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Loch Raven Reservoir Fishing Report

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

Baltimore’s drinking water, open to anglers: Loch Raven is a 2,400-acre city reservoir with a county-run fishing center.

2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Flow
69 cfs
Air / High
62 / 62 F
Wind
NE 6 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 01582500, 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.

Loch Raven Reservoir lines up a genuinely fishable day across the board. The main inflow is running 69 cfs, falling. Today brings clear skies, wind NE around 6 mph, rising pressure near 1027 hPa and a high of 62. Water sits around 74 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:40 AM-11:40 AM and 10:09 PM-12:09 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.

Smallmouth bassGood

Post-spawn and summer feeding: cover rock, wood and current breaks with crankbaits, jigs and tubes, and use live crayfish, minnows or hellgrammites where bait is the plan.

Northern pikeGood

Work weed lines and vegetation in shallow water with spoons, spinners and live bait; pike bite well in daylight.

Yellow perchGood

Michigan DNR gives 66-70°F as the water perch prefer, so this band is the heart of the open-water season: drift or slowly work weed edges and flats with small baits near the bottom until a school turns up.

Tomorrow: Similar at 59 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Before you go

Maryland requires a fishing licence from age 16, from $32.00 for residents. What a Maryland licence costs and where to buy it →

Chasing largemouth bass here? Check the size and bag limits with MD DNR before you keep anything. The season dates for Maryland, read off the agency, are on the Maryland seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings from GUNPOWDER FALLS AT GLENCOE, MD (inflow).

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 01582500.

9214519769 cfs09/2310/0310/1310/23

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp62 F
High / Low62 / 46 F
WindNE 6-8 mph
Pressure1026.6 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain5% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:24 / 18:15
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 PMsunrisesunset

Which day to fish Loch Raven Reservoir this week

The best day on Loch Raven Reservoir this week looks like Saturday Oct 24, at 4 out of 5, against 2 today.

Best day this week: Saturday, Oct 24 — good at 4/5, steady pressure, neither help nor hindrance.

Today, Oct 23 — Tough

Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Solunar majors
9:40 AM-11:40 AM and 10:09 PM-12:09 AM
Minor period
4:02 AM-5:02 AM
Sun
07:24 to 18:15
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Overcast, 10 mph
Rain chance
0%

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

Species guide

The species that matter on Loch Raven Reservoir: 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.

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. Post-spawn and summer feeding: cover rock, wood and current breaks with crankbaits, jigs and tubes, and use live crayfish, minnows or hellgrammites where bait is the plan.

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. Work weed lines and vegetation in shallow water with spoons, spinners and live bait; pike bite well in daylight.

Yellow perch illustration

Yellow perch

Caught all year, including under the ice through winter

Yellow perch are schooling panfish of the Great Lakes and northern lakes, and Michigan DNR calls them the game fish most often caught in that state. Michigan DNR gives 66-70°F as the water perch prefer, so this band is the heart of the open-water season: drift or slowly work weed edges and flats with small baits near the bottom until a school turns up.

When to come: the Loch Raven Reservoir 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
Smallmouth bass
Northern pike
Yellow perch
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 Loch Raven Reservoir 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 67 F, wind to 10 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 66 F, wind to 10 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Largemouth bass led the card at good. High of 69 F, wind to 10 mph.

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

License

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

Regulations

Maryland non-tidal fishing license for anglers 16 and older; boat fishing on the reservoir is regulated by Maryland DNR. Boats need a Baltimore County seasonal permit; no bathing, wading or swimming.

Access

Loch Raven Fishing Center (Baltimore County): launching and docking permits, boat, rowboat and kayak rentals. Parking for other uses on Loch Raven Drive near Morgan Mill and Providence roads.

About this water

A 2,400-acre Baltimore City drinking-water reservoir on the Big Gunpowder Falls in central Baltimore County, Maryland, dammed in 1914.

Fishing Loch Raven Reservoir: the full guide

A city water-supply reservoir

Loch Raven Reservoir lies in central Baltimore County, north of Baltimore City, fed by the Big Gunpowder Falls; its dam was built in 1914, submerging the town of Warren. The City of Baltimore owns the reservoir and its watershed land, Maryland DNR manages hunting there as a cooperative wildlife management area, and Baltimore Environmental Police patrol the water-supply lands.

The fish

Maryland DNR manages the reservoir for warm-, cool- and coldwater fish. Baltimore County’s Loch Raven Fishing Center, on the shore of the 2,400-acre reservoir, sells tackle and live bait for largemouth and smallmouth bass, yellow perch and northern pike.

Boats and permits

Baltimore City’s watercraft permits cover Liberty and Prettyboy only: using a boat on Loch Raven needs a separate permit from Baltimore County Recreation and Parks, sold through CivicRec. The fishing center rents jon boats with electric motors, rowboats and kayaks; power-driven boats here means electric motors, which need Maryland registration. Boats must stay between the Number One Bridge on Loch Raven Drive and the Paper Mill Bridge.

Rules on the shore

Bathing, wading, swimming and water skiing are prohibited, as are alcohol and firearms on city reservoir property. Shoreline fishing is not allowed at the fishing center itself; the county directs other users to park on Loch Raven Drive near Morgan Mill and Providence roads. The blue-ribbon Gunpowder River trout water that DNR describes is the tailwater of Prettyboy Dam, upstream of Loch Raven, not the river below it.

Common questions

Do I need a special permit?

To fish you need a Maryland non-tidal license if you are 16 or older. To use your own boat you need a seasonal permit from Baltimore County Recreation and Parks; Baltimore City’s Liberty and Prettyboy permit does not cover Loch Raven.

Can I use a gas motor?

The county’s rules define power-driven boats as boats with electric motors, and those must carry Maryland registration; rental boats come with electric motors.

Is the Gunpowder trout water below Loch Raven?

No. Maryland DNR describes the blue-ribbon Gunpowder River trout fishery as the tailwater below Prettyboy Dam, which is upstream of Loch Raven.

Is fishing good at Loch Raven Reservoir 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

Gunpowder River10 miLiberty Reservoir18 miSusquehanna Flats25 miChesapeake Bay (Annapolis)33 miPatuxent River35 miSusquehanna River42 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 01582500 — GUNPOWDER FALLS AT GLENCOE, MD (inflow)
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 18:20 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 39.4500, -76.5500 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.