Waters · Lakes · NM · Thu, Oct 8

Navajo Reservoir water level today 6016.92 ft, rising

Bite index 5/10 — Picky — fish it after dark.

Work for it.

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

5/10
Picky

Today's bite windows

12 AM6 AMNoon6 PM11 PM
Minor
4:37 AM–5:37 AM
Moonrise
Major
10:27 AM–12:27 PM
Moon overhead
Minor
5:07 PM–6:07 PM
Moonset
Major
10:49 PM–12:49 AM
Moon underfoot

Sunrise 7:11 AM · sunset 6:43 PM · tomorrow's first major 11:12 AM–1:12 PM · windows on every water

Solunar · computed updated 9:10 AM

Conditions right now

Water temp estimated
≈59.6°F
7-day mean of air temperature, ±4.5°F typical
computed from NOAA KLAM updated 8:35 AM
Water level
6016.92ft
+0.09 ft in 24h
USBR Navajo Reservoir and Dam reading for Oct 7
Pressure
30.33inHg
rising · +1 hPa/12h
NOAA KLAM updated 8:35 AM
Wind
0mph N
NOAA KLAM updated 8:35 AM
Moon
4% waning
Solunar · computed updated 9:10 AM

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.

Navajo Reservoir level over the last 8 days

6016.92 ft up 0.09 ft in 24 hours

That sits 100% of the way up the band it has held over the last 9 days, between 6012.57 and 6016.92 ft. Over the week it is up1.70ft.

09-28 6012.57–6016.92 ft 10-07
USBR Navajo Reservoir and Dam reading for Oct 7

The week ahead

Fri 6 Biting
Sat 7 Biting
Sun 7 Biting
Mon 7 Biting
Tue 7 Biting
Wed 6 Biting
Thu 6 Biting

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

Before you go

A New Mexico fishing license covers this water — $35 a year for residents. NMDOW sets the rules and is the one that counts.

What it costs, and who is exempt →

Nearby waters today

Questions people ask about Navajo Reservoir

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 Navajo Reservoir.

Is it worth fishing Navajo Reservoir today?
5 out of 10 — picky. Work for it. The strongest stretch is 10:27 AM–12:27 PM. That number is worked out fresh each morning from the solunar windows, the pressure trend, the water level.
What time should you fish Navajo Reservoir?
Today's major windows run 10:27 AM–12:27 PM and 10:49 PM–12:49 AM, with minor windows at 4:37 AM–5:37 AM and 5:07 PM–6:07 PM. Sunrise is 7:11 AM and sunset 6:43 PM. A major landing on first or last light is the stretch worth setting an alarm for.
What is the water temperature at Navajo Reservoir?
No gauge on Navajo Reservoir measures it, so this is an estimate: roughly 59.6°F, worked out from the 7-day mean of air temperature at NOAA weather station KLAM (Los Alamos Airport). Checked against the lakes that do have a thermometer, that method lands within about 4.5°F of the real reading and was off by 8.3°F at worst. Treat it as a ballpark, not a measurement — and note the bite index above ignores it entirely, because an error that size would move the verdict as often as it would fix it.
What is the water level at Navajo Reservoir right now?
6016.92 ft, the reading for October 7 from the Navajo Reservoir and Dam gauge run by the USBR, which publishes one value a day. Over 24 hours it is up 0.09 ft.
Are water levels rising or falling at Navajo Reservoir?
Rising. The lake is up 0.09 ft in 24 hours and up 1.70 ft over the week. Over the last 9 days it has held between 6012.57 and 6016.92 ft. Every figure here is a difference between two gauge readings, not a forecast — what the level does next depends on rain and on what the dam releases.
Can you eat the fish you catch in Navajo Reservoir?
That is a health question, and it is answered officially rather than by us. New Mexico Environment Department publishes the fish consumption advisory covering these waters, where mercury, PCB and DDT advisories are listed per water in a chart linked from that page. Read it before you keep a meal — we give no eating advice.
Do you need a licence to fish Navajo Reservoir?
Yes. A New Mexico fishing license covers this water, required from age 12. NMDOW sets the rules and is the one that counts.
What size fish can you keep in New Mexico?
It depends on the species, and several have slot limits rather than a simple minimum. Open to harvest today: largemouth, spotted and smallmouth bass, catfish (all species except bullheads), crappie, striped bass. Seasons here change mid-year by agency order, so the status is re-checked every morning.

Where these numbers come from

Read at the dam by the Bureau of Reclamation once a day. The reservoir reaches north into Colorado, but the dam and the gauge sit in New Mexico. No temperature sensor.

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