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Housatonic River Fishing Report

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

New England's broad-shouldered trout river: the Housatonic's TMA pools swing browns and smallmouth beneath covered-bridge Connecticut.

2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Flow
606 cfs
Air / High
57 / 58 F
Wind
NNW 7 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 01200500, 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.

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

Housatonic River asks for patience today: short windows, precise presentations. The river is running 606 cfs, steady over the week. Today brings clear skies, wind NNW around 7 mph, rising pressure near 1027 hPa and a high of 58. Water sits around 47 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:27 AM-11:27 AM and 9:57 PM-11:57 PM: 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 57 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

Connecticut requires a fishing licence from age 16, from $28.00 for residents. What a Connecticut licence costs and where to buy it β†’

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

Water and weather

Live readings from Housatonic River at Gaylordsville.

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 01200500.

382604825606 cfs09/2310/0310/1310/23

Today’s flow against 86 years of October 23

At 606 cfs, the flow at USGS gauge 01200500 (Housatonic River at Gaylordsville) is at the 46th percentile for the date: normal. In half of the 86 years of approved record the daily mean on October 23 was below 643 cfs; the highest was 6,860 cfs and the lowest 203 cfs.

p10 298median 643p90 2,908

Percentiles of the daily mean flow for this date, from the USGS Water Data Statistics API for gauge 01200500; 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 temp57 F
High / Low58 / 40 F
WindNNW 7-11 mph
Pressure1027.2 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:15 / 18:00
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 Housatonic River this week

The best day on Housatonic River this week looks like Sunday Oct 25, at 4 out of 5, against 2 today.

Best day this week: Sunday, Oct 25 β€” good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Tough

Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Solunar majors
9:27 AM-11:27 AM and 9:57 PM-11:57 PM
Minor period
3:49 AM-4:49 AM
Sun
07:15 to 18:00
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Overcast, 7 mph
Rain chance
0%

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

Species guide

The species that matter on Housatonic 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 Housatonic 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 Housatonic 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 14 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 62 F, wind to 9 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 66 F, wind to 11 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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Before you go

License

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

Regulations

Connecticut license. TMA: year-round C&R, gear rules; thermal refuges closed in summer heat: check DEEP.

Access

Route 7 pull-offs throughout the TMA: covered bridge (West Cornwall), Push'em Falls, Housatonic Meadows SP.

About this water

The Litchfield County freestone, CT. New England's big-water trout-and-smallmouth classic.

Fishing Housatonic River: the full guide

The big freestone of the Berkshire foothills

The Housatonic runs wide and boulder-broken through Litchfield County: New England's closest thing to a western river. The Trout Management Area (Cornwall's covered bridge down through the traditional pools) holds browns and rainbows on a year-round catch-and-release basis: with a summer smallmouth fishery so good the trout anglers barely mourn the warm months.

Hatches of the Housatonic

Spring: Hendricksons (the river's storied hatch: late April's dry-fly festival), then March Browns and caddis. Early summer: sulphurs and the evening spinner falls. When July warms the TMA past trout comfort (thermal refuges are closed and marked: respect them), the smallmouth take the same pools: poppers and streamers until October cools the trout back in.

Reading the big pools

The named water (Push'em Falls, the Elms, Carse Pool) fishes like western runs: wade the edges, swing wets across the tailouts, nymph the boulder seams. High water floats well (canoe liveries run it): low summer flows expose the ledges and concentrate everything: the river rewards moving between pools more than camping one.

Rules and rhythms

The TMA runs catch-and-release year-round with fly-and-lure rules: confirm current CT DEEP boundaries: and thermal-refuge closures protect summering trout at tributary mouths. PCB advisories make it release water by history anyway: the fishery thrives on it. Fall's browns and October caddis close the loop on a genuinely four-season river.

Common questions

When is the Hendrickson hatch on the Housatonic?

Late April into early May, early afternoons: the river's signature dry-fly event. Carse and the covered-bridge pools draw the faithful: arrive before the duns.

Can you fish the Housatonic in summer?

For smallmouth, absolutely: the TMA pools convert to bronze all summer. Leave trout alone in the heat (refuges are closed and ethics apply): the bass fill the gap brilliantly.

Is fishing good at Housatonic 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

Lake Waramaug7 miCandlewood Lake13 miBantam Lake14 miLake Lillinonah16 miLake Zoar20 miNaugatuck River22 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 01200500 β€” Housatonic River at Gaylordsville
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 19:00 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 41.6570, -73.4870 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.