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Charles River Fishing Report

Updated Mon, Sep 14, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Boston’s river: the Charles runs largemouth, smallmouth and carp through the city and the suburbs.

2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Flow
38 cfs
Air / High
68 / 69 F
Wind
NW 11 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 01104500, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Monday
14
September 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.

Charles River lines up a genuinely fishable day across the board. The river is running 38 cfs, on the rise. Today brings clear skies, wind NW around 11 mph, rising pressure near 1016 hPa and a high of 69. Water sits around 73 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing crescent, the solunar majors run 1:11 AM-3:11 AM and 1:11 PM-3:11 PM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

MuskellungeExcellent

Bucktails and rubber over cabbage and rock bars; moon majors matter here more than anywhere.

Smallmouth bassGood

Peak season. Tubes, jerkbaits and swimbaits around gravel points, boulders and current seams.

WalleyeGood

Jig and minnow on rock reefs and points; the evening bite on wind-blown shores is the one to plan around.

Catfish (blue, channel)Good

Drift cut bait across flats near the river channel, or anchor on ledges at dusk.

Tomorrow: Similar at 65 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Tue, Sep 15, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Water and weather

Live readings from CHARLES RIVER AT WALTHAM, MA.

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 01104500.

27354238 cfs08/1508/2509/0409/14

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp68 F
High / Low69 / 54 F
WindNW 11-20 mph
Pressure1016.1 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 6%
Sunrise / Sunset06:23 / 18:56
MoonWaxing Crescent, 8%
Water temp (seasonal)~73 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunset

Next 7 days

Tap a day for the detailed outlook.

Mon Sep 14 · Overcast, 69/54 F, wind 13 mph, rain 6%

Fair or better. A 13 mph breeze puts a working chop on the banks it hits: fish the wind-blown side.

Species guide

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

Smallmouth bass illustration

Smallmouth bass

Best: May-Oct

Current and rock. Finds gravel flats, boulders and drop-offs, and fights far above its weight. Peak season. Tubes, jerkbaits and swimbaits around gravel points, boulders and current seams.

Walleye illustration

Walleye

Best: May-Jun, Oct

The glass-eyed prize of northern lakes. Low light, wind-blown structure and live bait. Jig and minnow on rock reefs and points; the evening bite on wind-blown shores is the one to plan around.

Muskellunge illustration

Muskellunge

Best: Sep-Nov

The fish of ten thousand casts. Weed edges, rock bars and big-water structure. Bucktails and rubber over cabbage and rock bars; moon majors matter here more than anywhere.

Catfish (blue, channel) illustration

Catfish (blue, channel)

Good year-round

The most reliable bite on most southern waters. Blues run big; channels fill the cooler. Drift cut bait across flats near the river channel, or anchor on ledges at dusk.

When to come: the Charles 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
Smallmouth bass
Walleye
Muskellunge
Catfish (blue, channel)
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 73 F (estimated, not a reading).

4050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovSep, ~73 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 Charles River today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Sun, Sep 13

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Smallmouth bass led the card at excellent. High of 70 F, wind to 8 mph.

Sat, Sep 12

5/5 Excellent. Go now. Everything lines up: pressure, wind and light are in your favor. Smallmouth bass led the card at excellent. High of 77 F, wind to 9 mph.

Fri, Sep 11

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Smallmouth bass led the card at excellent. High of 78 F, wind to 10 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
Only used to send you this water's report each week. No spam, ever.

Before you go

License

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

Regulations

Massachusetts license. Consumption advisories apply on the river: treat it as catch-and-release and check current MassWildlife and public health guidance.

Access

Esplanade and riverside parks in Boston and Cambridge; launches and liveries in Newton, Waltham and Dedham.

About this water

An 80-mile river through eastern Massachusetts to the basin between Boston and Cambridge.

Fishing Charles River: the full guide

A river that runs 80 miles to go 26

The Charles River winds about 80 miles through eastern Massachusetts to cover 26 miles of straight-line distance, ending in the basin between Boston and Cambridge. Once notoriously polluted, decades of cleanup have made it a genuinely good urban fishery: largemouth and smallmouth bass, carp, catfish, panfish, northern pike and stocked trout in places.

Bass in the city

Largemouth hold the vegetation, docks and wood through the slower reaches and the Boston basin, taken on plastics, spinnerbaits and topwater. Smallmouth work the faster rocky sections upstream. The lower basin fishes surprisingly well, and anglers work it from the banks, from kayaks and from the docks along the Esplanade.

Carp, pike and the upper river

Common carp grow large in the river and have become a genuine target for fly and specialist anglers. Northern pike hold the weedier upper reaches and the impoundments. Above the city the river runs slower through wetlands and conservation land, offering quiet paddling water within minutes of dense suburbs.

Greater Boston logistics

Access is excellent: the Esplanade and riverside parks in Boston and Cambridge, launches and canoe liveries in Newton, Waltham and Dedham, and conservation land upstream. Consumption advisories apply given the urban and industrial history: this is best treated as a catch-and-release fishery.

Common questions

Is the river clean now?

Far cleaner than its reputation after decades of cleanup, though consumption advisories still apply. Fish it catch-and-release.

What can I catch in the city?

Largemouth bass, carp, catfish and panfish, with the lower basin fishing better than most expect.

Where are the smallmouth?

The faster rocky reaches upstream of the city, above the slow impounded sections.

Is fishing good at Charles 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

Merrimack River19 miWachusett Reservoir25 miStillwater River28 miPlum Island37 miWebster Lake39 miHampton42 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 01104500 — CHARLES RIVER AT WALTHAM, MA
Read from waterservices.usgs.gov/nwis/iv. Latest value timestamped 2026-09-14 at 12:30 station time.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 42.3723, -71.2337 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
Written and reviewed by a person against the sources above. Errors are published in the verification log, not quietly corrected.

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.

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