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Wallowa Lake Fishing Report

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

A glacial lake at the foot of the Wallowa Mountains with self-sustaining kokanee and lake trout, summer-stocked rainbows and Oregon's record kokanee.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Water temp
~55 F est.
Air / High
42 / 43 F
Wind
NNW 12 mph

Sources: Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Tap a marker for today's tip
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.

Wallowa Lake rewards those who follow the bait as the water cools. Today brings cloud cover, wind NNW around 12 mph, rising pressure near 1019 hPa and a high of 43. Water sits around 55 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:27 AM-11:27 AM and 9:57 PM-11:57 PM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Rainbow troutExcellent

This band overlaps Vermont's 54-66Β°F stream preference: fish feed across riffles, runs and pocket water, and in lakes WDFW says spring and fall bring them near the surface.

Lake troutGood

Spring and fall bring lakers into 10 to 30 feet of water (Michigan DNR), within reach of casters and shallow trollers; fall is also spawning time over rocky shoals.

Tomorrow: Similar at 47 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 lake 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.

No live gauge on this water

Conditions here are modeled from weather, season and the nearest stations. Water readings appear when a USGS gauge is available.

304050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~55 F now

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp42 F
High / Low43 / 33 F
WindNNW 12-20 mph
Pressure1019.0 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain82% cloud, 89%
Sunrise / Sunset07:15 / 17:49
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
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 Wallowa Lake this week

The best day on Wallowa 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
9:27 AM-11:27 AM and 9:57 PM-11:57 PM
Minor period
3:52 AM-4:52 AM
Sun
07:15 to 17:49
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Rain, 14 mph
Rain chance
89%

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

Species guide

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

Lake trout illustration

Lake trout

Spring and fall in shallow water, deep in summer, and through the ice in winter

Lake trout are slow-growing chars of large, deep, cold lakes, native from Alaska and northern Canada to New England and the Great Lakes, and introduced in many western lakes. Spring and fall bring lakers into 10 to 30 feet of water (Michigan DNR), within reach of casters and shallow trollers; fall is also spawning time over rocky shoals.

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. This band overlaps Vermont's 54-66Β°F stream preference: fish feed across riffles, runs and pocket water, and in lakes WDFW says spring and fall bring them near the surface.

When to come: the Wallowa 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
Lake trout
Rainbow 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 Wallowa 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 58 F, wind to 10 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 6 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 61 F, wind to 5 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

Oregon fishing license. See the current ODFW Oregon Sport Fishing Regulations, Northeast Zone, for kokanee, lake trout and trout limits on Wallowa Lake.

Access

County park ramp and fishing pier, Wallowa Lake State Park ramp and campground, and Wallowa Lake Marina ramp and rentals (ODFW). State park boarding dock out until March 31, 2027 (Oregon State Parks).

About this water

A natural glacial lake near the headwaters of the Wallowa River, Wallowa County, Oregon; the largest natural lake in northeast Oregon per ODFW.

Fishing Wallowa Lake: the full guide

A glacial lake

ODFW describes Wallowa Lake as a natural glacial lake near the headwaters of the Wallowa River, at the foot of the Wallowa Mountains, and calls it the largest natural lake in northeast Oregon. Oregon State Parks places Wallowa Lake State Park between the south end of the lake and the towering peaks of the Wallowa Mountains.

Kokanee and lake trout

Both kokanee and lake trout reproduce naturally in the lake (ODFW). Wallowa holds Oregon's record kokanee: 9 pounds 10.72 ounces, caught by Ron Campbell on June 13, 2010, on ODFW's record list.

Stocked rainbows

ODFW stocks legal-size and sometimes larger rainbow trout from May through early September, which makes summer the time for anglers fishing from shore or the pier.

Launches and the low-water dock

ODFW lists three access points: a county park with a boat ramp, fishing pier and accessible facilities; the state park with a campground, picnic area and ramp; and Wallowa Lake Marina with a ramp and boat rentals. Oregon State Parks removed the state park's boarding dock for the season because of low water, from August 31, 2026 to March 31, 2027. The marina sells fishing licenses and gear from mid-May to mid-September, and a tramway climbs 8,200-foot Mount Howard nearby.

Common questions

What is Wallowa Lake's record fish?

Oregon's record kokanee, 9 pounds 10.72 ounces, caught by Ron Campbell in 2010 (ODFW).

When are rainbows stocked?

From May through early September, at legal size and sometimes larger (ODFW).

Is the state park dock in?

Not this off-season: Oregon State Parks removed the boarding dock for low water from August 31, 2026 to March 31, 2027.

Is fishing good at Wallowa 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

Brownlee Reservoir46 miGrande Ronde River51 miSalmon River54 miCascade Reservoir71 miSouth Fork Clearwater River76 miClearwater River79 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 45.2800, -117.2000 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.