Share your catch
US

Stillwater River Fishing Report

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

Wachusett’s quiet feeder: a small wild-trout stream winding through central Massachusetts meadows toward the reservoir.

2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Flow
17 cfs
Air / High
57 / 57 F
Wind
NNE 7 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 01095220, 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.

Stillwater River is in its winter mode: slow, deep and deliberate. The river is running 17 cfs, dropping and clearing. Today brings clear skies, wind NNE around 7 mph, rising pressure near 1027 hPa and a high of 57. Water sits around 47 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:20 AM-11:20 AM and 9:50 PM-11:50 PM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Rainbow troutExcellent

In cold water rainbows use the deepest pools in rivers (Vermont), so slow, deep drifts there are the usual approach; Michigan DNR notes lake rainbows are also taken with bait or by jigging through the ice.

Brown troutExcellent

Below 50°F, fish slowly through the deeper pools; in early spring on the Great Lakes, Michigan DNR notes browns are often caught inshore before other species start biting.

Tomorrow: Similar at 60 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Water and weather

Live readings from Stillwater River near Sterling.

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 01095220.

4712620517 cfs09/2310/0310/1310/23

Today’s flow against 32 years of October 23

At 17 cfs, the flow at USGS gauge 01095220 (Stillwater River near Sterling) is at the 53rd percentile for the date: normal. In half of the 32 years of approved record the daily mean on October 23 was below 14 cfs; the highest was 180 cfs and the lowest 2 cfs.

p10 2median 14p90 129

Percentiles of the daily mean flow for this date, from the USGS Water Data Statistics API for gauge 01095220; 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 temp57 F
High / Low57 / 37 F
WindNNE 7-12 mph
Pressure1027.3 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:09 / 17:52
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (gauge)50 F USGS
Water temp (seasonal)~47 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 Stillwater River this week

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

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

Today, Oct 23 — Tough

Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Solunar majors
9:20 AM-11:20 AM and 9:50 PM-11:50 PM
Minor period
3:42 AM-4:42 AM
Sun
07:09 to 17:52
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Clear, 10 mph
Rain chance
0%

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

Species guide

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

Rainbow trout illustration

Rainbow trout

Spring and fall in most lakes; rivers fish year-round while the water stays cool

A cold-water trout native to Pacific drainages from Alaska to Baja California, now stocked in most states and fished in rivers, tailwaters and lakes. In cold water rainbows use the deepest pools in rivers (Vermont), so slow, deep drifts there are the usual approach; Michigan DNR notes lake rainbows are also taken with bait or by jigging through the ice.

Brown trout illustration

Brown trout

Spring along Great Lakes shorelines; low light and overcast days in rivers; fall spawning runs

A European trout first stocked in the US in 1883 and now fished in rivers and lakes nationwide; it tolerates warmer water than other trout, and mature stream fish feed mostly at night. Below 50°F, fish slowly through the deeper pools; in early spring on the Great Lakes, Michigan DNR notes browns are often caught inshore before other species start biting.

When to come: the Stillwater 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
Rainbow trout
Brown trout
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 47 F (estimated, not a reading).

30405060JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~47 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 Stillwater 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. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 65 F, wind to 12 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 58 F, wind to 11 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 66 F, wind to 13 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
Only used if we need to ask you about your report. No mailing list, no spam.

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. Standard stream limits: DCR watershed rules (no waders in some zones, seasonal closures near the basin) apply on the lower river. Check MassWildlife and DCR.

Access

Road crossings in Sterling (Route 12, Muddy Pond Road, Griffin Road) and DCR watershed gates toward the Stillwater Basin.

About this water

A small wild-and-stocked trout stream in Worcester County, Massachusetts, feeding the Stillwater Basin of Wachusett Reservoir.

Fishing Stillwater River: the full guide

A meadow stream with standards

The Stillwater gathers off the Wachusett Mountain foothills and winds through Sterling’s meadows and woodlots into the Stillwater Basin of Wachusett Reservoir. It is modest water: twenty feet wide, pool-riffle-pool: but it stays cold enough to hold wild brook trout in the upper reaches and browns through the middle river, supplemented by state stockings in spring. As a bonus, lake-run browns and landlocked salmon from Wachusett nose into the lower river in fall.

Small-water tactics

Fish it like the intimate stream it is: short rods, upstream dries and a soft step. Spring stockings (April-May) make the easy fishing around the Route 12 and Muddy Pond Road crossings; the wild fish live in the shaded bends and undercut meadows between. Hendricksons and caddis in May, terrestrials all summer where the meadow grass overhangs, and small streamers swung through the deeper bends for the fall movers.

The Wachusett connection

The lower river inside the DCR watershed lands runs under reservoir rules: it is the draw for anglers hunting something bigger, when Wachusett browns and salmon push upstream in October-November. Check the gauge: the river fishes best between 15 and 60 cfs; snowmelt and spring rain blow it out briefly, and August can pinch it thin: walk further upstream to the shaded water when it does.

Getting on it

Crossings at Route 12, Redemption Rock Trail, Muddy Pond Road and Griffin Road offer pulloff access in Sterling and Princeton, with DCR gates on the lower watershed reaches (walk-in only). It pairs naturally with a Wachusett shore day: reservoir mornings, river afternoons. Sterling center covers coffee and supplies.

Common questions

Does the Stillwater hold wild trout?

Yes: wild brookies in the cold upper water and wild browns through the middle reaches, alongside spring stockings near the road crossings.

When do lake fish run up?

Fall, with October the peak: browns and the occasional salmon from Wachusett stage in the lower pools. Respect DCR boundaries and closures.

Is it worth a trip on its own?

Pair it with Wachusett or the Quinapoxet: together they make one of central Massachusetts’ best wild-trout days.

Is fishing good at Stillwater 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

Wachusett Reservoir3 miWebster Lake23 miQuabbin Reservoir28 miSwift River28 miCharles River28 miMerrimack River31 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 01095220 — Stillwater River near Sterling
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 42.3834, -71.7912 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.