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Icicle Creek Fishing Report

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

Icicle Creek, the Icicle River in WDFW's rules: Leavenworth's hatchery creek, closed below the irrigation footbridge except for WDFW emergency salmon seasons.

2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Flow
72 cfs
Air / High
60 / 64 F
Wind
ESE 4 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 12458000, 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.

Icicle Creek feels the season turning: shorter days, grouping fish. The river is running 72 cfs, dropping and clearing. Today brings clear skies, wind ESE around 4 mph, rising pressure near 1021 hPa and a high of 64. Water sits around 55 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:41 AM-11:41 AM and 10:12 PM-12:12 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

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.

Chinook salmonSlow

Runs enter the rivers: drift roe or sand shrimp through travel lanes, plunk a wrapped plug, or float eggs in eddies and tidewater.

Tomorrow: Cooler at 58 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

Washington requires a fishing licence from age 16, from $39.95 for residents. What a Washington licence costs and where to buy it β†’

Chasing steelhead here? Check the size and bag limits with WDFW before you keep anything. The season dates for Washington, read off the agency, are on the Washington seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings from Icicle Creek above Snow Creek near Leavenworth.

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 12458000.

8210112172 cfs09/2310/0310/1310/23

Today’s flow against 68 years of October 23

At 72 cfs, the flow at USGS gauge 12458000 (Icicle Creek above Snow Creek near Leavenworth) is at the 6th percentile for the date: much below normal. In half of the 68 years of approved record the daily mean on October 23 was below 195 cfs; the highest was 1,600 cfs and the lowest 54 cfs.

p10 78median 195p90 631

Percentiles of the daily mean flow for this date, from the USGS Water Data Statistics API for gauge 12458000; 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 temp60 F
High / Low64 / 45 F
WindESE 4-5 mph
Pressure1020.9 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 1%
Sunrise / Sunset07:33 / 17:59
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 Icicle Creek this week

The best day on Icicle Creek this week looks like Wednesday Oct 28, at 4 out of 5, against 2 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€” Tough

Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Solunar majors
9:41 AM-11:41 AM and 10:12 PM-12:12 AM
Minor period
4:07 AM-5:07 AM
Sun
07:33 to 17:59
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Clear, 15 mph
Rain chance
1%

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

Species guide

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

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.

Chinook salmon illustration

Chinook salmon

Seasons follow the runs: spring, summer and fall runs on the West Coast, and late summer into fall in Great Lakes rivers

The largest Pacific salmon, caught by trolling and mooching at sea and by drifting and plunking in rivers as adults return to spawn; also stocked in the Great Lakes. Runs enter the rivers: drift roe or sand shrimp through travel lanes, plunk a wrapped plug, or float eggs in eddies and tidewater.

When to come: the Icicle 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
Steelhead
Chinook salmon
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 Icicle 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. Steelhead led the card at good. High of 67 F, wind to 15 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Steelhead led the card at good. High of 66 F, wind to 7 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Steelhead led the card at good. High of 65 F, wind to 5 mph.

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

License

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

Regulations

Washington freshwater license. Mouth to the Icicle Peshastin Irrigation District footbridge: closed except by emergency rule; coho open Sept 30-Nov 30, 2026 in two marked reaches (2 coho, 12-inch minimum, no bait or scents, night closure, no two-pole endorsement). Above the footbridge: game fish from the Saturday before Memorial Day to Oct 31, statewide limits, selective gear rules. Bull trout: closed statewide.

Access

Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery grounds (open daily; public boat launch and trails; no overnight parking). Motorized vessels are not allowed on the creek under a Chelan County ordinance.

About this water

A creek at Leavenworth, Chelan County, Washington, home of Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery; WDFW's rules call it the Icicle River.

Fishing Icicle Creek: the full guide

A national fish hatchery on the creek

Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery sits on Icicle Creek and was the world's largest fish hatchery when it was built in 1940, the Fish and Wildlife Service says. It raises 1.2 million spring Chinook a year to make up for salmon lost above Grand Coulee Dam and works with the Yakama Nation on coho. The grounds include a public boat launch, a tribal fishing area and more than 5 miles of trails.

Closed water, with emergency openings

WDFW's permanent rules close the creek to all fishing from the mouth up to the Icicle Peshastin Irrigation District footbridge, about 750 feet above the Snow Lakes trailhead parking area. Salmon seasons there open only by emergency rule; in 2026 WDFW filed Icicle salmon rules in late May and again on September 29.

Coho season to November 30, 2026

From September 30 to November 30, 2026, coho may be kept in two reaches: from the closure signs 800 feet above the mouth to 500 feet below the hatchery barrier dam, and from Cyo Road at Sleeping Lady to the irrigation footbridge. The limit is two coho of at least 12 inches; bait and scents are banned, a night closure applies and other salmon must be released. WDFW may close early if too many ESA-listed summer steelhead are caught.

Above the footbridge

Upstream of the footbridge, the creek and its tributaries are open to game fish from the Saturday before Memorial Day through October 31, under statewide size and daily limits and selective gear rules. Washington keeps all fresh water closed to fishing for Dolly Varden and bull trout. The flow on this page comes from the USGS gauge Icicle Creek above Snow Creek near Leavenworth.

Common questions

Is there a salmon season on Icicle Creek now?

Yes: WDFW opened coho retention from September 30 to November 30, 2026, two a day, in two marked reaches below the irrigation footbridge.

Can I fish the upper creek?

Above the irrigation footbridge, game fish are open from the Saturday before Memorial Day through October 31 with selective gear rules and statewide limits.

Can I keep a bull trout?

No. Washington closes all fresh water to fishing for Dolly Varden and bull trout.

Is fishing good at Icicle Creek 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

Lake Chelan37 miSkykomish River50 miLake Sammamish63 miLake Washington71 miBanks Lake73 miMoses Lake73 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 12458000 β€” Icicle Creek above Snow Creek near Leavenworth
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 17:45 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 47.5409, -120.7201 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 7, 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 7, 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.