Waters · Lakes · CA · Mon, Aug 24

How's the bite at Pine Flat Lake today? Picky — the middle of the day carries it.

Work for it.

Built from solunar, level. This water has no live gauge for every reading — see the sources below.

4/10
Picky

Today's bite windows

12 AM6 AMNoon6 PM11 PM
Minor
5:40 AM–6:40 AM
Moonset
Major
11:23 AM–1:23 PM
Moon underfoot
Minor
6:06 PM–7:06 PM
Moonrise

Sunrise 8:56 AM · sunset 9:02 PM · tomorrow's first major 11:47 PM–1:47 AM · windows on every water

Solunar · computed updated 3:23 PM

Conditions right now

Water level
755.45ft
-214.58 ft in 24h
USACE Pine Flat Lake updated 2:00 PM
Moon
88% waxing
Solunar · computed updated 3:23 PM

What this means

Largemouth bass, Crappie, Catfish
This gauge reports level but no water temperature, so depth calls stay open. Read the windows and the pressure trend instead.

Pine Flat Lake water level today

755.45 ft above NGVD-29 down 214.58 ft in 24 hours

That sits 0% of the way up the band it has held over the last 8 days, between 755.45 and 970.03 ft. Over the week it is down6.49ft.

08-16 755.45–970.03 ft 08-24
USACE Pine Flat Lake updated 2:00 PM

The week ahead

Tue 6 Biting
Wed 6 Biting
Thu 6 Biting
Fri 6 Biting
Sat 6 Biting
Sun 6 Biting
Mon 5 Picky

Forecast days carry solunar and the wind outlook. Pressure and gauge movement land the morning of.

Before you go

A CA fishing license covers this water. The state agency sets the rules and is the one that counts.

Nearby waters today

Questions people ask about Pine Flat Lake

Answered from the same readings as the rest of this page. Where we have no basis for an answer, there is no entry — spot-by-spot local knowledge is not something we can claim for Pine Flat Lake.

Is it worth fishing Pine Flat Lake today?
4 out of 10 — picky. Work for it. The strongest stretch is 11:23 AM–1:23 PM. That number is worked out fresh each morning from the solunar windows, the pressure trend, the water level.
What time should you fish Pine Flat Lake?
Today's major windows run 11:23 AM–1:23 PM, with minor windows at 5:40 AM–6:40 AM and 6:06 PM–7:06 PM. Sunrise is 8:56 AM and sunset 9:02 PM. A major landing on first or last light is the stretch worth setting an alarm for.
What is the water temperature at Pine Flat Lake?
No gauge on Pine Flat Lake measures water temperature. US reservoir gauges report height, not temperature — so rather than estimate it, this page leaves it out and leans on the windows and the pressure trend instead.
What is the water level at Pine Flat Lake right now?
755.45 ft above NGVD-29, read at 2:00 PM from the Pine Flat Lake gauge run by the USACE. Over 24 hours it is down 214.58 ft.
Can you eat the fish you catch in Pine Flat Lake?
That is a health question, and it is answered officially rather than by us. California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment publishes the fish consumption advisory covering these waters, where over 150 site-specific advisories, searchable by water, species or county, plus a statewide default for untested waters. Read it before you keep a meal — we give no eating advice.

OEHHA fish consumption advisory

What size fish can you keep in California?
It depends on the species, and several have slot limits rather than a simple minimum. Open to harvest today: california halibut, pacific halibut, striped bass, white seabass. Seasons here change mid-year by agency order, so the status is re-checked every morning.

California halibut limits · Pacific halibut limits · Striped bass limits · White seabass limits · Check a length against the rules

Where these numbers come from

Held by Pine Flat Dam on the Kings River, read by the Corps of Engineers. Top of conservation is about 951 ft, and this reservoir is drawn down harder than almost any in the state through the irrigation season — a reading a hundred feet or more below full pool is the calendar, not a fault.

No one types these in by hand. If a source goes quiet, the page says so instead of showing you yesterday.