Right now,
on 47 rivers
worth knowing about.

Vs normal compares today's flow with the median for this calendar day across the gauge's whole record — 120 years on the Yellowstone. 100% is dead average; below the 25th percentile reads as low, above the 75th as high. It is the difference between a number and a judgement.
Last loaded — · Streamflow data courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey. · provisional data, subject to revision · gauge IDs verified 2026-07

Yellowstone River

Big water on a 2,615 sq mi drainage. Average annual peak is about 16,800 ft³/s around 8 June, and minimum daily flows average roughly 650, so the fishable band sits low in that range. Below 1,200 the fish stack in the deep bends and wade access gets thin.Prime window 1,200–4,000 ft³/s · 1,290 mi one way

Blackfoot River

Runs around 1,300 ft³/s in late July and four to six thousand at spring peak. Hoot owl closures are routine here in August — check the Montana FWP restriction page before you commit to the drive, not at the put-in.Prime window 700–2,000 ft³/s · 1,410 mi one way

Snake River

Average annual peak is about 6,700 ft³/s around 26 May, dropping to an average annual minimum near 240. Road access is the real constraint rather than the flow — everything upstream is shut until the plows get through.Prime window 400–1,800 ft³/s · 1,520 mi one way

Colorado River

Draining 17,849 sq mi, so it moves a lot of water and warms up fast. Mid-July sits around 1,700 ft³/s. This is a shoulder-season river for me, not a summer one.Prime window 1,800–6,000 ft³/s · 1,560 mi one way

Colorado River

A tailwater below Glen Canyon Dam, so flows follow a release schedule rather than the weather. Cold year-round, which is why this is the one row on the chart that is prime in January.Prime window 8,000–14,000 ft³/s · 1,980 mi one way

Madison River
MT

Hebgen Dam holds this between about 710 and 1,300 ft³/s across 88 years of record, which is why the Madison fishes on a schedule most freestones cannot. The stretch below is riffle nearly the whole way; on this river the temperature reading is the one that decides anything.Fishable band 1,100–2,000 ft³/s · blown above 3,200 · 68°F ceiling · derived from 88 years of record, 1939-2026

Missouri River
MT

Eighty-one years below Holter Dam and the median never leaves the 3,900–7,900 band. A spring creek's hydrograph on a river two hundred feet wide — the discharge tells you very little here, and the weed growth and the wind tell you the rest.Fishable band 5,500–9,900 ft³/s · blown above 16,000 · 68°F ceiling · derived from 81 years of record, 1946-2026

Big Hole River
MT

A true freestone: 280 ft³/s at its late-summer floor against a June median peak of 4,500, a sixteen-fold swing across 102 years. Drought closures are a live risk in August and the gauge cannot see one coming, so read the Montana FWP restriction page before you commit.Fishable band 450–1,200 ft³/s · blown above 3,600 · 68°F ceiling · derived from 102 years of record, 1924-2025

Bighorn River
MT

The St. Xavier bridge, in the middle of the tailwater rather than up at the afterbay — this is the water people actually float. Releases from Yellowtail decide the river outright, and only 14 years of record stand behind the band here, so treat it lightly.Fishable band 3,300–5,900 ft³/s · blown above 9,400 · 68°F ceiling · derived from 14 years of record, 2013-2026

Gallatin River
MT

The bottom of the canyon, below everything the Gallatin collects on its way out of the park. A hundred and nine years of record, and the temperature series earns its keep: the median clears the trout ceiling in July and August this far down.Fishable band 860–1,500 ft³/s · blown above 2,700 · 68°F ceiling · derived from 109 years of record, 1894-2025

Bitterroot River
MT

The Bitterroot at Missoula, after the whole valley has had its turn at it. Forty-one years here, a June runoff peak, and July and August median temperatures at the ceiling — this is a spring and autumn river by the numbers.Fishable band 1,100–2,500 ft³/s · blown above 7,000 · 68°F ceiling · derived from 41 years of record, 1899-2026

Rock Creek
MT

Rock Creek, which is a small river with a large reputation, on 53 years of record. Runoff owns May through July and the rest of the year it runs thin: a median under 300 ft³/s for most of the season.Fishable band 260–590 ft³/s · blown above 1,600 · 68°F ceiling · derived from 53 years of record, 1973-2025

Snake River
WY

The Snake at Moose, in Jackson Hole — fine-spotted cutthroat, and a view that has sold a lot of fly rods. Thirty-one years at this gauge. Jackson Lake Dam sets the flow, and the strip shows it: high from May clear through September, which is a release schedule and not a runoff.Fishable band 1,100–4,100 ft³/s · blown above 6,700 · 68°F ceiling · derived from 31 years of record, 1996-2026

Clearwater River
ID

Steelhead water, and a lot of it — the May median peak is 38,000 ft³/s. Fifty-four years of record. Run timing decides whether this is worth a day and no gauge on earth reports run timing.Fishable band 7,300–19,000 ft³/s · blown above 31,000 · 70°F ceiling · derived from 54 years of record, 1972-2025

Salmon River
ID

Steelhead and salmon water at the bottom of the Salmon's long run to the Snake, on 113 years of record. June is runoff; July and August the median temperature is at the ceiling. What you are timing here is a run, and the gauge cannot see one.Fishable band 5,500–12,000 ft³/s · blown above 35,000 · 70°F ceiling · derived from 113 years of record, 1911-2025

Green River
UT

The A section below Flaming Gorge. The record peaks in January, which tells you what you need to know: this is a dam schedule rather than a snowpack. Sixty-three years, and it comes out cold every month of the year.Fishable band 1,900–3,400 ft³/s · blown above 5,400 · 68°F ceiling · derived from 63 years of record, 1964-2026

Provo River
UT

The Middle Provo, between Jordanelle and Deer Creek. Thirty-four years of record here, the shortest on this list, and no temperature sensor — treat the band behind the verdict as provisional.Fishable band 210–380 ft³/s · blown above 620 · 68°F ceiling · derived from 34 years of record, 1992-2025 · live temperature only, no historical series

San Juan River
NM

Straight out of Navajo Dam, and about as stable as American trout water gets: a 490 floor against a June median peak of 1,500. The Quality Water is the first few miles below the dam and this gauge sits at the top of it.Fishable band 660–1,200 ft³/s · blown above 1,900 · 68°F ceiling · derived from 61 years of record, 1963-2023

Rio Grande
NM

The oldest streamgauge in the country — the USGS began measuring here in 1889, and the daily record runs 96 years. The temperature series is the part worth reading: the median water temperature clears 70°F from June through August, which is why those months show as too warm rather than as low water.Fishable band 480–860 ft³/s · blown above 1,900 · 70°F ceiling · derived from 96 years of record, 1931-2026

Gunnison River
CO

Above Blue Mesa rather than down in the Black Canyon, so this is the upper Gunnison — a smaller, wadeable river than its name suggests. Ninety-nine years of record, and it runs genuinely thin from November through March.Fishable band 300–900 ft³/s · blown above 2,100 · 68°F ceiling · derived from 99 years of record, 1911-2025

Colorado River
CO

The upper Colorado at Kremmling, below the Blue and the Williams Fork. Sixty-four years of record on a river whose flow is decided as much by transmountain diversion as by snow.Fishable band 660–1,200 ft³/s · blown above 2,300 · 68°F ceiling · derived from 64 years of record, 1962-2026

Animas River
CO

The Animas through the middle of Durango, on 116 years of record — one of the few genuinely good trout rivers you can fish from a town sidewalk. Runoff runs April through July and it drops away hard afterwards.Fishable band 280–890 ft³/s · blown above 2,600 · 68°F ceiling · derived from 116 years of record, 1898-2026

Deschutes River
OR

One of the flattest hydrographs anywhere: 102 years, and the median only travels from 3,700 to 5,400. Spring-fed off the Cascades, so wading and run timing decide the day rather than the discharge.Fishable band 5,100–9,200 ft³/s · blown above 15,000 · 70°F ceiling · derived from 102 years of record, 1925-2026

McKenzie River
OR

Winter-peaking, the way western Oregon rivers are — the median tops out in January and bottoms in the fall. A hundred and one years of record, and cold enough all summer that the temperature ceiling rarely comes into it.Fishable band 3,100–5,600 ft³/s · blown above 9,000 · 68°F ceiling · derived from 101 years of record, 1925-2025

Rogue River
OR

A March peak, a September floor, and 86 years of it. For a summer steelhead fishery the temperature series matters more than the flow, and this gauge reports both.Fishable band 2,100–4,100 ft³/s · blown above 6,600 · 70°F ceiling · derived from 86 years of record, 1940-2025

Skagit River
WA

Marblemount, up where the Skagit is still cold and green. Fifty-six years of record and a January peak, which is western Washington in a single number: it rains, and the river answers within a day.Fishable band 6,500–12,000 ft³/s · blown above 19,000 · 70°F ceiling · derived from 56 years of record, 1944-2026

Klickitat River
WA

The Klickitat comes off Adams carrying glacial flour, so the useful question is clarity rather than discharge, and no gauge reports that. A hundred and one years of record, and no historical temperature series — the reading on this page is live only.Fishable band 1,100–2,200 ft³/s · blown above 3,500 · 70°F ceiling · derived from 101 years of record, 1910-2026 · live temperature only, no historical series

Truckee River
CA

A hundred and eighteen years, the second-longest record here, on water running out of Tahoe toward Nevada. Summer heat is the constraint on this one, and it does report temperature.Fishable band 530–950 ft³/s · blown above 1,600 · 68°F ceiling · derived from 118 years of record, 1909-2026

Trinity River
CA

Immediately below Lewiston Dam, which is where the cold water comes from. Sixty-four years of record; the spring release schedule is the flow, and it is published in advance.Fishable band 390–700 ft³/s · blown above 1,500 · 70°F ceiling · derived from 64 years of record, 1962-2025

American River
CA

The lower American at Fair Oaks, running through the middle of Sacramento: steelhead and salmon inside a city of half a million. Seventy-one years, and Nimbus Dam sets the flow.Fishable band 2,600–4,700 ft³/s · blown above 7,500 · 70°F ceiling · derived from 71 years of record, 1956-2026

Au Sable River
MI

Below Mio Dam, and the temperature record is why this station earns its place: the median water temperature runs within a few degrees of the trout ceiling from June through August. On the mainstem Au Sable that is the whole story.Fishable band 1,100–2,000 ft³/s · blown above 3,200 · 68°F ceiling · derived from 73 years of record, 1953-2025

Manistee River
MI

The Manistee near Sherman, below Hodenpyl. A hundred and five years of record on a river that holds its flow remarkably steady and its temperature much less so — the median reaches the ceiling in July.Fishable band 1,200–2,200 ft³/s · blown above 3,500 · 68°F ceiling · derived from 105 years of record, 1904-2026

Muskegon River
MI

Below Croton Dam, which is where the Muskegon's steelhead run stops. Thirty years at this gauge. The temperature record is blunt about the summer: July through September the median sits at or above what a steelhead can take.Fishable band 1,700–3,100 ft³/s · blown above 5,000 · 70°F ceiling · derived from 30 years of record, 1996-2025

West Branch Delaware River
NY

Cannonsville releases, and the most reliable cold water in the Catskills. Sixty-three years of record, and the temperature series is the number to watch — the system's whole reputation rests on how much cold water gets let out of the reservoir in August.Fishable band 580–1,000 ft³/s · blown above 1,600 · 68°F ceiling · derived from 63 years of record, 1964-2026

Beaver Kill
NY

A hundred and twelve years on the river American fly fishing was more or less invented on. The record is blunt about the modern problem: high in April, over the temperature ceiling in July and August, down to bones by September.Fishable band 220–540 ft³/s · blown above 970 · 68°F ceiling · derived from 112 years of record, 1915-2026

Esopus Creek
NY

The Esopus at Coldbrook, carrying whatever the Shandaken Tunnel sends it from the Schoharie — which is why this river can rise and go the colour of coffee on a cloudless day. Ninety-five years of record.Fishable band 480–860 ft³/s · blown above 1,400 · 68°F ceiling · derived from 95 years of record, 1932-2026

Delaware River
PA

The main stem at Lordville, where the two branches have joined and the river gets big. Nineteen years at this gauge, the thinnest record on the list. Warm water is the summer constraint here in a way it is not on the West Branch above it.Fishable band 1,800–3,200 ft³/s · blown above 5,100 · 68°F ceiling · derived from 19 years of record, 2007-2025

West Branch Farmington River
CT

Cold water out of Colebrook, which is the only reason this fishes through a Connecticut August. Seventy-one years of record; the September mark in the strip is a temperature reading rather than a flow one.Fishable band 260–470 ft³/s · blown above 750 · 68°F ceiling · derived from 71 years of record, 1956-2026

Gunpowder Falls
MD

Gunpowder Falls below Prettyboy, a genuinely cold Maryland tailwater and a small one — the median peak is 150 ft³/s. Twenty-six years of record. It fishes all summer, which for this latitude is the whole point.Fishable band 85–150 ft³/s · blown above 240 · 68°F ceiling · derived from 26 years of record, 2001-2026

Jackson River
VA

Below Gathright Dam, the coldest water in Virginia and the reason the Jackson has a trout reputation at all. Forty-seven years of record. The band is narrow because the dam keeps it narrow.Fishable band 250–450 ft³/s · blown above 740 · 68°F ceiling · derived from 47 years of record, 1980-2026

New River
WV

The New at Hinton, above the gorge — big, warm, and one of the best smallmouth rivers in the country. Sixty-seven years of record. The 88°F ceiling is a smallmouth figure; this river running at 78°F in August is normal rather than an alarm.Fishable band 3,900–9,200 ft³/s · blown above 15,000 · 88°F ceiling · derived from 67 years of record, 1939-2026

Cranberry River
WV

Cranberry River, in the middle of a wilderness that has no road through it, on 67 years of record. Small water — a 240 ft³/s top to the fishable band — and the record says it gets too warm in July and August anyway.Fishable band 70–240 ft³/s · blown above 380 · 68°F ceiling · derived from 67 years of record, 1945-2026

Little River
TN

The Little River coming out of the Smokies above Townsend, on 63 years of record. Runoff in February and March, and a median temperature at or above the ceiling from June through September: this is a spring fishery and the numbers say so plainly.Fishable band 160–340 ft³/s · blown above 540 · 68°F ceiling · derived from 63 years of record, 1964-2026

Davidson River
NC

Small mountain water in Pisgah, on 103 years of record, with a median that never passes 160 ft³/s. Known for large and thoroughly educated fish in the water below the hatchery.Fishable band 90–160 ft³/s · blown above 260 · 68°F ceiling · derived from 103 years of record, 1921-2026 · live temperature only, no historical series

Chattahoochee River
GA

The Chattahoochee at Norcross, below Buford Dam — a cold tailwater running through the Atlanta suburbs, which is an odd thing to be able to say. Seventy years of record and one of the flattest strips here.Fishable band 1,900–3,400 ft³/s · blown above 5,400 · 68°F ceiling · derived from 70 years of record, 1957-2026

White River
AR

Calico Rock, below both Bull Shoals and Norfork, on the largest trout tailwater in the country. Eighty-four years of record. Generation at the dams is the only variable that really counts — the river can go from wadeable to five figures inside an hour, so read the Corps schedule and not just this number.Fishable band 7,400–13,000 ft³/s · blown above 21,000 · 68°F ceiling · derived from 84 years of record, 1943-2026

Little Red River
AR

The Little Red below Greers Ferry, which held the world-record brown trout for a while. Thirty years at this gauge, and the same warning as the White above it: this is a generation schedule wearing a river's clothes.Fishable band 800–3,000 ft³/s · blown above 4,800 · 68°F ceiling · derived from 30 years of record, 1997-2026 · live temperature only, no historical series