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Folsom Lake Fishing Report

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

Sacramento's water-line barometer: granite-sloped bass water, landlocked kings and the drought-flood cycle written on every bank.

4/5
Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
Water temp
~62 F est.
Air / High
66 / 71 F
Wind
NW 10 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.

4/5Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Folsom Lake is in transition: bait on the move and predators following. Today brings a mixed sky, wind NW around 10 mph, falling pressure near 1018 hPa and a high of 71. Water sits around 62 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:44 AM-11:44 AM and 10:13 PM-12:13 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Largemouth bassExcellent

In spring, pre-spawn bass push shallow as the water climbs through the mid-50s; in fall they feed actively until the water cools into the low 50s, then drop back toward deeper structure.

Smallmouth bassExcellent

Spring pre-spawn and fall: Iowa DNR notes the larger bass come up to shallow structure, where a shallow-running minnow bait or a spinnerbait just under the surface works.

Rainbow troutExcellent

This band overlaps Vermont's 54-66Β°F stream preference: fish feed across riffles, runs and pocket water, and in lakes WDFW says spring and fall bring them near the surface.

CrappieGood

Pre-spawn fish move toward shallow coves, and Iowa DNR points to wading as an effective way to reach them in spring; minnows or small jigs under a float.

Tomorrow: Similar at 72 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.

4050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~62 F now

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp66 F
High / Low71 / 55 F
WindNW 10-12 mph
Pressure1017.5 hPa, falling
Sky / Rain26% cloud, 15%
Sunrise / Sunset07:22 / 18:14
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~62 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 Folsom Lake this week

Today is the pick of the week on Folsom Lake, at 4 out of 5.

Best day this week: today, Oct 23 β€” good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Good

Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Solunar majors
9:44 AM-11:44 AM and 10:13 PM-12:13 AM
Minor period
4:08 AM-5:08 AM
Sun
07:22 to 18:14
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Showers, 13 mph
Rain chance
15%

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

Species guide

The species that matter on Folsom 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. In spring, pre-spawn bass push shallow as the water climbs through the mid-50s; in fall they feed actively until the water cools into the low 50s, then drop back toward deeper structure.

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. Spring pre-spawn and fall: Iowa DNR notes the larger bass come up to shallow structure, where a shallow-running minnow bait or a spinnerbait just under the surface works.

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. This band overlaps Vermont's 54-66Β°F stream preference: fish feed across riffles, runs and pocket water, and in lakes WDFW says spring and fall bring them near the surface.

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. Pre-spawn fish move toward shallow coves, and Iowa DNR points to wading as an effective way to reach them in spring; minnows or small jigs under a float.

When to come: the Folsom 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
Smallmouth bass
Rainbow trout
Crappie
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 62 F (estimated, not a reading).

4050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~62 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 Folsom 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

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 72 F, wind to 14 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 72 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 license. Bass 12-inch/5; salmon rules seasonal: check CDFW. State-park entry fees; AIS inspection.

Access

Granite Bay, Brown's Ravine (marina), Folsom Point, Beals Point ramps: stage varies with elevation.

About this water

11,450 acres on the American River forks, Sacramento/Placer/El Dorado counties, CA. The capital's two-story barometer.

Fishing Folsom Lake: the full guide

The capital's reservoir

Folsom pools the American River's forks above Sacramento: 11,500 acres when full, dramatically less when not: the lake's rings tell California's water story annually. The fishery rolls with it: spotted-and-largemouth bass on the granite structure, landlocked Chinook trolling the cold band, and spring stripers pushing up from the river system.

Bass on granite

The lake's decomposed-granite points and rockslides run a classic western finesse program: drop shots, Neds and jigs at 10-40 ft tracking the seasonal ladder. Flooded willows in high-water years add a flipping bite the granite never offers: read the elevation, pick the era. Winter's spoon-and-jerkbait game off the steep dam faces quietly produces the year's quality.

Kings and the cold band

Stocked Chinook (a Folsom tradition) ride the thermocline: trollers pull hoochies and spoons at 30-60 ft spring through fall, deeper in the heat. The North Fork arm's cool depths hold the summer school: downriggers and patience. Add planted rainbows in the cold months and the two-story label fits truly.

Reading the rings

Elevation rules everything: ramps extend and strand (Granite Bay's multi-stage launch tells the story), five-mph zones move, and the fish re-map with every 10-foot swing. State-park fees cover access: Granite Bay, Brown's Ravine, Folsom Point: and the aquatic-invasive inspections keep quaggas out: arrive clean and drained.

Common questions

Does Folsom still have salmon?

Landlocked kings, stocked and steady: troll the 30-60-ft band from spring onward. They run smaller than river fish but fight the same language.

How does the water level change Folsom fishing?

Completely: high years flood willows (flipping heaven), low years expose granite structure (finesse school). Check the elevation before every trip: it is the lake's real season.

Is fishing good at Folsom Lake right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Nearby waters

American River16 miSacramento River25 miLake Amador26 miLake Camanche35 miMokelumne River36 miYuba River37 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 38.7290, -121.1290 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.
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 guide was drafted with AI assistance. Unlike our newer pages, it does not yet list the official pages its facts were checked against: that audit is under way, and anything it cannot verify will be 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.