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Bardwell Lake Fishing Report

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

Waxahachie's water: Bardwell's prairie coves run hybrids, crappie bridges and Ellis County's after-work fleet.

2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Water temp
~84 F est.
Air / High
97 / 97 F
Wind
SSE 9 mph

Sources: 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.

Bardwell Lake serves up more heat: the productive hours are the dim ones. Today brings a mixed sky, wind SSE around 9 mph, rising pressure near 1012 hPa and a high of 97. 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 98 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.

No live gauge on this water

Conditions here are modeled from weather, season and the nearest stations. Water readings appear when a USGS gauge is available.

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovSep, ~84 F now

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp97 F
High / Low97 / 76 F
WindSSE 9-11 mph
Pressure1011.7 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain28% cloud, 4%
Sunrise / Sunset07:03 / 19:47
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 · Partly cloudy, 97/76 F, wind 13 mph, rain 4%

Fair or better. A 13 mph breeze puts a working chop on the banks it hits: fish the wind-blown side.

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

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Sep 3

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 89 F, wind to 18 mph.

Wed, Sep 2

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Hybrid striped bass led the card at good. High of 98 F, wind to 14 mph.

Tue, Sep 1

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Hybrid striped bass led the card at good. High of 98 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. Hybrid 18-inch/5; crappie 10-inch/25: check TPWD.

Access

Mott Park, High View Park Corps ramps; bridge access at 34.

About this water

3,570 acres on Waxahachie Creek, Ellis County, TX. The southern metro's standby.

Fishing Bardwell Lake: the full guide

The Ellis County standby

Bardwell pools Waxahachie Creek south of Dallas' sprawl: 3,500 Corps acres of prairie-stained water serving the county's habits: hybrid stripers on the wind, crappie at the bridges, catfish flats, and a largemouth program that rewards the brush-pile diligent.

Hybrid mornings

The stocked linesides school the main-lake points (slabs at dawn, downlined shad on the 20-25-ft channel midday), with winter birds marking the bait: DFW's southern-edge version of the metro pattern, minus the ramp queues.

Bridges and brush

Highway 34's crossings stack crappie year-round (minnows at the pilings: the county's night culture), the Corps' brush piles hold the summer schools, and the flats' channel cats bite punch bait whenever Texas allows sleeves. The bass fleet works the riprap and creek wood between.

Waxahachie practicalities

Corps parks ramp the shoreline (Mott, High View): the gingerbread-city crowds stay downtown: and Ennis' bluebonnet trails pass close each April: the lake's calendar quietly pairs. It is the metro's unhurried southern water.

Common questions

Where do Bardwell hybrids school?

Main-lake points at dawn, the channel's 20-foot band midday: winter gulls tell the truth. Live shad settles the arguments.

Is Bardwell good at night?

The bridge crappie culture says yes: lighted pilings and minnows till midnight. Summer's best hours run after the wakes sleep.

What is the bank fishing like at Bardwell?

Corps-park honest: Mott and High View's riprap and points serve cats and crappie within casting reach, and the Highway 34 pilings fish from the shoulders. It is Ellis County's easiest no-boat evening: lawn chairs, punch bait and the bridge lights.

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 Lake29 miJoe Pool Lake34 miRichland-Chambers Reservoir38 miLake Ray Hubbard42 miLake Aquilla42 miLake Whitney51 mi
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