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Carlyle Lake Fishing Report

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

Illinois' biggest lake: sailboat wind, white bass waves and a sauger tailwater.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Flow
65 cfs
Air / High
74 / 75 F
Wind
E 3 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 05593000, 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.

Carlyle Lake rewards those who follow the bait as the water cools. The nearest gauge is running 65 cfs, falling. Today brings clear skies, wind E around 3 mph, steady pressure near 1023 hPa and a high of 75. Water sits around 55 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:33 AM-11:33 AM and 10:01 PM-12:01 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

WalleyeGood

Spring: post-spawn fish scatter and can be slow for a couple of weeks. Fall: one of the best windows, with minnows on jigs and three-way rigs as the water cools toward ice-up.

Northern pikeGood

The best band for pike: right after ice-out they move into flooded vegetated shallows to spawn, and they feed actively again as the water cools in fall.

White bassFair

The spring run happens in this band: tributaries, shoals and the upper ends of reservoirs as the water reaches about 55Β°F.

CrappieFair

Pre-spawn fish move toward shallow coves, and Iowa DNR points to wading as an effective way to reach them in spring; minnows or small jigs under a float.

Tomorrow: Similar at 75 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

Illinois requires a fishing licence, from $15.00 for residents. What a Illinois licence costs and where to buy it β†’

Chasing walleye here? Check the size and bag limits with IDNR before you keep anything. The season dates for Illinois, read off the agency, are on the Illinois seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings from KASKASKIA RIVER AT CARLYLE, IL.

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 05593000.

738910565 cfs09/2310/0310/1310/23

Today’s flow against 93 years of October 23

At 65 cfs, the flow at USGS gauge 05593000 (KASKASKIA RIVER AT CARLYLE, IL) is at the 30th percentile for the date: normal. In half of the 93 years of approved record the daily mean on October 23 was below 105 cfs; the highest was 5,140 cfs and the lowest 20 cfs.

p10 45median 105p90 2,232

Percentiles of the daily mean flow for this date, from the USGS Water Data Statistics API for gauge 05593000; 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 temp74 F
High / Low75 / 50 F
WindE 3-5 mph
Pressure1022.5 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:14 / 18:07
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~55 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 Carlyle Lake this week

The best day on Carlyle Lake this week looks like Monday Oct 26, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today.

Best day this week: Monday, Oct 26 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
9:33 AM-11:33 AM and 10:01 PM-12:01 AM
Minor period
3:55 AM-4:55 AM
Sun
07:14 to 18:07
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Partly cloudy, 8 mph
Rain chance
0%

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

Species guide

The species that matter on Carlyle Lake: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Walleye illustration

Walleye

Best: spring and late fall, around dawn, dusk and night

A cool-water perch of large lakes, reservoirs and rivers whose reflective eyes are built for low light, so it feeds most at night and in murky water. The Missouri Department of Conservation ranks it among the continent's most important freshwater game fish. Spring: post-spawn fish scatter and can be slow for a couple of weeks. Fall: one of the best windows, with minnows on jigs and three-way rigs as the water cools toward ice-up.

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. The spring run happens in this band: tributaries, shoals and the upper ends of reservoirs as the water reaches about 55Β°F.

Northern pike illustration

Northern pike

Best: cool water, from ice-out through spring, in fall and under the ice

A long, duck-billed predator of weedy lakes, slow rivers and backwaters that ambushes fish from vegetation. Wisconsin DNR points out that, unlike most of the state's common game fish, pike do their best feeding in cool water. The best band for pike: right after ice-out they move into flooded vegetated shallows to spawn, and they feed actively again as the water cools in fall.

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. Pre-spawn fish move toward shallow coves, and Iowa DNR points to wading as an effective way to reach them in spring; minnows or small jigs under a float.

When to come: the Carlyle 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
Walleye
White bass
Northern pike
Crappie
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 55 F (estimated, not a reading).

304050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~55 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 Carlyle Lake 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. Walleye led the card at good. High of 76 F, wind to 7 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Walleye led the card at good. High of 72 F, wind to 5 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Walleye led the card at good. High of 71 F, wind to 7 mph.

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

License

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

Regulations

Sauger/walleye 14-inch/6 combined. Whites liberal. Confirm with IDNR.

Access

Coles Creek, West Access, Dam West ramps; tailwater bank access below.

About this water

26,000 acres on the Kaskaskia, Clinton/Fayette/Bond counties, IL. Corps, impounded 1967. Illinois' largest lake.

Fishing Carlyle Lake: the full guide

Big and breezy

Carlyle is 26,000 open acres: wind-swept flats where white bass and hybrids chase shad all summer, crappie stack the few timbered refuges, and the dam tailwater turns on for sauger and walleye every fall through spring. Not subtle water: pick the wind-blown banks and fish fast.

Wind-driven whites

Carlyle's white bass ride the wind: whichever mud line the southwest blow builds, the schools hunt its edge. Drifting with slabs or casting inline spinners along the color change out-produces structure fishing most summer days: read the wind, find the fish.

Sauger below

The dam tailwater turns on October-April: sauger (and walleye mixed) stack the spillway currents, jigged with minnows on the seams. It is the region's cold-weather standby when the main lake churns unfishable.

Common questions

Is Carlyle too rough to fish?

Wind builds fast on 26,000 shallow acres: small boats pick mornings and the lee shores. The tailwater and coves save wind-wrecked days.

Crappie beneath the whitecaps

Carlyle's crappie fishery thrives on what the wind builds: mudlines and current seams push bait onto the Coles Creek and Peppenhorst Branch structure, and spider-riggers work the 8-14-ft flats with double-minnow rigs whenever the chop allows. Spring buckbrush fishing is short and furious; the dependable program is summer trolling over the scattered stake beds. A 9-inch keeper culture keeps the fillet math honest.

Where do Carlyle anglers hide from the wind?

Peppenhorst and the Corps' coves on the west shore, plus the tailwater below the dam: somewhere is always fishable. The rule of thumb: whitecaps on the main lake mean crappie gear in the creeks.

Is fishing good at Carlyle 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

Rend Lake44 miKinkaid Lake62 miLake Shelbyville68 miMeramec River72 miCedar Lake73 miLake Springfield73 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 05593000 β€” KASKASKIA RIVER AT CARLYLE, IL
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 38.6947, -89.2725 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.