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Caddo Lake Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

The cypress cathedral: Spanish moss, ancient trees and bass fishing inside a painting.

4/5
Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
Flow
9 cfs
Air / High
83 / 84 F
Wind
SE 3 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 07346080, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 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.

4/5Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Caddo Lake offers the kind of conditions this water was made for. The main inflow is running 9 cfs, falling. Today brings clear skies, wind SE around 3 mph, falling pressure near 1019 hPa and a high of 84. Water sits around 74 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:53 AM-11:53 AM and 10:20 PM-12:20 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Largemouth bassExcellent

The main feeding season after the spawn: work moving baits along weed edges, points and wood, and follow up with a soft plastic where a fish swirls.

Catfish (blue, channel)Excellent

Spawning season from late May into summer: Iowa DNR suggests drifting bait under a float along riprap and snags where males guard nests in cavities.

CrappieGood

Early in this band crappie are spawning in protected coves; afterward they move to docks, brush piles and standing timber near deeper water.

White bassGood

Summer and early fall schooling season over open water; follow the shad, and try live bait on the bottom at night.

Tomorrow: Similar at 86 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made β†’

Before you go

Louisiana requires a fishing licence from age 18, from $17.00 for residents. What a Louisiana licence costs and where to buy it β†’

Chasing largemouth bass here? Check the size and bag limits with LDWF before you keep anything. The season dates for Louisiana, read off the agency, are on the Louisiana seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings from Big Cypress Ck abv SH 43 nr Karnack, TX (inflow).

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 07346080.

1014179 cfs09/2310/0310/1310/23

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp83 F
High / Low84 / 50 F
WindSE 3-5 mph
Pressure1019.0 hPa, falling
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:26 / 18:33
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~74 F est.

Bite planner

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

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Which day to fish Caddo Lake this week

The best day on Caddo Lake this week looks like Monday Oct 26, at 5 out of 5, against 4 today.

Best day this week: Monday, Oct 26 β€” excellent at 5/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Good

Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Solunar majors
9:53 AM-11:53 AM and 10:20 PM-12:20 AM
Minor period
4:15 AM-5:15 AM
Sun
07:26 to 18:33
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Clear, 5 mph
Rain chance
0%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

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

Largemouth bass illustration

Largemouth bass

Best: the spring pre-spawn and the fall feed

A warm-water sunfish of lakes, reservoirs, ponds and slow river backwaters that holds tight to cover: weeds, logs, rock ledges and docks. In Texas, TPWD surveys rank it "by far" the freshwater fish anglers most want to catch. The main feeding season after the spawn: work moving baits along weed edges, points and wood, and follow up with a soft plastic where a fish swirls.

Crappie illustration

Crappie

Best: the spring spawn; summer around docks, brush and the thermocline

Two slab-sided panfish, the white crappie and the black crappie, that gather around submerged timber, brush piles, docks and bridge pilings in lakes, reservoirs and slow river backwaters. Texas Parks and Wildlife counts crappie as the state's most popular panfish. Early in this band crappie are spawning in protected coves; afterward they move to docks, brush piles and standing timber near deeper water.

Catfish (blue, channel) illustration

Catfish (blue, channel)

Year-round, best at dusk and after dark

Three big catfish share most of the country's rivers and reservoirs: the channel catfish, the most widespread; the blue catfish, the largest; and the flathead, which hunts live fish. All feed mostly on or near the bottom. Spawning season from late May into summer: Iowa DNR suggests drifting bait under a float along riprap and snags where males guard nests in cavities.

White bass illustration

White bass

Best: the spring run up the tributaries, then summer surface schools

A silvery temperate bass of rivers and large reservoirs, also called sand bass, that schools in open water after shad and runs up tributaries to spawn in early spring. Summer and early fall schooling season over open water; follow the shad, and try live bait on the bottom at night.

When to come: the Caddo 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
Crappie
Catfish (blue, channel)
White bass
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 74 F (estimated, not a reading).

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~74 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 Caddo Lake today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Largemouth bass led the card at good. High of 85 F, wind to 5 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Largemouth bass led the card at good. High of 82 F, wind to 6 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Largemouth bass led the card at excellent. High of 80 F, wind to 7 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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Before you go

License

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

Regulations

TX/LA border rules: either license on most water; slot rules on bass. Confirm TPWD/LDWF.

Access

Caddo Lake SP, Uncertain landings, Shady Glade; guides recommended for first visits.

About this water

26,800 acres of natural cypress lake, Harrison/Marion counties, TX / Caddo Parish, LA.

Fishing Caddo Lake: the full guide

The oldest water

Caddo is Texas-Louisiana's only natural big lake: a flooded cypress forest where largemouth ambush from root balls, crappie hang under the moss, and chain pickerel flash in the ditches. Navigation is by marked boat roads through the trees: go slow, look up occasionally: nowhere in America fishes more beautifully.

Navigating the maze

Caddo's boat roads (marked since steamboat days) thread the cypress: stray casually and props find stumps. GPS tracks help; idle humility helps more. The reward: bass pitching at trunks that predate Texas statehood, in scenery no reservoir owns.

Beyond the postcard

Crappie under the moss canopies, chain pickerel in the grass edges, and a night catfish culture on juglines: Caddo fishes deeper than its beauty. Duckweed mats of summer demand frogs and patience: winter opens the water and the sight lines.

Navigating the maze

Caddo humbles GPS: the boat roads through the cypress (marked by decades-old signs) are the only sane routes, and locals memorize them like streets. The fishing rewards the effort: swamp pockets nobody reaches hold bass that never see baits, and the paddle-in sloughs serve chain pickerel and warmouth beneath Spanish moss. Hire a guide for trip one, buy the boat-road map, then earn the maze.

Common questions

Is Caddo hard to fish alone?

The maze intimidates deliberately: hire a guide once or follow marked roads conservatively. The fish live everywhere: confidence in navigation is the actual skill.

Can bass boats run Caddo safely?

On the marked boat roads, yes: off them, stumps own everything. Idle discipline and daylight navigation are the rules: the lake punishes shortcuts and rewards patience.

Is fishing good at Caddo Lake right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Nearby waters

Red River23 miLake O' the Pines35 miWright Patman Lake42 miLake Bistineau44 miLake Bob Sandlin65 miMillwood Lake67 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 07346080 β€” Big Cypress Ck abv SH 43 nr Karnack, TX (inflow)
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 18:45 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 32.7120, -94.0211 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written guide was drafted with AI assistance. Unlike our newer pages, it does not yet list the official pages its facts were checked against: that audit is under way, and anything it cannot verify will be taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.