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Owens River Fishing Report

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

The Owens River near Bishop: CDFW wild trout water below Pleasant Valley Dam, with reach-by-reach rules.

4/5
Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
Water temp
~47 F est.
Air / High
48 / 62 F
Wind
NNE 4 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.

Owens River is in its winter mode: slow, deep and deliberate. Today brings clear skies, wind NNE around 4 mph, falling pressure near 1015 hPa and a high of 62. Water sits around 47 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:32 AM-11:32 AM and 10:00 PM-12:00 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Rainbow troutExcellent

In cold water rainbows use the deepest pools in rivers (Vermont), so slow, deep drifts there are the usual approach; Michigan DNR notes lake rainbows are also taken with bait or by jigging through the ice.

Brown troutExcellent

Below 50Β°F, fish slowly through the deeper pools; in early spring on the Great Lakes, Michigan DNR notes browns are often caught inshore before other species start biting.

Tomorrow: Similar at 66 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 rainbow trout 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 temp48 F
High / Low62 / 43 F
WindNNE 4-7 mph
Pressure1015.3 hPa, falling
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 16%
Sunrise / Sunset07:08 / 18:05
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 Owens River this week

Today is the pick of the week on Owens 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
9:32 AM-11:32 AM and 10:00 PM-12:00 AM
Minor period
3:56 AM-4:56 AM
Sun
07:08 to 18:05
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Overcast, 17 mph
Rain chance
16%

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

Species guide

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

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. In cold water rainbows use the deepest pools in rivers (Vermont), so slow, deep drifts there are the usual approach; Michigan DNR notes lake rainbows are also taken with bait or by jigging through the ice.

Brown trout illustration

Brown trout

Spring along Great Lakes shorelines; low light and overcast days in rivers; fall spawning runs

A European trout first stocked in the US in 1883 and now fished in rivers and lakes nationwide; it tolerates warmer water than other trout, and mature stream fish feed mostly at night. Below 50Β°F, fish slowly through the deeper pools; in early spring on the Great Lakes, Michigan DNR notes browns are often caught inshore before other species start biting.

When to come: the Owens 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
Rainbow trout
Brown trout
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 Owens 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. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 61 F, wind to 19 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

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 11 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 74 F, wind to 18 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

CDFW 2026 Β§7.50(b)(104): Pleasant Valley Dam to the campground footbridge, 2 trout last Sat. in Apr.–Nov. 15, otherwise C&R with barbless artificials; footbridge to Five Bridges Road, C&R all year, barbless artificials; rest of the river 5 trout, all year.

Access

The wild-trout reach starts at Pleasant Valley Dam and Pleasant Valley Campground; check land ownership along the valley before crossing private ground.

About this water

The Owens River in the Owens Valley near Bishop, Inyo County, California.

Fishing Owens River: the full guide

Below Pleasant Valley Dam

CDFW's Heritage and Wild Trout Program lists the Lower Owens River among its designated waters in the Inland Deserts Region. Its 2023 angler survey box report for the river logged 16 forms, about 0.5 fish caught per hour, and a catch of 67 percent brown trout and 33 percent rainbow trout.

Reach rules

From Pleasant Valley Dam down to the footbridge at the lower end of Pleasant Valley Campground, CDFW allows 2 trout a day from the last Saturday in April to November 15, then catch-and-release with artificial lures and barbless hooks until the next opener. From that footbridge east to Five Bridges Road the river is catch-and-release all year, artificial lures with barbless hooks only. Elsewhere on the Owens in Inyo and Mono counties the general limit is 5 trout, all year.

The upper river

Above Crowley Lake the rules change again: from the Benton Bridge road crossing up to Big Springs it is zero-kill with barbless artificials, and from Benton Bridge down to Crowley the limit is 5 trout until July 31, then 2 trout of at least 18 inches on artificial lures from August 1 to November 15.

Common questions

Can I fish the Owens in winter?

Yes. The river is open all year; below Pleasant Valley Campground's footbridge it is catch-and-release with barbless artificial lures, and the reach just below the dam switches to catch-and-release after November 15.

Which trout will I catch?

CDFW's 2023 angler survey boxes on the Lower Owens recorded about two brown trout for every rainbow.

Is fishing good at Owens 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

Shaver Lake60 miLake Kaweah60 miPine Flat Lake62 miMillerton Lake80 miKern River89 miLake Isabella96 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 37.0300, -118.2300 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.