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Presque Isle Bay Fishing Report

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

Presque Isle Bay: the Erie harbor enclosed by Presque Isle State Park, fished from park piers and launches for perch, bass, panfish and steelhead, and through the ice in winter.

2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Water temp
~55 F est.
Air / High
59 / 60 F
Wind
NE 11 mph

Sources: 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.

Presque Isle Bay rewards those who follow the bait as the water cools. Today brings clear skies, wind NE around 11 mph, rising pressure near 1027 hPa and a high of 60. Water sits around 55 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:54 AM-11:54 AM and 10:24 PM-12:24 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Yellow perchGood

Spring and fall: perch hold shallower and, by Michigan DNR's account, feed through the day, so shoreline weed edges, flats and the shallows near spawning areas are worth searching.

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.

Tomorrow: Warmer at 65 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 yellow perch 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.

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 temp59 F
High / Low60 / 43 F
WindNE 11-13 mph
Pressure1027.0 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain8% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:42 / 18:26
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 PMsunrisesunset

Which day to fish Presque Isle Bay this week

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

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

Today, Oct 23 β€” Tough

Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Solunar majors
9:54 AM-11:54 AM and 10:24 PM-12:24 AM
Minor period
4:17 AM-5:17 AM
Sun
07:42 to 18:26
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Overcast, 12 mph
Rain chance
0%

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

Species guide

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

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. Spring and fall: perch hold shallower and, by Michigan DNR's account, feed through the day, so shoreline weed edges, flats and the shallows near spawning areas are worth searching.

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.

When to come: the Presque Isle Bay 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
Yellow perch
Steelhead
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 Presque Isle Bay 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. Yellow perch led the card at good. High of 62 F, wind to 8 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Yellow perch led the card at good. High of 60 F, wind to 7 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Yellow perch led the card at good. High of 63 F, wind to 12 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

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

Regulations

Pennsylvania fishing license plus a Lake Erie Permit or Combination Trout/Lake Erie Permit: PFBC requires one for Lake Erie, Presque Isle Bay and their tributaries (the Waterworks Ponds in the park are exempt). Seasons and limits follow PFBC's Lake Erie regulations, which cover the bay and peninsular waters.

Access

Presque Isle State Park via PA 832: Vista, Niagara, West Pier and Lagoon launches; shore fishing at the Waterworks, Ferry Dock, East, West and North piers, Perry Monument and the lagoons.

About this water

The harbor of Erie, Pennsylvania, enclosed by the Presque Isle peninsula (Presque Isle State Park, a National Natural Landmark), Erie County.

Fishing Presque Isle Bay: the full guide

The bay behind the peninsula

Pennsylvania DCNR describes Presque Isle as a peninsula attached to the mainland four miles west of downtown Erie that creates Presque Isle Bay, a wide, deep harbor used by pleasure boats and freighters. The park lists panfish, perch, bass and steelhead as the common species in the bay, and allows bowfishing. The bay was on the binational list of Great Lakes Areas of Concern from 1991 until EPA delisted it in 2013.

Shore fishing in the park

The park names its popular shore spots: the Waterworks and the Ferry Dock, the East and West piers, the Perry Monument, the North Pier, the lagoons and all boat landings. ADA-accessible fishing piers stand at the Rotary Pavilion and the East, West and North piers. The park is open daily from 5 a.m. to sunset.

Launches and the lagoons

Four park launch areas serve the bay: Vista (small craft and personal watercraft only), Niagara (two ramps, small to medium boats), West Pier (the largest, four lanes, for larger boats) and the Lagoon launch. Internal combustion engines are prohibited in the interior lagoons between Misery Bay and Marina Lake. The park marina, open May 1 to October 31, has nearly 500 slips.

Ice fishing

DCNR lists Presque Isle Bay, Misery Bay and the Presque Isle Marina as the popular ice-fishing spots. The park does not monitor ice thickness; it recommends at least 4 inches of solid ice for one angler and 7 inches for a small group, tested with an auger.

Common questions

Do I need a Lake Erie Permit to fish the bay?

Yes. PFBC requires a Lake Erie Permit or the combination Trout/Lake Erie Permit, on top of the license, for Lake Erie, Presque Isle Bay and their tributaries. The East and West Basin ponds (Waterworks Ponds) inside the park are the exception.

Where do people ice fish?

Presque Isle Bay, Misery Bay and the Presque Isle Marina, according to the park. Ice is not monitored: DCNR's minimum is 4 inches of solid ice for one person and 7 inches for a small group.

Can I run a gas motor in the lagoons?

No. Internal combustion engines are prohibited in the interior lagoons, the continuous water between Misery Bay and Marina Lake (Graveyard Pond excepted).

Is fishing good at Presque Isle Bay 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

Walnut Creek7 miElk Creek14 miConneaut Creek24 miChautauqua Lake37 miPymatuning Reservoir41 miLake Erie57 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 42.1242, -80.1212 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 6, 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 6, 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.