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Diamond Valley Lake Fishing Report

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

Diamond Valley Lake: Metropolitan Water District's 4,500-acre drinking-water reservoir near Hemet, open year-round for boating and fishing.

5/5
Excellent. Go now.Everything lines up: pressure, wind and light are in your favor.
Water temp
~74 F est.
Air / High
57 / 67 F
Wind
SE 3 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.

5/5Excellent. Go now.Everything lines up: pressure, wind and light are in your favor.

Diamond Valley Lake sits in the sweet spot of the season: active fish and workable weather. Today brings cloud cover, wind SE around 3 mph, falling pressure near 1015 hPa and a high of 67. Water sits around 74 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:28 AM-11:28 AM and 9:55 PM-11:55 PM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Catfish (blue, channel)Excellent

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.

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.

Tomorrow: Warmer at 76 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 catfish (blue, channel) 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 temp57 F
High / Low67 / 55 F
WindSE 3-5 mph
Pressure1015.4 hPa, falling
Sky / Rain66% cloud, 25%
Sunrise / Sunset06:59 / 18:04
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 Diamond Valley Lake this week

Today is the pick of the week on Diamond Valley Lake, at 5 out of 5.

Best day this week: today, Oct 23 β€” excellent at 5/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Excellent

Everything lines up: pressure, wind and light are in your favor.

Solunar majors
9:28 AM-11:28 AM and 9:55 PM-11:55 PM
Minor period
3:51 AM-4:51 AM
Sun
06:59 to 18:04
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Overcast, 11 mph
Rain chance
25%

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

Species guide

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

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.

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 Diamond Valley 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
Catfish (blue, channel)
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 Diamond Valley 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. Catfish (blue, channel) led the card at excellent. High of 64 F, wind to 14 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

5/5 Excellent. Go now. Everything lines up: pressure, wind and light are in your favor. Catfish (blue, channel) led the card at excellent. High of 77 F, wind to 15 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Catfish (blue, channel) led the card at excellent. High of 82 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 fishing license. Metropolitan's Diamond Valley Lake rules apply in addition to CDFW and Division of Boating and Waterways regulations; body contact is prohibited.

Access

Marina and concession at the east end, 2615 Angler Ave., Hemet: boat rentals, fishing supplies and launch inspection; 2.5 miles of shoreline fishing (Metropolitan).

About this water

A 4,500-acre Metropolitan Water District reservoir in southwest Riverside County, California, in operation since March 2000.

Fishing Diamond Valley Lake: the full guide

Southern California's largest reservoir

Metropolitan Water District's fact sheet says Diamond Valley Lake began operating on March 18, 2000, covers 4,500 acres, runs 4.5 miles long and about 2 miles wide, reaches 250 feet deep and holds 810,000 acre-feet. The same 2019 sheet calls it one of the top destinations in the West for bass fishing.

Fish in the lake

The lake's marina concession lists black bass, bluegill and other sunfish, rainbow trout, and blue and channel catfish.

Rules that protect the water

Metropolitan allows boating and fishing year-round but prohibits body contact, including swimming, water skiing and personal watercraft. Boats need clean-burning direct-injection engines, and because of the quagga mussel risk every visiting boat must meet launch requirements, with operators interviewed before launch. Metropolitan lists 2.5 miles of shoreline fishing and a marina with boat rentals and fishing supplies at the east end.

Common questions

Can I swim or wade at Diamond Valley Lake?

No. Metropolitan prohibits body contact, including swimming, water skiing and personal watercraft.

Can I launch my own boat?

Visiting boats must meet Metropolitan's launch requirements, including clean-burning direct-injection engines, and operators are interviewed about quagga mussel precautions before launch.

What fish are in the lake?

The marina concession lists black bass, bluegill and other sunfish, rainbow trout, and blue and channel catfish.

Is fishing good at Diamond Valley Lake right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Excellent. Go now. Everything lines up: pressure, wind and light are in your favor.

Nearby waters

Lake Perris14 miOceanside39 miBig Bear Lake40 miLake Hodges43 miSilverwood Lake45 miNewport Beach49 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 33.6850, -117.0420 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.