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Brandywine Creek Fishing Report

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

Brandywine Creek: a Piedmont stream through Brandywine Creek State Park toward Wilmington, where Delaware stocks trout in two small tributaries rather than the main stem.

2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Flow
231 cfs
Air / High
62 / 62 F
Wind
NE 5 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 01481500, 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.

Brandywine Creek is in its winter mode: slow, deep and deliberate. The river is running 231 cfs, dropping and clearing. Today brings clear skies, wind NE around 5 mph, rising pressure near 1027 hPa and a high of 62. Water sits around 47 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:36 AM-11:36 AM and 10:05 PM-12:05 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.

Tomorrow: Similar at 60 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

Delaware requires a fishing licence from age 16, from $8.50 for residents. What a Delaware licence costs and where to buy it β†’

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

Water and weather

Live readings from Brandywine Creek at Wilmington.

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 01481500.

5421,1871,832231 cfs09/2310/0310/1310/23

Today’s flow against 80 years of October 23

At 231 cfs, the flow at USGS gauge 01481500 (Brandywine Creek at Wilmington) is at the 56th percentile for the date: normal. In half of the 80 years of approved record the daily mean on October 23 was below 192 cfs; the highest was 1,090 cfs and the lowest 70 cfs.

p10 106median 192p90 590

Percentiles of the daily mean flow for this date, from the USGS Water Data Statistics API for gauge 01481500; 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 temp62 F
High / Low62 / 45 F
WindNE 5-6 mph
Pressure1026.8 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain2% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:21 / 18:11
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (gauge)54 F USGS
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 Brandywine Creek this week

The best day on Brandywine Creek 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
9:36 AM-11:36 AM and 10:05 PM-12:05 AM
Minor period
3:58 AM-4:58 AM
Sun
07:21 to 18:11
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Overcast, 11 mph
Rain chance
0%

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

Species guide

The species that matter on Brandywine Creek: 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.

When to come: the Brandywine Creek 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
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 Brandywine Creek 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 68 F, wind to 11 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 65 F, wind to 12 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 69 F, wind to 15 mph.

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

License

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

Regulations

Delaware fishing license for residents 16-64 and nonresidents 16 and older. A trout stamp is required on designated trout streams such as Wilson Run and Beaver Run from the first Saturday in April through June 30 and from the first Saturday in October through November 30; those streams are closed for 14 days before the April opener, and trout may not be possessed above six a day. Pennsylvania (PFBC) rules apply upstream of the state line.

Access

Brandywine Creek State Park (Delaware State Parks) along the creek; Wilson Run, a stocked tributary, runs through the park.

About this water

A Piedmont creek flowing from Pennsylvania through northern New Castle County, Delaware, toward Wilmington.

Fishing Brandywine Creek: the full guide

Where Delaware stocks trout

Delaware's 2026 list of designated trout streams does not include the Brandywine itself. Two of its tributaries are on it: Wilson Run, from Route 92 through Brandywine Creek State Park, and Beaver Run, from the Pennsylvania line to the Brandywine. DNREC's tentative 2026 schedule put trout in Wilson Run several times in March and April, starting with a pre-season load that included rainbows of 14 inches or more. Wilson Run also hosts DNREC's spring derby for anglers with special needs. DNREC's one fall stocking is on White Clay Creek, not the Brandywine system.

Shad and the dams

The City of Wilmington removed Dam #1 on the lower Brandywine in 2019. A Brandywine River Restoration Trust summary hosted on DNREC's site says University of Delaware Sea Grant researchers then found American shad spawning above the old dam. The Trust, which lists DNREC among its supporting organizations, has been working toward the removal of further dams, including Dams #4 and #6.

The state park

Delaware State Parks describes tubing, canoeing, kayaking and fishing on the creek inside Brandywine Creek State Park, a Piedmont park with more than 14 miles of trail. DNREC notes that most access to the designated trout streams crosses private property or state park land.

Common questions

Is the Brandywine stocked with trout?

Not the main stem: it is absent from Delaware's 2026 designated trout stream list. DNREC stocks the tributaries Wilson Run, inside Brandywine Creek State Park, and Beaver Run in spring.

Do I need a trout stamp?

Yes on Delaware's designated trout streams during the stamp periods (first Saturday in April to June 30; first Saturday in October to November 30). DNREC lists the stamp at $4.20 for residents 16-64 and $6.20 for nonresidents; residents 65 and older are exempt.

Are shad returning to the Brandywine?

After Dam #1 came out in 2019, University of Delaware Sea Grant researchers documented American shad spawning upstream of it, according to the restoration trust's summary on DNREC's site.

Is fishing good at Brandywine Creek 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

Christina River5 miWhite Clay Creek8 miLums Pond18 miNoxontown Pond25 miSusquehanna Flats33 miUnion Lake37 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 01481500 β€” Brandywine Creek at Wilmington
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 19:30 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 39.7800, -75.5700 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 8, 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 8, 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.