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Wildhorse Reservoir Fishing Report

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

Nevada’s high desert trout lake: Wildhorse grows rainbows, browns and bass at 6,200 feet in the Owyhee country.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Water temp
~47 F est.
Air / High
37 / 42 F
Wind
NW 11 mph

Sources: 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.

Wildhorse Reservoir is in its winter mode: slow, deep and deliberate. Today brings cloud cover, wind NW around 11 mph, steady pressure near 1019 hPa and a high of 42. Water sits around 47 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:22 AM-11:22 AM and 9:51 PM-11:51 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: Warmer at 52 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Before you go

Nevada requires a fishing licence from age 12, from $40.00 for residents. What a Nevada licence costs and where to buy it →

Chasing rainbow trout here? Check the size and bag limits with NDOW before you keep anything. The season dates for Nevada, read off the agency, are on the Nevada seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings.

No live gauge on this water

Conditions here are modeled from weather, season and the nearest stations. Water readings appear when a USGS gauge is available.

30405060JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~47 F now

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp37 F
High / Low42 / 31 F
WindNW 11-15 mph
Pressure1018.6 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain100% cloud, 30%
Sunrise / Sunset07:04 / 17:49
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
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 Wildhorse Reservoir this week

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

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

Today, Oct 23 — Fair

A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Solunar majors
9:22 AM-11:22 AM and 9:51 PM-11:51 PM
Minor period
3:46 AM-4:46 AM
Sun
07:04 to 17:49
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Showers, 13 mph
Rain chance
30%

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

Species guide

The species that matter on Wildhorse Reservoir: 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 Wildhorse 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
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 Wildhorse 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. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 58 F, wind to 17 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 64 F, wind to 13 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 64 F, wind to 13 mph.

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

License

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

Regulations

Nevada license. Trout, bass and perch limits per current NDOW regulations; tribal permits may apply on adjacent reservation waters.

Access

Wildhorse State Recreation Area ramp, campground and shoreline; nearby resort with supplies.

About this water

A 2,800-acre reservoir on the Owyhee River at 6,200 feet, Elko County, Nevada.

Fishing Wildhorse Reservoir: the full guide

Elko County water

Wildhorse Reservoir spreads across roughly 2,800 acres of high desert at 6,200 feet in northern Nevada, on the Owyhee River north of Elko. It is one of the state’s better trout fisheries: rainbow and brown trout grow well in the cold, fertile water, joined by an unusual mix of yellow perch and smallmouth bass. The surrounding country is sage and rimrock, remote and quiet.

Trout by season

Ice-out in spring brings trout shallow and aggressive: casting spinners, spoons and flies from shore and small boats produces well. Summer sends fish deeper and favors trolling with lures and bait. Fall brings a strong shallow bite again as water cools. Winter ice fishing is genuinely popular here, with anglers coming from Elko and Idaho for perch and trout through the hard water.

Perch and bass

Yellow perch are abundant and school over the flats, providing steady action and dominating the winter fishery. Smallmouth bass, unusual for a Nevada trout reservoir, hold the rocky shorelines and provide summer light-tackle sport. The mixed fishery makes this an unusually varied stop for a high desert lake.

Remote logistics

Wildhorse State Recreation Area provides a ramp, camping and shoreline access, with a small resort nearby offering supplies and rooms. Elko is 70 miles south: bring what you need. Wind sweeps the open water and weather changes fast at elevation. Winter access requires attention to road conditions on Nevada 225.

Common questions

How is the ice fishing?

Popular and productive: perch and trout draw anglers from Elko and southern Idaho through the winter.

Are there really smallmouth?

Yes: an unusual addition to a high desert trout reservoir, holding on the rocky shorelines and fun on light tackle.

How remote is it?

Seventy miles north of Elko with minimal services: bring fuel, food and supplies, and watch the weather at elevation.

Is fishing good at Wildhorse Reservoir 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

South Fork Reservoir70 miRuby Lake103 miSouth Fork Boise River117 miAnderson Ranch Reservoir117 miLucky Peak Reservoir128 miMagic Reservoir132 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 41.6800, -115.8000 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.