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Boise River Fishing Report

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

Idaho's urban ribbon: wild trout and whitefish through downtown Boise, steelhead trucked in each fall, and a greenbelt that makes it all walkable.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Flow
242 cfs
Air / High
50 / 57 F
Wind
WNW 10 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 13206000, 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.

Boise River fishes cold and honest: earn your bites in the deep stuff. The river is running 242 cfs, dropping and clearing. Today brings cloud cover, wind WNW around 10 mph, steady pressure near 1016 hPa and a high of 57. Water sits around 47 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 10:23 AM-12:23 PM and 10:53 PM-12:53 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.

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 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

Idaho requires a fishing licence from age 14, from $35.50 for residents. What a Idaho licence costs and where to buy it β†’

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

Water and weather

Live readings from Boise River at Glenwood Bridge.

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 13206000.

273382491242 cfs09/2310/0310/1310/23

Today’s flow against 46 years of October 23

At 242 cfs, the flow at USGS gauge 13206000 (Boise River at Glenwood Bridge) is at the 44th percentile for the date: normal. In half of the 46 years of approved record the daily mean on October 23 was below 253 cfs; the highest was 2,130 cfs and the lowest 98 cfs.

p10 160median 253p90 321

Percentiles of the daily mean flow for this date, from the USGS Water Data Statistics API for gauge 13206000; 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 temp50 F
High / Low57 / 40 F
WindWNW 10-19 mph
Pressure1015.6 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain100% cloud, 46%
Sunrise / Sunset08:09 / 18:48
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 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Which day to fish Boise River this week

The best day on Boise 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, 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
10:23 AM-12:23 PM and 10:53 PM-12:53 AM
Minor period
4:48 AM-5:48 AM
Sun
08:09 to 18:48
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Showers, 13 mph
Rain chance
46%

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

Species guide

The species that matter on Boise 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 Boise 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 Boise 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 75 F, wind to 15 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 77 F, wind to 10 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 74 F, wind to 8 mph.

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

License

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

Regulations

Idaho license. Town reach: standard trout rules, some catch-and-release sections: check IDFG. Steelhead permit required in season for the stocked fish.

Access

Greenbelt access the entire town reach: Barber Park, Ann Morrison, Glenwood Bridge; SF Boise via Anderson Ranch Dam road.

About this water

Urban tailwater through Idaho's capital, Ada County. Wild trout downtown plus a trucked steelhead season.

Fishing Boise River: the full guide

The city's wild vein

The Boise runs straight through its namesake city as a legitimate trout stream: wild rainbows and browns in the riffles behind office parks, tubers overhead in July, and 25 miles of greenbelt path making every run bike-accessible. Locals fish lunch breaks: caddis at the Broadway bridge is a genuine scene.

The trucked-steelhead bonus

Each fall IDFG trucks surplus hatchery steelhead from the Snake into the town reach: for a few November-December weeks, Boise commuters swing jigs and beads for 6-10-lb ocean fish within sight of the Capitol. It is a manufactured fishery and a beloved one: check the stocking announcements and join the friendly chaos.

Reading the urban flows

Lucky Peak dam controls the river: summer irrigation flows run high and brisk (fish the edges), fall drops it to intimate wading levels, winter runs low and clear (midges, small nymphs, careful feet). The caddis blizzard of May-June is the signature hatch: evening swarms that turn the greenbelt bridges into theater.

Beyond town

Above Lucky Peak, the Middle Fork and the South Fork of the Boise (a blue-ribbon tailwater of its own) offer the wilder versions: the SF Boise's rainbows below Anderson Ranch Dam rank with Idaho's best on stoneflies and pink alberts. The town river is the gateway drug: the drainage rewards graduation.

Common questions

Are there really steelhead in downtown Boise?

Every fall IDFG trucks a few hundred from the Snake: announced publicly, fished hard and cheerfully. A steelhead permit and single barbless hooks apply: check the current release dates.

When is the Boise River caddis hatch?

May into June, peaking at dusk: the greenbelt bridges swarm. An Elk Hair Caddis and a bike beat a drift boat here: urban fishing at its best.

Is fishing good at Boise 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

Lucky Peak Reservoir15 miLake Lowell21 miPayette River21 miSouth Fork Boise River45 miAnderson Ranch Reservoir46 miOwyhee River48 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 13206000 β€” Boise River at Glenwood Bridge
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 18:45 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 43.6400, -116.2790 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.