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Lake Conroe Fishing Report

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

Lake Conroe: a 20,118-acre San Jacinto River Authority reservoir north of Houston, under a 16-inch largemouth minimum, where TPWD rates bass, catfish, hybrids and bluegill excellent.

4/5
Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
Lake level
199.47 ft -1.53 vs pool
Air / High
81 / 84 F
Wind
WSW 1 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 08067600, 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.

4/5Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Lake Conroe lines up a genuinely fishable day across the board. The gauge reads 199.47 ft, 1.53 ft below pool, easing 0.27 over the week. Today brings clear skies, wind WSW around 1 mph, falling pressure near 1020 hPa and a high of 84. Water sits around 74 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:60 AM-11:60 AM and 10:26 PM-12:26 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Largemouth bassExcellent

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)Excellent

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.

Smallmouth bassExcellent

Post-spawn and summer feeding: cover rock, wood and current breaks with crankbaits, jigs and tubes, and use live crayfish, minnows or hellgrammites where bait is the plan.

Hybrid striped bassGood

Look for shad on flats with timber near creek channels and on windblown points; cast jigs and swimbaits where fish break the surface.

CrappieGood

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

Tomorrow: Similar at 84 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 Conroe nr Conroe, TX.

Water level, last 30 days

USGS gauge 08067600. Conservation pool is 201 ft.

199.74200.24200.73pool 201199.47 ft09/2310/0310/1310/23

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp81 F
High / Low84 / 52 F
WindWSW 1-5 mph
Pressure1019.5 hPa, falling
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:30 / 18:42
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 Conroe this week

The best day on Lake Conroe this week looks like Monday Oct 26, at 5 out of 5, against 4 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€” Good

Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Solunar majors
9:60 AM-11:60 AM and 10:26 PM-12:26 AM
Minor period
4:21 AM-5:21 AM
Sun
07:30 to 18:42
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Clear, 5 mph
Rain chance
0%

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

Species guide

The species that matter on Lake Conroe: 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.

Hybrid striped bass illustration

Hybrid striped bass

Best: the spring shad spawn and fall; summer at dawn and dusk

A hatchery cross of striped bass and white bass, also called wiper or palmetto bass, stocked by state agencies into reservoirs and rivers as a sport fish that also eats gizzard shad. Schools roam open water after shad. Look for shad on flats with timber near creek channels and on windblown points; cast jigs and swimbaits where fish break the surface.

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.

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.

Smallmouth bass illustration

Smallmouth bass

Best: spring and fall, when bigger fish come shallow

A bronze-brown black bass of clear, cool streams and rocky lakes, with dark vertical bars instead of a side stripe. Michigan DNR says its southeastern coast, from Port Huron to Lake Erie, is known nationally for both the size and the number of its smallmouth. Post-spawn and summer feeding: cover rock, wood and current breaks with crankbaits, jigs and tubes, and use live crayfish, minnows or hellgrammites where bait is the plan.

When to come: the Lake Conroe 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
Hybrid striped bass
Catfish (blue, channel)
Crappie
Smallmouth 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 Conroe 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 5 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 84 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 80 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 fishing license. TPWD rules for Lake Conroe (valid Sept. 1, 2026-Aug. 31, 2027): largemouth bass 16-inch minimum, smallmouth 14-inch minimum, 5 black bass a day; blue and channel catfish 25 a day combined, no more than 5 of them 20 inches or longer and no more than 1 of 30 inches or longer; crappie 10-inch minimum, 25 a day; white bass 10-inch minimum, 25 a day; striped and hybrid bass 18-inch minimum, 5 a day. A triploid grass carp permit is in effect: release any grass carp immediately.

Access

In the Sam Houston National Forest the Forest Service provides two paved public ramps (fee) and a small dirt launch at Stubblefield Lake (no launch fee). TPWD's access map also lists Cagle Recreation Area, Scott's Ridge, the FM 830 ramp, and private marinas that charge to launch, including Stow-A-Way, April Plaza, Pier 105 and Lakeview.

About this water

20,118 acres on the West Fork San Jacinto River, Montgomery and Walker counties, Texas; impounded 1973; San Jacinto River Authority. Lake level on this page comes from USGS gauge 08067600, Lake Conroe near Conroe.

Fishing Lake Conroe: the full guide

The reservoir

TPWD lists Lake Conroe at 20,118 acres on the West Fork of the San Jacinto River in Montgomery and Walker counties, impounded in 1973; conservation pool is 201 feet and the level usually moves only 1 to 3 feet. The San Jacinto River Authority built it with the City of Houston between 1969 and 1973 as a backup water supply; Houston owns two-thirds of the water rights.

Bass

Largemouth are the most sought-after fish, and TPWD calls the chance of a trophy very high. The lake record is a 15.93-pound largemouth caught by Ricky Bearden on Jan. 30, 2009, and a 14.1-pound bass taken from beneath a boat dock in 1998 is the biggest largemouth ever collected in a TPWD electrofishing survey. Bass come shallow around marinas and boat docks in early spring and mid to late fall and hold on deeper cover the rest of the year; shad-imitating lures and soft plastics work best.

Cover and habitat

The lower two-thirds of the lake is mostly open water lined with bulkheads and docks; the upper part, inside the Sam Houston National Forest, has standing timber along the river channel that sits just below the surface at full pool and makes navigation hazardous. Hydrilla once infested the lake but is not present at nuisance levels now. TPWD and partners have built four habitat reefs whose GPS coordinates are in TPWD's Habitat Structure Viewer.

Catfish, hybrids, crappie and bluegill

Channel catfish are by far the most abundant sport fish, and rod-and-reel anglers do about as well as trotliners. Hybrid striped bass, introduced in 1995, are caught most of the year by trolling or vertical jigging spoons and live shad. TPWD has interviewed anglers with 12-inch bluegill; fish for them deep along the riprap with worms or crickets. Crappie came back with spring stockings by the Lake Conroe Restocking Association and bite best in early spring and fall.

Common questions

What is the bass limit on Lake Conroe?

Largemouth must be at least 16 inches to keep (smallmouth 14 inches), with 5 black bass a day in any combination.

What is the Lake Conroe bass record?

15.93 pounds, caught by Ricky Bearden on Jan. 30, 2009, according to TPWD.

Can I keep a grass carp from Lake Conroe?

No. A triploid grass carp permit is in effect, and any grass carp caught must be returned to the water immediately, unharmed.

Is fishing good at Lake Conroe right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Nearby waters

Lake Livingston35 miLake Houston43 miLake Somerville60 miLake Fayette76 miLake Limestone77 miTexas City Dike84 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 08067600 β€” Lk Conroe nr Conroe, TX
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 18:00 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 30.4328, -95.5959 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.