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Sacramento River Fishing Report

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

California's workhorse: king salmon runs, wild rainbows below Shasta, and the striper migrations that feed a valley's fishing culture.

4/5
Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
Flow
7,980 cfs
Air / High
59 / 66 F
Wind
N 6 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 11425500, 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.

Sacramento River is in transition: bait on the move and predators following. The river is running 7,980 cfs, steady over the week. Today brings cloud cover, wind N around 6 mph, falling pressure near 1019 hPa and a high of 66. Water sits around 55 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:46 AM-11:46 AM and 10:15 PM-12:15 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

SteelheadExcellent

Main tributary season: fish seams, pool heads and tails and structure with drifted eggs, beads, nymphs or streamers, and plan trips around rising or falling water.

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.

Brown troutExcellent

Close to Vermont's 53-66Β°F optimum, browns feed more freely; in fall, pre-spawn fish move toward tributaries and gravel, so fish streamers and keep off the redds.

Tomorrow: Similar at 70 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 from Sacramento River at Verona.

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 11425500.

9,08111,57014,0607,980 cfs09/2310/0310/1310/23

Today’s flow against 97 years of October 23

At 7,980 cfs, the flow at USGS gauge 11425500 (Sacramento River at Verona) is at the 44th percentile for the date: normal. In half of the 97 years of approved record the daily mean on October 23 was below 8,370 cfs; the highest was 27,100 cfs and the lowest 3,420 cfs.

p10 5,358median 8,370p90 13,080

Percentiles of the daily mean flow for this date, from the USGS Water Data Statistics API for gauge 11425500; today’s reading is the latest instantaneous value. Classes follow the ones the USGS used on its WaterWatch maps (retired at the end of 2025): below 10th, much below normal; 10th–24th, below; 25th–75th, normal; 76th–90th, above; over 90th, much above.

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp59 F
High / Low66 / 52 F
WindN 6-10 mph
Pressure1018.9 hPa, falling
Sky / Rain70% cloud, 21%
Sunrise / Sunset07:24 / 18:16
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~55 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 Sacramento River this week

Today is the pick of the week on Sacramento 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
9:46 AM-11:46 AM and 10:15 PM-12:15 AM
Minor period
4:10 AM-5:10 AM
Sun
07:24 to 18:16
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Rain, 13 mph
Rain chance
21%

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

Species guide

The species that matter on Sacramento 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. Main tributary season: fish seams, pool heads and tails and structure with drifted eggs, beads, nymphs or streamers, and plan trips around rising or falling water.

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.

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. Close to Vermont's 53-66Β°F optimum, browns feed more freely; in fall, pre-spawn fish move toward tributaries and gravel, so fish streamers and keep off the redds.

When to come: the Sacramento 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
Smallmouth bass
Brown trout
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 55 F (estimated, not a reading).

304050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~55 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 Sacramento 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. Brown trout led the card at excellent. High of 62 F, wind to 8 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Steelhead led the card at excellent. High of 65 F, wind to 10 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Brown trout led the card at excellent. High of 70 F, wind to 8 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. Salmon: annual season decisions, report cards required. Steelhead card on the upper river. Striper slot: check CDFW current.

Access

Redding: Posse Grounds, Bonnyview ramps. Middle river: Red Bluff, Los Molinos, Woodson Bridge. Lower: Colusa, Verona, Knights Landing.

About this water

384 miles from Shasta to the Delta: the upper trout tailwater and the salmon-striper middle are our coverage core.

Fishing Sacramento River: the full guide

The valley's main street

The Sacramento drains California's heart: salmon returning under golden hills, striped bass surging up from the Delta each spring, sturgeon rolling in the deep bends, and shad turning the riffles silver in May. Every reach fishes differently: the cold upper river below Shasta, the salmon middle, the striper lower: one river running the state's whole freshwater story.

The Redding trout mile(s)

Below Keswick Dam, the upper Sac runs cold and constant: wild rainbows to 20-plus inches eating nymphs the size of commas. The Redding town water (Posse Grounds to Anderson) drifts like a western tailwater dream: side-drifted eggs and rubber-legs winter, hopper-droppers against the riprap in summer. It is California's most underrated year-round trout fishery.

Salmon and stripers by the calendar

Fall kings (July-November) stack the middle river: back-bounced roe and Kwikfish at Barge Hole and the traditional holes draw the valley fleet. Spring flips the river to stripers: April-May migrations up past Colusa bring bank soakers and jig trollers out in force: 30-fish days on the good tides of the year.

Rules of a managed river

The Sacramento is regulation chess: salmon seasons set annually (sometimes closed entirely: check before planning), rainbow/steelhead rules split by reach, striper slots protecting the spawners. The reward for homework is a river that still produces like the old days when the windows open.

Common questions

Is there still a salmon season on the Sacramento?

It varies year to year with the run forecasts: recent years have seen closures and reopenings. Check CDFW's annual salmon decision before booking: the trout and striper fisheries carry the calendar regardless.

When do stripers run the Sacramento?

April-May upstream past Colusa: the spring migration out of the Delta. Cut baits from the banks, trolled Yo-Zuris from boats: valley tradition at its most democratic.

Is fishing good at Sacramento 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

American River17 miFolsom Lake25 miPutah Creek31 miYuba River33 miLake Berryessa36 miCollins Lake42 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 11425500 β€” Sacramento River at Verona
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 14:45 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 38.7740, -121.5970 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.