Fishing reports
15423 reports across all 50 states — current conditions and what's biting.
Puget Sound settles into a cooling fall pattern this week
Puget Sound water measured 50.2°F at NOAA CO-OPS station 9443090 Tuesday afternoon, confirming the region has moved past summer highs and into its fall cooling trend. WDFW's ongoing creel-check program continues tracking angler effort around the state's waters, per WA WDFW Fishing Reports. On-the-water chatter this week from IFish.net Fishing Reports skewed toward gear lost and found near popular access points and Buoy 10, a sign that boat traffic in that corridor remains steady even as the season turns.
Warm Gulf water keeps LA redfish holding into late September
Gulf water is still running warm along the Louisiana coast this evening. NOAA CO-OPS station 8761724 near Grand Isle read 85.8 degrees, and station 8760922 at the mouth of the Mississippi River showed 87.8 degrees, both taken within the same hour. That keeps marsh edges and passes sitting in a late-summer temperature band rather than the transitional cooling anglers usually start watching for by early October. Sport Fishing Mag's recent look at the Calcasieu Estuary in southwestern Louisiana underscores how active these Gulf Coast estuary systems stay into fall, even as the wider region edges toward its cooler-water pattern.
Kenai and Interior Rivers Settle Into Late-Season Transition
Late September marks the shoulder-season turn for the Kenai Peninsula and Alaska's interior river systems, as open-water fishing gives way to the year's final stretch before freeze-up. Days are shortening fast under this week's waning gibbous moon, pushing feeding windows toward the low-light hours around dawn and dusk. Water levels across interior drainages typically settle and clear through this period as summer glacial melt tapers off, consistent with the seasonal norm for late September in this region.
Columbia steelhead anglers brace for the smallest run on record
This year's Columbia and Snake river steelhead run is shaping up to be the smallest ever recorded, according to Hatch Magazine. Since counting began at Bonneville Dam on July 1, fisheries managers have tallied just over 52,000 fish moving upstream, the lowest total documented for the migration. For anglers working Columbia system tributaries and connected Puget Sound river drainages this week, that means a thinner push of fish moving through than a typical late-September count, and outings are better planned around patience and precise timing than volume. Check state regulations before targeting steelhead, as conservation restrictions can follow a run this far below historic norms.
Olympic Peninsula rivers enter fall transition as WA steelhead runs lag
Washington's steelhead numbers carry an unusual headline into this fall: Hatch Magazine reports the Columbia and Snake river run is tracking as the smallest ever recorded, with just over 52,000 fish counted above Bonneville Dam since July 1 counting began. That watershed sits well south of the Olympic Peninsula, but it's the reference point anglers statewide are weighing as fall runs develop. On the Peninsula, late September sits in the seasonal turn between summer activity and the fall push that defines this region's river fishing calendar.
Record-low steelhead run keeps Eastern WA rivers quiet
Hatch Magazine reports this year's Columbia and Snake river steelhead run is shaping up as the smallest ever recorded, with just over 52,000 fish tallied above Bonneville Dam since counting began July 1. For Eastern Washington anglers working Yakima and Spokane-area steelhead water, that run-size signal points to fewer fish moving upstream through the system than in any prior recorded year.
Outer Banks water holds summer-warm ahead of fall push
Water on the Outer Banks is still running summer-warm heading into the last days of September, with our two coastal monitoring stations reading 77.7°F and 76.1°F as of this afternoon. That's plenty warm to keep the seasonal cooldown from tripping fish into a hard pattern change yet. Bottom fishing from the Rodanthe-area beaches is producing good-sized sea mullet, per Eric at Hatteras Jack via Fisherman's Post (NC), with anglers also finding sight-casting opportunities along the surf. Both stations show the tide sliding toward afternoon lows today, a window worth working the surf zone before dark.
Stripers and Tautog Turn On as Delaware Bay Storm Clears
Delaware Bay's NJ side is reading 66.7°F at NOAA CO-OPS station 8537121 as of this afternoon, still summer-mild water that's kept the fall transition on a slow boil. On the back-bay side, Big Dave's Tackle reports the bay and back bays produced most of the week's action, with a good tautog bite off the bridges and lighthouses on sandfleas and green crabs fished on tog jigs, and plenty of baitfish pushed up into the inlets. Striped bass are showing along the sod banks on flood tide, per Pier 47 Marina and Hands Too Bait and Tackle, with fish running 16 to 29 inches, an occasional slot keeper, and a few over 31 inches, taking naked quarter-ounce bucktails up to 6-inch Mag Darters. Black sea bass were stacked on the wrecks in 90-plus feet of water ahead of last week's storm, per Waterfront Marine and Hands Too, with anglers waiting on calmer seas to get back out.
Sea bass fill the box off Sandy Hook as fluke season closes out
NOAA's Sandy Hook station is reading 63°F this afternoon with the next low tide due around 4:40 PM. Capt Ron's out of Atlantic Highlands closed out fluke season on a high note, describing a Friday session of shorts, keepers, and quality sea bass right before nine straight weathered-out days at the dock. Blue Chip Sportfishing backs up the bottom bite, saying sea bass charters are "doing very good" with most trips filling the box for everyone aboard, and reporting three released mako sharks from a recent trip. Up the bay, NJ Fish & Wildlife News' Shark River Access highlight notes that WMA has been holding tautog, bluefish, and striped bass alongside summer flounder all season, and Grumpys Tackle is timing a bucktail sale to the fall run building behind it.
Charleston Harbor eases into fall as tide swings tighten
Charleston Harbor's water sat at 78°F this afternoon at both CO-OPS stations in the harbor, still running warm for late September. The next low tide arrives in the 4:20–4:45 PM window today, giving anglers a clean afternoon outgoing push to work. With the moon waning toward new phase, tidal ranges are easing back from last week's peak swings, and the harbor should fish a bit calmer and more predictable through the coming days than it has recently.
Sarasota Bay Snook Bite Heats Up as Tarpon Push Inside
Sarasota Bay is fishing well right now. Capt. Kelly Kurtz of CB's Saltwater Outfitters reports an active inshore bite for snook and redfish this week, with fish holding tight around docks and bay structure. Water at the Tampa Bay entrance is running 82.4°F, still solidly in the warm range Capt. Brandon Naeve credits for fueling the fall snook run, which opened Gulf-wide September 1. Capt. Rick Grassett's September forecast for the area has snook staged around docks, bridges, and passes in the ICW and coastal surf, while migratory tarpon are thinning out of the open Gulf and pushing into inside waters, holding over bridges and deep grass flats before moving on for the season.
Cooling Mornings Signal Fall Shift on Lanier and Allatoona
Cooler mornings and the first hints of changing leaves mark the start of the fall shift across north Georgia, and the Georgia Wildlife Blog's latest fishing report calls it exactly what anglers wait for all summer: weather easing enough to make a morning on the water comfortable again. September 26 brought National Hunting and Fishing Day and a matching statewide free fishing day, timed by the agency to nudge more families onto lakes like Lanier and Allatoona during the window when both reservoirs typically start turning on for fall. The agency's weekly notes through September consistently point to this stretch as the turn from late-summer patterns toward the more comfortable, more productive fall bite anglers on these lakes look forward to each year.
Cooler Mornings Signal Fall's Arrival on Hartwell and Russell
Georgia's cooler mornings arrived on schedule this week, with the Georgia Wildlife Blog's September 25 fishing report flagging the seasonal shift as leaves begin to change across the state. The timing lined up with National Hunting and Fishing Day on September 26, which the agency promoted as a statewide free fishing day, a signal that fall conditions on Hartwell and Russell are settling in. Regionally, Wired 2 Fish's October lure preview points anglers across the Southeast toward baits that match the emerging shad migration as water temperatures ease down with the shortening days, a pattern that applies directly to deep, clear reservoirs like the Savannah chain.
Central Coast nearshore bite stays strong as fall cooldown begins
Central Coast water temperatures are split this week: NOAA CO-OPS station 9413450 reads 60.3°F while station 9412110 holds nearly four degrees warmer at 63.9°F, a normal gradient as the region moves deeper into its fall transition. Western Outdoor News' latest report out of Monterey Bay describes strong nearshore fishing continuing from the Santa Cruz area down through the bay this week, with bigger offshore game becoming a more realistic target once the weather settles down.
Cooling Gulf of Alaska waters signal the fall transition
Gulf of Alaska water temperatures are settling into the high 40s. NOAA CO-OPS station 9455500 read 48.7°F this morning and station 9452210 came in slightly cooler at 46.9°F, both readings typical of the seasonal transition now underway across the region. The waning gibbous moon is producing moderate tidal ranges rather than the extremes of a full or new moon, keeping current speeds manageable for anglers working structure and current seams.
Storm-pushed Maine stripers could jumpstart NH's fall run
Captains working the South Shore Massachusetts to Maine corridor reported solid striped bass action in the harbors and rivers just ahead of this week's nor'easter, with the first push of peanut bunker arriving to trigger it, per Belsan's Bait and Tackle in The Fisherman — South Shore MA to ME. Surfland, in the same report, noted steadier action building around the Merrimack too. Zoomed out, The Fisherman's regional video forecast from September 24 described the broader Northeast fall run as stagnant, with water temps easing only slightly and stable weather withholding the usual trigger.
Tautog bite holds in Delaware Bay as blues linger post-storm
Delaware Bay is sitting at 64.9°F this week as anglers work through the tail end of a nor'easter that shut most fishing down. Old Inlet Bait and Tackle reported blues taken on metal lures during incoming water, about the only action anyone managed in winds that reportedly hit 40 to 50 knots, per The Fisherman — DE/MD/Chesapeake. Tautog fishing held up better inside the bay: Big Dave's Tackle noted a good bite on bridge and lighthouse structure for anglers working sandfleas and green crabs on tog jigs. Smith's Bait Shop said boats couldn't clear the bay in the rough seas, and Eric Burnley logged over 3 inches of rain with winds upward of 50 knots that kept fishing off the table entirely for the week.
Fall Transition Turns On Bass and Walleye Action in Michigan
Michigan's fall transition is turning on bass and walleye. The Southwest Michigan Anglers Club held a tournament on Diamond Lake in Cassopolis this week, and Wired 2 Fish reports competitors working shallow cover and moving baits as bass respond to cooling water with more aggressive feeding. Walleye anglers are making a parallel shift: per Fishing the Midwest, anglers are pairing bottom-bouncer-and-snell rigs with bladed swim jigs as fish move off summer haunts and start keying on shad and baitfish pushing into mid-depth flats, a pattern that typically carries into Great Lakes tributaries and connected inland waters through October. The Michigan DNR's Weekly Fishing Report continues its region-by-region coverage of the Great Lakes basin and inland waters into the fall season.
Texas Gulf Coast holds summer-warm water into late September
Water across the upper-to-middle Texas coast is still running summer-warm heading into the final days of September. NOAA's CO-OPS stations spanning Galveston to Corpus are reading 86.9°F, 84.6°F, and 87.3°F this morning, holding firmly in late-summer range for the Gulf coast. That warmth keeps the whole system on a summer clock even as the calendar turns toward fall.
Fall run builds in Narragansett Bay as storm clears, tautog season nears
Water temperatures held in the mid-60s across Narragansett Bay this week, reading 64.4°F at Newport and 63.7°F at Conimicut Light, as anglers waited out a nor'easter. Per The Fisherman — Rhode Island's shop network, striped bass are moving into the salt ponds and breachways: Snug Harbor Marina reported good numbers of bass back in the ponds, and Quonnie Bait and Tackle had local anglers picking up bass and bluefish from the shore despite rough seas keeping boats tied to the dock. Saltwater Edge Blog notes false albacore have taken over the oceanfront and the tautog bite is building, while the striped bass surf bite has been lackluster but should improve with the colder nights and northerly winds forecast this week.
Warm Water Holds Steady Across Hawaii's Nearshore Waters
Water temperatures across the islands sit in the high 70s to low 80s this week, with NOAA CO-OPS station 1612340 off Oahu reading 82.4°F and station 1615680 near Maui at 79.2°F as of Tuesday afternoon. Those readings sit squarely in the range that keeps Hawaii's nearshore and reef fisheries active through the tail end of September, with no cooling trend showing yet in the tide-station data. The next low tide off Oahu falls at 12:47 p.m. local time, with Maui's low arriving earlier at 10:10 a.m., giving anglers a clear window to plan an outgoing-tide session around midday.
Mullet run keeps Stuart snook and tarpon fired up
Water off Florida's Atlantic coast is running warm, with NOAA's Lake Worth tide station reading 85.5°F this week, a clear sign the fall mullet run is in full swing. Snook Nook in Stuart reports snook, tarpon, jacks and sharks all keying on the bait schools moving through, though a full moon and higher king tides made the bite trickier late in the month per their October report. Anglers fishing early mornings and evenings have stayed the most consistent, and the shop expects things to pick back up as more mullet push through in the coming weeks.
Fall bite building on CT ponds as trout stocking nears
Cooling water is doing what it does every fall: waking up largemouth bass activity across New England ponds, per The Fisherman's New England Freshwater report, which noted better shore action on shiners as temperatures slide and slab crappies stacking up on worms around deeper structure. Yellow perch are running heavy for shore anglers working shiners close to bottom. Brown trout holdovers are showing signs of the fall spawn, with some fish thinning down as they stage near dam structure, and shops across the region are already fielding steady questions about when autumn trout stocking begins.
Smith Mountain Lake and Buggs Island ease into fall turnover
Smith Mountain Lake and Buggs Island Reservoir are moving through the classic fall transition this week. Shortening days and cooling surface water are pushing baitfish out of the shallows and predator fish toward main-lake points, humps, and creek-channel edges. That structural shift, more than any single day's weather, is what will decide where fish stack up through October.