Sacramento River (Lower)
The best month to fish the Sacramento River (Lower) is January. The month to avoid is July. Right now, in September, it is worth going.
- January: 71 out of 100
- February: 71 out of 100
- March: 71 out of 100
- April: 71 out of 100
- May: 71 out of 100
- June: 71 out of 100
- July: 52 out of 100
- August: 71 out of 100
- September: 71 out of 100
- October: 71 out of 100
- November: 71 out of 100
- December: 71 out of 100
This gauge does not report water temperature, so the check that would rule out water too warm to fight a fish in cannot run for this month. Treat the score as flow and season only, and ask a local shop about temperature before you travel in warm weather.
GAUGE 11370500 · COLOURED BY SEPTEMBER
Month by month
| MONTH | TYPICAL FLOW | RANGE (P20–P80) | WATER | AIR HIGH | RAIN | SCORE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3,888 cfs | 3,337–5,581 | — | — | — | 71 |
| February | 3,799 cfs | 3,323–5,058 | — | — | — | 71 |
| March | 4,097 cfs | 3,347–10,760 | — | — | — | 71 |
| April | 6,494 cfs | 4,361–7,799 | — | — | — | 71 |
| May | 8,895 cfs | 8,085–10,860 | — | — | — | 71 |
| June | 10,775 cfs | 9,236–12,150 | — | — | — | 71 |
| July | 12,550 cfs | 10,340–14,120 | — | — | — | 52 |
| August | 10,550 cfs | 9,703–11,440 | — | — | — | 71 |
| SeptemberNOW | 7,676 cfs | 7,371–8,602 | — | — | — | 71 |
| October | 6,497 cfs | 6,170–7,125 | — | — | — | 71 |
| November | 4,880 cfs | 4,547–5,692 | — | — | — | 71 |
| December | 4,369 cfs | 3,661–5,357 | — | — | — | 71 |
WHERE THESE NUMBERS COME FROM
Flow and water temperature are medians of the monthly means reported by USGS gauge 11370500 over 2006-2025. Air temperature and precipitation are ten-year normals from Open-Meteo at this river’s gauge coordinates.
The window is deliberate. USGS’s own full-record statistics for a dammed river reach back before the dam — at Lees Ferry, to 1922, forty-one years before Glen Canyon closed — and describe a river that no longer exists.
Flow is scored against this river’s own fishable band of 4,369–8,895 cfs. There is no universal band: 8,000 cfs is low water on a big tailwater and a flood on a spring creek.
Water temperature is a ceiling rather than a weight. Above about 68°F a trout that is fought and released frequently dies anyway, so no month above that line is scored as worth booking, however good its flow.
The Sacramento River (Lower) is at its best in January, flows near 3,888 cfs.
← RIVERS GOING WELL IN SEPTEMBERRegulations, licences and access change without notice and are not reproduced here as fact — check the state agency before you travel. A median describes twenty years; it does not forecast your week. Source: U.S. Geological Survey, National Water Information System.