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Canyon Lake Fishing Report

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

Hill Country blue: Canyon Lake holds striped bass and clear-water bass, with the Guadalupe trout tailwater below.

3/5
Fair. Fish early or late.Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows.
Flow
161 cfs
Air / High
93 / 94 F
Wind
SSE 6 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 08167800, 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.

3/5Fair. Fish early or late.Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows.

Canyon Lake serves up more heat: the productive hours are the dim ones. The river is running 161 cfs, steady over the week. Today brings a mixed sky, wind SSE around 6 mph, rising pressure near 1012 hPa and a high of 94. 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

Striped bassGood

Deep and early: live bait on downlines over the river channel at first light, or downriggers along thermocline depth.

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 96 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 Guadalupe River at Sattler (below dam).

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 08167800.

143208272161 cfs08/0508/1508/2509/04

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp93 F
High / Low94 / 78 F
WindSSE 6-7 mph
Pressure1011.9 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain39% cloud, 18%
Sunrise / Sunset07:11 / 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 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Next 7 days

Tap a day for the detailed outlook.

Fri Sep 4 · Overcast, 94/78 F, wind 12 mph, rain 18%

Fair or better. A 12 mph breeze puts a working chop on the banks it hits: fish the wind-blown side.

Species guide

The species that matter on Canyon 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.

Striped bass illustration

Striped bass

Best: spring and fall

The reservoir heavyweight. Follows shad and herring schools in open water year-round. Deep and early: live bait on downlines over the river channel at first light, or downriggers along thermocline depth.

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 Canyon 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
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 Canyon 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. Striped bass led the card at good. High of 100 F, wind to 17 mph.

Wed, Sep 2

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Striped bass led the card at good. High of 99 F, wind to 9 mph.

Tue, Sep 1

3/5 Fair. Fish early or late. Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows. Striped bass led the card at good. High of 97 F, wind to 10 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

Texas license. Striped bass and black bass limits per current TPWD rules; the Guadalupe tailwater has special trout regulations in designated reaches.

Access

Corps ramps at Canyon Park, Comal Park, Cranes Mill and Jacobs Creek; tailwater access below the dam.

About this water

An 8,230-acre Corps reservoir on the Guadalupe River in Comal County, Texas, with a coldwater tailwater below the dam.

Fishing Canyon Lake: the full guide

The clear one in the Hill Country

Canyon Lake impounds 8,200 acres of the Guadalupe River northwest of New Braunfels, a deep, clear reservoir ringed by limestone hills. Striped bass are the signature species, stocked and thriving on the shad base, joined by largemouth, smallmouth and Guadalupe bass on the rock, plus crappie, catfish and a strong white bass population. Below the dam, cold releases create Texas’s only year-round trout fishery.

Stripers and white bass

Stripers school over the main lake and along the old river channel: down-lined live shad in summer at 30-60 feet, topwater and swimbaits when they push bait to the surface in fall and early winter. White bass run the Guadalupe arm in late winter and school the open water through summer, providing fast action on slabs and small swimbaits.

Bass on limestone

The clear water and rock structure suit finesse: drop-shots, shaky heads and small jigs on the points, bluffs and submerged roadbeds. Largemouth hold the brush and any grass in the coves, while smallmouth work the rockier main-lake structure. Guadalupe bass, the Texas state fish, show up in the river arms above the lake.

The tailwater and logistics

Below Canyon Dam, cold releases sustain rainbow and brown trout year-round: the Guadalupe is the southernmost year-round trout fishery in the United States, stocked heavily each winter and fished hard from New Braunfels upstream. On the lake, Corps ramps at Canyon Park, Comal Park and Cranes Mill serve boaters. Summer brings heavy recreational traffic: fish early or in the cooler months.

Common questions

Is there really trout fishing in Texas?

Below Canyon Dam, yes: cold releases sustain rainbows and browns year-round, making the Guadalupe the southernmost such fishery in the country.

When do stripers bite best?

Summer on down-lined shad in deep water, and fall through early winter when they push bait to the surface.

How clear is the lake?

Clear by Texas standards, which makes finesse presentations and low-light fishing considerably more effective.

Is fishing good at Canyon 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 early or late. Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows.

Nearby waters

Guadalupe River4 miLake Travis40 miLake Austin41 miLady Bird Lake41 miCalaveras Lake42 miBraunig Lake44 mi
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