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Collins Lake Fishing Report

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

A privately run foothill lake and campground in Yuba County, where the operator plants trout every spring, including trophy-size fish.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Water temp
~47 F est.
Air / High
65 / 68 F
Wind
WNW 12 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.

Collins Lake fishes cold and honest: earn your bites in the deep stuff. Today brings clear skies, wind WNW around 12 mph, steady pressure near 1017 hPa and a high of 68. Water sits around 47 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:45 AM-11:45 AM and 10:13 PM-12:13 AM: 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.

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.

CrappieFair

Bites slow; a minnow or small jig fished slowly near deeper cover is the usual approach, and through the ice where lakes freeze.

Tomorrow: Warmer at 74 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 temp65 F
High / Low68 / 55 F
WindWNW 12-15 mph
Pressure1016.9 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain1% cloud, 26%
Sunrise / Sunset07:23 / 18:14
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 Collins Lake this week

Today is the pick of the week on Collins Lake, at 3 out of 5.

Best day this week: today, Oct 23 β€” fair at 3/5, steady pressure, neither help nor hindrance.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Fair

A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Solunar majors
9:45 AM-11:45 AM and 10:13 PM-12:13 AM
Minor period
4:09 AM-5:09 AM
Sun
07:23 to 18:14
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Showers, 15 mph
Rain chance
26%

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

Species guide

The species that matter on Collins 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.

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.

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. Bites slow; a minnow or small jig fished slowly near deeper cover is the usual approach, and through the ice where lakes freeze.

When to come: the Collins 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
Catfish (blue, channel)
Crappie
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 Collins 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 63 F, wind to 8 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 72 F, wind to 11 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 70 F, wind to 7 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 sport fishing license for anglers 16 and older; CDFW inland regulations apply. Check the operator's posted lake rules and fees.

Access

Operator's boat launch, marina and lakeshore camping; day-use fee charged.

About this water

A privately operated reservoir and campground in the Sierra foothills, Yuba County, California.

Fishing Collins Lake: the full guide

A private recreation area

Collins Lake is run as a private recreation area. Its operator describes a 1,600-acre lake and recreation area with 12 miles of shoreline in the foothills between Marysville and Grass Valley, open from sunrise all year, with RV and tent camping, a boat launch, a marina with rentals and a swimming beach. Day use is charged.

Trout plants

The operator says it plants more than 50,000 trout every spring, thousands of them trophy fish planted at 3 to 8 pounds, and posts each private plant in a trout plant log. Collins Lake also appears on CDFW's fish planting list for Yuba County.

Bass and other fish

The operator has built habitat for bass, crappie, bluegill and catfish. Its August fishing report described holdover rainbows averaging about 16 inches taken on soft plastics near 40 feet, and bass that were mostly 12- to 14-inch spotted bass, with some bigger largemouth.

Common questions

Who stocks Collins Lake?

The operator plants trout privately each spring and posts a plant log; CDFW also lists Collins Lake among the waters it plants.

Is there a fee to fish Collins Lake?

Yes. It is a private recreation area that charges for day use and camping.

What bass are in Collins Lake?

The operator's August report said most bass caught were 12- to 14-inch spotted bass, with some larger largemouth.

Is fishing good at Collins 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

Yuba River10 miBullards Bar Reservoir11 miLake Oroville16 miFeather River17 miSacramento River42 miFolsom Lake44 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 39.3430, -121.3170 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.