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Musconetcong River Fishing Report

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

The Musconetcong: a 42.5-mile Highlands river from Lake Hopatcong to the Delaware, stocked with trout and partly designated Wild and Scenic.

2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Flow
121 cfs
Air / High
61 / 61 F
Wind
NE 6 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 01457000, 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.

Musconetcong River is in its winter mode: slow, deep and deliberate. The river is running 121 cfs, dropping and clearing. Today brings clear skies, wind NE around 6 mph, rising pressure near 1027 hPa and a high of 61. Water sits around 47 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:34 AM-11:34 AM and 10:03 PM-12:03 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Brown troutExcellent

Below 50Β°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 β†’

Water and weather

Live readings from Musconetcong River near Bloomsbury, NJ.

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 01457000.

120182243121 cfs09/2310/0310/1310/23

Today’s flow against 109 years of October 23

At 121 cfs, the flow at USGS gauge 01457000 (Musconetcong River near Bloomsbury, NJ) is at the 46th percentile for the date: normal. In half of the 109 years of approved record the daily mean on October 23 was below 127 cfs; the highest was 963 cfs and the lowest 35 cfs.

p10 66median 127p90 390

Percentiles of the daily mean flow for this date, from the USGS Water Data Statistics API for gauge 01457000; 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 temp61 F
High / Low61 / 41 F
WindNE 6-8 mph
Pressure1027.1 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:20 / 18:08
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 PMsunrisesunset

Which day to fish Musconetcong River this week

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

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

Today, Oct 23 β€” Tough

Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Solunar majors
9:34 AM-11:34 AM and 10:03 PM-12:03 AM
Minor period
3:56 AM-4:56 AM
Sun
07:20 to 18:08
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Overcast, 11 mph
Rain chance
0%

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

Species guide

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

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 50Β°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 Musconetcong 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
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 Musconetcong 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. Brown trout led the card at excellent. High of 69 F, wind to 12 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Brown trout led the card at excellent. High of 66 F, wind to 12 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Brown trout led the card at excellent. High of 69 F, wind to 15 mph.

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

License

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

Regulations

A New Jersey fishing license, plus a trout stamp for trout (the 2026 Digest lists the resident trout stamp for ages 16-69). Spring in-season stocking-day closures and the Point Mountain Year-Round Trout Conservation Area rules are in the 2026 New Jersey Freshwater Fishing Digest. New Jersey's Brook Trout Conservation Zone covers all waters west of I-287 and north of Route 202, except the Delaware River; any brook trout caught in the zone must be released immediately.

Access

Parking areas near the Penwell Road and Point Mountain Road bridges at the Trout Conservation Area. The rivers system notes hundreds of acres of publicly owned land along the banks.

About this water

A 42.5-mile river from Lake Hopatcong to the Delaware River through Sussex, Morris, Warren and Hunterdon counties, New Jersey; flows come from the USGS gauge near Bloomsbury.

Fishing Musconetcong River: the full guide

The river

The National Wild and Scenic Rivers System describes the Musconetcong as a 42.5-mile river draining 157.6 square miles of the New Jersey Highlands southwest to the Delaware. Congress designated 24.2 miles in 2006 (Saxton Falls to the Route 46 bridge, and King's Highway Bridge to the railroad tunnels at Musconetcong Gorge), and 4.3 miles from Hughesville Mill to the Delaware were added in 2022, for 28.5 designated miles.

Trout

The rivers system page says the Musconetcong is often referred to as the best trout fishery in New Jersey and that brown trout are found in its seven main tributaries. NJ Fish and Wildlife stocks the river from the Lake Hopatcong dam to the Delaware in spring, and closes it from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. on its in-season stocking days, which fall on Fridays in the 2026 Digest.

Point Mountain

The Point Mountain stretch, about 1.2 miles from the Penwell Road bridge down to the Point Mountain Road bridge on the Hunterdon-Warren line, is a Year-Round Trout Conservation Area: artificial lures and flies only, no bait or scented substances, one trout of 15 inches or more per day outside the March 23-April 11 catch-and-release period. Parking is near each bridge.

Common questions

Where is the Musconetcong's special trout section?

The Point Mountain stretch, from the Penwell Road bridge to the Point Mountain Road bridge (about 1.2 miles), is a Year-Round Trout Conservation Area with artificial lures and flies only and a 15-inch, one-fish limit.

Is the river closed on stocking days?

Yes. From the Lake Hopatcong dam to the Delaware it is closed 5 a.m.-5 p.m. on its spring in-season stocking days (Fridays in the 2026 Digest), except in the Trout Conservation Area, where fishing continues but every trout must be released.

How much of the river is Wild and Scenic?

28.5 miles: 24.2 designated in 2006 and 4.3 added in 2022 (rivers.gov).

Is fishing good at Musconetcong 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

Spruce Run Reservoir7 miRound Valley Reservoir12 miLake Nockamixon17 miRaritan River28 miSwartswood Lake30 miLake Hopatcong31 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 01457000 β€” Musconetcong River near Bloomsbury, NJ
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 40.6722, -75.0608 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 12, 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 12, 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.