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Pecos River Fishing Report

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

New Mexico's canyon classic: brown trout pocket water through red-rock and pine, an hour from Santa Fe and centuries from hurry.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Flow
171 cfs
Air / High
66 / 68 F
Wind
SSW 15 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 08378500, 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.

Pecos River is in its winter mode: slow, deep and deliberate. The river is running 171 cfs, on the rise. Today brings cloud cover, wind SSW around 15 mph, rising pressure near 1009 hPa and a high of 68. Water sits around 47 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:41 AM-11:41 AM and 10:09 PM-12:09 AM: 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 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: Cooler at 57 F with likely rain: fish ahead of the front. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made β†’

Before you go

New Mexico requires a fishing licence from age 12, from $49.00 for residents. What a New Mexico licence costs and where to buy it β†’

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

Water and weather

Live readings from Pecos River near Pecos.

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 08378500.

242507772171 cfs09/2310/0310/1310/23

Today’s flow against 99 years of October 23

At 171 cfs, the flow at USGS gauge 08378500 (Pecos River near Pecos) is above the 95th percentile for the date: much above normal. In half of the 99 years of approved record the daily mean on October 23 was below 41 cfs; the highest was 220 cfs and the lowest 12 cfs.

p10 24median 41p90 89

Percentiles of the daily mean flow for this date, from the USGS Water Data Statistics API for gauge 08378500; 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 temp66 F
High / Low68 / 51 F
WindSSW 15-24 mph
Pressure1009.2 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain85% cloud, 40%
Sunrise / Sunset07:16 / 18:17
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 Pecos River this week

Today is the pick of the week on Pecos River, at 3 out of 5.

Best day this week: today, Oct 23 β€” fair at 3/5, rising pressure behind a front, typically the slowest.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Fair

A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Solunar majors
9:41 AM-11:41 AM and 10:09 PM-12:09 AM
Minor period
4:03 AM-5:03 AM
Sun
07:16 to 18:17
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Storms, 19 mph
Rain chance
40%

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

Species guide

The species that matter on Pecos 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 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 Pecos 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 Pecos 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 71 F, wind to 15 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 72 F, wind to 9 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 66 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 Mexico requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

New Mexico license. Special-reg stretches: artificials, reduced limits: check NMDGF signage.

Access

NM 63 accesses: Monastery Lake, Dalton, Terrero, Jacks Creek trailheads.

About this water

The upper canyon miles above Pecos village, San Miguel County, NM. Santa Fe's home trout water.

Fishing Pecos River: the full guide

The Pecos canyon

The upper Pecos falls out of the Sangre de Cristos through a canyon of red cliffs and ponderosa: New Mexico's most beloved trout water: browns in the pocket seams, stocked rainbows at the accesses, and wild water climbing toward the wilderness the higher you walk.

Reading the little river

Pocket-water rules apply: high-stick the seams with attractor-dropper rigs, swing soft hackles through the tails, and skip nothing deeper than a boot: Pecos browns hold tight and decide fast. The canyon's stocked stretches (Monastery Lake down) fish social: the wilderness reaches (Jacks Creek trailheads up) fish earned.

Seasons under the Sangres

Spring runoff blows it out briefly (April-May): summer runs the classic monsoon rhythm (fish mornings: cells arrive at two): September-October is the canyon's glory: golden cottonwoods, aggressive browns, empty weekdays. Winter offers midday windows in the low canyon: solitude guaranteed.

Canyon practicalities

NM 63 threads the accesses (Monastery, Dalton, Terrero, the wilderness gates): Game & Fish stocks the marked waters generously: and the special-regulation stretches (check signage) protect the wild core. Santa Fe sits an hour south: the Pecos is its home water and Sunday church.

Common questions

Is the Pecos River good for beginners?

The stocked canyon accesses are New Mexico's best classroom: forgiving rainbows, open pockets. The wild browns upstream grade harder: growth is built in.

When is the best fishing on the Pecos?

September-October: monsoons done, browns aggressive, canyon golden. Summer mornings before the two o'clock storms are the reliable second.

Is fishing good at Pecos 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

Cochiti Lake36 miRio Grande63 miAbiquiu Lake67 miEagle Nest Lake70 miCimarron River75 miConchas Lake84 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 08378500 β€” Pecos River near Pecos
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 19:00 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 35.5750, -105.6800 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.