Fishing reports
15637 reports across all 50 states — current conditions and what's biting.
Walleye and Lake Trout Carry NY's Fall Bite as Trout Season Opens
Walleye and lake trout keep carrying the action across New York's Great Lakes waters this week. Brookdog Fishing Co., fishing out of Buffalo and Niagara, describes the walleye bite as strong and consistent through mid-September, with lake trout jigging out of Barcelona turning into a reliable part of the program, and smallmouth bass fishing steadily picking up alongside them. NY DEC's September 18th Fishing Line flags the fall-run trout season now gearing up in Lake Ontario tributaries, the same seasonal cue Hudson Valley and Finger Lakes anglers watch for their own stream and inlet trout fisheries. Today, September 26, also carries DEC's Free Fishing Day tied to National Hunting and Fishing Day, a no-license window worth using this weekend.
Chicago's Lake Michigan smallmouth start their fall slide
Lake Michigan off Chicago is entering its fall turnover, the seasonal window when smallmouth bass leave summer offshore humps and stack up on rock and gravel breaks as the water column cools from top to bottom. The Wisconsin DNR's Lake Michigan program is holding meetings this fall on smallmouth bass management for the northern basin and Green Bay, a sign of how much lakewide attention the species is drawing as fall pressure builds. Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant's current call for research funding on the southern basin is a reminder that this stretch of the lake, Chicago's home water, gets its own dedicated science attention separate from the northern fishery.
Fall cool-down settles onto Indiana's Lake Michigan shoreline
Indiana's stretch of Lake Michigan is moving into its fall pattern this week, with shortening days pushing nearshore temperatures into their seasonal slide. A full moon overnight adds a strong low-light feeding cue right in this window, one worth building an early or late outing around. Regionally, the Wisconsin DNR has been running public meetings this year on smallmouth bass management for Green Bay and northern Lake Michigan, a sign the species is drawing renewed fishery attention across the broader lake basin heading into fall.
Fall Run Builds in Narragansett Bay as Albies, Stripers Mix
NOAA's Narragansett Bay tide stations read 63.7°F and 64.4°F this morning, with both approaching high tide near 8 AM. Saltwater Edge reports false albacore have taken over the oceanfront and the tautog bite is picking up, while striped bass, lackluster most of the summer, are picking back up, per The Fisherman's Rhode Island report. Quonnie Bait and Tackle has surfcasters finding bass along the beaches and breachways after dark, working live eels, swimming plugs and soft plastics through mixed surface feeds of striped bass, bluefish and false albacore.
Striped Bass Push Into Maine Waters as Fall Run Builds
Water temperatures across the Gulf of Maine sit in the mid-to-upper 50s this week, with Portland reading 59.5°F, Bar Harbor 56.5°F, and Eastport 54.9°F as of this morning. Per The Fisherman — South Shore MA to ME, striped bass continue pushing into New Hampshire and Maine waters, with surfcasters describing them as 'perfectly content to take their time heading south' rather than making a hard exit. The Fisherman (Northeast)'s regional forecast this week called the broader fall run stagnant, with water temps down only slightly from summer and feeding urgency still building.
Full moon widens tidal swings as Puget Sound eases into fall
Water at NOAA CO-OPS station 9443090 read 52°F this morning, tracking Puget Sound's steady slide toward fall temperatures. This week's full moon is driving a bigger tidal swing, with the next low expected around 7:09 a.m. and the next high near 1:14 p.m. local time — faster current exchange should hold for a few days before easing back toward average. Washington Sea Grant also flagged its SoundToxins program this week, marking 20 years of monitoring harmful algal blooms that affect shellfish safety in the Sound, worth checking before any harvest trip.
Gulf snook push toward winter grounds as Mobile Bay fall bite builds
Water in Mobile Bay is still summer-warm, reading 82.2°F at the bay-mouth gauge (NOAA CO-OPS station 8735180) and 84.6°F at the Mobile State Docks station (8736897), even as the fall transition gets underway across the northern Gulf. That shift is exactly what Sport Fishing Mag is flagging in Gulf snook water this week: fish are described as feeling the shortening days and starting to migrate toward winter holding areas, with aggressive strikes coming on swimbaits like Z-Man's Mulletron and Diezel MinnowZ. Salt Strong's fall lure roundup backs the pattern from the inshore side, pointing anglers toward bigger paddletails and properly rigged soft plastics for redfish working the same shallow water. Under this week's full moon, expect a stronger-than-average tidal swing to concentrate bait and gamefish around structure.
Sarasota snook bite heats up as fall season reopens
Snook season reopened September 1, and per CB's Saltwater Outfitters (Sarasota), the fall bite is living up to it. Capt. Brandon Naeve calls this stretch of the Gulf Coast, from Sarasota south to Fort Myers, some of the best snook water around right now, with warm water keeping fish active. Capt. Kelly Kurtz, fishing out of CB's on Siesta Key, reports an active inshore bite in Sarasota Bay for snook and redfish this week, including a nice red landed and released on a recent trip. NOAA CO-OPS readings in the bay are running 81.5 to 83.3°F, consistent with the warm water driving that activity. Tarpon are telling a different story: Capt. Rick Grassett's September outlook has the adult migratory fish thinning out of the coastal Gulf as they slide into inside waters and deep grass flats to rest before their fall move.
Fall's cooling window settles over Lake of the Ozarks and the Osage
Missouri's Lake of the Ozarks and Osage River are moving into the heart of the fall transition, the stretch of the calendar that Fishing the Midwest and Tactical Bassin both flag as some of the most productive weeks on Midwest reservoirs. As surface temperatures ease down, weed beds begin dying back and baitfish concentrate on whatever green cover remains, per Fishing the Midwest's seasonal breakdown, a shift that typically pulls predator fish out of deep summer haunts and onto shallower flats and points.
Smallmouth shift deeper as fall turnover hits the pools
Late September puts the Prescott-to-La Crosse pools squarely in the early-fall turnover window, when weed beds begin dying back and baitfish start pushing off the flats toward deeper edges. Field & Stream's current fall live-bait rig guide points anglers toward crayfish-style presentations for smallmouth bass as water cools, a technique worth keeping in the rotation on the rock and wing-dam structure typical of this stretch.
Full moon marks early fall shift for Potomac, Patapsco anglers
Late September has the Potomac and Patapsco settling into their early-fall pattern, the stretch when cooling water starts easing smallmouth bass, crappie, and walleye out of deep summer haunts and into steadier feeding windows. Tonight's full moon adds an extra pull toward dawn, dusk, and after-dark trips, a dependable trigger for predator activity in mid-Atlantic freshwater this time of year.
Ozark trout parks turn over as fall cooling sets in
The full moon this week lines up with the seasonal turn Missouri's Ozark trout parks wait for all year: cooling water that pushes brown trout into steadier feeding rhythms on the Current and Niangua tailwaters. Field & Stream's fall live-bait roundup points anglers toward a bottom-bouncing minnow rig on a barrel swivel for big fall browns, a presentation built to hold bait in the strike zone as fish key on baitfish rather than surface insects. The same cooling trend is waking up smallmouth in these Ozark river systems; Tactical Bassin's early-fall coverage has bass shifting hard onto baitfish, with jerkbaits producing when fish push shallow to feed.
Merrimack River pike, crappie biting through low water
Water levels on the Merrimack River are running low, but the fish haven't slowed down. Methuen angler Roger Aziz Jr., a regular voice in The Fisherman's New England Freshwater report, fished the river this week and landed five northern pike along with a handful of crappie, a solid showing given the reduced flow. With the region under a full moon, low-light windows at dawn and dusk should carry extra weight for anglers planning trips this week.
Fall turn sets up pre-spawn brown trout window in the Tetons
Late September marks the classic seasonal turn across Yellowstone and Snake River drainage water, as cooling flows push brown trout into pre-spawn staging and more active daylight feeding. Field & Stream's fall live-bait roundup points to a bottom-bouncing minnow rig on a barrel swivel as the standard way to keep bait in the strike zone for big fall browns, a technique built for exactly this stretch of the season.
Cooling Water Signals Early-Fall Shift on Utah's Green River
Utah's Green River and Uinta Lakes fisheries are settling into the early-fall transition this week, with a Full Moon reshaping when fish feed most actively. As surface water continues to cool through late September, feeding windows compress toward the low-light hours. Wired 2 Fish's current bass-timing breakdown reinforces that pattern: predatory fish key their most active hunting to dawn and dusk as they track baitfish and forage, a principle that carries over to the trout water on the Green River and the high-elevation lakes of the Uintas as nights cool.
Cool-down turns on Green River browns, Flaming Gorge smallmouth
Fall's cool-down is reshuffling both ends of this fishery. Wired2Fish's account of a near-record 8.6-pound smallmouth caught this month describes the pattern reservoir anglers should watch for here: as water slides into the 40s and 50s, bass slide off shallow cover onto deeper structure and feed hard on baitfish. Below the dam, Field & Stream's fall live-bait roundup points anglers toward a bottom-bouncing minnow rig on a barrel swivel to keep bait in the strike zone for big browns — the same seasonal cue that typically starts pushing Green River's brown trout toward pre-spawn aggression.
Fall transition puts Kansas River smallmouth on the move
Full moon conditions and the season's cool-down are pushing Kansas and Arkansas River smallmouth bass onto the fall pattern that regional coverage flags for this stretch of the calendar: fish keying on baitfish as they push out of summer haunts, with feeding activity concentrating around low light. Wired 2 Fish's rundown on bass timing points to early morning and late evening as the reliable windows once water starts cooling, and Tactical Bassin's fall coverage backs that up, describing bass locking onto baitfish schools as the transition sets in. That behavioral shift, more than any single number, is what should shape a trip this week.
Ohio's Western Basin eases into its fall turnover window
Ohio's Western Basin is easing into its early-fall shoulder season, with a Full Moon adding extra overnight light over shallow, wind-exposed water. Days are shortening and the basin's characteristic wind-driven chop should keep mixing the surface layer ahead of the seasonal turnover, a shift that typically reshuffles where baitfish and the predators trailing them concentrate through October.
Fall transition arrives for Tennessee's reservoirs and rivers
Late September marks the real turn toward fall across Tennessee and the Cumberland region, the point in the calendar when cooling water starts resetting how freshwater fish feed and where they hold. Per Wired 2 Fish's guidance on timing, the low-light windows at dawn and dusk become the most productive stretch of the day once the extended daylight hunting patterns of summer break down, and that shift is exactly what's arriving on Tennessee water now. With the season's first real cool nights layering onto tonight's full moon, feeding activity should concentrate hard around first and last light rather than spreading evenly through the day.
Fall turnover nears as Erie smallmouth shift toward structure
Western New York is settling into the heart of the fall bass transition this week. Tactical Bassin's early-fall coverage describes smallmouth increasingly keying on baitfish activity around dawn and dusk as the seasonal cool-down accelerates, and Fishing the Midwest notes that as summer weed growth dies back, bass and other gamefish relocate to whatever green, living cover remains, a pattern likely playing out along Erie's nearshore structure as well. Wired 2 Fish's timing guidance, that bass hunt hardest in low-light hours, holds through this shoulder season.
Brown Trout Join the Trolling Bite Ahead of Tributary Runs
Strike Zone Charters (Lake Ontario) reports a solid week of trolling out on the open lake, with Brown Trout mixed into the bite running 100 to 160 feet down. Preferred depths have been shifting day to day as wind moves the temperature break around, and Mag Dipsey Divers are doing the work; green, white, and chartreuse spoons are the producers right now.
Fall turnover approaches on Saginaw Bay and Lake Huron
Late September marks the start of fall turnover on Lake Huron and Saginaw Bay, as the surface layer cools and mixes with deeper water, pushing baitfish and the predators following them toward structure and current breaks. This week's full moon tends to sharpen nighttime and low-light feeding activity, a pattern that typically holds through this transitional stretch of the season.
Lake Mead stripers set up for the fall shad shift
Striped Bass on Lake Mead and the lower Colorado River are moving into the stretch of the calendar when cooling surface conditions typically start bunching shad into tighter schools, and stripers key on that bait rather than holding deep against a summer thermocline. Late September is the hinge point for that shift on this fishery, and it tends to show up first in early morning and evening activity before it becomes a daytime pattern.
Eastern Sierra trout settle into fall transition under a full moon
Eastern Sierra waters are moving into their fall transition this week, with high-elevation lakes and streams cooling as days shorten and summer patterns give way to autumn ones. This week's full moon adds a strong low-light bite window, and cooler mornings typically push feeding activity earlier and later in the day for Brown Trout and Brook Trout holding in these waters.