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Lake Ray Roberts Fishing Report

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

Ray Roberts Lake: a 25,600-acre Corps reservoir north of Denton with about 2,000 acres of standing timber and a 15.18-pound lake-record bass.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Lake level
630.74 ft -1.76 vs pool
Air / High
82 / 83 F
Wind
SSE 9 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 08051100, 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 Ray Roberts lines up a genuinely fishable day across the board. The gauge reads 630.74 ft, 1.76 ft below pool, easing 0.32 over the week. Today brings a mixed sky, wind SSE around 9 mph, steady pressure near 1018 hPa and a high of 83. Water sits around 74 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 10:05 AM-12:05 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 82 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 Ray Roberts Lk nr Pilot Point, TX.

Water level, last 30 days

USGS gauge 08051100. Conservation pool is 632.5 ft.

630.96631.57632.17pool 632.5630.74 ft09/2310/0310/1310/23

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp82 F
High / Low83 / 53 F
WindSSE 9-11 mph
Pressure1018.1 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain29% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:39 / 18:45
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 Ray Roberts this week

The best day on Lake Ray Roberts this week looks like Sunday Oct 25, at 5 out of 5, against 3 today.

Best day this week: Sunday, Oct 25 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
10:05 AM-12:05 PM and 10:33 PM-12:33 AM
Minor period
4:27 AM-5:27 AM
Sun
07:39 to 18:45
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Overcast, 9 mph
Rain chance
0%

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

Species guide

The species that matter on Lake Ray Roberts: 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 Ray Roberts 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 Ray Roberts 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 83 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 81 F, wind to 5 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 79 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

A Texas fishing license is required. TPWD manages every game fish here under statewide rules (valid Sept. 1, 2026-Aug. 31, 2027): largemouth 14-inch minimum within 5 black bass; crappie 10-inch, 25; white bass 10-inch, 25; blue and channel catfish 25 combined, no more than 10 of 20 inches or longer.

Access

TPWD ramps: Buck Creek, Jordan Park, Isle du Bois Unit (lighted fishing pier), Sanger Park and Lake Ray Roberts Marina (private), Pond Creek, Pecan Creek (donation only) and Johnson Branch; fees elsewhere, and each ramp is subject to closure above a posted lake level. Inside the state park, no license is needed to fish from shore or a pier.

About this water

25,600 acres (TPWD) on the Elm Fork Trinity River; dam in Denton County, lake also in Cooke and Grayson counties, Texas. Corps of Engineers, impounded 1987, conservation pool 632.5 ft msl; USGS gauge 08051100.

Fishing Lake Ray Roberts: the full guide

A clear Elm Fork reservoir

TPWD describes Ray Roberts as a 25,600-acre reservoir on the Elm Fork of the Trinity River, 10 miles north of Denton, impounded in 1987, 106 feet at its deepest and normally clear. The dam is in Denton County and the lake reaches into Cooke and Grayson counties. The Corps of Engineers runs it for Dallas-area flood risk management and city of Dallas water supply, and leases the parks around it to TPWD.

Timber, brush and the bass calendar

About 2,000 acres of standing timber stand mostly in the upper reaches of both major arms, with riprap along the dam and bridges and 44 brush piles built before the lake filled. TPWD says most trophy bass are caught in February and March, often on jigs fished slowly around deep points; it suggests Carolina-rigged worms on the flats between feeder creeks in the Isle du Bois Creek arm in spring, and the base of flooded trees in about 25 feet of water in June.

White bass, blue cats and crappie

White bass run up the tributaries in spring and school off the dam and main-lake points in summer. TPWD reports blue catfish of 12 to 20 inches are abundant and fish of 10 pounds and up are present; the lake-record blue, 61.05 pounds, came on March 14, 2026. Crappie bite best in winter on deep structure and in spring when they move in to spawn.

Stocking and zebra mussels

TPWD's stocking history lists Florida largemouth fingerlings through 2021, 347,062 Lone Star bass fingerlings in 2024, and ShareLunker fingerlings in 2005 and 2012. Zebra mussels have invaded the reservoir, and Texas law requires draining boats, livewells and bait buckets before leaving.

Common questions

What is the Ray Roberts lake-record largemouth?

15.18 pounds, caught on March 7, 2015, according to TPWD's water body records; Ray Roberts Lake State Park quotes the same weight.

When does TPWD say the big bass bite?

Most trophy bass at Ray Roberts are caught in February and March.

Do I need a license to fish from the state park?

Not from the shore or a pier inside Ray Roberts Lake State Park, which TPWD says can be fished without a license.

Is fishing good at Lake Ray Roberts 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 Lewisville19 miGrapevine Lake27 miLake Lavon39 miEagle Mountain Lake40 miLake Texoma42 miLake Worth43 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 08051100 β€” Ray Roberts Lk nr Pilot Point, TX
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 19:15 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 33.3594, -97.0551 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.