Where it's on today
Every one of our 23 benchmark waters has a live read this morning. 10 are scoring 4 out of 5 or better and 3 are slow. Water runs 41 F to 69 F. Pressure is falling on 9 of them, the trend our model scores highest. 1 has a better-than-even chance of rain.
Lake Guntersville
Alabama's largest lake: 69,100 acres of Tennessee River milfoil, hydrilla and current from Nickajack Dam to Guntersville Dam.
Lake Okeechobee
Lake Okeechobee: 730 square miles of water ringed by the Herbert Hoover Dike, Florida's largest lake by the Corps' count.
Clear Lake
Clear Lake: California's largest natural freshwater lake, in Lake County, fished for largemouth bass, crappie, bluegill and channel catfish.
Lake Norman
Charlotte's inland sea: 32,000 acres of docks, spots and hybrid surface blitzes.
Lake Marion
Santee-Cooper's upper lake: flooded cypress, landlocked striper history and catfish of legend.
Lake Oahe
South Dakota's 231-mile walleye highway, with salmon below the thermocline.
Know your fish
Field-guide plates, seasonal playbooks and the best waters for every species we cover.
The salt, covered like the lakes.
From Galveston's jetties to Montauk's boulder fields: 110 coastal spots with real NOAA tide tables, surf-minded reports and the honest windows for moving water.
Saltwater reports →Learn the water
The science behind every report, in short honest guides.
Before you go: the licence
What it costs in 46 states, checked against the agency that sells it. Including the stamps states charge on top.
Florida
Fresh and salt are two licences here, and the shoreline one is free but still compulsory.
North Carolina
Inland and coastal are separate. Only residents can buy the licence that covers both.
California
The most expensive state in the country for a visiting angler.
Michigan
One all-species licence, no stamps. But the year ends 31 March whatever date you buy.
Texas
Sold as packages: the all-water one costs less than buying fresh and salt separately.
All 46 states →
Sort every state by price, by what visitors pay, or by minimum age → · Free fishing days in every state →
Open right now
Seasons that are open today, worked out from the rules the agencies publish. Not a list someone typed in last spring.
Washington
Coastal waters (Marine Areas 1 to 3, and 4 west of the Bonilla-Tatoosh line)
Florida
Gulf state and federal waters, private anglers
Louisiana
Statewide
Michigan
Lower Peninsula inland waters
Maryland
Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries
All fishing seasons →
How it works
Live data, all night
USGS gauges, NOAA tide stations, weather models, sun and moon: we read the same instruments biologists use, for every water we cover.
An honest report, every dawn
At 6:30 each morning the day's report is generated: activity score, species plan, prime windows. A slow day is called a slow day.
Anglers close the loop
Real reports from real anglers refine what the data says. Share a catch and make the page better for the next person on the water.
Browse by state
989 flagship waters across 50 states, with full coverage rolling out from here.