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Genesee River Fishing Report

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

Rochester’s river: the Genesee runs steelhead and salmon to Lake Ontario past three urban waterfalls.

2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Flow
1,140 cfs
Air / High
54 / 56 F
Wind
NE 9 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 04231600, 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.

Genesee River rewards those who follow the bait as the water cools. The river is running 1,140 cfs, on the rise. Today brings clear skies, wind NE around 9 mph, rising pressure near 1029 hPa and a high of 56. Water sits around 55 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:44 AM-11:44 AM and 10:14 PM-12:14 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Brown troutExcellent

Close to Vermont's 53-66°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: Warmer at 63 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

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 →

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 Genesee River at Ford Street Bridge, Rochester.

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 04231600.

5848031,0221,140 cfs09/2310/0310/1310/23

Today’s flow against 120 years of October 23

At 1,140 cfs, the flow at USGS gauge 04231600 (Genesee River at Ford Street Bridge, Rochester) is at the 55th percentile for the date: normal. In half of the 120 years of approved record the daily mean on October 23 was below 1,015 cfs; the highest was 7,130 cfs and the lowest 285 cfs.

p10 542median 1,015p90 3,351

Percentiles of the daily mean flow for this date, from the USGS Water Data Statistics API for gauge 04231600; 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 temp54 F
High / Low56 / 40 F
WindNE 9-12 mph
Pressure1029.1 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain1% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:34 / 18:14
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 PMsunrisesunset

Which day to fish Genesee River this week

The best day on Genesee River this week looks like Saturday Oct 24, at 4 out of 5, against 2 today.

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

Today, Oct 23 — Tough

Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Solunar majors
9:44 AM-11:44 AM and 10:14 PM-12:14 AM
Minor period
4:06 AM-5:06 AM
Sun
07:34 to 18:14
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Showers, 9 mph
Rain chance
0%

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

Species guide

The species that matter on Genesee River: 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 53-66°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 Genesee 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
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 Genesee 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 62 F, wind to 10 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 61 F, wind to 8 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Steelhead led the card at excellent. High of 60 F, wind to 11 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

New York license. Great Lakes trout and salmon limits apply below the falls: check current DEC Region 8 regulations.

Access

Genesee River gorge trails, Lower Falls Park, Seth Green Island and the port at Charlotte in Rochester.

About this water

A 157-mile river from Pennsylvania to Lake Ontario at Rochester, Monroe County, New York.

Fishing Genesee River: the full guide

A river through a city

The Genesee River flows 157 miles north from Pennsylvania through Rochester to Lake Ontario, dropping over three waterfalls within the city itself. Below the lower falls, the river hosts Lake Ontario runs: steelhead, chinook and coho salmon, brown trout and, in the deeper water, walleye, smallmouth and panfish. It is one of the most accessible urban salmonid fisheries in the East.

Salmon and steelhead

Chinook and coho arrive in fall and stack below the lower falls, which they cannot pass: the barrier concentrates fish and makes the gorge water below it consistently productive. Steelhead follow and hold through winter and spring, taking egg patterns, jigs and swung flies. Brown trout mix in through the cold months.

The gorge and the port

The lower gorge below the falls offers walk-in access with a genuine wilderness feel inside the city limits. Downstream toward the port and the lake, the river widens and holds walleye, smallmouth and panfish, with pier and boat access at Charlotte. Upstream of the falls, the river runs warmer and holds smallmouth and pike.

Monroe County logistics

Access via the Genesee River gorge trails, Seth Green Island, Lower Falls Park and the port at Charlotte, all within Rochester. Parking and trails are straightforward, though the gorge requires a walk. Flows vary with rain and upstream releases: check the Rochester gauge before planning a wading trip.

Common questions

Why do fish stack below the falls?

The lower falls are impassable: salmon and steelhead concentrate beneath them, making the gorge water consistently productive.

Is it really in the city?

Yes: the gorge runs through Rochester, giving a wilderness-feeling fishery inside the city limits.

When is the run?

Chinook and coho in fall, steelhead from fall through spring, with brown trout mixed in through the cold months.

Is fishing good at Genesee 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

Lake Ontario18 miCanandaigua Lake31 miOak Orchard Creek32 miSeneca Lake47 miKeuka Lake48 miCayuga Lake56 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 04231600 — Genesee River at Ford Street Bridge, Rochester
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 18:30 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 43.1500, -77.6200 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.