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Bardwell Lake Fishing Report

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

Bardwell Lake: a Corps of Engineers reservoir on Waxahachie Creek near Ennis, stocked with hybrid striped bass and managed under statewide rules.

2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Lake level
419.00 ft -2.00 vs pool
Air / High
83 / 84 F
Wind
S 5 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 08063700, 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.

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

Bardwell Lake offers the kind of conditions this water was made for. The gauge reads 419.00 ft, 2.00 ft below pool, easing 0.23 over the week. Today brings clear skies, wind S around 5 mph, rising pressure near 1018 hPa and a high of 84. Water sits around 74 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 10:04 AM-12:04 PM and 10:31 PM-12:31 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Largemouth bassGood

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)Good

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.

Hybrid striped bassFair

Look for shad on flats with timber near creek channels and on windblown points; cast jigs and swimbaits where fish break the surface.

White bassFair

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

Tomorrow: Similar at 83 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

Texas requires a fishing licence from age 17, from $30.00 for residents. What a Texas licence costs and where to buy it β†’

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

Water and weather

Live readings from Bardwell Lk nr Ennis, TX.

Water level, last 30 days

USGS gauge 08063700. Conservation pool is 421 ft.

419.29419.97420.64pool 421419.00 ft09/2310/0310/1310/23

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp83 F
High / Low84 / 54 F
WindS 5-6 mph
Pressure1018.3 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:36 / 18:44
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 PMsunrisesunset

Which day to fish Bardwell Lake this week

The best day on Bardwell Lake this week looks like Sunday Oct 25, at 5 out of 5, against 2 today.

Best day this week: Sunday, Oct 25 β€” excellent at 5/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Tough

Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Solunar majors
10:04 AM-12:04 PM and 10:31 PM-12:31 AM
Minor period
4:26 AM-5:26 AM
Sun
07:36 to 18:44
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Overcast, 7 mph
Rain chance
0%

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

Species guide

The species that matter on Bardwell 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.

Hybrid striped bass illustration

Hybrid striped bass

Best: the spring shad spawn and fall; summer at dawn and dusk

A hatchery cross of striped bass and white bass, also called wiper or palmetto bass, stocked by state agencies into reservoirs and rivers as a sport fish that also eats gizzard shad. Schools roam open water after shad. Look for shad on flats with timber near creek channels and on windblown points; cast jigs and swimbaits where fish break the surface.

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 Bardwell 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)
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 Bardwell Lake today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

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 84 F, wind to 7 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 81 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 9 mph.

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

License

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

Regulations

Texas license required; TPWD lists no lake-specific rules, so statewide limits apply to all species.

Access

Corps ramps at Love Park, High View Park, Mott Park and Little Mustang Creek (the last free; the others $5). On the Corps park-status page, Waxahachie Creek Park is closed, the others open. TPWD shows the State Public Ramp at the Highway 34 bridge as closed. The Corps says High View Marina is permanently closed and the project office is closed for construction; passes are sold at Mott Park, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Mott, Highview and Waxahachie Creek parks take cards only.

About this water

A Corps of Engineers flood-control and water-supply reservoir on Waxahachie Creek, Ellis County, Texas, about 5 miles south of Ennis.

Fishing Bardwell Lake: the full guide

The reservoir

The Corps of Engineers began impounding Bardwell in November 1965, with the dam at river mile 5.0 on Waxahachie Creek about 5 miles south of Ennis; the lake lies entirely in Ellis County. At its 421-foot conservation pool the Corps counts 3,570 acres of water, 5.4 miles of length and 25 miles of shoreline, while TPWD lists 3,138 acres and a maximum depth of 43 feet.

Hybrids and the rest

TPWD stocks hybrid striped bass every year, recorded as sunshine bass fingerlings from 2021 through 2025, and stocked blue catfish fingerlings in several years up to 2022. It rates catfish and open-water fish such as white bass and hybrids as very good, and says largemouth fishing has improved with hydrilla north of the Highway 34 bridge. TPWD suggests downriggers for hybrids in warm months and watching for schooling birds in cooler weather.

Where the structure is

TPWD calls the face of the dam the best structure on the lake. The upper end is heavily silted and shallow and can only be reached at high water.

Common questions

Are hybrid stripers stocked in Bardwell?

Yes. TPWD's stocking history shows sunshine bass (a hybrid striped bass) fingerlings every year from 2021 through 2025.

Which ramps are open?

The Corps lists Mott, Highview and Love parks and the Little Mustang ramp as open, and Waxahachie Creek Park as closed; TPWD marks the State Public Ramp at Highway 34 closed. Check the Corps park-status page before you go.

Where should I look for bass?

TPWD points to the hydrilla north of the Highway 34 bridge for largemouth and to the face of the dam as the best structure.

Is fishing good at Bardwell 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

Cedar Creek Lake30 miJoe Pool Lake34 miRichland-Chambers Reservoir37 miLake Aquilla41 miLake Ray Hubbard42 miLake Whitney51 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 08063700 β€” Bardwell Lk nr Ennis, TX
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 19:30 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 32.2630, -96.6405 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.
Pages checked
The facts in the written guide were checked against these pages, from the agencies and operators that manage the water, on October 8, 2026. Anything we could not verify was taken out.
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 text was drafted with AI assistance from the official pages listed above, and its facts were checked against those pages by automated verification on October 8, 2026; anything that could not be verified was 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.