Share your catch
US

Eagle River Fishing Report

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

The Vail Valley's freestone comeback story: browns and rainbows against I-70, best caddis water in reach of a chairlift.

2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Flow
123 cfs
Air / High
63 / 64 F
Wind
WSW 16 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 09070000, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Tap a marker for today's tip
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.

2/5Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Eagle River is in its winter mode: slow, deep and deliberate. The river is running 123 cfs, dropping and clearing. Today brings clear skies, wind WSW around 16 mph, rising pressure near 1009 hPa and a high of 64. Water sits around 47 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

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: Cooler at 56 F with a rain chance. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made β†’

Before you go

Colorado requires a fishing licence from age 16, from $57.63 for residents. What a Colorado licence costs and where to buy it β†’

Chasing rainbow trout here? Check the size and bag limits with CPW before you keep anything. The season dates for Colorado, read off the agency, are on the Colorado seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings from EAGLE RIVER BELOW GYPSUM, CO..

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 09070000.

108118128123 cfs09/2310/0310/1310/23

Today’s flow against 80 years of October 23

At 123 cfs, the flow at USGS gauge 09070000 (EAGLE RIVER BELOW GYPSUM, CO.) is below the lowest daily mean on record for the date: much below normal. In half of the 80 years of approved record the daily mean on October 23 was below 236 cfs; the highest was 483 cfs and the lowest 128 cfs.

p10 156median 236p90 376

Percentiles of the daily mean flow for this date, from the USGS Water Data Statistics API for gauge 09070000; 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 temp63 F
High / Low64 / 46 F
WindWSW 16-28 mph
Pressure1009.3 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain10% cloud, 47%
Sunrise / Sunset07:27 / 18:17
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 PMsunrisesunset

Which day to fish Eagle River this week

The best day on Eagle River this week looks like Saturday Oct 24, at 3 out of 5, against 2 today.

Best day this week: Saturday, Oct 24 β€” fair at 3/5, rising pressure behind a front, typically the slowest.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Tough

Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Solunar majors
9:46 AM-11:46 AM and 10:15 PM-12:15 AM
Minor period
4:09 AM-5:09 AM
Sun
07:27 to 18:17
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Showers, 18 mph
Rain chance
47%

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

Species guide

The species that matter on Eagle 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 Eagle 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 Eagle 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 56 F, wind to 10 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 60 F, wind to 6 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 66 F, wind to 10 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

Colorado requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Colorado license. Much of the river is artificial flies/lures only with 2-trout limits; leased and private banks interleave public access: watch signage. Confirm with CPW.

Access

Public parks and easements at Edwards, Wolcott, Eagle (Eagle River Park) and BLM water below Gypsum. Valley fly shops post daily flows.

About this water

Freestone tributary of the Colorado River, ~60 miles through Eagle County, CO. Wild brown trout fishery restored after mine-era damage.

Fishing Eagle River: the full guide

A recovered river

The Eagle drains the Vail and Beaver Creek valleys west to the Colorado River, and its story is redemption: once damaged by mine runoff, decades of cleanup rebuilt a wild-trout freestone that now fishes shoulder-to-shoulder with Colorado's famous names on its best days: without the tailwater crowds. Browns dominate, rainbows are rebounding, whitefish keep legitimate nymph anglers busy.

Down the valley

Above Wolcott the river runs quick and pocketed: attractor dries and droppers all summer. Wolcott to Eagle is the sweet spot: bigger water, defined runs, the famous spring caddis blizzards (Mother's Day hatch when flows allow) and hopper banks in August. Below Gypsum toward the Colorado confluence the canyon adds size and solitude: streamer country for the valley's biggest browns.

Timing a freestone

The Eagle is real about seasons: prime windows are pre-runoff April-early May (caddis!) and post-runoff July-October. Big snow years push clean-up to July. Afternoon thunderstorms can stain it from tributaries fast: mornings first. Flows on this page tell today's truth.

Common questions

When is the Mother's Day caddis hatch?

Late April into May as water hits ~50 F: clouds of caddis and the year's most reckless dry-fly fishing: if runoff has not blown the river first. Some years the window is days: watch flows and go.

How is the access with private land?

Patchy but workable: Colorado law puts riverbeds in private hands, so use the marked public parks and easements (Edwards, Wolcott, Eagle, BLM canyon) and never hop fences. The public water is plenty.

Does I-70 ruin the experience?

You hear it in places, and forget it the first time a brown eats your hopper against a willow bank. The lower canyon reaches feel wild: pick your stretch to pick your soundtrack.

Is fishing good at Eagle River right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Nearby waters

Crystal River18 miRoaring Fork River20 miRuedi Reservoir24 miGore Creek32 miBlue River (Silverthorne)53 miDillon Reservoir53 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 09070000 β€” EAGLE RIVER BELOW GYPSUM, CO.
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 19:15 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 39.6464, -107.0573 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.