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Pascagoula River Fishing Report

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

The last free river: the Pascagoula runs undammed to the gulf, holding bass, bream and coastal species in its swamps.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Flow
1,010 cfs
Air / High
81 / 81 F
Wind
NE 8 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 02479000, 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.

Pascagoula River sits in the sweet spot of the season: active fish and workable weather. The river is running 1,010 cfs, dropping and clearing. Today brings clear skies, wind NE around 8 mph, steady pressure near 1019 hPa and a high of 81. Water sits around 78 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:31 AM-11:31 AM and 9:58 PM-11:58 PM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Redfish (red drum)Excellent

Spring and early summer put redfish on grass flats, shorelines and oyster bars; on the Gulf, fish below spawning age stay inside the bays (TPWD). Sight-cast to tailing and cruising fish or drift live shrimp under a popping cork.

Speckled troutExcellent

Spring brings seatrout back over shallow seagrass, and the spawning season (April to September in Louisiana and South Carolina) keeps them feeding. Popping corks with live shrimp, free-shrimping on the drift and casting to working birds are the main tools.

Tomorrow: Similar at 78 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 Pascagoula River at Merrill.

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 02479000.

1,1291,3501,5711,010 cfs09/2310/0310/1310/23

Today’s flow against 95 years of October 23

At 1,010 cfs, the flow at USGS gauge 02479000 (Pascagoula River at Merrill) is at the 11th percentile for the date: below normal. In half of the 95 years of approved record the daily mean on October 23 was below 1,820 cfs; the highest was 22,400 cfs and the lowest 678 cfs.

p10 988median 1,820p90 6,322

Percentiles of the daily mean flow for this date, from the USGS Water Data Statistics API for gauge 02479000; 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 temp81 F
High / Low81 / 47 F
WindNE 8-10 mph
Pressure1018.6 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:03 / 18:14
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~78 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 Pascagoula River this week

The best day on Pascagoula River this week looks like Sunday Oct 25, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today.

Best day this week: Sunday, Oct 25 — good at 4/5, steady pressure, neither help nor hindrance.

Today, Oct 23 — Fair

A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Solunar majors
9:31 AM-11:31 AM and 9:58 PM-11:58 PM
Minor period
3:52 AM-4:52 AM
Sun
07:03 to 18:14
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Clear, 8 mph
Rain chance
0%

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

Species guide

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

Redfish (red drum) illustration

Redfish (red drum)

Best: late-summer and fall bull run; inshore all year

Red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus), called redfish across the South, is a bronze inshore drum with a black spot near the tail, fished on grass flats, oyster bars, marsh creeks and beaches from the Chesapeake around Florida to Texas. Spring and early summer put redfish on grass flats, shorelines and oyster bars; on the Gulf, fish below spawning age stay inside the bays (TPWD). Sight-cast to tailing and cruising fish or drift live shrimp under a popping cork.

Speckled trout illustration

Speckled trout

Shallow bays spring and summer; deeper water in winter

Speckled trout is the anglers' name for the spotted seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus), a spotted member of the drum family that lives in shallow bays and estuaries from the Chesapeake to Texas. Spring brings seatrout back over shallow seagrass, and the spawning season (April to September in Louisiana and South Carolina) keeps them feeding. Popping corks with live shrimp, free-shrimping on the drift and casting to working birds are the main tools.

When to come: the Pascagoula 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
Redfish (red drum)
Speckled trout
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 78 F (estimated, not a reading).

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~78 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 Pascagoula 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. Redfish (red drum) led the card at excellent. High of 83 F, wind to 9 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Redfish (red drum) led the card at excellent. High of 80 F, wind to 8 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Redfish (red drum) led the card at excellent. High of 78 F, wind to 8 mph.

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

License

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

Regulations

Mississippi license, with saltwater rules applying in the tidal reaches. Bass and inshore limits per current MDWFP and DMR regulations.

Access

Ramps at Cumbest Bluff, Wade and near Moss Point; extensive WMA land along the river.

About this water

An 80-mile undammed river through southeast Mississippi to the gulf, George and Jackson counties: the largest free-flowing river system in the lower 48.

Fishing Pascagoula River: the full guide

America’s last free-flowing large river

The Pascagoula River flows 80 miles through southeast Mississippi to the gulf, and its distinction is that no dam blocks it anywhere: the largest undammed river system by flow in the lower 48. That freedom shows in its ecology: a river of sandbars, oxbows and cypress swamps supporting largemouth bass, bream, catfish, and in the tidal lower reaches redfish and speckled trout.

Bass and bream

The bass fishery follows river level: high water spreads fish into the flooded timber and sloughs, low water concentrates them on the sandbars, cutbanks and deeper bends. Spinnerbaits, plastics and topwater all work, with the oxbows off the main channel holding the best cover. Bream fishing around the cypress in late spring is exceptional and a local tradition.

The tidal reach

Below the confluence with the Escatawpa, the river becomes tidal and species change: redfish and speckled trout hold the marsh edges and deeper bends, taking plastics and live bait on moving tides. Anglers can genuinely catch largemouth and redfish in the same day by moving between reaches, one of the river’s appeals.

South Mississippi logistics

Ramps serve the river at Cumbest Bluff, Wade and near Moss Point, with the Pascagoula River Wildlife Management Area protecting extensive bottomland. Sandbar camping is a tradition, and the river passes through some of the wildest country left on the Mississippi coast. Watch for deadfalls and shifting sandbars, which change with every high water.

Common questions

Why is it famous?

It is undammed: the largest free-flowing river system by volume in the lower 48, with an ecology that reflects that rarity.

Can I catch bass and redfish the same day?

Yes: the freshwater upper reaches and the tidal lower river are close enough to fish both.

Is navigation tricky?

Deadfalls and shifting sandbars change with every high water: run carefully and expect the channel to move between visits.

Is fishing good at Pascagoula 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

Biloxi42 miMobile Bay53 miDauphin Island61 miGulf Shores78 miEscambia River91 miPensacola97 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 02479000 — Pascagoula River at Merrill
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 19:15 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 30.9800, -88.7000 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.