San Joaquin River Fishing Guides
A cold tailwater below Friant Dam that has been rebuilt by a court-ordered restoration flow program, with wild rainbows in the upper reach and a long warmwater river below.
Guides on the San Joaquin River
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About the San Joaquin River
The San Joaquin below Friant Dam is one of the most closely managed rivers in California, and it fishes better now than it has in most living anglers’ memory. Water leaves the bottom of Millerton Lake cold and clear, and the first several miles below the dam hold a genuine tailwater trout fishery on a river that for decades ran dry a short distance downstream. The San Joaquin River Restoration Program has been putting water back down the channel since 2009 under a settlement that ended nearly twenty years of litigation, and the reach has responded with better insect life, better holding water and better fish.
The upper tailwater is the trout water. Rainbows hold in the riffle corners and the deeper glides in the first eight or ten miles, and they are strong, well fed and used to steady flow rather than seasonal collapse. There are brown trout in the mix. Below the trout reach the river turns warm and slow, and the fishery becomes striped bass, black bass and catfish through the valley bottom. Guided trips split along the same line: fly work and light spinning gear up high, and bass and striper fishing on the lower river.
The gauge sits immediately below Friant Dam and reports discharge, stage and water temperature, which makes it unusually useful here. Restoration releases are scheduled rather than weather-driven, so flow can change sharply on a management calendar with no rain anywhere in the watershed. Read the gauge before driving, and read it again the morning of a trip. Access below the dam is a patchwork of public river parks and private valley farmland, and a great deal of the middle river cannot legally be reached from the bank.
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Access
Lost Lake Recreation Area below Friant Dam - the main public access to the cold tailwater reach.
Winchell Cove and the Millerton Lake south shore - launching for the impoundment above the dam.
Camp Pashayan and the Fresno river parks - bank access along the north Fresno reach.
Highway 41 river access near Lanes Bridge - walk-in water and a common float take-out.
Sycamore Island - fee access to a long stretch of the middle river through private ground.
Skaggs Bridge Park near Kerman - lower-river bank fishing and small-boat launching.
Mendota Pool and Highway 180 - warmwater access on the lower river for stripers and catfish.
Seasons
Spring: strong restoration releases and good trout fishing in the tailwater, with stripers moving up the lower river.
Summer: cold water holds in the upper reach while the valley river warms hard - fish early and high.
Fall: falling releases, clearer water and the best wading conditions of the year below the dam.
Winter: low, stable flows, technical trout fishing up top and a quiet lower river.
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Questions
What is the current flow on the San Joaquin River?
As of Sep 8, 1:30 am, the USGS gauge SAN JOAQUIN R BL FRIANT CA reads 383 cfs, with water temperature 52.7 F. Conditions update every 15 minutes.
What species can you catch on the San Joaquin River?
Anglers target Brown Trout, Channel Catfish, Largemouth Bass, Rainbow Trout, Sacramento Pikeminnow, Sacramento Sucker, Smallmouth Bass, Striped Bass on the San Joaquin River in California.
Where can you access the San Joaquin River?
Lost Lake Recreation Area below Friant Dam - the main public access to the cold tailwater reach. Winchell Cove and the Millerton Lake south shore - launching for the impoundment above the dam. Camp Pashayan and the Fresno river parks - bank access along the north Fresno reach. Highway 41 river access near Lanes Bridge - walk-in water and a common float take-out. Sycamore Island - fee access to a long stretch of the middle river through private ground. Skaggs Bridge Park near Kerman - lower-river bank fishing and small-boat launching. Mendota Pool and Highway 180 - warmwater access on the lower...
When is the best time to fish the San Joaquin River?
Spring: strong restoration releases and good trout fishing in the tailwater, with stripers moving up the lower river. Summer: cold water holds in the upper reach while the valley river warms hard - fish early and high. Fall: falling releases, clearer water and the best wading conditions of the year below the dam. Winter: low, stable flows, technical trout fishing up top and a quiet lower river.
Where are the fishing regulations for the San Joaquin River?
Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the California agency site: https://wildlife.ca.gov/Fishing/Inland/Regulations