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West Branch Susquehanna River Fishing Report

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

A river recovering from acid mine drainage, with smallmouth bass in its lower 35 miles and wild trout back in its headwaters.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Flow
3,530 cfs
Air / High
58 / 60 F
Wind
NE 6 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 01553500, 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.

West Branch Susquehanna River rewards those who follow the bait as the water cools. The river is running 3,530 cfs, dropping and clearing. Today brings clear skies, wind NE around 6 mph, steady pressure near 1027 hPa and a high of 60. Water sits around 62 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:41 AM-11:41 AM and 10:10 PM-12:10 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Brown troutExcellent

Close to Vermont's 53-66°F optimum, browns feed more freely; in fall, pre-spawn fish move toward tributaries and gravel, so fish streamers and keep off the redds.

Brook troutExcellent

The best band: Vermont's ideal is 55-60°F. Fish feed in daylight, since Michigan DNR notes they are more diurnal than other trout, and in ponds and lakes Maine IFW says spring and fall bring them near shore and the surface.

Smallmouth bassGood

Spring pre-spawn and fall: Iowa DNR notes the larger bass come up to shallow structure, where a shallow-running minnow bait or a spinnerbait just under the surface works.

Tomorrow: Similar at 59 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

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 →

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 West Branch Susquehanna at Lewisburg.

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 01553500.

4,4827,36510,2483,530 cfs09/2310/0310/1310/23

Today’s flow against 87 years of October 23

At 3,530 cfs, the flow at USGS gauge 01553500 (West Branch Susquehanna at Lewisburg) is at the 54th percentile for the date: normal. In half of the 87 years of approved record the daily mean on October 23 was below 2,890 cfs; the highest was 41,600 cfs and the lowest 639 cfs.

p10 1,008median 2,890p90 20,840

Percentiles of the daily mean flow for this date, from the USGS Water Data Statistics API for gauge 01553500; 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 temp58 F
High / Low60 / 40 F
WindNE 6-8 mph
Pressure1027.4 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain4% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:28 / 18:15
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~62 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 West Branch Susquehanna River this week

The best day on West Branch Susquehanna River this week looks like Sunday Oct 25, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today.

Best day this week: Sunday, Oct 25 — good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 — Fair

A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Solunar majors
9:41 AM-11:41 AM and 10:10 PM-12:10 AM
Minor period
4:03 AM-5:03 AM
Sun
07:28 to 18:15
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Overcast, 7 mph
Rain chance
0%

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

Species guide

The species that matter on West Branch Susquehanna River: 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. Spring pre-spawn and fall: Iowa DNR notes the larger bass come up to shallow structure, where a shallow-running minnow bait or a spinnerbait just under the surface works.

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. Close to Vermont's 53-66°F optimum, browns feed more freely; in fall, pre-spawn fish move toward tributaries and gravel, so fish streamers and keep off the redds.

Brook trout illustration

Brook trout

Spring and fall in ponds and lakes, when fish come shallow; summer in the coldest headwater streams

The brook trout is a char native to eastern North America, a fish of cold, clean streams and ponds, and the state fish of Michigan. The best band: Vermont's ideal is 55-60°F. Fish feed in daylight, since Michigan DNR notes they are more diurnal than other trout, and in ponds and lakes Maine IFW says spring and fall bring them near shore and the surface.

When to come: the West Branch Susquehanna 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
Smallmouth bass
Brown trout
Brook trout
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 62 F (estimated, not a reading).

4050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~62 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 West Branch Susquehanna 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. Brown trout led the card at excellent. High of 66 F, wind to 10 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Brown trout led the card at excellent. High of 63 F, wind to 5 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Brown trout led the card at excellent. High of 68 F, wind to 10 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; trout and bass seasons follow PFBC's Commonwealth Inland Waters rules. PFBC's regulations summary prohibits tournaments on the West Branch that allow tournament anglers to harvest bass.

Access

Put-ins and take-outs on the West Branch Susquehanna River Water Trail, Cherry Tree to Sunbury; trail maps from the Susquehanna Greenway Partnership.

About this water

A central Pennsylvania river; its water trail covers 228 miles from Cherry Tree to Sunbury.

Fishing West Branch Susquehanna River: the full guide

A river in recovery

PFBC's Pennsylvania Angler & Boater (January/February 2025) recounts how acid drainage from deep mines left much of the West Branch too polluted to support fish. The Department of Environmental Protection, PFBC, watershed organizations and sportsmen's groups have since worked to clean it up, and PFBC area fisheries manager Jason Detar describes the upper river as undergoing a remarkable recovery.

Where the fishing is

Detar says the lower river, from Williamsport to the mouth, a little over 35 miles, has long supported a good warmwater fishery, particularly for smallmouth bass. The uppermost reaches in Cambria and Clearfield counties hold wild brown trout with the occasional brook trout. The middle river, including Karthaus to Renovo, is still in a recovery phase: it has smallmouth bass but is not yet a destination fishing water.

The water trail

The West Branch Susquehanna River Water Trail runs 228 miles from Cherry Tree, Indiana County, to Sunbury, Northumberland County, and is considered beginner-friendly Class I water under normal conditions. The roughly 34 miles from Karthaus to Renovo are described as the wildest, remotest float in Pennsylvania, with no take-out between them. The Susquehanna Greenway Partnership sponsors the trail. The USGS gauge at Lewisburg (01553500) reports flow on the lower river.

Common questions

Is the West Branch still polluted?

It is recovering. PFBC says the upper river is improving markedly, though the middle section around Karthaus and Renovo is still recovering.

Where is the best smallmouth fishing?

PFBC points to the lower 35 miles or so, from Williamsport to the mouth.

Can I paddle the whole river?

The water trail covers 228 miles from Cherry Tree to Sunbury, mostly Class I water under normal flows.

Is fishing good at West Branch Susquehanna 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

Penns Creek25 miJuniata River37 miSpring Creek48 miPine Creek49 miYellow Breeches Creek52 miBlue Marsh Lake59 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 01553500 — West Branch Susquehanna at Lewisburg
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 15:45 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 40.9700, -76.8800 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.