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Brookville Lake Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Sep 4, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Indiana’s clear-water anomaly: Brookville hides walleye, smallmouth and true striped bass in Whitewater Valley hill country.

2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Flow
988 cfs
Air / High
93 / 93 F
Wind
NW 4 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 03275000, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
4
September 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

2/5Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Brookville Lake stays in its summer rhythm: early magic, midday siesta, evening reprieve. The river is running 988 cfs, dropping and clearing. Today brings clear skies, wind NW around 4 mph, rising pressure near 1013 hPa and a high of 93. Water sits around 84 F for the season (estimated). With the last quarter, the solunar majors run 5:39 AM-7:39 AM and 5:39 PM-7:39 PM: plan around them and beat the heat.

The plan, species by species

Hybrid striped bassGood

Schooling at first light over main-lake humps and channel edges. Slabs, tail spinners and live shad once you mark bait. It is usually over by mid-morning.

Catfish (blue, channel)Good

Anchor on 20-30 ft baited holes with punch bait or cut shad. They keep biting through the heat when everything else quits.

Largemouth bassFair

Topwater at first light on points and seawalls, then slide out to 12-25 ft brush and points with a Carolina rig, deep crank or drop shot. The bite is dawn, dusk or deep.

CrappieSlow

Straight down on bridge pilings and deep brush at 15-25 ft. Minnows outfish jigs in hot water; move until the graph shows them stacked.

Tomorrow: Similar at 91 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Sep 5, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Water and weather

Live readings from Whitewater River near Alpine.

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 03275000.

4,98313,53822,093988 cfs08/0508/1508/2509/04

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp93 F
High / Low93 / 73 F
WindNW 4-13 mph
Pressure1013.2 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain1% cloud, 3%
Sunrise / Sunset07:11 / 20:06
MoonLast Quarter, 50%
Water temp (seasonal)~84 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunset

Next 7 days

Tap a day for the detailed outlook.

Fri Sep 4 · Overcast, 93/73 F, wind 9 mph, rain 3%

Fair or better. A 9 mph breeze puts a working chop on the banks it hits: fish the wind-blown side.

Species guide

The species that matter on Brookville Lake: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Largemouth bass illustration

Largemouth bass

Best: spring and fall

The headline act on most American reservoirs. Relates to cover: docks, brush, grass edges and points. Topwater at first light on points and seawalls, then slide out to 12-25 ft brush and points with a Carolina rig, deep crank or drop shot. The bite is dawn, dusk or deep.

Hybrid striped bass illustration

Hybrid striped bass

Best: Jun-Sep

Stocked white bass x striper cross. Open-water shad chasers; birds and busting bait give them away. Schooling at first light over main-lake humps and channel edges. Slabs, tail spinners and live shad once you mark bait. It is usually over by mid-morning.

Catfish (blue, channel) illustration

Catfish (blue, channel)

Good year-round

The most reliable bite on most southern waters. Blues run big; channels fill the cooler. Anchor on 20-30 ft baited holes with punch bait or cut shad. They keep biting through the heat when everything else quits.

Crappie illustration

Crappie

Best: Nov-Mar

Brush piles, bridge pilings and standing timber. The fish fry favorite. Straight down on bridge pilings and deep brush at 15-25 ft. Minnows outfish jigs in hot water; move until the graph shows them stacked.

When to come: the Brookville Lake calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Largemouth bass
Hybrid striped bass
Catfish (blue, channel)
Crappie
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 84 F (estimated, not a reading).

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovSep, ~84 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Brookville Lake today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Sep 3

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Hybrid striped bass led the card at good. High of 93 F, wind to 9 mph.

Wed, Sep 2

3/5 Fair. Fish early or late. Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows. Hybrid striped bass led the card at good. High of 92 F, wind to 9 mph.

Tue, Sep 1

3/5 Fair. Fish early or late. Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows. Hybrid striped bass led the card at good. High of 91 F, wind to 9 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
Only used to send you this water's report each week. No spam, ever.

Before you go

License

Indiana requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Indiana license. Walleye 16-inch minimum typical, stripers within striped-bass limits: check current DNR rules. Trout stamp for the tailwater.

Access

Mounds SRA and Quakertown SRA ramps, Garr Hill and Bonwell Hill launches, tailwater access below the dam.

About this water

A 5,260-acre Corps reservoir on the East Fork Whitewater River, Franklin and Union counties, Indiana: clear-water walleye and striper fishery.

Fishing Brookville Lake: the full guide

The unexpected lake

Brookville drops 5,260 unusually clear acres into the Whitewater River valley of southeastern Indiana: the state’s closest thing to a highland reservoir. The clarity supports what flatland Indiana rarely offers: a real walleye program (stocked since the 70s), smallmouth on the rocky banks, pure striped bass cruising open water, plus the standard crappie-largemouth-catfish ledger. Cincinnati and Indianapolis both sit an hour away, and the lake absorbs the pressure with depth.

Walleye and stripers

Walleye stage on the points and old roadbeds: troll crankbaits over 15-25 feet at dusk from May, jig the deeper humps in summer, and hit the riprap at night in April. The stripers (a rarity this far north inland) chase shad over the main basin: live shad or big flukes under the birds early, trolled umbrella-lite rigs when they sound. Fish past twenty pounds patrol here.

Smallmouth and the panfish economy

The lower lake’s rock bluffs and gravel points fish like a Tennessee highland lake in miniature: Ned rigs, jerkbaits and topwater at dawn for smallmouth to four pounds. Crappie hold the flooded timber of the upper third (Garr Hill north): spider rigs in spring, deep brush in summer. Below the dam, the Whitewater tailwater adds a bonus: stocked trout and pushy smallmouth in the cold current.

Two-state logistics

Mounds and Quakertown state recreation areas anchor each end with ramps, camps and beaches: several smaller launches between. Clarity means the lake skis hard on summer weekends: fish early, or hide in the timber arms. The tailwater and the town of Brookville’s old-canal charm round out the trip: Metamora’s historic district is ten minutes.

Common questions

Are the stripers really pure stripers?

Yes: Brookville is one of Indiana’s few pure striped bass fisheries, maintained by stocking: open-water shad chasers to twenty-plus pounds.

When do walleye bite best?

April nights on the riprap and May-June dusk trolling: summer fish go deep but keep eating for the electronics-equipped.

Is the tailwater worth a stop?

A legitimate bonus fishery: seasonal trout stockings and smallmouth in the cold releases: many locals fish only there.

Is fishing good at Brookville Lake right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Nearby waters

Caesar Creek Lake50 miGeist Reservoir58 miWhite River66 miLicking River67 miGrand Lake St Marys75 miLake Monroe83 mi
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