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Crooked River Fishing Report

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

The high-desert tailwater: absurd trout density in a canyon you can drive.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Lake level
1942.57 ft
Air / High
54 / 59 F
Wind
NW 2 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 14087520, 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.

Crooked River fishes cold and honest: earn your bites in the deep stuff. The gauge reads 1942.57 ft, easing 0.20 over the week. Today brings clear skies, wind NW around 2 mph, steady pressure near 1023 hPa and a high of 59. Water sits around 47 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

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: Warmer at 68 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

Oregon requires a fishing licence from age 12, from $50.00 for residents. What a Oregon licence costs and where to buy it β†’

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

Water and weather

Live readings from LAKE BILLY CHINOOK NEAR CULVER, OR (nearby stand-in, not on this water).

Water level, last 30 days

USGS gauge 14087520.

1942.511942.871943.231942.57 ft09/2310/0310/1310/23

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp54 F
High / Low59 / 33 F
WindNW 2-6 mph
Pressure1022.7 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain2% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:31 / 18:07
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 Crooked River this week

The best day on Crooked River this week looks like Wednesday Oct 28, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today.

Best day this week: Wednesday, Oct 28 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
9:44 AM-11:44 AM and 10:14 PM-12:14 AM
Minor period
4:09 AM-5:09 AM
Sun
07:31 to 18:07
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Overcast, 10 mph
Rain chance
0%

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

Species guide

The species that matter on Crooked 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 Crooked 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 Crooked 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 55 F, wind to 11 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 62 F, wind to 8 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
Only used if we need to ask you about your report. No mailing list, no spam.

Before you go

License

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

Regulations

5 trout under 20 inches (redband rules); check whitefish liberalization. Confirm with ODFW.

Access

SR-27 canyon pullouts below Bowman Dam; camping at Chimney Rock and neighbors.

About this water

High-desert tailwater of Prineville Reservoir, Crook County, OR: 3,000+ redbands per mile.

Fishing Crooked River: the full guide

Small water, big numbers

The Crooked below Bowman Dam packs thousands of redband rainbows per mile into a modest desert canyon: scuds and midges under a bobber produce all day, every day. It is Oregon's best beginner river and a numbers reset for jaded experts: with whitefish gluttony as the bonus.

Winter's reliable dozen

When Central Oregon freezes, the Crooked keeps giving: mid-30s water, midging redbands, and the region's most consistent winter nymphing. Size 16-20 under an indicator, mud edges at midday: dozens-per-day remains realistic.

Small water etiquette

Eight miles below Bowman Dam concentrate the fishery and the anglers: rotate pools, give risers room, and walk the extra bend: densities hold everywhere, company doesn't. Scuds, worms and baetis cover the year's fly needs in one small box.

Canyon pocket water, mile by mile

The Crooked's nine tailwater miles below Bowman Dam pack more trout per bend than rivers five times its size: redband rainbows stack the basalt pocket water at densities past 5,000 fish per mile in good flow years. Every pullout along the canyon road opens another run: nymph the soft edges (scuds, zebra midges) and let the whitefish keep you reliable between trout. Winter flows drop skinny: fish midday warmth and tread lightly around staging fish.

Common questions

How technical is the Crooked?

Forgiving by tailwater standards: fish density covers imperfect drifts. It is Central Oregon's confidence-builder: and its winter salvation.

How do flows change the Crooked?

Everything rides on Bowman releases: 50-100 CFS concentrates fish but stresses them (summer closures possible); 200-300 is prime; runoff spikes muddy it briefly. Check the Ochoco Irrigation District schedule before the drive from Bend.

Is fishing good at Crooked 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

Metolius River18 miPrineville Reservoir41 miDetroit Lake49 miEast Lake59 miCrane Prairie Reservoir60 miColumbia River71 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 14087520 β€” LAKE BILLY CHINOOK NEAR CULVER, OR (nearby stand-in, not on this water)
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 18:15 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 44.5737, -121.2720 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.