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Wind River Fishing Report

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

A river across the reservation: the Wind runs trout from the Absarokas through a red-rock canyon.

1/5
Tough. Pick your battles.Post-front sun and slick water make them sulk.
Flow
1,860 cfs
Air / High
55 / 56 F
Wind
SW 40 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 06225500, 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.

Wind River is in its winter mode: slow, deep and deliberate. Today brings clear skies, wind SW around 40 mph, rising pressure near 1006 hPa and a high of 56. Water sits around 47 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:54 AM-11:54 AM and 10:24 PM-12:24 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Rainbow troutGood

In cold water rainbows use the deepest pools in rivers (Vermont), so slow, deep drifts there are the usual approach; Michigan DNR notes lake rainbows are also taken with bait or by jigging through the ice.

Brown troutGood

Below 50Β°F, fish slowly through the deeper pools; in early spring on the Great Lakes, Michigan DNR notes browns are often caught inshore before other species start biting.

Tomorrow: Cooler at 45 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 rainbow 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 from Wind River near Crowheart.

No recent gauge reading

USGS 06225500 has not returned a reading for this chart; it comes back when the gauge reports again. Until then conditions are modeled from weather, season and the nearest stations.

30405060JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~47 F now

Today’s flow against 72 years of October 23

At 1,860 cfs, the flow at USGS gauge 06225500 (Wind River near Crowheart) is above the highest daily mean on record for the date: much above normal. In half of the 72 years of approved record the daily mean on October 23 was below 532 cfs; the highest was 1,110 cfs and the lowest 379 cfs.

p10 414median 532p90 778

Percentiles of the daily mean flow for this date, from the USGS Water Data Statistics API for gauge 06225500; 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 temp55 F
High / Low56 / 41 F
WindSW 40-58 mph
Pressure1006.2 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 20%
Sunrise / Sunset07:40 / 18:20
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~47 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 Wind River this week

The best day on Wind River this week looks like Sunday Oct 25, at 4 out of 5, against 1 today.

Best day this week: Sunday, Oct 25 β€” good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Slow

Post-front sun and slick water make them sulk.

Solunar majors
9:54 AM-11:54 AM and 10:24 PM-12:24 AM
Minor period
4:19 AM-5:19 AM
Sun
07:40 to 18:20
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Overcast, 39 mph
Rain chance
20%

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

Species guide

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

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. In cold water rainbows use the deepest pools in rivers (Vermont), so slow, deep drifts there are the usual approach; Michigan DNR notes lake rainbows are also taken with bait or by jigging through the ice.

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. Below 50Β°F, fish slowly through the deeper pools; in early spring on the Great Lakes, Michigan DNR notes browns are often caught inshore before other species start biting.

When to come: the Wind 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
Rainbow trout
Brown trout
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 47 F (estimated, not a reading).

30405060JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~47 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 Wind River 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. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 61 F, wind to 10 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 64 F, wind to 8 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 15 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

Tribal permit required on Wind River Indian Reservation waters, including much of the river; a Wyoming license does not cover them. Check current tribal and WGFD rules by reach.

Access

US 20 pullouts through Wind River Canyon; Boysen State Park above and Thermopolis below.

About this water

A 185-mile river across central Wyoming that becomes the Bighorn at the Wedding of the Waters.

Fishing Wind River: the full guide

A river that changes its name

The Wind River rises in the Absaroka and Wind River ranges and flows about 185 miles across central Wyoming before becoming the Bighorn River at the Wedding of the Waters below Thermopolis, a naming quirk unique in American rivers. It holds brown, rainbow and cutthroat trout, with the canyon reach genuinely spectacular.

Trout through the canyon

The Wind River Canyon below Boysen Reservoir is the best-known reach: a deep red-rock gorge with the river running cold and strong past highway pullouts, holding good numbers of brown and rainbow trout. Nymphs and streamers do the work; hatch fishing produces in the right conditions. Access here requires a tribal permit.

Permits and access, honestly

Much of the Wind River crosses the Wind River Indian Reservation, home to the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes, and fishing there requires a tribal permit rather than a Wyoming license. The canyon reach and reservation waters have their own rules and seasons. Get the correct permit before fishing: this matters.

Fremont and Hot Springs county logistics

Access is via US 20 through the canyon with numerous pullouts, plus Boysen State Park above and Thermopolis below. Riverton, Lander and Thermopolis provide services and permit sales. Flows are governed by Boysen releases: check them, and note that the canyon runs high and hard during releases.

Common questions

Do I need a tribal permit?

On reservation waters, yes: a Wyoming license does not cover them. Buy the correct permit before fishing.

Why does it change names?

At the Wedding of the Waters below the canyon the Wind River becomes the Bighorn: a naming quirk unique in the country.

When does it fish best?

Late summer through fall when Boysen releases stabilize and the canyon runs clear and cold.

Is fishing good at Wind River 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

Ocean Lake31 miFremont Lake40 miBoysen Reservoir51 miSnake River77 miJackson Lake83 miGreen River100 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 06225500 β€” Wind River near Crowheart
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2017-10-01 at 03:15 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 43.3200, -109.2000 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.