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Big Bear Lake Fishing Report

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

Big Bear Lake: a 2,971-acre mountain reservoir in the San Bernardino Mountains, planted with trout by CDFW and managed by the Big Bear Municipal Water District.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Water temp
~47 F est.
Air / High
50 / 50 F
Wind
WNW 6 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.

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

Big Bear Lake fishes cold and honest: earn your bites in the deep stuff. Today brings a mixed sky, wind WNW around 6 mph, steady pressure near 1015 hPa and a high of 50. Water sits around 47 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:27 AM-11:27 AM and 9:55 PM-11:55 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.

Largemouth bassGood

Below about 50Β°F feeding slows sharply, Iowa DNR notes; use small, slow baits near deep cover and fish the warmest part of the day.

Smallmouth bassGood

Fish hold in slower, deeper water; fish slowly and expect fewer bites until spring warming.

Catfish (blue, channel)Good

Channel cats move to the deepest river holes in late fall and feed less; slow presentations with cut bait or nightcrawlers near bottom.

Tomorrow: Similar at 51 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

California requires a fishing licence from age 16, from $64.54 for residents. What a California licence costs and where to buy it β†’

Chasing rainbow trout here? Check the size and bag limits with CDFW before you keep anything. The season dates for California, read off the agency, are on the California 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 temp50 F
High / Low50 / 37 F
WindWNW 6-6 mph
Pressure1014.5 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain25% cloud, 27%
Sunrise / Sunset06:59 / 18:03
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 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Which day to fish Big Bear Lake this week

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

Best day this week: Saturday, Oct 24 β€” good at 4/5, 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
9:27 AM-11:27 AM and 9:55 PM-11:55 PM
Minor period
3:50 AM-4:50 AM
Sun
06:59 to 18:03
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Overcast, 11 mph
Rain chance
27%

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

Species guide

The species that matter on Big Bear Lake: 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.

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. Below about 50Β°F feeding slows sharply, Iowa DNR notes; use small, slow baits near deep cover and fish the warmest part of the day.

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. Fish hold in slower, deeper water; fish slowly and expect fewer bites until spring warming.

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. Channel cats move to the deepest river holes in late fall and feed less; slow presentations with cut bait or nightcrawlers near bottom.

When to come: the Big Bear 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
Rainbow trout
Largemouth bass
Smallmouth bass
Catfish (blue, channel)
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 Big Bear Lake 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 46 F, wind to 22 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 57 F, wind to 15 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

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

Regulations

California fishing license; see the current CDFW Freshwater Sport Fishing Regulations for trout and bass limits. Every vessel, motorized or not, must be inspected and carry a district permit before entering the lake, and boats must arrive clean, drained and dry.

Access

The district's East Public Launch Ramp (Carol Morrison), 41911 North Shore Drive, was open daily 7 a.m.-4 p.m. on Oct. 8, 2026. The West Public Launch Ramp (Duane Boyer), 38925 North Shore Drive, is for quarantine-banded boats and non-registered vessels only.

About this water

Reservoir in the San Bernardino Mountains, San Bernardino County, California, managed by the Big Bear Municipal Water District. The district publishes the lake level; there is no USGS gauge on the lake.

Fishing Big Bear Lake: the full guide

The lake

The Big Bear Municipal Water District lists Big Bear Lake at 2,971 surface acres, 73,320 acre-feet and 22 miles of shoreline, with about 4 feet of lake level lost to evaporation in an average year. On Oct. 8, 2026 the district reported the lake 9.55 feet down from full.

Trout plants and lake records

CDFW's planting schedule shows trout plants in Big Bear Lake in 13 weeks between October 2025 and October 2026, including the week of Oct. 4-10, 2026. The district's lake-record list includes an 18.69-pound rainbow trout (2009), an 8.03-pound largemouth bass (2020), a 4.08-pound smallmouth bass (2024), a 28.67-pound channel catfish and a 26.65-pound blue catfish; the official weigh station is Big Bear Sporting Goods.

Common questions

Is Big Bear Lake stocked with trout?

Yes. CDFW's schedule lists trout plants from spring through fall, the latest in the week of Oct. 4-10, 2026.

Do I need a permit to launch on Big Bear Lake?

Yes. The Big Bear Municipal Water District requires every motorized and non-motorized vessel to be inspected and permitted before it goes on the lake.

Is fishing good at Big Bear 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

Silverwood Lake23 miLake Perris31 miDiamond Valley Lake40 miNewport Beach71 miOceanside78 miLake Hodges83 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 34.2531, -116.9280 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.