still holding onto early fall warmth as the season's transition gets underway in Raritan Bay. Grumpys Tackle in Red Bank reports blues are in now, and the shop's bucktail sale is timed for the striped bass push they're calling the start of the fall run. Out of Atlantic Highlands, Capt. Ron logged a strong black sea bass bite in the days before last week's storm, with keeper sea bass mixing in on bottom drops in deeper water. Friday's trip, likely the last fluke outing of the 2026 season, produced shorts, keepers, and quality sea bass from start to finish.
Smallmouth bass action resumes on the Delaware as storm clears
Smallmouth bass are turning back on in the Delaware River now that floodwaters from last week's nor'easter are receding, with Dave's Sport Shop in Doylestown reporting decent smallmouth and catfish fishing once better water levels opened up both boat and wade access. The same shop noted bass and crappie holding steady on Lake Nockamixon. Further north on Lake Wallenpaupack, Capt. Pete Wagner of Hyper Striper Charters, via The Fisherman's NJ/DE Freshwater report, said smallmouth, largemouth, hybrids and crappie all stayed very good through the blow, with anglers who got out finding solid action despite fewer people on the water. Across the wider Delaware River and Pine Barrens system, shops described lakes and ponds that had just turned over before the storm arrived, the seasonal shift that typically sets up the best stretch of fall freshwater fishing once things settle.
First 50-Inch Stripers Show as Jersey Shore Fall Run Takes Hold
Water temps are holding in the mid-60s at the Jersey Shore CO-OPS stations, 66.4°F and 67.8°F this morning, warm enough to keep the fall transition moving now that last weekend's nor'easter has cleared out. The Fisherman — New Jersey edition reports the first 50-inch-plus striped bass of the season along the north coast, with black sea bass also showing well in the surf and bay. Grumpys Tackle (NJ) has blues in and is running a bucktail sale to match the timing. Before the storm shut things down, Pier 47 Marina, via The Fisherman — Southern NJ, had stripers from 16 to 29 inches, a few over 31, feeding heavily on mullet and peanut bunker during flood tide on the sod banks, and Capt Ron's Atlantic Highlands NJ put together one of the better fluke trips of the year, with John Froelic landing eight keepers on what may be close to the last good day of the season. Black sea bass charters are running strong too: Blue Chip Sportfishing (NJ) says most trips are filling out, and Hands Too Bait and Tackle, via The Fisherman — Southern NJ, found them stacked on the wrecks in Cape May.
Fall Cooldown Pulls Smallmouth Bass Into Feeding Mode on VA Rivers
Early October marks the start of the fall transition on the Potomac and Shenandoah systems, the stretch when smallmouth bass shift from summer deep-water holding into feeding windows along current seams and wind-blown banks. Field & Stream's fall smallmouth playbook this week calls for covering water aggressively with crankbaits or jerkbaits to locate fish, then slowing down once a group is found, a pattern that fits the cooling-water period Virginia's freshwater rivers are entering now. The Last Quarter moon favors tighter dawn-and-dusk feeding windows over an all-day bite this week.
Warm surf and shifting tides test SoCal anglers this week
Water temps across the LA Bight are running warm this week: 76.3°F at one tide station and 73°F at a second, readings that sit right in the middle of a question Surf Fishing in So Cal raised this season, whether warm water is actually good for the surf bite. Per that outlet, the honest answer depends entirely on where you're fishing and what you're after, not a blanket yes. The bigger story for SoCal surf anglers in 2026 has been the season itself. Surf Fishing in So Cal's recent writeup on how El Niño disrupted the surf fishing season calls it the toughest stretch in over a decade on the San Diego coast, with rough surf outlasting a typical bad patch.
Oregon Coast tides turn toward dawn highs as fall settles in
Water conditions along the Oregon Coast are diverging this week: NOAA CO-OPS station 9435380 holds at 59°F while station 9439040 reads a milder 63.5°F, a gap of more than four degrees between the two reporting points. Both stations show the tide swinging toward a high in the pre-dawn hours, with 9435380 cresting near 5:44 a.m. and 9439040 following around 6:45 a.m. That stacks the strongest tidal push of the day right before first light.
Puget Sound tides set the pace as fall chill settles in
Water temperatures sit at 52.7°F per the NOAA CO-OPS station covering Puget Sound and the outer coast, a reading that marks the steady seasonal slide toward winter and is right on track for early October. WA WDFW Fishing Reports tracks angler effort and catch statewide through access-site creel surveys, the backbone of how the department reads activity across the region's waters. This week favors timing over any single pattern to chase: a moving tide and cooling water are the levers worth working.
Musky Feed Bag Kicks In as Northwoods Walleye Bite Holds Steady
Fall has taken hold across Wisconsin's Northwoods, and Rollie & Helen's Musky Shop in Oneida and Vilas Counties reports the transition is in full swing. Cooling water and quieting lakes have musky hunters switching from summer's fast bucktail retrieves to slower, bigger presentations: glide baits and heavy rubber baits worked along deep edges, drop-offs, and rocky points, the structure that defines October musky fishing. The shop's late-September update, compiled with input from area guides, points to an active feed-bag bite as fish bulk up for winter, with topwater still drawing strikes on the right afternoons before the full switch to deep structure takes hold. For walleye anglers working the region's lake systems, Fishing the Midwest's Mike Frisch keeps the plain rig, a bottom bouncer paired with a plain snell and nightcrawler, in heavy rotation this time of year, noting it produces just as well in cooling fall water as it does through summer. Between the two reports, the Northwoods picture is clear: predators are feeding aggressively as temperatures drop, and anglers willing to match the seasonal shift in presentation are getting rewarded.
Chesapeake mouth holds warm as the fall striper push builds up north
Water at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay is still running warm for early October: 71.6°F at NOAA CO-OPS station 8638610 and 72°F at station 8637689, both logged within the hour. That's well above where the bay typically sits once the fall cool-down takes hold, and it's keeping the system in a late-summer holding pattern. A waning gibbous moon hangs overhead, trimming toward the next new moon, and the tide table shows a low at station 8638610 around 7:49 PM local tonight. Farther up the coast, Saltwater Edge in Rhode Island reports the fall striped bass run is underway, with bass there still "pretty lackluster" for most anglers but expected to turn on as northerly winds and colder nights settle in this week, the front edge of a push that works its way toward Virginia as the season progresses.
Redfish push holds strong along the NC coast as bluefish mix in
Redfish are the headline up and down the North Carolina coast this week, with water temperatures holding at 75.9°F at NOAA CO-OPS station 8652587 and 78.1°F at station 8654467, still comfortably in the range that keeps red drum staged and feeding before the fall push deepens. Per Fisherman's Post (NC), Nathan at East Coast Sports has anglers around Topsail and Sneads Ferry into slot-sized red drum with some over-slot fish mixed in from the surf and piers. Donald at Custom Marine Fabrication reports red drum as the main focus on the Pamlico and Neuse rivers, with fish scattered throughout and plenty of bait staged upriver. Morgan at The Reel Outdoors is finding scattered red drum working the Swansboro and Emerald Isle beachfront, with bluefish mixing in alongside them.
Fall Cool-Down Nears as Stripers Push Toward Chincoteague's Seaside
The seaside Eastern Shore is still running warm for early October: NOAA's Wachapreague station (8631044) read 75.6°F this afternoon, while the Kiptopeke station (8632200) to the south logged a noticeably cooler 70°F. That spread marks the leading edge of the seasonal cool-down working up the bay mouth. A low tide is predicted at Kiptopeke for 7:25 p.m. local, worth building an evening session around on the seaside creeks and inlets.
Red Drum Push Hard Along NC Coast as Fall Run Builds
Water temperatures are sitting in the high 70s along the North Carolina coast, 79.5 degrees F at NOAA CO-OPS station 8658163 and 79 degrees F at station 8656483, and red drum are responding everywhere anglers are putting in time. At Topsail/Sneads Ferry, East Coast Sports reports anglers working the surf and piers into a run of slot-sized redfish with some over-slot fish mixed in, per Fisherman's Post — Carolinas saltwater. On the Pamlico/Neuse, Custom Marine Fabrication says red drum are the main focus, with fish scattered throughout the river and bait stacking up near New Bern. Around Swansboro/Emerald Isle, The Reel Outdoors reports scattered redfish on the beachfront with bluefish mixed in among the pompano and sea mullet.
Snook shift into fall pattern as Sarasota Bay bite holds strong
Water temps across Tampa Bay and Sarasota are holding in the low 80s, 83.3°F at Port Manatee and 82.6°F at Clearwater Beach as of today, keeping snook aggressive as the fall season opens. Capt. Brandon Naeve of CB's Saltwater Outfitters says the Gulf Coast's fall snook season, which opened September 1, is in full swing, pointing to the overall warm water this time of year as the driver behind the strong activity. Capt. Kelly Kurtz, fishing out of CB's on Siesta Key, reports an active inshore bite for snook and redfish in Sarasota Bay this past week, including a nice redfish for client Hannah before release. Capt. Rick Grassett's October forecast for the shop adds that snook are beginning their seasonal shift, moving away from passes and along the beach toward inside waters as they work toward wintertime holding areas, with fish staging around docks and bridges in the Intracoastal Waterway and on shallow flats.
Fall cooldown sets the tone for SF Bay and Bodega anglers
Water temperature at the NOAA CO-OPS Point Reyes station (9416841) read 54.3°F as of this afternoon, confirming the fall cooldown that typically reshapes patterns along the SF Bay and Bodega coast this time of year. Western Outdoor News — Saltwater reports strong nearshore action out of Santa Cruz this week and a productive weekend push offshore out of Eureka, both signs the broader Northern California coast is holding solid activity as surface temperatures ease. A waning gibbous moon keeps a fair amount of overnight light on the water, a modest factor for anyone timing a low-light session around the Gate or the outer Bodega reefs.
Fall mullet run fuels snook, tarpon bite on FL's Atlantic coast
Water along Florida's Atlantic coast is still running warm for early October, with NOAA CO-OPS stations reading 84.6°F and 82.8°F this morning. That warmth lines up with what Snook Nook in Stuart is reporting this month: the annual fall mullet run has inshore waters alive with bait schools, and snook, tarpon and a mix of other predators, including redfish, are feeding hard on them. The shop notes the full moon and higher king tides made the back half of last month tougher fishing, but anglers working early morning and evening hours kept finding fish consistently.
Fall Closures Arrive on Montana Rivers as Flows Rebound
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks lifted the angling closure on Section 5 of the Big Hole River this week, citing improved flows after weekend rain, per MT FWP Fishing News. The timing lines up with a broader shift: spawning closures on several Montana rivers begin today, October 1, so anglers should confirm current regulations before fishing water they haven't checked recently. Aquatic invasive species inspection stations remain active at six of the state's seventeen sites through the high-risk fall corridor, per MT FWP Fishing News, so boaters should plan for a stop. Elsewhere, Field & Stream flagged a Montana angler's catch of a smallmouth bass measuring nearly 23 inches on a homemade glide bait. The fish would have challenged the IGFA all-tackle length record had it been measured on a certified board, a reminder that fall smallmouth are already feeding aggressively around the state.
Red snapper season closes as redfish action heats up in MS Sound
Mississippi's recreational red snapper season closed in state waters at 11:59 p.m. on September 27, per an MS DMR order that keeps it shut for the remainder of 2026 — anglers can no longer land or possess red snapper in Mississippi waters. Water temperatures in the Sound are easing from summer peaks, reading 86.7°F at the eastern NOAA CO-OPS station (8747437) and 83.8°F at the western station (8741533) as of this morning. With snapper off the table, attention shifts closer to shore. Salt Strong's inshore team reports redfish stacking up on dark-colored soft plastics this fall, singling out a near-black lure profile that drew repeated strikes when lighter colors came up empty, a pattern worth testing around the Sound's structure and grass lines.
Slot Stripers Push Into Plymouth Harbor After Nor'easter
Cape Cod Bay held at 64.8°F at NOAA's Boston-area station (8449130) as of Wednesday evening, comfortable water for the fall transition. Per The Fisherman — South Shore MA to ME, peanut bunker showing up inshore has set the table for a strong run of around-slot striped bass pushing into Plymouth Harbor, Pegotty Bay, and the Shore Acres area. The Fisherman — Cape Cod & Islands adds bluefish mixed with schoolie-to-slot bass along the Falmouth shore and inside Barnstable Harbor, with bait pushed toward Wellfleet Harbor. The first nor'easter of the season just cleared the region, and per The Fisherman (Northeast), the blow is credited with kicking the broader fall striper run into gear up and down New England.
Blues and flounder keep biting as Chesapeake Bay shakes off nor'easter
Water temperatures at the Chesapeake Bay NOAA station sit at 67.6°F this week, warm enough to keep bluefish and flounder active after last week's nor'easter scattered action across the Mid-Atlantic. The Fisherman — DE/MD/Chesapeake reports that Old Inlet Bait and Tackle saw blues taking metal lures on the incoming tide despite 40-50 knot winds, while anglers aboard the Judy V and Gale Force boxed flounder and sea bass once they could clear Indian River Inlet, and a dozen bluefish came aboard elsewhere on the same trip. The same report has Smith's Bait Shop noting croaker and spot thick on the reef sites, with occasional trout and flounder mixed in, live minnows working best for flounder right now.
Steady fall warmth across Hawaiian waters favors a lure-color test week
Hawaii's nearshore waters held warm overnight. NOAA CO-OPS station 1612340 off Honolulu read 83.8°F this morning, and station 1615680 off Kahului came in at 79.9°F, both solid numbers for the start of October. The roughly four-degree split reflects the usual difference between Oahu's more sheltered harbor water and Maui's more exposed channel. On technique, Salt Strong's inshore team reported dark-colored soft plastics drawing aggressive strikes from redfish this week, this after a reader survey found just 8% of anglers reach for dark colors as a confidence pick, a useful nudge to rotate lure color instead of defaulting to the usual go-to.
Lake Trout and Walleye Rebound Along Minnesota's North Shore
Walleye and lake trout are turning on along Minnesota's North Shore as fall fishing finds its rhythm. The MN DNR's October 1 Lake Superior Summer Fishing report logs a steady bite for 18 to 29 inch lake trout from Duluth to Two Harbors, with good numbers of 15 to 19 inch walleye showing up near Duluth as well. That marks a real swing from the agency's September 17 and September 24 reports, which both described lake trout fishing as slow with light angling pressure through those weeks. Surface temperatures across the sample stations stayed in a typical cool-season range this week, per the agency's report. Anglers working that stretch should note ongoing construction at the Highway 61 and McQuade Road intersection and on Lighthouse Point Road in Two Harbors. Inland across the Twin Cities and North Woods, early October sits squarely in the fall transition window most Midwest anglers watch for as lakes begin cooling toward turnover.