Share your catch
US

Mokelumne River Fishing Report

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

The Mokelumne below Camanche Dam: a hatchery river for Chinook salmon and steelhead, open to fishing in two seasonal windows.

4/5
Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
Water temp
~47 F est.
Air / High
63 / 67 F
Wind
NW 9 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.

Mokelumne River asks for patience today: short windows, precise presentations. Today brings a mixed sky, wind NW around 9 mph, falling pressure near 1017 hPa and a high of 67. Water sits around 47 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:43 AM-11:43 AM and 10:11 PM-12:11 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

SteelheadExcellent

Winter fish hold in the deeper pools; drift small baits slowly, and watch for brief warm spells, which NYSDEC says bring fresh fish into the creeks.

Chinook salmonFair

Most adult runs have spawned by now. In Washington, winter and early spring bring blackmouth fishing near the bottom in 60 to 200 feet of water where seasons are open.

Tomorrow: Warmer at 73 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 steelhead 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 temp63 F
High / Low67 / 53 F
WindNW 9-11 mph
Pressure1017.4 hPa, falling
Sky / Rain37% cloud, 29%
Sunrise / Sunset07:20 / 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 Mokelumne River this week

Today is the pick of the week on Mokelumne River, 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
9:43 AM-11:43 AM and 10:11 PM-12:11 AM
Minor period
4:07 AM-5:07 AM
Sun
07:20 to 18:14
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Showers, 11 mph
Rain chance
29%

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

Species guide

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

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. Winter fish hold in the deeper pools; drift small baits slowly, and watch for brief warm spells, which NYSDEC says bring fresh fish into the creeks.

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. Most adult runs have spawned by now. In Washington, winter and early spring bring blackmouth fishing near the bottom in 60 to 200 feet of water where seasons are open.

When to come: the Mokelumne River 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
Steelhead
Chinook salmon
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 Mokelumne River 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. Steelhead led the card at good. High of 66 F, wind to 8 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Steelhead led the card at good. High of 72 F, wind to 12 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Steelhead led the card at good. High of 71 F, wind to 8 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
Only used if we need to ask you about your report. No mailing list, no spam.

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

From Camanche Dam to Elliot Road: open Jan 1–Mar 31 and from the fourth Saturday in May to Oct 15; 1 hatchery trout or steelhead (adipose clipped); 2 Chinook a day Jul 16–Oct 15 (CDFW 2026 Freshwater Sport Fishing Regulations, Β§7.40). Other reaches differ.

Access

EBMUD Mokelumne River Day Use Area, 25800 N. McIntire Rd, Clements: free, sunrise to sunset, ADA fishing pier. Rafting take-out at San Joaquin County's Stillman Magee Park.

About this water

The Mokelumne River below Camanche Dam, San Joaquin County, California, with CDFW's Mokelumne River Hatchery at the dam.

Fishing Mokelumne River: the full guide

The river below Camanche Dam

Camanche Dam holds back the Mokelumne at the foot of the Sierra foothills, and the Mokelumne River Hatchery sits at its base. CDFW runs the hatchery, which raises Chinook salmon and steelhead for release to the river. CDFW's fish planting schedule lists Camanche Reservoir but no trout plants in the river itself, so the river fishery is built on hatchery salmon and steelhead rather than stocked rainbows.

Seasons from the dam to Elliot Road

CDFW's 2026 regulations (booklet updated July 10, 2026) open the reach from Camanche Dam to Elliot Road from January 1 to March 31 and again from the fourth Saturday in May to October 15, with a limit of 1 hatchery trout or hatchery steelhead. Only fish with a healed adipose fin clip count as hatchery fish; every trout or steelhead with its adipose fin must be released. From July 16 to October 15 the same reach also allows 2 Chinook salmon a day, 4 in possession. The river is closed here outside those windows.

Mokelumne River Day Use Area

EBMUD's free day use area at the base of Camanche Dam opens sunrise to sunset all year and gives about a mile of river, 14 picnic sites, an ADA fishing pier and a trail to the hatchery. EBMUD closes the area to fishing on the same calendar as CDFW. Through October 2026 EBMUD is running pulse flows to make flood space and attract salmon, and it restricts wading and launching during high flows.

Salmon and steelhead at the hatchery

CDFW gives mid-October to late December as the time to see Chinook spawning at the hatchery and December to March for steelhead. Downstream reaches have their own seasons: below Elliot Road to the Woodbridge dam the river is open all year, and the stretch between the Woodbridge dam and the Lower Sacramento Road bridge is closed to all fishing.

Common questions

Can I fish below Camanche Dam all year?

No. From the dam to Elliot Road the river is open January 1–March 31 and from the fourth Saturday in May to October 15; it is closed in between and after October 15.

Is salmon fishing open in 2026?

Yes, from July 16 to October 15 between Camanche Dam and Elliot Road: 2 Chinook a day and 4 in possession under CDFW's 2026 regulations.

Which trout can I keep?

Only a hatchery trout or steelhead, one a day, recognized by a healed adipose fin clip. Fish with the adipose fin are wild and go back.

Is fishing good at Mokelumne River 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

New Hogan Lake7 miLake Camanche7 miLake Amador12 miNew Melones Lake27 miFolsom Lake36 miAmerican River37 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 38.2500, -120.8500 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 6, 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 6, 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.