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Silver Lake Fishing Report

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

Silver Lake, Dover: a city-owned lake on the St. Jones River where boats need city and state permits and DNREC advises limiting fish meals.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Water temp
~74 F est.
Air / High
61 / 61 F
Wind
NE 9 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.

Silver Lake offers the kind of conditions this water was made for. Today brings clear skies, wind NE around 9 mph, steady pressure near 1027 hPa and a high of 61. Water sits around 74 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

Largemouth bassGood

The main feeding season after the spawn: work moving baits along weed edges, points and wood, and follow up with a soft plastic where a fish swirls.

Catfish (blue, channel)Good

Spawning season from late May into summer: Iowa DNR suggests drifting bait under a float along riprap and snags where males guard nests in cavities.

CrappieFair

Early in this band crappie are spawning in protected coves; afterward they move to docks, brush piles and standing timber near deeper water.

White bassFair

Summer and early fall schooling season over open water; follow the shad, and try live bait on the bottom at night.

Tomorrow: Similar at 59 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 largemouth bass 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.

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.

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~74 F now

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp61 F
High / Low61 / 47 F
WindNE 9-11 mph
Pressure1026.8 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain5% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:20 / 18:12
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~74 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 Silver Lake this week

The best day on Silver Lake this week looks like Sunday Oct 25, at 5 out of 5, against 3 today.

Best day this week: Sunday, Oct 25 β€” excellent at 5/5, 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
9:36 AM-11:36 AM and 10:05 PM-12:05 AM
Minor period
3:57 AM-4:57 AM
Sun
07:20 to 18:12
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Partly cloudy, 11 mph
Rain chance
0%

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

Species guide

The species that matter on Silver Lake: 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. The main feeding season after the spawn: work moving baits along weed edges, points and wood, and follow up with a soft plastic where a fish swirls.

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. Early in this band crappie are spawning in protected coves; afterward they move to docks, brush piles and standing timber near deeper water.

Catfish (blue, channel) illustration

Catfish (blue, channel)

Year-round, best at dusk and after dark

Three big catfish share most of the country's rivers and reservoirs: the channel catfish, the most widespread; the blue catfish, the largest; and the flathead, which hunts live fish. All feed mostly on or near the bottom. Spawning season from late May into summer: Iowa DNR suggests drifting bait under a float along riprap and snags where males guard nests in cavities.

White bass illustration

White bass

Best: the spring run up the tributaries, then summer surface schools

A silvery temperate bass of rivers and large reservoirs, also called sand bass, that schools in open water after shad and runs up tributaries to spawn in early spring. Summer and early fall schooling season over open water; follow the shad, and try live bait on the bottom at night.

When to come: the Silver Lake 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
Crappie
Catfish (blue, channel)
White bass
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 74 F (estimated, not a reading).

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~74 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 Silver Lake today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Largemouth bass led the card at excellent. High of 67 F, wind to 11 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Largemouth bass led the card at excellent. High of 64 F, wind to 12 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Largemouth bass led the card at good. High of 69 F, wind to 14 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

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

Regulations

Delaware fishing license. Fish consumption: no more than 4 meals a year of any finfish from Silver Lake and the tidal St. Jones River (DNREC/DPH). For bass and panfish limits see DNREC's current Delaware Fishing Guide.

Access

Boats need a City of Dover permit (Planning and Inspections, City Hall) and a state permit (DNREC, Kings Highway).

About this water

A city-owned lake on the St. Jones River in Dover, Kent County, Delaware.

Fishing Silver Lake: the full guide

Boating permits

The City of Dover requires a permit from the city and one from the state Department of Natural Resources to boat on Silver Lake. City boating permits are issued by the Planning and Inspections Department at City Hall, 15 Loockerman Plaza, Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; state permits come from DNREC on Kings Highway.

Fish consumption advisory

DNREC and the Delaware Division of Public Health include the St. Jones River and Silver Lake in Dover in their fish consumption advisories: for all finfish from the tidal river and the entire pond, they recommend no more than four 8-ounce meals a year, because of PCBs, dioxins and furans, and dieldrin.

Trout

DNREC's pond trout stocking goes to Tidbury Pond in Kent County and Newton Pond near Greenwood; Silver Lake is not on the list.

Common questions

Do I need a permit to boat on Silver Lake?

Yes: the City of Dover requires both a city permit, from Planning and Inspections at City Hall, and a state permit from DNREC.

Is it safe to eat fish from Silver Lake?

DNREC advises no more than four 8-ounce meals a year of any finfish from Silver Lake and the tidal St. Jones River, because of PCBs, dioxins and furans, and dieldrin.

Is Silver Lake stocked with trout?

No. DNREC's pond trout stocking is limited to Tidbury Pond and Newton Pond.

Is fishing good at Silver Lake 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

Garrisons Lake6 miKillens Pond12 miDelaware Bay14 miNoxontown Pond20 miLums Pond28 miNanticoke River31 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 39.1695, -75.5219 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.