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Lake Houston Fishing Report

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

Lake Houston: an 11,854-acre San Jacinto River reservoir northeast of Houston where TPWD calls blue catfish the dominant sport fish.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Lake level
42.16 ft
Air / High
85 / 86 F
Wind
E 3 mph

Sources: Texas Water Development Board (Lake Houston), 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 Houston sits in the sweet spot of the season: active fish and workable weather. The gauge reads 42.16 ft, easing 0.27 over the week. Today brings clear skies, wind E around 3 mph, steady pressure near 1018 hPa and a high of 86. Water sits around 74 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:58 AM-11:58 AM and 10:25 PM-12:25 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 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

Daily lake level from the Texas Water Development Board (Lake Houston); live weather.

Water level, last 30 days

Texas Water Development Board daily estimate, 98.1% of conservation capacity on 2026-10-23.

42.1442.3842.6242.16 ft09/2310/0310/1310/23

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp85 F
High / Low86 / 58 F
WindE 3-6 mph
Pressure1018.0 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:27 / 18:41
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 Houston this week

The best day on Lake Houston 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
9:58 AM-11:58 AM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM
Minor period
4:19 AM-5:19 AM
Sun
07:27 to 18:41
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Clear, 6 mph
Rain chance
0%

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

Species guide

The species that matter on Lake Houston: 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 Houston 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 Houston 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 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 86 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 82 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

Lake Houston anglers need a Texas license; TPWD applies statewide limits to all species (2026-27): black bass 14 inches, 5; crappie 10 inches, 25; blue and channel catfish 25, only 10 of 20 inches or longer; white bass 10 inches, 25. Bowfishing is banned by city ordinance.

Access

TPWD lists BJ's Marina, Ponderosa Marina at Luce Bayou and Lake Houston Marina (all private, fee), Harris County's Deussen Park near the dam (two ramps, 8 lanes plus a sailboat ramp, no fee) and bank fishing under the FM 1960 bridge. Harris County Precinct One lists Eisenhower Park on the San Jacinto as closed until further notice.

About this water

11,854 acres on the San Jacinto River, Harris County, Texas; controlled by the Coastal Water Authority; impounded 1954.

Fishing Lake Houston: the full guide

The Coastal Water Authority's lake

TPWD lists Lake Houston on the West Fork of the San Jacinto River, 15 miles northeast of Houston in Harris County: 11,854 acres, impounded in 1954, 45 feet at its deepest and moderately turbid. The Coastal Water Authority controls the reservoir, and a city ordinance prohibits bowfishing.

Catfish first, the rest where cover exists

Blue catfish are the dominant sport fish and fish well across most of the lake, especially along the channels of the East and West Forks. Largemouth, crappie and bluegill are fair where habitat can be found, and TPWD notes very little cover outside the upper forks. It suggests stink bait or live shad on trotlines or rod and reel along the channels, and jigs or spoons for white bass in the river channels during the spring run.

Lone Star bass stockings

TPWD's stocking history shows 75,000 to 79,000 Lone Star largemouth fingerlings each year from 2022 through 2026, after Florida largemouth stockings from 2013 to 2020 and a channel catfish stocking in 2022. The lake-record largemouth weighed 10.47 pounds in 1996 and the record blue catfish 65.30 pounds in 2013.

Common questions

Which fish does TPWD rate best on Lake Houston?

Blue catfish, rated good in most areas and best along the East and West Fork channels; bass, crappie and bluegill are fair where habitat exists.

Where can I bank fish on Lake Houston?

Deussen Park, where Harris County describes pier and shoreline fishing, and under the FM 1960 bridge, per TPWD. Eisenhower Park is closed until further notice.

Is fishing good at Lake Houston 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

Texas City Dike42 miLake Conroe43 miGalveston50 miLake Livingston56 miNeches River70 miSabine Pass78 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Reservoir level
Texas Water Development Board β€” Lake Houston
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 29.9500, -95.1500 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.