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Charles River (Massachusetts) — a spot well known among anglers. About 143 km long. Nearby towns: Boston, Cambridge and Chelsea. See when the bite is best: hourly fish activity for the days ahead, computed from the weather, pressure, and season.
Nearest towns and cities
Other nearby places to fish
Other nearby waters
The course meanders heavily: the current digs a pool on the outside of every bend and builds a bar on the inside. Those pools under the undercut bank are where pike typically sits.
Massachusetts: the months when each species peaks and when it goes quiet. The current month is outlined.
| Fish | January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black crappie | active | peak | peak | peak | active | fair | fair | active | active | active | active | active |
| White crappie | active | peak | peak | peak | active | fair | fair | active | active | active | active | active |
| Lake trout | peak | peak | active | active | fair | fair | slow | fair | active | active | peak | peak |
| Striped bass | slow | fair | active | peak | peak | active | active | active | peak | active | fair | slow |
| Brook trout | slow | slow | fair | peak | peak | active | active | active | peak | active | fair | slow |
| Pike | fair | fair | fair | fair | active | active | active | peak | peak | peak | active | fair |
| Rainbow trout | slow | fair | active | peak | peak | active | active | active | active | slow | slow | slow |
| Smallmouth bass | slow | slow | fair | active | active | active | active | peak | peak | active | fair | slow |
| Walleye | slow | slow | fair | active | peak | active | active | peak | peak | active | fair | slow |
| Yellow perch | slow | slow | fair | active | peak | active | active | peak | peak | active | fair | slow |
| Atlantic salmon | slow | slow | fair | active | peak | peak | active | active | active | fair | slow | slow |
| Brown trout | slow | slow | fair | peak | peak | peak | active | active | fair | slow | slow | slow |
| Largemouth bass | slow | fair | fair | active | peak | peak | active | active | fair | fair | fair | slow |
| Bluegill | slow | slow | slow | fair | active | peak | peak | active | fair | slow | slow | slow |
| Carp | slow | slow | slow | fair | active | peak | peak | active | fair | slow | slow | slow |
| Channel catfish | slow | slow | slow | fair | active | peak | peak | active | fair | slow | slow | slow |
Work the cover — snags, weed edges, hole entrances; retrieve the lure with pauses.
Charles River — Tuesday, October 20
The bite is weak — fish are sluggish. Pressure is rising — activity tends to be more subdued. Peak 07:00–08:00 and 18:00–19:00.
The computed water temperature is around 57 °F — inside the 39–57 °F comfort range for Atlantic salmon, so baseline activity is high.
Atlantic salmon works the twilight: the peaks are pinned to sunrise and sunset — their times are in the sun-and-moon card above.
Pressure is rising 0.09 inHg over the day — the bite usually settles down after a rise.
One more input — the moon's feeding windows: within their hours the score sits higher than across the rest of the day. The window times are in the “Solunar feeding periods” card below.
October is an average month for Atlantic salmon here.
These are the same values the bite curve above was computed from. How the forecast works
Cloudy · feels like +51°
The day is 3 min shorter than yesterday.
Sunshine hours count direct sun only — cloud cover cuts it, so it is shorter than daylight.
Geomagnetic fieldG1 geomagnetic storm, Kp 4.7
Kp index — NOAA data. Not part of the bite score: catches show no link between geomagnetic storms and the bite.
The windows are set by the moon's transit and rise, and the forecast above already accounts for them: within these hours the bite score sits higher than across the rest of the day, while the day's overall level still comes from the catch-calibrated model.
What are solunar periods?Blue check: this species appears as a catch in reports for this waterbody.
Work the cover — snags, weed edges, hole entrances; retrieve the lure with pauses.
Charles River — Tuesday, October 20
The bite is weak — fish are sluggish. Pressure is rising — activity tends to be more subdued. Peak 07:00–08:00 and 18:00–19:00.
Cloudy: 45–57 °F
Biting
Fish in 1 of 1 report · Mostly Smallmouth bass
Anglers have logged 1 fishing report here. Most commonly caught: Smallmouth bass. Peak season: June.
Measured river conditions are available for Charles River: current gauge height, streamflow, and water temperature when reported by the source.
USGS gauge CHARLES RIVER AT MEDWAY, MA, 4 mi away · measured 2026-10-20 22:45 · data source · provisional data, subject to revision