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Upper Klamath Lake Fishing Report

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

Klamath Basin lake known for large native redband trout, now under an ODFW catch-and-release, no-bait rule through October 31 after record-low spawning counts.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Flow
770 cfs
Air / High
46 / 53 F
Wind
N 8 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 11509500, 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.

Upper Klamath Lake is in its winter mode: slow, deep and deliberate. The release below the dam is running 770 cfs, steady over the week. Today brings clear skies, wind N around 8 mph, steady pressure near 1021 hPa and a high of 53. Water sits around 47 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:47 AM-11:47 AM and 10:16 PM-12:16 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.

Yellow perchGood

Ice season. Perch stay active under the ice in both shallow and deeper water, so small jigs or spoons tipped with live bait over known winter areas are the usual approach.

Tomorrow: Similar at 56 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 Klamath River at Keno (outlet).

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 11509500.

748760772770 cfs09/2310/0310/1310/23

Today’s flow against 107 years of October 23

At 770 cfs, the flow at USGS gauge 11509500 (Klamath River at Keno (outlet)) is at the 25th percentile for the date: normal. In half of the 107 years of approved record the daily mean on October 23 was below 1,130 cfs; the highest was 4,210 cfs and the lowest 255 cfs.

p10 644median 1,130p90 2,182

Percentiles of the daily mean flow for this date, from the USGS Water Data Statistics API for gauge 11509500; 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 temp46 F
High / Low53 / 35 F
WindN 8-16 mph
Pressure1021.3 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 1%
Sunrise / Sunset07:30 / 18:12
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (gauge)52 F USGS
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 Upper Klamath Lake this week

The best day on Upper Klamath Lake 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
9:47 AM-11:47 AM and 10:16 PM-12:16 AM
Minor period
4:12 AM-5:12 AM
Sun
07:30 to 18:12
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Clear, 13 mph
Rain chance
1%

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

Species guide

The species that matter on Upper Klamath Lake: 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.

Yellow perch illustration

Yellow perch

Caught all year, including under the ice through winter

Yellow perch are schooling panfish of the Great Lakes and northern lakes, and Michigan DNR calls them the game fish most often caught in that state. Ice season. Perch stay active under the ice in both shallow and deeper water, so small jigs or spoons tipped with live bait over known winter areas are the usual approach.

When to come: the Upper Klamath Lake 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
Yellow perch
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 Upper Klamath Lake 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 60 F, wind to 12 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 66 F, wind to 11 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 11 mph.

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

Oregon fishing license. ODFW temporary rule, June 15-Oct. 31, 2026 (read 2026-10-05): redband/rainbow trout catch-and-release only, and flies and artificial lures only (no bait) for all species on Upper Klamath Lake, Pelican Bay and Crystal, Fourmile, Harriman, Odessa, Recreation, Short and Thomason creeks and Fourmile Canal. Closed to salmon fishing. Nets and minnow traps may not be used. Check ODFW for the rule after Oct. 31.

Access

Boat fishing is allowed on the part of the lake within Upper Klamath National Wildlife Refuge, reached from nearby marinas (USFWS). ODFW's report also names the Shoalwater Bay boat ramp.

About this water

A natural lake in the Klamath Basin, Klamath County, Oregon. The page's gauge, USGS 11509500 Klamath River at Keno, is downstream of the lake's outlet.

Fishing Upper Klamath Lake: the full guide

Big native trout

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says Upper Klamath Lake is especially popular for fishing massive redband trout, which routinely grow to 23 to 25 inches; ODFW notes that redband, a native inland subspecies of rainbow trout, are managed under rainbow trout limits. ODFW lists the lake's fish as native redband trout, yellow perch, kokanee, pumpkinseed, brown bullhead, tui chub and blue chub, and the lake is closed to salmon fishing.

Cold-water refuges

Every year in late May or early June, ODFW says, deteriorating water quality pushes fish into cold-water refuges in the lake and in the groundwater-fed tributaries where they later spawn. ODFW's 2026 rule names those spring-fed waters: Pelican Bay and Crystal, Recreation, Harriman, Odessa, Short, Fourmile and Thomason creeks, plus Fourmile Canal.

Why the 2026 rule

From June 15 to October 31, 2026, ODFW requires catch-and-release for redband trout and flies and artificial lures only for all species on the lake and those creeks. ODFW cites record-low spawning counts at nearly all sites in the 2025-26 winter, drought, falling flows in the Wood and Williamson rivers and fewer spawning suckers; the Wood and Williamson and Agency Lake were already catch-and-release with flies and lures. ODFW also asks anglers to release acoustic-tagged redband, marked by a belly scar, and encourages unlimited harvest of yellow perch.

Common questions

How big do the redbands get?

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says redband trout here routinely grow to 23 to 25 inches.

Can I keep a trout in 2026?

Not until the temporary rule ends: ODFW requires catch-and-release for redband trout, with flies and lures only, from June 15 through October 31, 2026.

Why do the fish move into the creeks?

ODFW says water quality in the lake deteriorates every late May or early June, so trout move to cold-water refuges in the lake and its groundwater-fed tributaries.

Is fishing good at Upper Klamath Lake 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

Diamond Lake54 miOdell Lake81 miCrane Prairie Reservoir96 miUmpqua River97 miEast Lake98 miShasta Lake116 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 11509500 β€” Klamath River at Keno (outlet)
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 42.4000, -121.9000 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 5, 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 5, 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.