How It Works

That is almost always a bluebird day: the clear, still, cold-feeling day that arrives right behind a cold front, once the barometer has stopped falling and started to climb. It is the nicest day of the week to be outdoors and frequently the slowest one to fish. The sunshine is not the cause. Harsh light reaches deeper, a slick surface gives fish nothing to hide under, the water sheds heat overnight under a clear sky, and fish that were roaming shallow ahead of the weather pull back to cover and stop chasing. We label these days in the forecast so the grade is not a mystery, and the label is deliberately mild: fish hold tight and feed in shorter windows, which is a real effect and not a reason to stay home. Fish slower and closer to cover.

If you have picked a species and the water temperature is outside the range that species can comfortably feed in, the grade is capped no matter how good the rest of the day looks. A largemouth bass in 45 degree water is not going to have a great day because the wind dropped. When that cap is what set your grade, the forecast now says so directly: it names the temperature, the species limit it fell outside, and what the day would have scored otherwise. Flat weeks usually mean the cap is doing the work, and the fix is either a different target species or different water.

Not for its own sake, and that is deliberate. The old proverb about south winds and east winds is the most quoted saying in fishing, but a 2017 review by Lennox and colleagues traced the apparent effect to confounded weather patterns and to how wind interacts with the shape of a particular lake, rather than to compass direction itself. We removed the directional scoring table in April 2026. What we score instead is wind speed and steadiness, which is where the measurable signal actually sits. Direction counts in one place only: a north-westerly is one of the signs we use to confirm that a cold front has passed, alongside a rising barometer, a clear sky and a drop in temperature, so it can help mark a day as post-frontal. Direction is also displayed, because it tells you which bank the wind is stacking bait against, and that is genuinely useful for deciding where to fish.

The best days to fish in 2026 depend mostly on the water temperature and weather where you fish, with the moon playing a smaller part. New and full moons, roughly two weeks apart, are the traditional favorites, but the evidence for them is weak. Our forecast rates every day from A+ to F for your location, weighing water temperature most heavily, then wind, rain, pressure, sky, tides or river flow, and the moon. Enter your zip code on our homepage to see the best rated days for your specific location.

Whether today is a good day to fish depends on your location and the current conditions. Our fishing forecast analyzes real-time data from NOAA, USGS, and Open-Meteo including moon phase, solunar feeding periods, barometric pressure trends, wind speed and steadiness, water temperature, and precipitation to give you a daily grade from A+ to F. Enter your zip code on our homepage to get today's fishing rating and see the best times to fish near you.

A fishing almanac is a calendar that rates days ahead of time, traditionally from moon phases and solunar tables. Ours covers 24 months and rates each day on moon phase and solunar timing for the whole country, which tops out around B+, because a national calendar cannot know the water temperature or weather where you fish. Enter a location for a full A+ to F grade that weighs those too.

The solunar calendar predicts fish feeding activity based on the position of the moon and sun relative to your location. Solunar theory marks major feeding periods of about two hours, centered on the moon passing directly overhead (lunar transit) or directly underfoot (opposing transit), and minor periods of about one hour, centered on moonrise and moonset. Solunar theory was developed by John Alden Knight in 1926 after analyzing over 200 record catches. Our forecast uses these periods to shape the hourly chart and the best times of day, and grades the day itself mainly on water temperature and weather where you fish.

New and full moon phases are traditionally considered the best for fishing because gravitational pull is strongest during these alignments, creating more tidal movement in coastal areas. However, the most recent peer-reviewed test (Quigley et al. 2023, 361 trout trips) found no significant relationship between lunar phase and catch rates, so the effect is likely smaller than tradition suggests. Water temperature, barometric pressure, and weather matter considerably more than moon phase alone, and moon phase is only a 1% factor in our score, not a primary driver.

Less than its reputation suggests. Controlled studies of catch rates (Kuparinen 2010, Hanson 2008, Arlinghaus 2017, Shaw 2021) find weak or no direct effect of barometric pressure, which is why it is a modest factor in our score rather than a headline one. What pressure does well is mark the weather around it: a steady fall usually means a front is on the way, and a sharp rise behind one usually brings the bright, clear, often windy conditions that slow fishing. We score both the level, best near 30 inHg, and how fast it is changing, with the most credit for a steady fall ahead of a front and a deduction once a front has passed.

Solunar tables predict the best fishing times based on the position of the sun and moon. They identify major periods (about two hours, centered on the moon passing directly overhead or underfoot) and minor periods (about one hour, centered on moonrise and moonset). Solunar theory was developed by John Alden Knight in 1926 from analysis of about 200 record catches. The most recent peer-reviewed test of popular solunar tables (Quigley et al. 2023 in SN Applied Sciences, covering 361 trout trips) found no significant relationship with catch rates. We include solunar as a small (3%) factor in our scoring rather than the primary input, and let water temperature, pressure, and weather carry the score instead. In the condition assessment that factor reads the moon's phase and distance. Feeding periods shape the hourly chart and best times, and those hourly scores also inform the daily opportunity limit.

The best times to fish are typically early morning (dawn to a few hours after sunrise) and late afternoon (a few hours before sunset until dusk). These low-light periods are reliable feeding windows because fish feel more secure in shallower water. Solunar feeding periods can stack with dawn or dusk to create stronger convergence windows, but on their own they are a smaller signal than light and weather conditions.

Major feeding periods last about two hours, centered on the moon passing directly overhead (lunar transit) or directly underfoot (opposing lunar transit). Minor feeding periods last about one hour, centered on moonrise and moonset. Solunar tables identify these as the strongest feeding windows of the day, though recent peer-reviewed research (Quigley et al. 2023) has not confirmed a measurable catch-rate effect. We use these windows in the hourly chart and the best times of day, alongside dawn, dusk and the weather hour by hour, and those hourly scores also inform the daily opportunity limit. They are useful to know, but weather and water conditions matter more.

Often, and anglers have reported it for generations. Studies of pressure itself find weak direct effects, so the cloud, wind and fading light that come ahead of a front are as likely a cause as the barometer. The pre-frontal window can produce excellent fishing, often within 12-24 hours before the storm arrives, and our pressure score gives the most credit to a steady fall ahead of a front. Once the front passes, fishing typically slows under the clear, bright high behind it until conditions settle. If the storm brings thunder, get off the water at the first rumble: we count the thunder hours and the hour after them as unsafe to be out in, the grade comes down with them, and no best window is offered inside one.

Tides dramatically affect coastal fishing success. Moving water (during incoming and outgoing tides) concentrates baitfish, brings in nutrients, and triggers predator feeding activity. Current runs hardest midway between high and low water, roughly two to four hours after the turn, and our tide score peaks there. Slack tide, around each high and low when the water pauses and turns, scores lowest and usually fishes slowest.

Our scoring weights are informed by peer-reviewed fisheries research rather than 1920s folklore. Three studies directly shape our methodology. Stoner (2004) in Journal of Fish Biology identifies water temperature, light level, current velocity, and ambient prey density as the four co-dominant catchability drivers, each capable of order-of-magnitude CPUE variation. Shaw, Renik and Sass (2021) in PLOS ONE used 12 years of compulsory creel data at Escanaba Lake (Wisconsin) to model how weather, light, lunar, wind, and angler variables shape walleye and muskellunge catch. Quigley et al. (2023) in SN Applied Sciences logged 361 single-angler trout trips in Utah and found no significant relationship between popular solunar tables and catch rates, while ambient air temperature was the only environmental variable with a positive association. That is why we treat solunar as a small 3% input rather than the primary one. Most fishing forecasts cite no peer-reviewed sources at all.

Four things set our scoring apart from typical solunar or weather-only apps. First, we publish every factor weight transparently (water temperature 22-23%, wind 12-13%, pressure 7%, and so on through 12 factors), while most fishing forecasts treat their formula as proprietary. Second, we pull real-time water-quality data that competitors skip: USGS dissolved oxygen, turbidity, and streamflow with 6-hour rate-of-change. Third, our weights are informed by peer-reviewed fisheries research (Stoner 2004 in Journal of Fish Biology, Shaw, Renik and Sass 2021 in PLOS ONE, Quigley et al. 2023 in SN Applied Sciences). Fourth, we deliberately keep solunar small at 3%. Solunar-only apps like Solunar.org, Tides4Fishing, and In-Fisherman put it at the center of their forecast, but the most rigorous recent study found no significant solunar-catch-rate relationship.

We pull real-time water-quality data from US government monitoring networks: USGS dissolved oxygen concentrations (with species-specific thresholds across three tiers, since coldwater species like trout take a penalty below 9 mg/L while estuarine species tolerate 6), USGS turbidity readings in NTU (moderate stain at 10-50 NTU is ideal for most species), and USGS streamflow discharge with 6-hour rate-of-change detection (a rising or falling river changes feeding behavior in measurable ways). These inputs are absent from typical solunar or weather-only fishing apps, which usually stop at moon phase, pressure, and air temperature.