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Lake Havasu Fishing Report

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

Lake Havasu: a 45-mile Colorado River lake behind Parker Dam, where AZGFD's record list holds a 6-lb redear and a 6-lb 4-oz smallmouth.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Gauge
49.11 ft
Air / High
77 / 79 F
Wind
NW 4 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 09427500, 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.

3/5Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Lake Havasu offers the kind of conditions this water was made for. The gauge reads 49.11 ft, holding steady. Today brings clear skies, wind NW around 4 mph, steady pressure near 1012 hPa and a high of 79. Water sits around 74 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:16 AM-11:16 AM and 9:44 PM-11:44 PM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Smallmouth bassGood

Post-spawn and summer feeding: cover rock, wood and current breaks with crankbaits, jigs and tubes, and use live crayfish, minnows or hellgrammites where bait is the plan.

Tomorrow: Warmer at 84 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made β†’

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 β†’

Chasing smallmouth bass 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 from LAKE HAVASU NEAR PARKER DAM, AZ-CA.

Gauge height, last 30 days

USGS gauge 09427500.

48.0248.6149.2049.11 ft09/2310/0310/1310/23

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp77 F
High / Low79 / 59 F
WindNW 4-4 mph
Pressure1012.4 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 1%
Sunrise / Sunset06:49 / 17:52
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~74 F est.

Bite planner

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

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Which day to fish Lake Havasu this week

The best day on Lake Havasu this week looks like Tuesday Oct 27, at 5 out of 5, against 3 today.

Best day this week: Tuesday, Oct 27 β€” excellent at 5/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Fair

A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Solunar majors
9:16 AM-11:16 AM and 9:44 PM-11:44 PM
Minor period
3:39 AM-4:39 AM
Sun
06:49 to 17:52
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Clear, 8 mph
Rain chance
1%

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

Species guide

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

Smallmouth bass illustration

Smallmouth bass

Best: spring and fall, when bigger fish come shallow

A bronze-brown black bass of clear, cool streams and rocky lakes, with dark vertical bars instead of a side stripe. Michigan DNR says its southeastern coast, from Port Huron to Lake Erie, is known nationally for both the size and the number of its smallmouth. Post-spawn and summer feeding: cover rock, wood and current breaks with crankbaits, jigs and tubes, and use live crayfish, minnows or hellgrammites where bait is the plan.

When to come: the Lake Havasu 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
Smallmouth bass
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 74 F (estimated, not a reading).

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~74 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 Lake Havasu 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. Smallmouth bass led the card at good. High of 85 F, wind to 18 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Smallmouth bass led the card at excellent. High of 91 F, wind to 13 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Smallmouth bass led the card at excellent. High of 92 F, wind to 10 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 or California fishing license. AZGFD's regulations (eRegulations, updated April 8, 2025) say the Colorado River special-use stamps are no longer required or available and that a valid Arizona license is all that is needed; California anglers should confirm with CDFW. Species limits follow the AZGFD Colorado River rules.

Access

Lake Havasu State Park (three boat ramps) and Cattail Cove State Park (one ramp, boat-in campsites), Arizona State Parks.

About this water

45-mile lake on the Colorado River behind Parker Dam on the Arizona-California line, Mohave County, Arizona; USGS gauge near Parker Dam.

Fishing Lake Havasu: the full guide

The lake

Arizona State Parks describes Lake Havasu as the 45-mile-long lake formed when the Colorado River was dammed near Parker. Lake Havasu State Park, near the London Bridge in Lake Havasu City, has three boat ramps, and Cattail Cove State Park has a ramp, beaches and boat-in campsites.

Records from Havasu

AZGFD's Colorado River hook-and-line records (updated October 24, 2024) list a 6 lb 0 oz redear sunfish from Lake Havasu, caught May 4, 2021, which the list marks as an all-tackle world record verified by the National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame. The same list holds a 6 lb 4.48 oz smallmouth bass from Lake Havasu (February 23, 2017).

Quagga mussels and boats

AZGFD lists Lake Havasu as a water with quagga mussels and didymo. Boats leaving the lake must be cleaned of mud and plants, drained with the plug out during transport and dried before use elsewhere; boats moored six days or more need a decontamination arranged with AZGFD.

Common questions

What is the Lake Havasu redear record?

AZGFD lists a 6 lb 0 oz redear sunfish from Lake Havasu (May 4, 2021) and marks it as an all-tackle world record verified by the National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame.

Do I need a Colorado River stamp to fish Havasu?

AZGFD says the Colorado River stamps are no longer required or available and a valid Arizona license is enough; California license holders should check CDFW's current rules.

Are there invasive mussels in Lake Havasu?

Yes. AZGFD lists quagga mussels and didymo, and requires boats to be cleaned, drained and dried when they leave.

Is fishing good at Lake Havasu right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Nearby waters

Alamo Lake44 miLake Mohave69 miLake Mead120 miLake Pleasant122 miVerde River144 miBig Bear Lake150 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 09427500 β€” LAKE HAVASU NEAR PARKER DAM, AZ-CA
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 19:30 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 34.4341, -114.3126 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 8, 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 8, 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.