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Oconto River Fishing Report

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

The lower Oconto River: a Green Bay tributary below the Stiles dam, with Great Lakes trout and salmon runs at the mouth and a warmwater fishery.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Flow
404 cfs
Air / High
57 / 63 F
Wind
S 6 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 04071765, 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.

Oconto River is in transition: bait on the move and predators following. The river is running 404 cfs, dropping and clearing. Today brings cloud cover, wind S around 6 mph, steady pressure near 1026 hPa and a high of 63. Water sits around 55 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:26 AM-11:26 AM and 9:56 PM-11:56 PM: 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.

Rainbow troutExcellent

This band overlaps Vermont's 54-66°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.

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.

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: Similar at 67 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Before you go

Wisconsin requires a fishing licence from age 16, from $20.00 for residents. What a Wisconsin licence costs and where to buy it →

Chasing smallmouth bass here? Check the size and bag limits with WI DNR before you keep anything. The season dates for Wisconsin, read off the agency, are on the Wisconsin seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings from Oconto River near Oconto.

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 04071765.

310368426404 cfs09/2310/0310/1310/23

Today’s flow against 31 years of October 23

At 404 cfs, the flow at USGS gauge 04071765 (Oconto River near Oconto) is at the 34th percentile for the date: normal. In half of the 31 years of approved record the daily mean on October 23 was below 475 cfs; the highest was 1,960 cfs and the lowest 223 cfs.

p10 275median 475p90 1,099

Percentiles of the daily mean flow for this date, from the USGS Water Data Statistics API for gauge 04071765; 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 temp57 F
High / Low63 / 50 F
WindS 6-11 mph
Pressure1025.7 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain69% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:17 / 17:53
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (gauge)54 F USGS
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 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Which day to fish Oconto River this week

The best day on Oconto River this week looks like Saturday Oct 24, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today.

Best day this week: Saturday, Oct 24 — 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
9:26 AM-11:26 AM and 9:56 PM-11:56 PM
Minor period
3:49 AM-4:49 AM
Sun
07:17 to 17:53
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Showers, 8 mph
Rain chance
0%

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

Species guide

The species that matter on Oconto 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.

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.

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.

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 54-66°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 Oconto 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
Largemouth bass
Walleye
Northern pike
Rainbow trout
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 Oconto 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 55 F, wind to 9 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

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 70 F, wind to 7 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

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 61 F, wind to 8 mph.

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

License

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

Regulations

Wisconsin license. Trout and salmon rules for Green Bay tributaries are in WDNR's 2026–2027 trout regulations; check which stamp you need before fishing for trout or salmon.

Access

WDNR's 1993 inventory notes a county fishing access with boat ramp, dock and accessible pier, two more county sites and two city sites built after the 1979 settlement; current sites not verified.

About this water

The Oconto River below the Stiles dam (Machickanee Flowage) to Green Bay, Oconto County, Wisconsin.

Fishing Oconto River: the full guide

From Suring to Green Bay

WDNR describes the Oconto as rising at the confluence of its North and South branches near Suring and flowing south, then east, to Green Bay. Oconto Falls Pond and the Machickanee Flowage, held by the Stiles dam, are impoundments on the river, and the Army Corps of Engineers maintains a federal navigation channel at the mouth.

Fish in the river

WDNR lists northern pike, walleye, largemouth and smallmouth bass, panfish, carp and trout, with brook, brown and rainbow trout in the upper river, where it is a Class III trout stream, and seasonal runs of Great Lakes trout and salmon at the mouth. WDNR's 1993 surface water inventory recorded catchable smallmouth bass, walleye, northern pike, panfish, trout and salmon below the Machickanee Flowage once water quality improved after 1978.

Stocking and flows

The Great Lakes Fishery Commission's stocking database records 11,899 Seeforellen brown trout yearlings stocked by WDNR at Iron Bridge – Stiles on April 18, 2023. The 1993 inventory described the Stiles dam, run by the Oconto Electric Cooperative, as a peaking plant that could swing flows from under 200 to 1,000 cfs within 20 to 30 minutes, so check flows before wading below it.

Common questions

Is the Oconto River stocked with brown trout?

WDNR stocked 11,899 Seeforellen brown trout yearlings at Iron Bridge – Stiles in April 2023, according to the Great Lakes Fishery Commission's records.

What fish live in the lower Oconto?

WDNR lists northern pike, walleye, both black basses, panfish and carp, plus seasonal runs of Great Lakes trout and salmon at the mouth.

Is fishing good at Oconto 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

Green Bay25 miMenominee River30 miShawano Lake33 miKewaunee River35 miWolf River55 miLake Winnebago66 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 04071765 — Oconto River near Oconto
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 17:00 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 44.8870, -87.8700 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.