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Lake Oroville Fishing Report

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

Lake Oroville: the State Water Project reservoir behind the nation's tallest dam, where DWR says spotted bass are the most common catch.

4/5
Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
Water temp
~74 F est.
Air / High
67 / 71 F
Wind
WNW 11 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.

Lake Oroville lines up a genuinely fishable day across the board. Today brings clear skies, wind WNW around 11 mph, falling pressure near 1018 hPa and a high of 71. Water sits around 74 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:45 AM-11:45 AM and 10:14 PM-12:14 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Largemouth bassExcellent

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.

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.

Smallmouth bassExcellent

Post-spawn and summer feeding: cover rock, wood and current breaks with crankbaits, jigs and tubes, and use live crayfish, minnows or hellgrammites where bait is the plan.

SteelheadExcellent

Late summer and early fall: fish stage off creek mouths and, as creek temperatures drop in September and October, the first ones run in; casting spoons near creek mouths at dawn and dusk works then (NYSDEC).

CrappieGood

Early in this band crappie are spawning in protected coves; afterward they move to docks, brush piles and standing timber near deeper water.

Chinook salmonFair

Chinook follow the bait: WDFW suggests starting at 40 to 80 feet in open salt water, fishing close to shore and kelp early and late, and going deeper as light increases.

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 / Low71 / 55 F
WindWNW 11-13 mph
Pressure1017.9 hPa, falling
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 18%
Sunrise / Sunset07:24 / 18:14
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 Lake Oroville this week

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

Best day this week: Saturday, Oct 24 β€” excellent at 5/5, 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
9:45 AM-11:45 AM and 10:14 PM-12:14 AM
Minor period
4:09 AM-5:09 AM
Sun
07:24 to 18:14
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Showers, 12 mph
Rain chance
18%

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

Species guide

The species that matter on Lake Oroville: 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.

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. Early in this band crappie are spawning in protected coves; afterward they move to docks, brush piles and standing timber near deeper water.

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.

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. Post-spawn and summer feeding: cover rock, wood and current breaks with crankbaits, jigs and tubes, and use live crayfish, minnows or hellgrammites where bait is the plan.

Steelhead illustration

Steelhead

Great Lakes tributaries from fall through spring; West Coast rivers have both summer and winter runs

Steelhead are rainbow trout that migrate to the Pacific or the Great Lakes to grow, then return up rivers to spawn; unlike most Pacific salmon they can survive spawning and spawn again. Late summer and early fall: fish stage off creek mouths and, as creek temperatures drop in September and October, the first ones run in; casting spoons near creek mouths at dawn and dusk works then (NYSDEC).

Chinook salmon illustration

Chinook salmon

Seasons follow the runs: spring, summer and fall runs on the West Coast, and late summer into fall in Great Lakes rivers

The largest Pacific salmon, caught by trolling and mooching at sea and by drifting and plunking in rivers as adults return to spawn; also stocked in the Great Lakes. Chinook follow the bait: WDFW suggests starting at 40 to 80 feet in open salt water, fishing close to shore and kelp early and late, and going deeper as light increases.

When to come: the Lake Oroville 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
Crappie
Catfish (blue, channel)
Smallmouth bass
Steelhead
Chinook salmon
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 Lake Oroville 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 66 F, wind to 9 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 73 F, wind to 12 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

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 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 fishing license. For black bass and salmon limits, see the current CDFW freshwater sport fishing regulations; State Parks advises checking at the park for black bass rules. OEHHA advisory (2013): women 18-49 and children 1-17 should not eat black bass or catfish from the lake; other adults should limit them to one serving a week.

Access

Lake Oroville State Recreation Area: vehicle day use $8, boat launch $5, combined $13 (State Parks, read Oct. 8, 2026). Ramps at Bidwell Canyon, Loafer Creek, Lime Saddle, the Spillway, Enterprise and Foreman Creek; launch ramps are generally open 7:30 a.m.-10 p.m.

About this water

About 15,500 surface acres at maximum elevation on the Feather River, Butte County, California; DWR's State Water Project, dam completed 1967.

Fishing Lake Oroville: the full guide

The reservoir

The Department of Water Resources completed Oroville Dam in 1967 after five years of construction; California State Parks calls it the tallest dam in the country, 770 feet above the Feather River streambed. At maximum elevation the lake covers some 15,500 surface acres with 167 miles of shoreline. In 1994 the Fish and Game Commission designated Oroville one of five trophy black bass waters in California.

What DWR lists

DWR says spotted bass are the fish most commonly caught at Lake Oroville; largemouth are less common but prized for their size. Chinook salmon are stocked in the lake every year, channel catfish can pass 10 pounds, and anglers also catch smallmouth bass, crappie and bluegill.

Ramps by lake level

DWR publishes how far down each ramp reaches. Bidwell Canyon has seven lanes to 850 feet, three lanes between 717 and 660 feet and a gravel lane below 660; Loafer Creek has eight lanes to 800 feet and two to 775; Lime Saddle has two lanes to 702 feet; Foreman Creek's car-top ramp is kept to 730 feet. Enterprise reaches 837 feet but closes when the lake is below 800, and Butte County has closed the Dark Canyon car-top ramp because of a road failure.

Below the dam

The Thermalito Afterbay, 4,300 acres with 17 miles of shoreline inside the Oroville Wildlife Area, holds steelhead, largemouth and spotted bass, redear sunfish, bluegill and catfish, according to DWR; its Monument Hill ramp has two lanes and a floating dock. The North Thermalito Forebay is limited to non-powered boats and has an accessible fishing pier and frequent trout plants.

Common questions

Which ramp works when the lake is low?

Bidwell Canyon reaches lowest: three lanes between 717 and 660 feet and a gravel lane below 660 feet, according to DWR. Enterprise closes below 800 feet.

What can I catch in the Thermalito Afterbay?

DWR lists steelhead, largemouth and spotted bass, redear sunfish, bluegill and catfish in the 4,300-acre Afterbay.

Is it safe to eat bass from Lake Oroville?

OEHHA advises women 18-49 and children not to eat black bass or catfish from the lake, and other adults to limit them to one serving a week.

Is fishing good at Lake Oroville 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

Feather River7 miCollins Lake16 miBullards Bar Reservoir19 miYuba River23 miLake Almanor50 miSacramento River55 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 39.5519, -121.4248 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.