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Lake Aquilla Fishing Report

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

The Hill County sleeper: Aquilla's stained timber grows heavyweight largemouth for the few who work its snaggy truth.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Lake level
534.68 ft
Air / High
81 / 82 F
Wind
SE 7 mph

Sources: Texas Water Development Board (Aquilla 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.

Lake Aquilla lines up a genuinely fishable day across the board. The gauge reads 534.68 ft, easing 0.28 over the week. Today brings clear skies, wind SE around 7 mph, steady pressure near 1018 hPa and a high of 82. Water sits around 74 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 10:06 AM-12:06 PM and 10:33 PM-12:33 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 80 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 (Aquilla Lake); live weather.

Water level, last 30 days

Texas Water Development Board daily estimate, 81.1% of conservation capacity on 2026-10-23.

534.69534.89535.10534.68 ft09/2310/0310/1310/23

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp81 F
High / Low82 / 53 F
WindSE 7-9 mph
Pressure1018.1 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:38 / 18:47
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 Lake Aquilla this week

The best day on Lake Aquilla this week looks like Monday Oct 26, at 5 out of 5, against 3 today.

Best day this week: Monday, Oct 26 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
10:06 AM-12:06 PM and 10:33 PM-12:33 AM
Minor period
4:28 AM-5:28 AM
Sun
07:38 to 18:47
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 Lake Aquilla: 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 Lake Aquilla 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 Lake Aquilla 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 82 F, wind to 6 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

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 7 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 78 F, wind to 6 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. Bass 14-inch/5; crappie 10-inch/25: check TPWD.

Access

Aquilla Park, Dairy Hill Corps ramps.

About this water

3,280 acres, Hill County, TX. The I-35 corridor's hidden timber.

Fishing Lake Aquilla: the full guide

The overlooked Corps pond

Aquilla pools 3,200 stained acres south of Hillsboro: a timber-and-brush Corps lake the I-35 traffic passes blind: and the quality hides accordingly: heavyweight largemouth in the standing wood, crappie towns, and post-flood surges that reset the fishery's clock fertile.

Timber bass truth

The program runs snag-rich and honest: jigs and Texas rigs pitched to the flooded timber (channel edges at 8-15 feet), spinnerbaits after the stains of spring rises, and the discipline to lose tackle without losing focus: Aquilla's fish live where the lures die.

Slabs and cats

Crappie stack the timber lanes (spider rigs where the wood allows, dips where it won't), and the blue-and-channel cat program rides every rise: the stained fertility feeds the whole card. Whites run the creeks in spring: the bonus nobody schedules.

Hill County practicalities

Corps ramps serve the modest fleet (Dairy Hill, Aquilla Park): the timber punishes casual navigation (idle the unfamiliar): and Hillsboro's outlet-mall traffic never looks east. The sleeper stays asleep: the regulars prefer it.

Common questions

Why is Aquilla under the radar?

Stain, snags and no marina glamour: the trophy water hides behind lost-tackle stories. The regulars' silence is informed.

When does Aquilla fish best?

Spring rises staining fresh brush and the fall shad chase into the creeks: timber bassing's classic clock, unbothered.

Does Aquilla hold hybrid stripers?

TPWD has stocked hybrids in cycles: check current status: when present they school the dam face at dawn with the sandies. The timber bass remain the lake's dependable identity either way, and the stained water keeps them shallow most of the year.

Is fishing good at Lake Aquilla 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 Whitney10 miLake Waco24 miBrazos River38 miBardwell Lake41 miSquaw Creek Reservoir45 miJoe Pool Lake52 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Reservoir level
Texas Water Development Board β€” Aquilla 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 31.9000, -97.2000 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.
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 guide was drafted with AI assistance. Unlike our newer pages, it does not yet list the official pages its facts were checked against: that audit is under way, and anything it cannot verify will be 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.