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Bois d'Arc Lake Fishing Report

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

Bois d'Arc Lake: a 16,641-acre North Texas water-supply lake, impounded in 2021, with a 16-inch maximum length limit on largemouth bass.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Lake level
531.18 ft
Air / High
83 / 84 F
Wind
SSE 6 mph

Sources: Texas Water Development Board (Bois d'Arc Lake), 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.

3/5Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Bois d'Arc Lake lines up a genuinely fishable day across the board. The gauge reads 531.18 ft, easing 0.18 over the week. Today brings clear skies, wind SSE around 6 mph, steady 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 10:01 AM-12:01 PM and 10:29 PM-12:29 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.

CrappieFair

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

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 85 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

Daily lake level from the Texas Water Development Board (Bois d'Arc Lake); live weather.

Water level, last 30 days

Texas Water Development Board daily estimate, 87.6% of conservation capacity on 2026-10-23.

531.22531.46531.70531.18 ft09/2310/0310/1310/23

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp83 F
High / Low84 / 49 F
WindSSE 6-9 mph
Pressure1018.6 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:35 / 18:40
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 Bois d'Arc Lake this week

The best day on Bois d'Arc Lake this week looks like Sunday Oct 25, at 5 out of 5, against 3 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€” Fair

A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Solunar majors
10:01 AM-12:01 PM and 10:29 PM-12:29 AM
Minor period
4:23 AM-5:23 AM
Sun
07:35 to 18:40
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Overcast, 8 mph
Rain chance
0%

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

Species guide

The species that matter on Bois d'Arc 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 Bois d'Arc 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 Bois d'Arc 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 6 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 5 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 79 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

Anglers need a Texas fishing license. Bois d'Arc special rule (TPWD, read today): only largemouth bass 16 inches or shorter may be kept, 5 black bass a day; bass of 24 inches or more may be held briefly to weigh, and fish of 13 pounds or more may be donated to the ShareLunker program. Statewide rules cover all other species here.

Access

Three NTMWD public access areas (FM 897, South 1396 and North 1396), about 50 parking spaces each, ramps open 24 hours. On October 7, 2026, the North 1396 ramp was closed for launching. Bank fishing is allowed at the access areas; the dam and spillway are closed to the public; no overnight camping.

About this water

A 16,641-acre North Texas Municipal Water District reservoir on Bois d'Arc Creek, impounded 2021, northeast of Bonham, Fannin County, Texas.

Fishing Bois d'Arc Lake: the full guide

Texas' newest major reservoir

The North Texas Municipal Water District, which owns and operates the lake northeast of Bonham, calls Bois d'Arc the first major reservoir in Texas in over 30 years; it began delivering water in March 2023. TPWD lists 16,641 acres on Bois d'Arc Creek in Fannin County, a maximum depth of 70 feet and impoundment in 2021. The district says it built the lake for water supply and recreation, without flood storage.

Habitat built in

The district says it built over 40 fish habitat structures and left much of the standing timber in the upper reaches for water quality and fish habitat. TPWD notes that the standing timber lies west of the FM 897 bridge and that about 50 large brush and concrete piles were placed in the eastern half; both are in TPWD's Habitat Structure Viewer.

Stocking

TPWD's records show ShareLunker largemouth bass stocked from 2019, Lone Star bass fingerlings from 2023 through 2026, channel catfish in 2021 and 2022, and bluegill from 2018 to 2020. The agency lists largemouth bass, catfish, crappie, white bass and sunfish.

Common questions

What are the bass rules?

Only largemouth 16 inches or shorter may be kept, with a 5-bass daily bag; bigger fish go back, though ShareLunker donations of 13 pounds or more are allowed.

Can I fish from the bank?

Yes, at NTMWD's three public access areas; the dam and spillway are off limits.

Where is the standing timber?

TPWD says it is west of the FM 897 bridge; NTMWD left much of the upper-reach timber standing for water quality and habitat.

Is fishing good at Bois d'Arc Lake right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Nearby waters

Lake Texoma40 miLake Lavon47 miBlue River51 miLake Tawakoni54 miLake Ray Roberts61 miLake Ray Hubbard61 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Reservoir level
Texas Water Development Board β€” Bois d'Arc Lake
Water Data for Texas, daily average elevation estimated by the TWDB from operator data (for this lake, the Lower Colorado River Authority). A daily figure, not a live reading.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 33.6610, -96.0530 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 7, 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 7, 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.