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Flaming Gorge Reservoir Fishing Report

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

The two-state canyon sea: record-book lake trout, kokanee clouds and the Green River's emerald tailwater pouring out the bottom.

1/5
Tough. Pick your battles.Post-front sun and slick water make them sulk.
Water temp
~55 F est.
Air / High
58 / 58 F
Wind
SSW 22 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.

1/5Tough. Pick your battles.Post-front sun and slick water make them sulk.

Flaming Gorge Reservoir rewards those who follow the bait as the water cools. Today brings clear skies, wind SSW around 22 mph, rising pressure near 1010 hPa and a high of 58. Water sits around 55 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:56 AM-11:56 AM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Lake troutFair

Spring and fall bring lakers into 10 to 30 feet of water (Michigan DNR), within reach of casters and shallow trollers; fall is also spawning time over rocky shoals.

Smallmouth bassFair

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.

Northern pikeFair

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.

Yellow perchFair

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 53 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

Wyoming requires a fishing licence from age 14, from $48.50 for residents. What a Wyoming licence costs and where to buy it β†’

Chasing lake trout here? Check the size and bag limits with WGFD before you keep anything. The season dates for Wyoming, read off the agency, are on the Wyoming 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.

304050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~55 F now

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp58 F
High / Low58 / 40 F
WindSSW 22-26 mph
Pressure1010.0 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain7% cloud, 43%
Sunrise / Sunset07:38 / 18:25
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 Flaming Gorge Reservoir this week

The best day on Flaming Gorge Reservoir this week looks like Saturday Oct 24, at 3 out of 5, against 1 today.

Best day this week: Saturday, Oct 24 β€” fair at 3/5, steady pressure, neither help nor hindrance.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Slow

Post-front sun and slick water make them sulk.

Solunar majors
9:56 AM-11:56 AM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM
Minor period
4:20 AM-5:20 AM
Sun
07:38 to 18:25
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Showers, 23 mph
Rain chance
43%

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

Species guide

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

Lake trout illustration

Lake trout

Spring and fall in shallow water, deep in summer, and through the ice in winter

Lake trout are slow-growing chars of large, deep, cold lakes, native from Alaska and northern Canada to New England and the Great Lakes, and introduced in many western lakes. Spring and fall bring lakers into 10 to 30 feet of water (Michigan DNR), within reach of casters and shallow trollers; fall is also spawning time over rocky shoals.

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.

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.

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 Flaming Gorge Reservoir 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
Lake trout
Smallmouth bass
Northern pike
Yellow perch
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 Flaming Gorge Reservoir 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. Lake trout led the card at good. High of 63 F, wind to 21 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Lake trout led the card at good. High of 65 F, wind to 22 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Lake trout led the card at good. High of 67 F, wind to 16 mph.

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

License

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

Regulations

Wyoming or Utah license with reciprocal stamps for boaters crossing the line: check both states. Lake trout: slot protections Utah side; burbot: mandatory kill.

Access

Wyoming: Buckboard, Firehole. Utah: Cedar Springs, Lucerne, Antelope Flat ramps; Dutch John services.

About this water

42,000 acres on the Green River, Sweetwater County WY / Daggett County UT. Canyon depths past 400 ft.

Fishing Flaming Gorge Reservoir: the full guide

Ninety-one miles of red rock

Flaming Gorge floods the Green River through Wyoming badlands into Utah's canyon country: the Wyoming half runs open and windswept (rainbows, browns cruising the flats), the Utah half plunges into 400-ft canyon depths where the monsters live. One reservoir, two states, two personalities: plan licenses accordingly.

Lake trout of legend

The Gorge grew the West's most famous lakers: 50-pound-class fish over the Utah canyon's deep structure, jigged with heavy tubes or trolled at depth. Management encourages harvesting the small 'pup' lakers (protecting kokanee) while the trophy hunters release the giants: winter and early spring put even the big fish within jigging reach.

Kokanee and the surface game

Summer kokanee fleets circle the Utah arms (dodgers and squids at 30-60 ft), building the forage story that feeds everything. Rainbows patrol the shorelines spring and fall for bank casters; smallmouth colonize every rock slide; and the burbot invasion created a bizarre bonus: night jigging for eelpout with glow lures, harvest unlimited and encouraged.

Below the dam

The Green River tailwater below Flaming Gorge Dam is a destination unto itself: emerald water, 8,000-plus trout per mile in the A Section, and dry-fly cliffs walked by a riverside trail. Reservoir and river together make the Gorge a complete trip: jig giants at dawn, drift the A Section at noon.

Common questions

How big do Flaming Gorge lake trout get?

Fifty-pounders exist and 30s are annual: the Utah canyon's depth and kokanee base build them. Winter jigging over 60-100 ft structure is the realistic trophy window.

Do I need two licenses on Flaming Gorge?

Boating both halves, effectively yes: each state sells a reciprocal stamp honoring the other's license on the water. Bank anglers stay legal with the state they stand in.

Is fishing good at Flaming Gorge Reservoir right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Tough. Pick your battles. Post-front sun and slick water make them sulk.

Nearby waters

Green River17 miGreen River67 miStarvation Reservoir84 miStrawberry River96 miWeber River101 miJordanelle Reservoir107 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 41.1500, -109.5000 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.