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Riffe Lake Fishing Report

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

The Cowlitz's big pool: Riffe's drowned valley runs landlocked coho, tiger-striped bass water and fog-forest solitude.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Water temp
~62 F est.
Air / High
56 / 58 F
Wind
NW 6 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.

Riffe Lake feels the season turning: shorter days, grouping fish. Today brings a mixed sky, wind NW around 6 mph, steady pressure near 1024 hPa and a high of 58. Water sits around 62 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:47 AM-11:47 AM and 10:18 PM-12:18 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.

Largemouth bassGood

In spring, pre-spawn bass push shallow as the water climbs through the mid-50s; in fall they feed actively until the water cools into the low 50s, then drop back toward deeper structure.

Northern pikeGood

The best band for pike: right after ice-out they move into flooded vegetated shallows to spawn, and they feed actively again as the water cools in fall.

Tomorrow: Warmer at 64 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 temp56 F
High / Low58 / 41 F
WindNW 6-9 mph
Pressure1023.9 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain35% cloud, 1%
Sunrise / Sunset07:37 / 18:07
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 Riffe Lake this week

The best day on Riffe Lake 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
9:47 AM-11:47 AM and 10:18 PM-12:18 AM
Minor period
4:13 AM-5:13 AM
Sun
07:37 to 18:07
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Partly cloudy, 7 mph
Rain chance
1%

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

Species guide

The species that matter on Riffe Lake: 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.

Largemouth bass illustration

Largemouth bass

Best: the spring pre-spawn and the fall feed

A warm-water sunfish of lakes, reservoirs, ponds and slow river backwaters that holds tight to cover: weeds, logs, rock ledges and docks. In Texas, TPWD surveys rank it "by far" the freshwater fish anglers most want to catch. In spring, pre-spawn bass push shallow as the water climbs through the mid-50s; in fall they feed actively until the water cools into the low 50s, then drop back toward deeper structure.

Northern pike illustration

Northern pike

Best: cool water, from ice-out through spring, in fall and under the ice

A long, duck-billed predator of weedy lakes, slow rivers and backwaters that ambushes fish from vegetation. Wisconsin DNR points out that, unlike most of the state's common game fish, pike do their best feeding in cool water. The best band for pike: right after ice-out they move into flooded vegetated shallows to spawn, and they feed actively again as the water cools in fall.

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.

When to come: the Riffe Lake 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
Largemouth bass
Northern pike
Rainbow 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 Riffe Lake 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. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 60 F, wind to 11 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 72 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 68 F, wind to 9 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 license. Landlocked coho count as trout limits: check WDFW. Tacoma Power park rules.

Access

Mossyrock Park, Taidnapam Park ramps; shoreline at the parks.

About this water

11,830 acres behind Mossyrock Dam, Lewis County, WA. The landlocked-silver pool.

Fishing Riffe Lake: the full guide

The mossyrock pool

Riffe floods 23 miles of the Cowlitz valley behind Mossyrock Dam: Tacoma Power's deep green pool famous for one oddity: landlocked coho (silvers that never see salt) schooling its depths: with smallmouth on the stump lines and enough water to swallow every visitor.

Landlocked silvers

The coho school mid-lake (trolled dodgers and mini hoochies at 20-60 feet: kokanee tactics, salmon reward): fish run 10-16 inches of sea-run genetics in freshwater miniature. Limits run generous: the program plants heavily: and the winter troll keeps producing when the summer fleet quits.

Bass on the stumps

The drowned forest's stump fields hold smallmouth (tubes and cranks along the old riverbed's edges) and largemouth in the coves: an underrated warm-water fishery in salmon country. Cutthroat cruise the tributary mouths: the mixed creel is Riffe's habit.

Cowlitz practicalities

Tacoma Power's parks ramp both ends (Mossyrock, Taidnapam): low-pool winters stretch launches (check levels): and the fog-forest quiet is structural: the valley absorbs crowds whole. Pair with the Cowlitz salmon water below the dams: two fisheries, one river.

Common questions

What are landlocked coho?

Silvers planted above the dams: ocean genetics on kokanee schedules: trolled at depth year-round. Riffe runs the state's signature program.

Is Riffe Lake good for bass?

The stump fields hold a solid two-bass fishery the salmon crowd skips: smallmouth on the old riverbed's edges especially. Solitude included.

Why is Riffe Lake often drawn down?

Tacoma Power manages seismic and flood storage: low pools stretch the launches seasonally. Check current levels: the fish just follow the old riverbed: the coho school regardless.

Is fishing good at Riffe Lake 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

Cowlitz River21 miLake Merwin38 miKalama River43 miLewis River53 miDrano Lake61 miKlickitat River68 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 46.5000, -122.2000 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.
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 guide was drafted with AI assistance. Unlike our newer pages, it does not yet list the official pages its facts were checked against: that audit is under way, and anything it cannot verify will be 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.