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River Back Creek (Virginia) — one of the area's fishing spots. About 32 km long. The town of Winchester is nearby. A smart bite calendar — moon phase, atmospheric pressure, and weather combined into an hourly fish-activity forecast for the coming days.
Nearest towns and cities
Other nearby places to fish
Other nearby waters
The course is moderately sinuous: pools are scoured at the bends and riffles run between them.
Virginia: 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| White crappie | active | peak | peak | active | active | fair | fair | active | active | active | active | active |
| Black crappie | peak | peak | peak | active | fair | fair | fair | active | active | active | active | active |
| Striped bass | slow | fair | peak | peak | peak | active | active | peak | peak | active | slow | slow |
| Walleye | slow | fair | active | peak | active | active | active | peak | peak | active | fair | slow |
| Brook trout | slow | fair | active | peak | peak | active | active | peak | active | fair | slow | slow |
| Smallmouth bass | slow | slow | fair | active | active | active | active | peak | peak | active | slow | slow |
| White bass | slow | slow | fair | active | active | active | active | peak | peak | active | slow | slow |
| Largemouth bass | fair | fair | active | active | peak | peak | active | active | fair | fair | slow | slow |
| Rainbow trout | slow | fair | active | peak | peak | active | active | active | fair | slow | slow | slow |
| Carp | slow | slow | slow | active | peak | peak | peak | active | fair | slow | slow | slow |
| Spotted bass | slow | slow | slow | active | peak | peak | peak | active | fair | slow | slow | slow |
| Blue catfish | slow | slow | slow | fair | active | peak | peak | active | fair | slow | slow | slow |
| Bluegill | slow | slow | slow | fair | peak | peak | peak | active | fair | slow | slow | slow |
| Channel catfish | slow | slow | slow | fair | active | peak | peak | active | fair | slow | slow | slow |
| Flathead catfish | slow | slow | slow | fair | active | peak | peak | active | slow | slow | slow | slow |
Measured river conditions are available for Back Creek: current gauge height, streamflow, and water temperature when reported by the source.
Wednesday, October 21
Work the cover — snags, weed edges, hole entrances; retrieve the lure with pauses.
Back Creek — Wednesday, October 21
The bite is strong — fish are active. Pressure is dropping — this usually boosts the bite. Peak 07:00–09:00 and 18:00–20:00.
The computed water temperature is around 56 °F — colder than the 57–75 °F comfort range for Black crappie: the fish conserves energy and takes more cautiously.
Black crappie works the twilight: the peaks are pinned to sunrise and sunset — their times are in the sun-and-moon card above.
Pressure is flat: it moves no more than 0.03 inHg over the day, so the weather isn't shifting today's bite.
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 active season for Black crappie here.
These are the same values the bite curve above was computed from. How the forecast works
Clear · feels like +51°
The day is 2 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 forecast. 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?Work the cover — snags, weed edges, hole entrances; retrieve the lure with pauses.
Back Creek — Wednesday, October 21
The bite is strong — fish are active. Pressure is dropping — this usually boosts the bite. Peak 07:00–09:00 and 18:00–20:00.
USGS gauge BACK CREEK NEAR JONES SPRINGS, WV, 19 mi away · measured 2026-10-21 13:45 · data source · provisional data, subject to revision