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Castaic Lake Fishing Report

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

Castaic Lake: a State Water Project reservoir north of Santa Clarita that CDFW named one of California's five trophy black bass waters in 1994.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Water temp
~74 F est.
Air / High
67 / 70 F
Wind
SW 4 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.

Castaic Lake lines up a genuinely fishable day across the board. Today brings a mixed sky, wind SW around 4 mph, steady pressure near 1015 hPa and a high of 70. Water sits around 74 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:34 AM-11:34 AM and 10:02 PM-12:02 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Rainbow troutExcellent

The top of this band is already stressful. In rivers fish mornings and evenings; in lakes WDFW notes rainbows turn sluggish and go deeper, so troll or suspend bait near the bottom.

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.

Tomorrow: Warmer at 77 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 largemouth bass 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.

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~74 F now

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp67 F
High / Low70 / 54 F
WindSW 4-9 mph
Pressure1015.0 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain35% cloud, 3%
Sunrise / Sunset07:06 / 18:10
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 Castaic Lake this week

The best day on Castaic 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
9:34 AM-11:34 AM and 10:02 PM-12:02 AM
Minor period
3:57 AM-4:57 AM
Sun
07:06 to 18:10
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Showers, 14 mph
Rain chance
3%

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

Species guide

The species that matter on Castaic 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.

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. The top of this band is already stressful. In rivers fish mornings and evenings; in lakes WDFW notes rainbows turn sluggish and go deeper, so troll or suspend bait near the bottom.

When to come: the Castaic 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
Rainbow trout
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 Castaic 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 64 F, wind to 13 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 67 F, wind to 10 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 81 F, wind to 14 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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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 inland regulations apply; check CDFW's current black bass and trout rules before keeping fish. Upper lake speed limit 35 mph, 5 mph near ramps and coves (DWR).

Access

Main entrance on Castaic Lake Drive. Upper lake west ramp open; main ramp closed after the Hughes Fire (DWR, Oct. 30, 2025). Lagoon: east-side launch for non-gasoline boats and a 24-hour fishing pier. LA County entry and launch fees; parks closed Mondays and Tuesdays; mandatory exit inspection for boats.

About this water

The State Water Project's West Branch terminal reservoir in Los Angeles County, California: 2,235 acres of boatable upper lake plus a 197-acre lagoon, inside Castaic Lake State Recreation Area.

Fishing Castaic Lake: the full guide

A State Water Project lake

Castaic Lake is the terminal reservoir of the State Water Project's West Branch and holds emergency storage in case the project is shut down to the north. The Department of Water Resources places it 41 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles on Interstate 5. Castaic Lake State Recreation Area, run by Los Angeles County Parks, takes in an upper lake with 2,235 acres of boatable water, a 197-acre lagoon below it, 29 miles of accessible shoreline and more than 11,200 acres of parkland.

Trophy bass history

In February 1994 the Fish and Game Commission designated Castaic one of five trophy black bass waters, alongside Trinity, Oroville, Clear and Isabella. CDFW's trophy bass brochure cites a 22.01-pound largemouth caught and released at Castaic by Robert Crupi in 1991 among the large bass taken in California.

Where to fish

DWR designates the east arm of the upper lake for fishing; the west arm is set aside for towed watersports, and about a mile near the dam is for personal watercraft. Fishing is also allowed in the west arm coves and from the shoreline. Castaic is stocked with rainbow trout in the colder months, according to DWR, which points anglers to CDFW's fish planting schedule. The lagoon is limited to non-gasoline boats and has a 24-hour fishing pier with a cleaning station near its east-side launch.

Fire damage, ramps and mussels

After the Hughes Fire, DWR reported on October 30, 2025 that the day-use areas and the upper lake's west launch ramp were open (except Mondays and Tuesdays), while the main launch ramp, the campground and the 24-hour lot stayed closed. LA County Parks still lists the campgrounds as closed until further notice. Quagga mussels were found in the lagoon in 2024, and the county now treats Castaic as infested: entry inspections have ended, but every boat is inspected on exit with drain plugs pulled, and other lakes may refuse Castaic exit seals.

Common questions

Did Castaic produce a near-record bass?

CDFW's trophy black bass brochure lists a 22.01-pound largemouth caught and released at Castaic by Robert Crupi in 1991, and Castaic has been a designated trophy black bass water since February 1994.

Which ramp is open?

DWR's latest update (October 30, 2025) lists the upper lake's west launch ramp as open and the main ramp as closed for Hughes Fire repairs. Call the park office before you tow.

Is the lake stocked with trout?

Yes. DWR says Castaic is stocked with rainbow trout in the colder months; CDFW's fish planting schedule has the dates.

Is fishing good at Castaic 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

Lake Piru9 miLake Casitas42 miSilverwood Lake75 miNewport Beach76 miLake Isabella78 miKern River86 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 34.5223, -118.6083 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 7, 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 7, 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.