Share your catch
US

Lake Roosevelt Fishing Report

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

The Columbia River behind Grand Coulee Dam: 151 miles to the Canadian border, with net-pen rainbows, kokanee, walleye, smallmouth and white sturgeon.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Water temp
~62 F est.
Air / High
57 / 60 F
Wind
NNW 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.

3/5Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Lake Roosevelt feels the season turning: shorter days, grouping fish. Today brings clear skies, wind NNW around 11 mph, steady pressure near 1017 hPa and a high of 60. Water sits around 62 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:31 AM-11:31 AM and 10:03 PM-12:03 AM: 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.

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.

WalleyeGood

Spring: post-spawn fish scatter and can be slow for a couple of weeks. Fall: one of the best windows, with minnows on jigs and three-way rigs as the water cools toward ice-up.

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.

Tomorrow: Cooler at 54 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 smallmouth bass 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.

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.

4050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~62 F now

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp57 F
High / Low60 / 45 F
WindNNW 11-19 mph
Pressure1017.1 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 39%
Sunrise / Sunset07:25 / 17:49
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 Lake Roosevelt this week

The best day on Lake Roosevelt 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
9:31 AM-11:31 AM and 10:03 PM-12:03 AM
Minor period
3:57 AM-4:57 AM
Sun
07:25 to 17:49
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Showers, 18 mph
Rain chance
39%

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

Species guide

The species that matter on Lake Roosevelt: 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.

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.

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. Spring: post-spawn fish scatter and can be slow for a couple of weeks. Fall: one of the best windows, with minnows on jigs and three-way rigs as the water cools toward ice-up.

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.

When to come: the Lake Roosevelt 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
Rainbow trout
Walleye
Yellow perch
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 Lake Roosevelt today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Smallmouth bass led the card at excellent. High of 64 F, wind to 14 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 62 F, wind to 7 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 65 F, wind to 8 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

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

Regulations

Washington freshwater license required for anglers 15 and older, per the Park Service; Colville (509-634-2110) and Spokane (509-625-3511) tribal permits may be required in some waters. White sturgeon harvest opens only by WDFW emergency rule and varies by year. See the current WDFW sport fishing rules for walleye, trout and kokanee limits. Washington Department of Health advises pregnant women, women of childbearing age and children under six to eat no more than two 8-ounce meals of Lake Roosevelt walleye a month.

Access

35 recreation areas along the shoreline (WDFW), within Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area (Park Service headquarters, Coulee Dam: 509-754-7800). Lake level line: 800-824-4916.

About this water

Franklin D. Roosevelt Lake: 82,300 acres and 151 miles of the Columbia River behind Grand Coulee Dam, in Stevens, Ferry, Lincoln, Okanogan and Grant counties, Washington.

Fishing Lake Roosevelt: the full guide

A reservoir 151 miles long

Reclamation's Grand Coulee Dam fact sheet gives Franklin D. Roosevelt Lake an area of 82,300 acres, a length of 151 miles and about 600 miles of shoreline, with a maximum elevation of 1,290 feet. WDFW describes it stretching more than 150 miles from the dam into Canada and manages the fishery jointly with the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation and the Spokane Tribe of Indians. The National Park Service runs Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area along its shores.

Rainbows from the net pens

WDFW's cooperative net-pen projects put about 750,000 triploid catchable rainbow trout into the lake each year. WDFW lists white sturgeon, rainbow trout, kokanee, walleye and smallmouth bass as the star attractions, and the Park Service counts more than 30 species, including lake whitefish, burbot and yellow perch.

Kokanee, walleye and smallmouth

The kokanee fishery runs from about April to October; WDFW says spring is best, before fish drop deep to avoid warm water, though they can be found near the thermocline offshore through summer. Adults leave for tributaries to spawn from late October. WDFW includes the lake in its fall walleye index netting surveys. Smallmouth fishing peaks around the spawn and slows in summer.

Water levels and launches

WDFW warns that water-level changes can be a problem for launching and lists a recorded line, 800-824-4916, for current levels. It counts 35 recreation areas along the shoreline. Some waters bordering the reservation lands fall under tribal permit requirements.

Common questions

How are the rainbow trout supplied?

Cooperative net-pen projects release about 750,000 triploid catchable rainbows a year, according to WDFW.

Is a tribal permit needed on Lake Roosevelt?

In some waters, yes. The Park Service directs anglers to the Colville Confederated Tribes and the Spokane Tribe for their permit rules; a Washington license covers state waters.

Can I keep a sturgeon?

Only when WDFW opens a harvest season by emergency rule; the rules change from year to year.

Is fishing good at Lake Roosevelt 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

Banks Lake38 miRufus Woods Lake43 miMoses Lake71 miPotholes Reservoir78 miCoeur d Alene Lake78 miLake Chelan83 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 47.9500, -118.4000 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.