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Calaveras Lake Fishing Report

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

San Antonio's power-plant lake: warm water year-round and the best winter bass bite in the region.

2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Flow
117 cfs
Air / High
98 / 99 F
Wind
SE 7 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 08181800, 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.

Calaveras Lake stays in its summer rhythm: early magic, midday siesta, evening reprieve. The river is running 117 cfs, dropping and clearing. Today brings a mixed sky, wind SE around 7 mph, rising pressure near 1011 hPa and a high of 99. 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

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.

White bassFair

Early schooling action over humps; slabs and small spinners under the birds.

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 99 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 San Antonio Rv nr Elmendorf, TX.

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 08181800.

290629968117 cfs08/0508/1508/2509/04

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp98 F
High / Low99 / 78 F
WindSE 7-7 mph
Pressure1011.0 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain35% cloud, 10%
Sunrise / Sunset07:12 / 19:51
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, 99/78 F, wind 15 mph, rain 10%

Fair or better. A 15 mph breeze puts a working chop on the banks it hits: fish the wind-blown side.

Species guide

The species that matter on Calaveras 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.

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.

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.

White bass illustration

White bass

Best: Mar-May run

River-run spawners and open-water schoolers. Fast limits when you find them. Early schooling action over humps; slabs and small spinners under the birds.

When to come: the Calaveras 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 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 Calaveras 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. Catfish (blue, channel) led the card at good. High of 111 F, wind to 20 mph.

Wed, Sep 2

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Catfish (blue, channel) led the card at good. High of 103 F, wind to 14 mph.

Tue, Sep 1

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Catfish (blue, channel) led the card at good. High of 101 F, wind to 12 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

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

Regulations

Red drum: 20-inch minimum, 3/day in this lake. Standard bass/cat limits. Confirm with TPWD.

Access

CPS Energy park ramps and bank areas (fee); night fishing permitted in designated zones.

About this water

3,450 acres on Calaveras Creek, Bexar County. CPS Energy cooling reservoir, impounded 1969.

Fishing Calaveras Lake: the full guide

Summer in January

Calaveras never really cools: the power plant keeps this 3,400-acre lake warm enough that bass, hybrids (a strong program), redfish (stocked: a Texas oddity) and big blue cats feed through winter. When every other lake sulks in February, Calaveras fishes like May.

Redfish in a Texas lake

Calaveras' famous oddity: stocked red drum thrive in the warm, slightly saline water, growing to 30-plus inches and eating crankbaits meant for bass. Tilapia provide the forage engine. It is the only place in Texas to sight-cast 'bull reds' with mesquite on the bank.

Power-plant patterns

The discharge canal sets the calendar: winter concentrates everything catchable near the warm outflow (bass, reds, hybrids in their day), while summer pushes fish to the dam's deeper, cooler water. Learn the circulation and you have learned the lake.

Power-plant redfish

Calaveras stocks the state's oddest inland fishery: redfish in a San Antonio power-plant lake, growing to 30-plus pounds on tilapia and shad in the warm discharge water. Crawler-harness trollers and cut-bait soakers connect year-round (winter's warm plume is prime), alongside a hybrid striper program that schools against the dam every summer morning. Saltwater tactics, freshwater address.

Common questions

Do the redfish reproduce in Calaveras?

No: no salt marsh, no spawn: TPWD restocks fingerlings annually. The put-grow-and-take model has run since the 1980s and produces genuinely large fish.

Is Calaveras open year-round?

Yes: the power-plant warm water keeps it active through winter, when the redfish and catfish bites actually peak. Summer's heat makes dawn and night the only sane shifts.

Is fishing good at Calaveras 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

Braunig Lake4 miGuadalupe River41 miMedina Lake41 miCanyon Lake42 miChoke Canyon Reservoir55 miLady Bird Lake76 mi
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