Share your catch
US

Black River Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Black River: a White Mountains trout river with stocked Apache trout on the East Fork and tribal land along its lower reaches.

Tribal reaches. Below the forks, the Black River is the boundary between the Fort Apache (White Mountain Apache) and San Carlos Apache reservations. On those reaches the tribes’ permits and rules apply, not the Arizona seasons and limits shown on this page. Source, read October 5, 2026.

2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Water temp
~47 F est.
Air / High
55 / 56 F
Wind
SSW 18 mph

Sources: Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

2/5Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Black River is in its winter mode: slow, deep and deliberate. Today brings clear skies, wind SSW around 18 mph, rising pressure near 1011 hPa and a high of 56. Water sits around 47 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 8:56 AM-10:56 AM and 9:24 PM-11:24 PM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Rainbow troutExcellent

In cold water rainbows use the deepest pools in rivers (Vermont), so slow, deep drifts there are the usual approach; Michigan DNR notes lake rainbows are also taken with bait or by jigging through the ice.

Brown troutExcellent

Below 50°F, fish slowly through the deeper pools; in early spring on the Great Lakes, Michigan DNR notes browns are often caught inshore before other species start biting.

Brook troutExcellent

Below 50°F is the fall spawning band (40-50°F in Vermont), so stay off spawning gravel. In winter Maine IFW finds pond fish close to shore in 4 to 12 feet of water under the ice.

Tomorrow: Similar at 53 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Before you go

Arizona requires a fishing licence from age 10, from $37.00 for residents. What a Arizona licence costs and where to buy it →

Chasing rainbow trout here? Check the size and bag limits with AZGFD before you keep anything. The season dates for Arizona, read off the agency, are on the Arizona seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings.

No live gauge on this water

Conditions here are modeled from weather, season and the nearest stations. Water readings appear when a USGS gauge is available.

30405060JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~47 F now

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp55 F
High / Low56 / 44 F
WindSSW 18-27 mph
Pressure1011.0 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain17% cloud, 13%
Sunrise / Sunset06:29 / 17:34
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~47 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunset

Which day to fish Black River this week

The best day on Black River this week looks like Saturday Oct 24, at 3 out of 5, against 2 today.

Best day this week: Saturday, Oct 24 — fair at 3/5, rising pressure behind a front, typically the slowest.

Today, Oct 23 — Tough

Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Solunar majors
8:56 AM-10:56 AM and 9:24 PM-11:24 PM
Minor period
3:19 AM-4:19 AM
Sun
06:29 to 17:34
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Showers, 18 mph
Rain chance
13%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Black River: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Rainbow trout illustration

Rainbow trout

Spring and fall in most lakes; rivers fish year-round while the water stays cool

A cold-water trout native to Pacific drainages from Alaska to Baja California, now stocked in most states and fished in rivers, tailwaters and lakes. In cold water rainbows use the deepest pools in rivers (Vermont), so slow, deep drifts there are the usual approach; Michigan DNR notes lake rainbows are also taken with bait or by jigging through the ice.

Brown trout illustration

Brown trout

Spring along Great Lakes shorelines; low light and overcast days in rivers; fall spawning runs

A European trout first stocked in the US in 1883 and now fished in rivers and lakes nationwide; it tolerates warmer water than other trout, and mature stream fish feed mostly at night. Below 50°F, fish slowly through the deeper pools; in early spring on the Great Lakes, Michigan DNR notes browns are often caught inshore before other species start biting.

Brook trout illustration

Brook trout

Spring and fall in ponds and lakes, when fish come shallow; summer in the coldest headwater streams

The brook trout is a char native to eastern North America, a fish of cold, clean streams and ponds, and the state fish of Michigan. Below 50°F is the fall spawning band (40-50°F in Vermont), so stay off spawning gravel. In winter Maine IFW finds pond fish close to shore in 4 to 12 feet of water under the ice.

When to come: the Black River calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Rainbow trout
Brown trout
Brook trout
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 47 F (estimated, not a reading).

30405060JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~47 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Black River today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 62 F, wind to 20 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 67 F, wind to 19 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 62 F, wind to 14 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
Only used if we need to ask you about your report. No mailing list, no spam.

Before you go

License

Arizona requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Arizona fishing license on national forest water; a White Mountain Apache or San Carlos Apache tribal permit on the reservation reaches. Read AZGFD's current regulations for the forks and each tribe's rules for its side.

Access

East Fork recreation areas along FR 276; Diamond Rock and West Fork campgrounds; tribal permit access on the lower river.

About this water

A White Mountains trout river in the Salt River watershed, Apache County, Arizona. No stream gauge on this page.

Fishing Black River: the full guide

East Fork

AZGFD manages the East Fork as a trophy brown trout fishery above Diamond Rock Campground and as a wild brown and rainbow trout fishery from the West Fork confluence up to Diamond Rock. Recreation areas along FR 276 get regular Apache trout stockings from May through September, with triploid rainbows substituted when Apache trout are not available. AZGFD's first priority on the East Fork is its native fish: loach minnow, roundtail chub, desert and Sonora suckers and speckled dace.

West Fork

The West Fork holds brown trout up to its upstream barriers and brook trout above them near Thompson Ranch. AZGFD plans a chemical renovation above a Reclamation fish barrier just upstream of the East Fork confluence, to bring back Apache trout and build a wild Apache trout sport fishery.

Apache trout recovered

The Apache trout, found only in White Mountains streams, was removed from the federal endangered species list in September 2024 after recovery to 30 populations in 175 miles of stream. The White Mountain Apache Tribe, which in 1955 became the first to protect the fish by closing its habitat to fishing on tribal land, was a lead partner.

Tribal reaches

On its lower reaches the Black River is the boundary between the Fort Apache Indian Reservation to the north and the San Carlos Apache Reservation to the south. A tribal permit is required to fish there, and both tribes enforce their rules.

Common questions

Do I need a tribal permit?

On the lower river, where it borders the Fort Apache and San Carlos reservations, yes; national forest water needs an Arizona license.

Are there Apache trout in the Black River?

Yes: AZGFD stocks them on the East Fork from May through September and plans to restore a wild population in the West Fork.

Is fishing good at Black River right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Nearby waters

Big Lake (White Mountains)9 miShow Low Lake44 miFool Hollow Lake51 miSan Carlos Lake72 miWoods Canyon Lake94 miRoosevelt Lake96 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 33.7500, -109.4500 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
Pages checked
The facts in the written guide were checked against these pages, from the agencies and operators that manage the water, on October 5, 2026. Anything we could not verify was taken out.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written text was drafted with AI assistance from the official pages listed above, and its facts were checked against those pages by automated verification on October 5, 2026; anything that could not be verified was taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.