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Lake Tohopekaliga Fishing Report

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

Lake Tohopekaliga: the Kissimmee lake that FWC's own regulations guide calls a name 'recognized by anglers across the globe'; statewide Florida limits apply.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Flow
230 cfs
Air / High
80 / 81 F
Wind
NNE 13 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 02264495, 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.

Lake Tohopekaliga offers the kind of conditions this water was made for. The nearest gauge is running 230 cfs, falling. Today brings clear skies, wind NNE around 13 mph, steady pressure near 1016 hPa and a high of 81. Water sits around 74 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 10:01 AM-12:01 PM and 10:28 PM-12:28 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 81 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

Florida requires a fishing licence from age 16, from $17.00 for residents. What a Florida licence costs and where to buy it β†’

Chasing largemouth bass here? Check the size and bag limits with FWC before you keep anything. The season dates for Florida, read off the agency, are on the Florida seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings from Shingle Creek at Campbell (flows into Lake Toho).

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 02264495.

303546789230 cfs09/2310/0310/1310/23

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp80 F
High / Low81 / 61 F
WindNNE 13-17 mph
Pressure1015.9 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain21% cloud, 5%
Sunrise / Sunset07:31 / 18:48
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 Lake Tohopekaliga this week

The best day on Lake Tohopekaliga 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, steady pressure, neither help nor hindrance.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Fair

A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Solunar majors
10:01 AM-12:01 PM and 10:28 PM-12:28 AM
Minor period
4:22 AM-5:22 AM
Sun
07:31 to 18:48
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Partly cloudy, 13 mph
Rain chance
5%

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

Species guide

The species that matter on Lake Tohopekaliga: 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 Lake Tohopekaliga 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 Lake Tohopekaliga 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 81 F, wind to 13 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 84 F, wind to 15 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

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 82 F, wind to 14 mph.

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

License

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

Regulations

Florida freshwater fishing license. No lake-specific FWC rule; statewide bag and length limits apply (FWC, updated July 20, 2026).

Access

Check FWC's boat ramp finder and Osceola County or City of Kissimmee parks for current public ramps on the lake.

About this water

Lake Tohopekaliga, a natural lake at Kissimmee in Osceola County, Florida.

Fishing Lake Tohopekaliga: the full guide

Which rules apply

Lake Tohopekaliga has no entry among FWC's special rules for the southwest region, so Florida's statewide freshwater bag and length limits apply (FWC regulations summary, updated July 20, 2026). FWC's guide mentions Toho alongside Okeechobee as names 'recognized by anglers across the globe'.

Water data

There is no USGS gauge on Lake Tohopekaliga itself; the flow gauge linked on this page is on a creek near the lake, not on Toho.

Common questions

Does Toho have its own fishing rules?

No. FWC's southwest-region special rules have no entry for Lake Tohopekaliga, so Florida's statewide limits apply.

Is there a lake level gauge on Toho?

Not from USGS: the gauge linked here is on a nearby creek, not on the lake.

Is fishing good at Lake Tohopekaliga 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

Lake Kissimmee22 miLake Harris47 miSt. Johns River50 miMosquito Lagoon53 miClearwater Lake55 miSaint Johns River56 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 02264495 β€” Shingle Creek at Campbell (flows into Lake Toho)
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 18:15 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 28.2052, -81.3803 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.