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Rapid River Fishing Report

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

Rapid River: 3.2 miles of fly-fishing-only water from Middle Dam to Umbagog Lake, where every brook trout goes back.

2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Water temp
~55 F est.
Air / High
49 / 49 F
Wind
NNW 8 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.

2/5Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Rapid River feels the season turning: shorter days, grouping fish. Today brings clear skies, wind NNW around 8 mph, rising pressure near 1028 hPa and a high of 49. Water sits around 55 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:16 AM-11:16 AM and 9:46 PM-11:46 PM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Brook troutExcellent

The best band: Vermont's ideal is 55-60Β°F. Fish feed in daylight, since Michigan DNR notes they are more diurnal than other trout, and in ponds and lakes Maine IFW says spring and fall bring them near shore and the surface.

Smallmouth bassGood

Spring pre-spawn and fall: Iowa DNR notes the larger bass come up to shallow structure, where a shallow-running minnow bait or a spinnerbait just under the surface works.

Landlocked salmonGood

Spring after ice-out and the fall cool-down are the surface seasons, with fish near shore and at stream mouths feeding on smelt: troll or cast streamers and smelt imitations.

Tomorrow: Similar at 52 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

Maine requires a fishing licence from age 16, from $30.00 for residents. What a Maine licence costs and where to buy it β†’

Chasing brook trout here? Check the size and bag limits with MDIFW before you keep anything. The season dates for Maine, read off the agency, are on the Maine 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.

304050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~55 F now

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp49 F
High / Low49 / 30 F
WindNNW 8-13 mph
Pressure1027.6 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:09 / 17:45
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 PMsunrisesunset

Which day to fish Rapid River this week

The best day on Rapid River this week looks like Sunday Oct 25, at 4 out of 5, against 2 today.

Best day this week: Sunday, Oct 25 β€” good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Tough

Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Solunar majors
9:16 AM-11:16 AM and 9:46 PM-11:46 PM
Minor period
3:38 AM-4:38 AM
Sun
07:09 to 17:45
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Clear, 9 mph
Rain chance
0%

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

Species guide

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

Brook trout illustration

Brook trout

Spring and fall in ponds and lakes, when fish come shallow; summer in the coldest headwater streams

The brook trout is a char native to eastern North America, a fish of cold, clean streams and ponds, and the state fish of Michigan. The best band: Vermont's ideal is 55-60Β°F. Fish feed in daylight, since Michigan DNR notes they are more diurnal than other trout, and in ponds and lakes Maine IFW says spring and fall bring them near shore and the surface.

Smallmouth bass illustration

Smallmouth bass

Best: spring and fall, when bigger fish come shallow

A bronze-brown black bass of clear, cool streams and rocky lakes, with dark vertical bars instead of a side stripe. Michigan DNR says its southeastern coast, from Port Huron to Lake Erie, is known nationally for both the size and the number of its smallmouth. Spring pre-spawn and fall: Iowa DNR notes the larger bass come up to shallow structure, where a shallow-running minnow bait or a spinnerbait just under the surface works.

Landlocked salmon illustration

Landlocked salmon

Spring and fall near the surface, deep in summer, and under the ice in winter

Landlocked salmon are Atlantic salmon that complete their whole life in fresh water, feeding mainly on rainbow smelt in cold lakes of Maine and the Northeast. Spring after ice-out and the fall cool-down are the surface seasons, with fish near shore and at stream mouths feeding on smelt: troll or cast streamers and smelt imitations.

When to come: the Rapid 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
Brook trout
Smallmouth bass
Landlocked salmon
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 Rapid River 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. Brook trout led the card at excellent. High of 58 F, wind to 13 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Brook trout led the card at excellent. High of 57 F, wind to 6 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Brook trout led the card at excellent. High of 59 F, wind to 11 mph.

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

License

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

Regulations

Maine fishing license. MDIFW special law for the Rapid River (Township C, Upton): fly fishing only; barbed hooks prohibited; all brook trout must be released at once; landlocked salmon 3 a day, 12-inch minimum. The reach from the remnants of Lower Dam to the markers at the head of Long Pool closes after September 15, and a marked part of Pond in the River is closed in July and August. Below the markers at Cedar Stump the river counts as Umbagog Lake water (brook trout 1 a day, 18-inch minimum).

Access

MDIFW notes the lower 1.9 miles from Long Pool to Umbagog Lake are harder to reach than the upper reach below Middle Dam; plan access before you go.

About this water

A 3.2-mile river from Middle Dam (Richardson Lakes outlet) to Umbagog Lake, Oxford County, Maine, with wild brook trout and naturalized landlocked salmon (MDIFW). No stream gauge on this page.

Fishing Rapid River: the full guide

A short river with wild trout

The Rapid River runs 3.2 miles from Middle Dam at the outlet of the Richardson Lakes to Umbagog Lake, in Township C and Upton, Oxford County. MDIFW says its brook trout are sustained entirely by natural reproduction and support a fishery of regional and statewide significance. Landlocked salmon, naturalized since the late 19th century, add a second fishery, and smallmouth bass, illegally introduced to Umbagog in the 1980s, have moved into the river.

Pond in the River and the two reaches

Pond in the River, 512 acres and up to 40 feet deep, lies 0.6 miles below Middle Dam and splits the river in two; brook trout use it as a summer refuge and for winter. MDIFW's creel surveys found most fishing on the upper 1.3 miles between Middle Dam and Long Pool, with only about 6% of use on the harder-to-reach 1.9 miles from Long Pool to Umbagog.

Fish sizes and flows

Volunteer anglers reported average brook trout of 14.5 to 15 inches and salmon of 14.3 to 16.2 inches from 2008 to 2015. Flows are controlled at Middle Dam under a federal license, and MDIFW has used spring flow regimes to stress spawning smallmouth bass and protect the trout.

Common questions

Can I keep a brook trout?

No: every brook trout caught in the Rapid River must be released at once, and only fly fishing with barbless hooks is allowed.

Can I keep salmon?

Yes: up to 3 landlocked salmon a day, 12 inches or longer, although MDIFW found anglers release almost all of them.

How big are the trout?

Volunteer anglers reported average brook trout of 14.5 to 15 inches from 2008 to 2015.

Is fishing good at Rapid River right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Nearby waters

Umbagog Lake5 miAndroscoggin River10 miMooselookmeguntic Lake14 miRangeley Lake19 miKennebago Lake26 miFirst Connecticut Lake29 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 44.7500, -70.9400 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.