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Stampede Reservoir Fishing Report

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

Truckee's high shelf: Stampede stacks kokanee schools and Lahontan legends over sage flats at the Sierra's eastern gate.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Water temp
~62 F est.
Air / High
42 / 48 F
Wind
NW 6 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.

Stampede Reservoir rewards those who follow the bait as the water cools. Today brings a mixed sky, wind NW around 6 mph, steady pressure near 1020 hPa and a high of 48. Water sits around 62 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:40 AM-11:40 AM and 10:09 PM-12:09 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Rainbow troutExcellent

This band overlaps Vermont's 54-66Β°F stream preference: fish feed across riffles, runs and pocket water, and in lakes WDFW says spring and fall bring them near the surface.

Largemouth bassGood

In spring, pre-spawn bass push shallow as the water climbs through the mid-50s; in fall they feed actively until the water cools into the low 50s, then drop back toward deeper structure.

Smallmouth bassGood

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.

CrappieFair

Pre-spawn fish move toward shallow coves, and Iowa DNR points to wading as an effective way to reach them in spring; minnows or small jigs under a float.

Tomorrow: Warmer at 53 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.

4050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~62 F now

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp42 F
High / Low48 / 35 F
WindNW 6-8 mph
Pressure1019.9 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain44% cloud, 35%
Sunrise / Sunset07:19 / 18:09
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~62 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 Stampede Reservoir this week

The best day on Stampede Reservoir 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
9:40 AM-11:40 AM and 10:09 PM-12:09 AM
Minor period
4:04 AM-5:04 AM
Sun
07:19 to 18:09
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Overcast, 13 mph
Rain chance
35%

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

Species guide

The species that matter on Stampede Reservoir: 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. In spring, pre-spawn bass push shallow as the water climbs through the mid-50s; in fall they feed actively until the water cools into the low 50s, then drop back toward deeper structure.

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.

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. This band overlaps Vermont's 54-66Β°F stream preference: fish feed across riffles, runs and pocket water, and in lakes WDFW says spring and fall bring them near the surface.

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. Pre-spawn fish move toward shallow coves, and Iowa DNR points to wading as an effective way to reach them in spring; minnows or small jigs under a float.

When to come: the Stampede Reservoir 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
Smallmouth bass
Rainbow trout
Crappie
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 62 F (estimated, not a reading).

4050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~62 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 Stampede Reservoir 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 48 F, wind to 13 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 59 F, wind to 14 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 65 F, wind to 13 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. Kokanee 10/day; Lahontan rules: check CDFW. Ramp status varies with drawdown.

Access

Stampede boat ramp (USFS), shoreline access off Dog Valley Road.

About this water

3,400 acres on the Little Truckee, Sierra County, CA. The basin's kokanee bank.

Fishing Stampede Reservoir: the full guide

The Truckee-basin bowl

Stampede spreads 3,400 acres of sage-lined water above Boca on the Little Truckee: the basin's kokanee factory (eggs for California's program come from its run) and a Lahontan cutthroat program hinting at Pyramid-lite potential: with smallmouth colonizing the rocky edges.

Kokanee doctrine

Summer trolls the school: dodgers and pink hoochies at 30-70 feet over the old channel (the derby fleet works it weekends), and October's spawn run stains the Little Truckee inlet crimson: the egg-take's spectacle. Fish run 12-16 inches with cycle peaks: the basin's dependable meat game.

Lahontans and bronze

The big-cutthroat stockings cruise the flats spring and fall (trolled spoons flat-lined early: fish past 10 pounds possible), and smallmouth on the rocky points (Neds through summer) fill the midday. Browns from the river system ambush the inlets: the mixed bag runs wide.

Sierra-gate practicalities

Forest ramps serve the east shore (Stampede's launch low-water dependent: check): the drive from Truckee runs 20 minutes: and afternoon wind is Sierra-punctual. Boca and Prosser sit minutes away: the three-reservoir circuit is the local rotation.

Common questions

When is kokanee season at Stampede?

June-September at depth: the derby fleet's dodger game. October's inlet spawn run is the crimson spectacle (closed water: watch, don't cast).

Are there big cutthroat in Stampede?

The Lahontan program grows double-digit potential: spring and fall flat-lining hunts them. It is Pyramid's little cousin learning the trade.

Is fishing good at Stampede Reservoir 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

Truckee River6 miSparks Marina21 miPyramid Lake47 miCarson River49 miCaples Lake54 miBullards Bar Reservoir54 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 39.4830, -120.1170 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.