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Escanaba River Fishing Report

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

The Escanaba River: an Upper Peninsula river gauged at Cornell, where Michigan DNR stocks Bay de Noc-strain walleye.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Flow
317 cfs
Air / High
58 / 58 F
Wind
S 9 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 04059000, 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.

3/5Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Escanaba River fishes cold and honest: earn your bites in the deep stuff. The river is running 317 cfs, dropping and clearing. Today brings cloud cover, wind S around 9 mph, steady pressure near 1024 hPa and a high of 58. Water sits around 47 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 10:23 AM-12:23 PM and 10:53 PM-12:53 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

WalleyeGood

Spawning runs begin soon after ice-out in the high 30s to mid 40s Β°F; before that, slow presentations with live bait in deep, low-current wintering areas and below dams.

Tomorrow: Similar at 62 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

Michigan requires a fishing licence from age 17, from $26.00 for residents. What a Michigan licence costs and where to buy it β†’

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

Water and weather

Live readings from Escanaba River at Cornell.

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 04059000.

285369454317 cfs09/2310/0310/1310/23

Today’s flow against 86 years of October 23

At 317 cfs, the flow at USGS gauge 04059000 (Escanaba River at Cornell) is at the 18th percentile for the date: below normal. In half of the 86 years of approved record the daily mean on October 23 was below 580 cfs; the highest was 2,650 cfs and the lowest 212 cfs.

p10 279median 580p90 1,324

Percentiles of the daily mean flow for this date, from the USGS Water Data Statistics API for gauge 04059000; 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 temp58 F
High / Low58 / 37 F
WindS 9-14 mph
Pressure1024.4 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain90% cloud, 1%
Sunrise / Sunset08:16 / 18:48
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (gauge)55 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 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Which day to fish Escanaba River this week

The best day on Escanaba River this week looks like Saturday Oct 24, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today.

Best day this week: Saturday, Oct 24 β€” good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Fair

A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Solunar majors
10:23 AM-12:23 PM and 10:53 PM-12:53 AM
Minor period
4:46 AM-5:46 AM
Sun
08:16 to 18:48
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Showers, 10 mph
Rain chance
1%

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

Species guide

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

Walleye illustration

Walleye

Best: spring and late fall, around dawn, dusk and night

A cool-water perch of large lakes, reservoirs and rivers whose reflective eyes are built for low light, so it feeds most at night and in murky water. The Missouri Department of Conservation ranks it among the continent's most important freshwater game fish. Spawning runs begin soon after ice-out in the high 30s to mid 40s Β°F; before that, slow presentations with live bait in deep, low-current wintering areas and below dams.

When to come: the Escanaba 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
Walleye
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 Escanaba 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. Walleye led the card at good. High of 55 F, wind to 6 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Walleye led the card at excellent. High of 65 F, wind to 7 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Walleye led the card at excellent. High of 62 F, wind to 9 mph.

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

License

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

Regulations

Michigan license. 2026 Michigan Fishing Regulations (to March 31, 2027); trout rules vary by stream reach. Changes effective Sept 10, 2026 are only in the digital version.

Access

No public access sites verified for this page.

About this water

An Upper Peninsula river in Marquette and Delta counties, Michigan, entering Little Bay de Noc near Escanaba; USGS gauge 04059000 at Cornell.

Fishing Escanaba River: the full guide

The river and its gauge

The Escanaba flows to Lake Michigan's Little Bay de Noc near the city of Escanaba. USGS measures it at Cornell (station 04059000), a live gauge that reports flow, stage and water temperature.

Walleye stocking

The Great Lakes Fishery Commission's stocking database records 125,000 Bay de Noc-strain walleye spring fingerlings stocked by Michigan DNR in the Escanaba River on May 24, 2023, from Thompson State Fish Hatchery.

Rules

Michigan's 2026 fishing regulations are in effect until March 31, 2027. Trout rules on Michigan streams depend on each reach's classification, so check the digital regulations or the DNR Hunt Fish app, which include changes made after the printed guide.

Common questions

Is the Escanaba River stocked?

Michigan DNR stocked 125,000 walleye fingerlings of the Bay de Noc strain in the river in May 2023, according to the Great Lakes Fishery Commission's stocking records.

Where do I find the current rules?

In the digital 2026 Michigan Fishing Regulations or the DNR Hunt Fish app; the printed guide does not include changes made on September 10, 2026.

Is fishing good at Escanaba River right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Nearby waters

Little Bay de Noc6 miFord River8 miManistique River42 miMenominee River47 miOconto River75 miPlatte River92 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 04059000 β€” Escanaba River at Cornell
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 18:45 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 45.8279, -87.0964 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 6, 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 6, 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.