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Pine Creek Fishing Report

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

The creek that carved Pennsylvania's Grand Canyon, with trout water above Waterville and a warmer smallmouth fishery toward Jersey Shore.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Flow
111 cfs
Air / High
59 / 59 F
Wind
NNE 5 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 01548500, 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.

Pine Creek fishes cold and honest: earn your bites in the deep stuff. The river is running 111 cfs, dropping and clearing. Today brings a mixed sky, wind NNE around 5 mph, rising pressure near 1027 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 10:13 PM-12:13 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Smallmouth bassGood

Fish hold in slower, deeper water; fish slowly and expect fewer bites until spring warming.

WalleyeGood

Spawning runs begin soon after ice-out in the high 30s to mid 40s Β°F; before that, slow presentations with live bait in deep, low-current wintering areas and below dams.

Tomorrow: Similar at 57 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

Pennsylvania requires a fishing licence from age 16, from $27.97 for residents. What a Pennsylvania licence costs and where to buy it β†’

Chasing smallmouth bass here? Check the size and bag limits with PFBC before you keep anything. The season dates for Pennsylvania, read off the agency, are on the Pennsylvania seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings from Pine Creek at Cedar Run.

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 01548500.

120175230111 cfs09/2310/0310/1310/23

Today’s flow against 108 years of October 23

At 111 cfs, the flow at USGS gauge 01548500 (Pine Creek at Cedar Run) is at the 34th percentile for the date: normal. In half of the 108 years of approved record the daily mean on October 23 was below 163 cfs; the highest was 5,150 cfs and the lowest 33 cfs.

p10 51median 163p90 1,353

Percentiles of the daily mean flow for this date, from the USGS Water Data Statistics API for gauge 01548500; 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 temp59 F
High / Low59 / 41 F
WindNNE 5-6 mph
Pressure1026.6 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain41% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:31 / 18:16
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 Pine Creek this week

The best day on Pine Creek this week looks like Sunday Oct 25, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today.

Best day this week: Sunday, Oct 25 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 10:13 PM-12:13 AM
Minor period
4:06 AM-5:06 AM
Sun
07:31 to 18:16
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Overcast, 6 mph
Rain chance
0%

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

Species guide

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

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. Fish hold in slower, deeper water; fish slowly and expect fewer bites until spring warming.

Walleye illustration

Walleye

Best: spring and late fall, around dawn, dusk and night

A cool-water perch of large lakes, reservoirs and rivers whose reflective eyes are built for low light, so it feeds most at night and in murky water. The Missouri Department of Conservation ranks it among the continent's most important freshwater game fish. Spawning runs begin soon after ice-out in the high 30s to mid 40s Β°F; before that, slow presentations with live bait in deep, low-current wintering areas and below dams.

When to come: the Pine 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
Smallmouth bass
Walleye
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 Pine 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. Smallmouth bass led the card at good. High of 65 F, wind to 11 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Smallmouth bass led the card at good. High of 64 F, wind to 6 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Smallmouth bass led the card at good. High of 67 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

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

Regulations

Pennsylvania fishing license. The PFBC's current Pennsylvania Fishing Summary explains trout permit rules and lists Pine Creek's special-regulation areas.

Access

Pine Creek Rail Trail (DCNR, 62 miles); access points named by the PFBC at Ansonia, Blackwell, Slate Run, Cammal, Waterville and Jersey Shore; Leonard Harrison and Colton Point state parks on the rims.

About this water

A north-central Pennsylvania creek that carved the 47-mile Pine Creek Gorge in Tioga State Forest before reaching its mouth near Jersey Shore.

Fishing Pine Creek: the full guide

Pine Creek Gorge

DCNR's Tioga State Forest hosts the Pine Creek Gorge, known as the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania. DCNR's rail trail brochure says the gorge begins near Ansonia along US 6 and runs south about 47 miles, reaching 1,450 feet deep and nearly a mile wide at its deepest point. Leonard Harrison State Park, 585 acres on the east rim 10 miles west of Wellsboro, has the best-known overlooks, with Colton Point State Park across the canyon.

Trout and bass

PFBC's Pine Creek Water Trail guide, written in 2007, said the Commission stocked trout from the Genesee Fork down to Waterville, 56.7 miles and more than any other Pennsylvania stream, and listed two Delayed-Harvest sections: from Ansonia near Darling Run about a mile downstream, and in Lycoming County from the mouth of Slate Run to Naval Run. It described a warmer fishery below Waterville, with smallmouth bass and walleye from the canyon to the mouth near Jersey Shore. Confirm current stocking and special-regulation areas with the PFBC, since those details date from 2007.

Floating the canyon

The same guide says most paddlers put in at Ansonia and take out 17 miles later at Blackwell, about six hours on the water. It treats readings of 2.5 to 3.5 feet on the USGS Cedar Run gauge as good for floating and warns that below 2 feet boats may scrape in the riffles. The creek is swift, slick and deep in unexpected places, so wade with care.

Pine Creek Rail Trail

DCNR's 62-mile Pine Creek Rail Trail follows the creek on a gently graded gravel path through the gorge.

Common questions

What water level is good for floating?

PFBC's water trail guide suggests 2.5 to 3.5 feet on the USGS gauge at Cedar Run; below 2 feet you may scrape bottom.

Where are the Delayed-Harvest areas?

PFBC's 2007 guide lists one near Ansonia (Darling Run downstream about a mile) and one from the mouth of Slate Run to Naval Run; confirm current boundaries in the Fishing Summary.

How deep is the gorge?

DCNR gives 1,450 feet at its deepest point, where it is nearly a mile wide.

Is fishing good at Pine 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

Penns Creek49 miWest Branch Susquehanna River49 miSpring Creek50 miKeuka Lake72 miLittle Juniata River73 miJuniata River75 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 01548500 β€” Pine Creek at Cedar Run
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 41.5300, -77.4500 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.