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Lake Travis Fishing Report

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

Lake Travis: the deep Highland Lakes reservoir on the Colorado River above Austin, with largemouth and Guadalupe bass, spring white bass runs and a small striper fishery.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Water temp
~74 F est.
Air / High
65 / 85 F
Wind
W 2 mph

Sources: Texas Water Development Board (Lake Travis), 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 Travis offers the kind of conditions this water was made for. Today brings clear skies, wind W around 2 mph, steady pressure near 1019 hPa and a high of 85. Water sits around 74 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 10:10 AM-12:10 PM and 10:37 PM-12:37 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Striped bassExcellent

Use electronics to find shad schools in open water, and watch for birds working over bait.

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.

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 83 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 Travis); live weather.

No recent gauge reading

The Texas Water Development Board (Lake Travis) has not returned a reading for this chart; it comes back when the gauge reports again. Until then conditions are modeled from weather, season and the nearest stations.

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~74 F now

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp65 F
High / Low85 / 55 F
WindW 2-6 mph
Pressure1019.3 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:40 / 18:52
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 Travis this week

The best day on Lake Travis 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
10:10 AM-12:10 PM and 10:37 PM-12:37 AM
Minor period
4:31 AM-5:31 AM
Sun
07:40 to 18:52
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Partly cloudy, 10 mph
Rain chance
0%

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

Species guide

The species that matter on Lake Travis: 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.

Striped bass illustration

Striped bass

Best: spring and fall inland; on the coast, during the seasonal migrations

The largest of the temperate basses, a sea-run fish of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts that now also lives in reservoirs across much of the country after hatchery stocking. Inland, it follows schools of shad and herring through open water. Use electronics to find shad schools in open water, and watch for birds working over bait.

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 Travis 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)
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 Travis today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

5/5 Excellent. Go now. Everything lines up: pressure, wind and light are in your favor. Largemouth bass led the card at excellent. High of 86 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 84 F, wind to 9 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 83 F, wind to 7 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. Travis is managed under TPWD's statewide limits (valid Sept. 1, 2026-Aug. 31, 2027): largemouth bass 14-inch minimum and no minimum on Guadalupe bass, 5 black bass a day combined; white bass 10-inch minimum, 25 a day; striped bass 18-inch minimum, 5 a day; blue and channel catfish 25 a day combined, only 10 of them 20 inches or longer. Bowfishers follow special LCRA rules. Zebra mussels are present.

Access

TPWD says the LCRA and Travis County Parks run 15 parks on the reservoir, several with boat ramps, campgrounds and shoreline fishing, and some charge entry or launch fees. TPWD's access map includes Mansfield Dam Park, Sandy Creek, Arkansas Bend, Pace Bend and Muleshoe Bend.

About this water

18,622 acres on the Colorado River, Travis and Burnet counties, Texas; impounded 1942; LCRA. Lake level on this page is the Texas Water Development Board’s daily estimate.

Fishing Lake Travis: the full guide

Lake facts

TPWD lists Lake Travis at 18,622 acres on the Colorado River northwest of Austin, in Travis and Burnet counties, with a maximum depth of 190 feet; it was impounded in 1942 and is controlled by the Lower Colorado River Authority. Conservation pool is 681 feet, but TPWD notes the lake usually sits below it and fluctuates 10 to 20 feet.

Bass

TPWD says Travis produces good numbers of largemouth bass that tend to run small, with very few trophies. Spring and fall fish best; June through August can be difficult. Largemouth often suspend over points and along drop-offs, where topwaters, jerkbaits and spinnerbaits pulled near the surface bring them up. Marinas, floating docks, rock piles, ledges and steep drop-offs give cover in the lower lake, and flooded shoreline vegetation holds bass when the water is high.

White bass, stripers and catfish

White bass run up the major creek arms, the Pedernales River and the upper Colorado arm from late February or early March, sometimes into May. TPWD describes a low-density striped bass fishery in the lower end: fish the lower lake from the dam to the mouth of Sandy Creek, with topwaters when they chase shad in April and May and downrigged bucktails over humps in summer. Night fishing around lighted docks in the lower lake has become popular for white and striped bass in winter. Blue catfish dominate the catfish, with channels and flatheads also present.

Stocking and records

TPWD's stocking history shows 274,853 Lone Star bass fingerlings released in 2026. The lake record largemouth on TPWD's list weighed 15.32 pounds (Feb. 28, 2021) and the striped bass record 30.50 pounds (1990).

Common questions

When do white bass run on Lake Travis?

TPWD says the spawning run up the major creek arms and the Pedernales River starts in late February or early March and can last into May.

Where are the stripers on Lake Travis?

In the lower lake: TPWD points striped bass anglers to the stretch from the dam to the mouth of Sandy Creek.

Is fishing good at Lake Travis 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 Marble Falls15 miLake Austin18 miLake LBJ20 miLady Bird Lake23 miInks Lake28 miLake Buchanan34 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Reservoir level
Texas Water Development Board β€” Lake Travis
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 30.4403, -98.0646 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.