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Lake Perris Fishing Report

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

The southern end of the State Water Project: a Riverside County reservoir with largemouth and Alabama spotted bass, big bluegill and redear, and winter trout.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Water temp
~74 F est.
Air / High
66 / 68 F
Wind
W 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.

3/5Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Lake Perris offers the kind of conditions this water was made for. Today brings clear skies, wind W around 3 mph, steady pressure near 1015 hPa and a high of 68. Water sits around 74 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:28 AM-11:28 AM and 9:56 PM-11:56 PM: 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.

Catfish (blue, channel)Good

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.

CrappieFair

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

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 temp66 F
High / Low68 / 54 F
WindW 3-6 mph
Pressure1014.6 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain17% cloud, 20%
Sunrise / Sunset07:00 / 18:05
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 Perris this week

The best day on Lake Perris 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
9:28 AM-11:28 AM and 9:56 PM-11:56 PM
Minor period
3:51 AM-4:51 AM
Sun
07:00 to 18:05
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Overcast, 11 mph
Rain chance
20%

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

Species guide

The species that matter on Lake Perris: 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.

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 Lake Perris 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)
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 Lake Perris 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 65 F, wind to 17 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 78 F, wind to 15 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 83 F, wind to 11 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 required for anglers 16 and older. State Parks lists a 12-inch minimum for all bass (measured with the mouth closed); confirm all limits in the current CDFW freshwater regulations. Tournaments of any size need a State Parks special event permit in addition to the CDFW permit.

Access

Lake Perris State Recreation Area: vehicle day use $10 ($20 weekends and holidays), boat launch $10 per vessel; every boat must pass a quagga and zebra mussel inspection (clean, drained and dry) or face an eight-day quarantine. Last launch 5:30 p.m. in summer, 4:30 p.m. in winter. Alessandro Island is day-use only. The marina store rents boats.

About this water

A California State Water Project reservoir opened in 1973 in Riverside County, about 1,800 surface acres at 80 percent full, inside Lake Perris State Recreation Area.

Fishing Lake Perris: the full guide

A State Water Project reservoir

Lake Perris opened in 1973 as the southernmost reservoir of the 701-mile California State Water Project, between Moreno Valley and Perris, 11 miles south of Riverside off Highway 60. California State Parks says the lake covers 1,800 surface acres at 80 percent full (elevation 1,560 feet), inside a state recreation area of more than 8,000 acres. The water is municipal drinking water, which is why dogs are kept off the beaches and out of the water.

Bass

State Parks says Lake Perris is known for excellent largemouth bass fishing, and it was the first lake in Southern California stocked with Alabama spotted bass. The park points bass anglers to the water around Alessandro Island.

Panfish, catfish and trout

The lake holds trophy-sized bluegill and redear sunfish along with catfish, crappie and carp. Rainbow trout are stocked from fall through spring. State Parks suggests the dam for trout, the southwest corner of the dam or the east end of the lake for catfish, and the marina and marshy areas for bluegill. Crayfish, small shrimp and green sunfish arrived through the California Aqueduct.

Common questions

Which bass live in Lake Perris?

Largemouth, which State Parks says the lake is known for, and Alabama spotted bass, first stocked in Southern California here.

When is trout stocked?

State Parks says rainbow trout are stocked from fall through spring; fish along the dam.

Do I need a boat inspection?

Yes. Every vessel is inspected for quagga and zebra mussels and must be clean, drained and dry, or it faces an eight-day quarantine.

Is fishing good at Lake Perris 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

Diamond Valley Lake14 miBig Bear Lake31 miSilverwood Lake31 miNewport Beach44 miOceanside48 miLake Hodges55 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 33.8600, -117.1800 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.