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Lake Brownwood Fishing Report

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

Lake Brownwood: a 6,490-acre reservoir on Pecan Bayou and Jim Ned Creek where TPWD rates white bass fishing excellent.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Lake level
1421.04 ft -3.96 vs pool
Air / High
77 / 78 F
Wind
SSE 11 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 08143000, 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 Brownwood lines up a genuinely fishable day across the board. The gauge reads 1422.73 ft, 2.27 ft below pool, holding steady. Today brings clear skies, wind SSE around 11 mph, steady pressure near 1016 hPa and a high of 78. Water sits around 74 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 10:14 AM-12:14 PM and 10:41 PM-12:41 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 76 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

Live readings from Lk Brownwood nr Brownwood, TX.

Water level, last 30 days

USGS gauge 08143000. Conservation pool is 1425 ft.

1421.851423.091424.33pool 14251422.73 ft09/2310/0310/1310/23

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp77 F
High / Low78 / 55 F
WindSSE 11-13 mph
Pressure1016.4 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:45 / 18:54
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 Brownwood this week

The best day on Lake Brownwood 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
10:14 AM-12:14 PM and 10:41 PM-12:41 AM
Minor period
4:36 AM-5:36 AM
Sun
07:45 to 18:54
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Partly cloudy, 11 mph
Rain chance
0%

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

Species guide

The species that matter on Lake Brownwood: 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 Brownwood 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 Brownwood today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

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 80 F, wind to 7 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 79 F, wind to 6 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 76 F, wind to 8 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 with the freshwater fishing endorsement. All species fall under statewide TPWD rules (valid Sept. 1, 2026-Aug. 31, 2027), for example white bass 10-inch minimum and 25 a day, and largemouth bass 14-inch minimum within 5 black bass a day. Zebra mussels are present: clean, drain and dry boats and gear.

Access

TPWD lists the Dam ramp on FM 2632 and Flatrock Park (lighted, free, open all year, run by the water district; Flatrock's ramp is steep, so take care when the lake is 5 feet or more low), the private Mountain View Lodge ramp (fee) and Lake Brownwood State Park (entry fee). The state park offers shore and pier fishing and loans fishing gear; pay piers operate near the dam.

About this water

6,490 acres on Pecan Bayou and Jim Ned Creek, Brown County, Texas; Brown County WCID No. 1; impounded 1933. Lake level on this page comes from USGS 08143000.

Fishing Lake Brownwood: the full guide

The lake

TPWD places Lake Brownwood on Pecan Bayou and Jim Ned Creek, about 10 miles north of Brownwood: 6,490 acres, up to 95 feet deep, impounded in 1933 and controlled by Brown County Water Control and Irrigation District No. 1. Fluctuation is moderate, though the lake is sometimes prone to long periods of falling water.

White bass and largemouth

TPWD rates white bass excellent, largemouth bass and catfish good, and crappie and sunfish fair. White bass school in the main lake from early May through October and feed at the surface; one-ounce slab spoons along creek and river channels in 12-25 feet work in late summer, and lighted docks hold them at night. Largemouth fishing is best from September through May on rocks and points. Florida largemouth were introduced in 1975; TPWD stocked Lone Star largemouth in 2024, 2025 and 2026 and blue catfish from 2022 through 2024.

Cover

Rock and boat docks line most of the shore. The upper Jim Ned and Pecan Bayou arms hold standing timber, black willow and buttonbush, and water willow is thickest in Sowell Creek. TPWD and partners have placed fish habitat structures, mapped in its Habitat Structure Viewer.

Common questions

When do white bass school on Brownwood?

From early May through October in the main lake, often feeding at the surface; TPWD singles out summer and early fall.

Is there bank fishing?

Yes: TPWD notes good shore fishing at Lake Brownwood State Park, which has a fishing pier, and around some lodges, plus pay piers near the dam.

Which ramps are free?

The Dam ramp on FM 2632 and Flatrock Park, both run by Brown County WCID No. 1; the state park ramp needs a park entry fee and Mountain View Lodge charges a launch fee.

Is fishing good at Lake Brownwood 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

O.H. Ivie Lake45 miLake Fort Phantom Hill63 miPossum Kingdom Lake75 miSquaw Creek Reservoir78 miLake Buchanan81 miBrazos River82 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 08143000 β€” Lk Brownwood nr Brownwood, TX
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 19:30 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 31.8722, -99.0221 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 8, 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 8, 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.