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Cattaraugus Creek Fishing Report

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

Steelhead Alley's crown: Zoar Valley's wilderness gorge feeding Lake Erie chrome through the Cattaraugus' long, moody miles.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Flow
138 cfs
Air / High
61 / 61 F
Wind
NE 5 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 04213500, 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.

Cattaraugus Creek is in transition: bait on the move and predators following. The river is running 138 cfs, dropping and clearing. Today brings cloud cover, wind NE around 5 mph, rising pressure near 1026 hPa and a high of 61. Water sits around 55 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:50 AM-11:50 AM and 10:19 PM-12:19 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Brown troutExcellent

Close to Vermont's 53-66Β°F optimum, browns feed more freely; in fall, pre-spawn fish move toward tributaries and gravel, so fish streamers and keep off the redds.

SteelheadGood

Main tributary season: fish seams, pool heads and tails and structure with drifted eggs, beads, nymphs or streamers, and plan trips around rising or falling water.

Smallmouth bassGood

Spring pre-spawn and fall: Iowa DNR notes the larger bass come up to shallow structure, where a shallow-running minnow bait or a spinnerbait just under the surface works.

Tomorrow: Similar at 63 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

New York requires a fishing licence from age 16, from $25.00 for residents. What a New York licence costs and where to buy it β†’

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

Water and weather

Live readings from Cattaraugus Creek at Gowanda.

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 04213500.

154213271138 cfs09/2310/0310/1310/23

Today’s flow against 85 years of October 23

At 138 cfs, the flow at USGS gauge 04213500 (Cattaraugus Creek at Gowanda) is at the 17th percentile for the date: below normal. In half of the 85 years of approved record the daily mean on October 23 was below 316 cfs; the highest was 2,220 cfs and the lowest 71 cfs.

p10 110median 316p90 893

Percentiles of the daily mean flow for this date, from the USGS Water Data Statistics API for gauge 04213500; 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 / 39 F
WindNE 5-6 mph
Pressure1026.4 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain100% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:38 / 18:21
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (gauge)53 F USGS
Water temp (seasonal)~55 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 Cattaraugus Creek this week

The best day on Cattaraugus Creek 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
9:50 AM-11:50 AM and 10:19 PM-12:19 AM
Minor period
4:12 AM-5:12 AM
Sun
07:38 to 18:21
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Showers, 7 mph
Rain chance
0%

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

Species guide

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

Steelhead illustration

Steelhead

Great Lakes tributaries from fall through spring; West Coast rivers have both summer and winter runs

Steelhead are rainbow trout that migrate to the Pacific or the Great Lakes to grow, then return up rivers to spawn; unlike most Pacific salmon they can survive spawning and spawn again. Main tributary season: fish seams, pool heads and tails and structure with drifted eggs, beads, nymphs or streamers, and plan trips around rising or falling water.

Smallmouth bass illustration

Smallmouth bass

Best: spring and fall, when bigger fish come shallow

A bronze-brown black bass of clear, cool streams and rocky lakes, with dark vertical bars instead of a side stripe. Michigan DNR says its southeastern coast, from Port Huron to Lake Erie, is known nationally for both the size and the number of its smallmouth. Spring pre-spawn and fall: Iowa DNR notes the larger bass come up to shallow structure, where a shallow-running minnow bait or a spinnerbait just under the surface works.

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. Close to Vermont's 53-66Β°F optimum, browns feed more freely; in fall, pre-spawn fish move toward tributaries and gravel, so fish streamers and keep off the redds.

When to come: the Cattaraugus Creek 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
Steelhead
Smallmouth bass
Brown trout
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 55 F (estimated, not a reading).

304050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~55 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 Cattaraugus Creek 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 62 F, wind to 9 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 63 F, wind to 7 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

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 9 mph.

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

License

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

Regulations

NY license; Seneca Nation permit for reservation water. Steelhead: 1/day Erie tribs rules: check DEC.

Access

Gowanda village accesses, Zoar Valley MUA trails, Seneca Nation permit water below.

About this water

70 miles to Lake Erie, Erie/Cattaraugus counties, NY. Steelhead Alley's big water.

Fishing Cattaraugus Creek: the full guide

The Alley's biggest water

Cattaraugus Creek is the largest of New York's Lake Erie steelhead tributaries: 70 fishable miles from the Springville dam's removal (2022: a migration landmark) up through Zoar Valley's old-growth gorge. More water means more room: when the smaller Alley creeks crowd shoulder-to-shoulder, the Catt spreads its fish and its anglers.

Chrome seasons

Fall runs build with October rains (fresh chrome to Gowanda and beyond), winter holds fish throughout (the deep clay pools fish all season between freezes), and spring's drop-back feed (March-April) delivers the year's most aggressive bites. Egg patterns and beads under floats rule: swing streamers in the bigger runs when clarity allows.

Reading the clay

The Catt runs on clay geology: it blows out muddy with every rain and clears green over days (our Gowanda gauge is the oracle: fishable typically under 500 CFS and dropping). The locals' rule: the Catt fishes best exactly one day before you can see bottom: emerald water, fresh fish, empty pools.

Zoar and the reservation

The upper creek carves Zoar Valley's gorge: wilderness steelheading under 400-foot shale walls (access via the gorge trails: bring legs and caution). The lower miles cross Seneca Nation land: a tribal permit opens generous water (buy it: the reservation reaches hold the run's front door). Between them, Gowanda's town water democratizes the whole run.

Common questions

When does Cattaraugus Creek fish best?

On the drop: one to three days after rain as the clay stain clears to green. October-November and March-April are the run peaks: winter thaws produce for the patient.

Do I need the Seneca Nation permit?

For the reservation miles (the lower creek's prime staging water), yes: sold readily and worth every dollar. The state water upstream stands alone if you prefer.

Is fishing good at Cattaraugus Creek 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

Buffalo Creek29 miChautauqua Lake31 miNiagara River56 miPresque Isle Bay65 miOak Orchard Creek72 miWalnut Creek72 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 04213500 β€” Cattaraugus Creek at Gowanda
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 42.4600, -78.9300 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.