Kern River Fish Report

Trout fishing along the 20-mile stretch of the Kern has been steady

Kern River

by Chad Burton and Chris Borden
9-19-2025
Website

Trout fishing along the 20-mile stretch of the Kern has been steady, with anglers finding success around eddies and river bends near easy access points. Salmon eggs, trout jigs, and black/gold Panther Martins have been producing, while fly anglers are scoring on attractor patterns. In the Lower Kern, trout have been caught in the canyon up to Keysville on spinners and trout jigs. Bass fishing in the canyon and at Democrat continues to be very good, with solid action on Z-Man and Crush City Ned rigs, small crankbaits, and Roboworms worked on drop shot. Catfish are also showing in good numbers on nightcrawlers, chicken liver, and cutbait, while bluegill remain active throughout the Lower Kern and are easily caught with worms on drop-shot rigs. At the time of this report, flows were measured at 180 CFS in the Upper Kern at Kernville and 510 CFS in the Lower Kern.

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More Reports

Cope's Tackle and Rod Shop Reports

for Friday, September 19th

California Aqueduct: Aqueduct anglers reported decent fishing with catfish and largemouth as the best bets
Castaic Lake: Castaic provided excellent fishing all summer, and as the transition into fall began
Pyramid Lake, CA: The lake held above 90 percent of its storage capacity, and fishing was fair to good
Lake Isabella: Crappie fishing remains excellent in 5–20 feet of water around structure

Cope's Tackle and Rod Shop Reports

for Friday, September 12th

California Aqueduct: Fishing was hit or miss in the aqueduct
Castaic Lake: Castaic Lake continued to drop with fair to good water clarity
Pyramid Lake, CA: Pyramid Lake held steady near full pool with water temperatures around 78 degrees
Lake Isabella: Crappie fishing has been excellent in 5 to 20 feet of water
Kern River: The Upper Kern continues to produce steady action
Lake Kaweah: Kaweah Lake remained at 8 percent of capacity, and fishing was fair too good overall
Lake Success: Success Lake dropped to 14 percent of capacity, and fishing followed a typical late-summer pattern
River Walk Lakes: The cooler weather this week drew more anglers to the lakes
Ming Lake: The bass bite has slowed, and anglers are having to work a bit harder to connect
Buena Vista Lakes: Anglers continued to find fair action at BV
Hart Park Lake: Fishing was fair at Hart Park with bluegill providing steady action
Lake Nacimiento: The reservoir dropped to 40 percent of capacity, and fishing remained productive