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Ouachita River Fishing Report

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

North Louisiana’s big river: the Ouachita runs catfish, crappie and bass past Monroe toward the Black.

4/5
Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
Water temp
~74 F est.
Air / High
84 / 85 F
Wind
E 4 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.

4/5Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Ouachita River sits in the sweet spot of the season: active fish and workable weather. Today brings clear skies, wind E around 4 mph, falling pressure near 1019 hPa and a high of 85. Water sits around 74 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:45 AM-11:45 AM and 10:12 PM-12:12 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Largemouth bassExcellent

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)Excellent

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.

CrappieGood

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

White bassGood

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

Tomorrow: Similar at 84 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Before you go

Louisiana requires a fishing licence from age 18, from $17.00 for residents. What a Louisiana licence costs and where to buy it →

Chasing largemouth bass here? Check the size and bag limits with LDWF before you keep anything. The season dates for Louisiana, read off the agency, are on the Louisiana 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 temp84 F
High / Low85 / 48 F
WindE 4-4 mph
Pressure1019.3 hPa, falling
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:18 / 18:26
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 Ouachita River this week

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

Best day this week: Monday, Oct 26 — excellent at 5/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 — Good

Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Solunar majors
9:45 AM-11:45 AM and 10:12 PM-12:12 AM
Minor period
4:07 AM-5:07 AM
Sun
07:18 to 18:26
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Clear, 6 mph
Rain chance
0%

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

Species guide

The species that matter on Ouachita 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.

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 Ouachita 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
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 Ouachita 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 85 F, wind to 6 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Largemouth bass led the card at good. High of 82 F, wind to 5 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Largemouth bass led the card at good. High of 79 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

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

Regulations

Louisiana license. Catfish, crappie and black bass limits per current LDWF regulations.

Access

Public landings around Monroe and West Monroe, lock and dam areas, and parish boat ramps.

About this water

A lowland Delta river through Ouachita Parish, north Louisiana, joining the Tensas to form the Black River.

Fishing Ouachita River: the full guide

A Delta river

The Ouachita River enters Louisiana from Arkansas and runs south past Monroe and West Monroe before joining the Tensas to form the Black River. Here it is a wide, slow bottomland river of oxbows, sloughs and timbered banks, holding blue and flathead catfish, crappie, largemouth bass, white bass and bream through a long warm season.

Catfish in the channel

Blue and flathead catfish are the river’s headline fishery, taken on cut and live bait in the deeper channel bends, around log jams and below the locks and dams that regulate the river for navigation. Big fish are a realistic target, and night fishing through the warm months is the standard approach.

Crappie and bass in the backwaters

Crappie fill the standing timber, brush and oxbows off the main channel and provide the most consistent action, best in spring and again in fall. Largemouth work the same cover, and white bass school in the current seams. Water level governs everything: when the river rises into the bottomland, fish spread out and follow it.

Ouachita Parish logistics

Access is via public landings around Monroe and West Monroe, the lock and dam areas, and boat ramps through the parish, with Monroe providing full services. Bayous and oxbows off the main river offer sheltered water when the channel runs high or barge traffic is heavy.

Common questions

What is the main fishery?

Catfish in the channel and crappie in the timber and oxbows: both are strong through most of the year.

Does water level matter?

Enormously: when the river rises into the bottomland, fish spread out into the flooded cover and follow it.

Where do I launch?

Public landings around Monroe and West Monroe and ramps through the parish, plus the lock and dam areas.

Is fishing good at Ouachita River right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Nearby waters

Lake D Arbonne23 miCaney Lake45 miEagle Lake66 miBlack Lake67 miLake Bistineau71 miLake Washington73 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 32.5000, -92.1200 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.