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Saint Johns River Fishing Report

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

Florida's longest river runs north for 310 miles; around DeLand it is a slow, wide channel of largemouth water, spring runs and a winter shad run.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Flow
5,350 cfs
Air / High
76 / 79 F
Wind
NNE 13 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 02236000, 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.

Saint Johns River offers the kind of conditions this water was made for. The river is running 5,350 cfs, dropping and clearing. Today brings clear skies, wind NNE around 13 mph, steady pressure near 1018 hPa and a high of 79. 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.

CrappieFair

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

Tomorrow: Similar at 80 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

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 St. Johns River near DeLand.

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 02236000.

2,8004,2105,6215,350 cfs09/2310/0310/1310/23

Today’s flow against 93 years of October 23

At 5,350 cfs, the flow at USGS gauge 02236000 (St. Johns River near DeLand) is at the 57th percentile for the date: normal. In half of the 93 years of approved record the daily mean on October 23 was below 4,770 cfs; the highest was 16,300 cfs and the lowest 63 cfs.

p10 1,840median 4,770p90 8,498

Percentiles of the daily mean flow for this date, from the USGS Water Data Statistics API for gauge 02236000; 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 temp76 F
High / Low79 / 56 F
WindNNE 13-18 mph
Pressure1017.9 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain7% cloud, 3%
Sunrise / Sunset07:31 / 18:47
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (gauge)72 F USGS
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 Saint Johns River this week

The best day on Saint Johns River 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 18:47
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Showers, 14 mph
Rain chance
3%

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

Species guide

The species that matter on Saint Johns River: 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.

When to come: the Saint Johns 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
Largemouth bass
Crappie
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 Saint Johns 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. Largemouth bass led the card at good. High of 78 F, wind to 12 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 82 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 77 F, wind to 12 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 required. See the current FWC freshwater regulations for black bass, crappie and shad limits.

Access

Hontoon Island State Park (boat or ferry access, overnight slips) west of DeLand; Blue Spring State Park canoe and kayak launch at Orange City. Watch for manatees and obey posted boat speed zones.

About this water

Florida's longest river, 310 miles from south of Melbourne north to Mayport; this page covers the middle river near DeLand (USGS gauge 02236000).

Fishing Saint Johns River: the full guide

A slow river that flows north

The St. Johns River Water Management District describes the St. Johns as Florida's longest river: 310 miles from the marshes south of Melbourne to the Atlantic at Mayport, falling less than 30 feet over its whole length, about an inch per mile. In the middle basin it widens into Lakes Harney, Jesup, Monroe and George, and in dry periods the tide can reverse its flow as far upstream as Lake Monroe. The District lists largemouth bass among its fish, along with manatees and river otters.

The DeLand reach

This page follows the river near DeLand, where USGS gauge 02236000 (St. Johns River near DeLand) reports flow and stage. Hontoon Island State Park, six miles west of DeLand off State Road 44, is a 1,650-acre island reached only by private boat or park ferry, with fishing among its listed activities and overnight boat slips for rent. Upstream at Orange City, Blue Spring State Park sits on the river; from mid-November to March hundreds of manatees gather in its spring run, and the park counted a record 729 in 2023.

American shad

The St. Johns holds Florida's main American shad spawning run. FWC's shad habitat plan reports spawning from January through April, timed with the dry season's falling flows, with the primary spawning grounds in the river reaches upstream of Lake Monroe.

Common questions

Why does the St. Johns flow north?

It drops less than 30 feet over 310 miles, about an inch per mile, according to the St. Johns River Water Management District, so it runs slowly north and the tide can push its flow backwards as far as Lake Monroe in dry periods.

When is the shad run?

FWC reports that American shad spawn in the St. Johns from January through April, mainly in the river upstream of Lake Monroe.

When are manatees in the area?

Blue Spring State Park says hundreds gather in its spring run from mid-November to March, so expect them in the river and spring runs through winter.

Is fishing good at Saint Johns River 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

St. Johns River6 miClearwater Lake13 miLake Harris33 miMosquito Lagoon37 miLake Tohopekaliga56 miSt. Augustine58 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 02236000 β€” St. Johns River near DeLand
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 29.0200, -81.3400 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 5, 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 5, 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.