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San Carlos Lake Fishing Report

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

San Carlos Lake: a Gila River reservoir on San Carlos Apache tribal land, fished under tribal permits when there is water in it.

Tribal water. San Carlos Lake is on the San Carlos Apache Reservation. Fishing needs a permit from the San Carlos Apache Tribe and follows the tribe’s rules, not Arizona’s seasons and limits. Source, read October 5, 2026.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Flow
1,830 cfs
Air / High
72 / 76 F
Wind
ESE 2 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 09466500, 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.

San Carlos Lake offers the kind of conditions this water was made for. The main inflow is running 1,830 cfs, on the rise. Today brings clear skies, wind ESE around 2 mph, steady pressure near 1011 hPa and a high of 76. Water sits around 74 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:01 AM-11:01 AM and 9:28 PM-11:28 PM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Largemouth bassGood

The main feeding season after the spawn: work moving baits along weed edges, points and wood, and follow up with a soft plastic where a fish swirls.

Catfish (blue, channel)Good

Spawning season from late May into summer: Iowa DNR suggests drifting bait under a float along riprap and snags where males guard nests in cavities.

CrappieFair

Early in this band crappie are spawning in protected coves; afterward they move to docks, brush piles and standing timber near deeper water.

White bassFair

Summer and early fall schooling season over open water; follow the shad, and try live bait on the bottom at night.

Tomorrow: Similar at 75 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 largemouth 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 Gila River at Calva (inflow).

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 09466500.

1,1543,1345,1141,830 cfs09/2310/0310/1310/23

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp72 F
High / Low76 / 60 F
WindESE 2-8 mph
Pressure1011.0 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain6% cloud, 2%
Sunrise / Sunset06:33 / 17:39
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 San Carlos Lake this week

The best day on San Carlos Lake this week looks like Saturday Oct 24, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today.

Best day this week: Saturday, Oct 24 — good at 4/5, rising pressure behind a front, typically the slowest.

Today, Oct 23 — Fair

A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Solunar majors
9:01 AM-11:01 AM and 9:28 PM-11:28 PM
Minor period
3:23 AM-4:23 AM
Sun
06:33 to 17:39
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Overcast, 10 mph
Rain chance
2%

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

Species guide

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

Largemouth bass illustration

Largemouth bass

Best: the spring pre-spawn and the fall feed

A warm-water sunfish of lakes, reservoirs, ponds and slow river backwaters that holds tight to cover: weeds, logs, rock ledges and docks. In Texas, TPWD surveys rank it "by far" the freshwater fish anglers most want to catch. The main feeding season after the spawn: work moving baits along weed edges, points and wood, and follow up with a soft plastic where a fish swirls.

Crappie illustration

Crappie

Best: the spring spawn; summer around docks, brush and the thermocline

Two slab-sided panfish, the white crappie and the black crappie, that gather around submerged timber, brush piles, docks and bridge pilings in lakes, reservoirs and slow river backwaters. Texas Parks and Wildlife counts crappie as the state's most popular panfish. Early in this band crappie are spawning in protected coves; afterward they move to docks, brush piles and standing timber near deeper water.

Catfish (blue, channel) illustration

Catfish (blue, channel)

Year-round, best at dusk and after dark

Three big catfish share most of the country's rivers and reservoirs: the channel catfish, the most widespread; the blue catfish, the largest; and the flathead, which hunts live fish. All feed mostly on or near the bottom. Spawning season from late May into summer: Iowa DNR suggests drifting bait under a float along riprap and snags where males guard nests in cavities.

White bass illustration

White bass

Best: the spring run up the tributaries, then summer surface schools

A silvery temperate bass of rivers and large reservoirs, also called sand bass, that schools in open water after shad and runs up tributaries to spawn in early spring. Summer and early fall schooling season over open water; follow the shad, and try live bait on the bottom at night.

When to come: the San Carlos Lake 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
Largemouth bass
Crappie
Catfish (blue, channel)
White 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 San Carlos Lake today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Largemouth bass led the card at excellent. High of 84 F, wind to 11 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Largemouth bass led the card at excellent. High of 88 F, wind to 9 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Largemouth bass led the card at excellent. High of 87 F, wind to 9 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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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

San Carlos Apache tribal rules apply. Non-members: daily fishing permit plus habitat stamp; a boating permit for boats. Permits are sold by the tribe’s Recreation & Wildlife Department, including online.

Access

Through the San Carlos Apache Recreation & Wildlife Department (928-475-2343); ask about open ramps before you go.

About this water

Reservoir on the Gila River within the San Carlos Apache Reservation, eastern Arizona. Inflow gauge: USGS 09466500, Gila River at Calva.

Fishing San Carlos Lake: the full guide

Tribal water

San Carlos Lake lies on San Carlos Apache tribal land, and the tribe’s Recreation & Wildlife Department sets the rules and sells the permits. Non-members need a daily fishing permit and, when fishing, a habitat stamp; boats need their own boating permit.

Water first

The lake is a reservoir on the Gila River, so how much water it holds decides whether there is a fishery at all. USGS gauge 09466500 on the Gila at Calva, upstream of the lake, shows what is flowing in. Call the Recreation & Wildlife Department at 928-475-2343 for the lake level, ramp conditions and current rules before driving.

Common questions

What permit do I need?

Non-members need the San Carlos Apache daily fishing permit and a habitat stamp from the tribe’s Recreation & Wildlife Department.

Is the lake always fishable?

Not necessarily. It depends on Gila River inflow, so check with the tribe’s Recreation & Wildlife Department before you travel.

Is fishing good at San Carlos Lake 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

Roosevelt Lake49 miApache Lake54 miCanyon Lake (AZ)59 miSaguaro Lake65 miSalt River66 miBlack River72 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 09466500 — Gila River at Calva (inflow)
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 19:00 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 33.1900, -110.5100 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.