Hill Country Region Week of May 8, 2024

Austin

GOOD. Water stained; 73 degrees; 0.91 feet below pool. Bass are very active in the morning and evening. Catching plenty of fish up shallow with some on beds. Small soft swimbaits and flukes are getting decent bites, and some topwater action can be found but is not very consistent. Lady Bird Lake is heavily stained due to runoff. Bass are good using chatterbaits and spinnerbaits fished over grass and around shoreline cover are good. Fish are feeding on small shad and small bluegill. Small plastics around grass edges are producing good bites. Small profile swimbaits fished over the grass can be good as well. The topwater bite becomes more consistent as the water warms up. Walking baits, poppers, buzzbaits and ploppers are all getting by strikes. Topwater bite has been best with light wind and cloud cover. Report by Carson Conklin, ATX Fishing.

Brady

GOOD. Water stained; 65 degrees; 11.20 feet below pool. Water level is rising and the clarity is muddy due to runoff. Catfish are good on cut bait and worms shallow to 15 feet of water. Black bass and crappie are slow after the spawn, should pick up soon due to bluegill spawn.

Brownwood

GOOD. Water normal stain; 75 degrees; 5.49 feet below pool. Water is clear in the main lake and muddy towards the rivers. Black bass to 9.65 pounds are good on wacky rigs, shaky head and crankbaits in 3-12 feet of water. Crappie up to 13 inches are good along the shoreline with black and chartreuse, or white with chartreuse head jigs out to 4 feet of water. Crappie are good with minnows on brush piles in 10-12 feet of water. White bass are fair during the day, but the bite improves to good on crankbaits and small swimbaits in the lights at night. Catfish are slow on cut or prepared bait around the flats.

Bryan

GOOD. Water stained; 70 degrees. Lake is high and the bass bite is tough. Bass are suspended on piles and near the dam. Report by The Aggie Anglers. The water levels are high, but anglers are reporting catches of catfish, crappie and bass. Report by The Bait Barn.

Buchanan

EXCELLENT. Water slightly stained; 77 degrees; 16.58 feet below pool. The water is extremely muddy on the north end of the lake and clear on the south. Striper fishing is excellent using live shad as bait in the 5-30 feet of water. There has also been some good action early on topwaters. White bass are excellent on live bait, jigging spoons, and topwater early. With the recent rains and the lake level possibly increasing 8 feet use extreme caution while boating. There is a wide range of debris floating in the water and also just under the surface. Also many of the exposed trees are now under water so please exercise safe boating while on the water. Report by Travis Holland, TH Fishing. Crappie are good in 15-20 feet of water with black and chartreuse jigs. Report by Jess Rotherham, Texas Crappie Fishing Service. Bass are good in the backs of creeks, flip every stick up as there is still some spawning action. There are a lot of fish on rock piles and rocky points also so hit all of those. Using jigs, swimbaits and flukes will get you plenty of bites in these places. A medium or deep crankbait will also get you a bite on the deeper rock piles. Report by Bryan Cotter, Texas Hawgs.

Canyon Lake

GOOD. Water normal stain; 80 degrees; 22.53 feet below pool. Bass are good in the hydrilla with a chatterbait, and with a dropshot in deeper grass or main lake points. Report by Evan Coleman, Big Bassin Fishing.

Granger

GOOD. Water lightly stained; 65 degrees; 4.85 feet above pool. Black bass are fair on topwaters fished in shallow water. Crappie are good on jigs fished over structure. White bass are fair on slab spoons fished along shallow roadbeds. Blue catfish are very good in the newly flooded areas along the shoreline. Yellow catfish are good on trotlines around timber. The lake is 6 feet above normal and rising. Report by Tommy Tidwell, Tommy Tidwell’s Granger Lake Guide Service.

LBJ

FAIR. Water stained; 73 degrees; 0.27 feet below pool. Stained. Crappie are fair in 10-20 feet of water on brush piles with chartreuse jigs. Report by Jess Rotherham, Texas Crappie Fishing Service. Bass are good flipping docks with wacky rigged stick worms, jigs and flukes. Working along bulkheads will catch some good ones throwing shallow crankbaits, wake baits and frogs. Report by Bryan Cotter, Texas Hawgs.

Medina

SLOW. Water lightly stained; 68 degrees; 91.82 feet below pool. Few reports and anglers on the water due to limited access and low water level.

Travis

GOOD. Water stain; 70 degrees; 48.84 feet below pool. The lake has risen 3 feet. Bass are good in the main lake in shallow water and pockets, and points off the main lake with swimbaits and craws. Bigger bass on craws, creature baits, with better numbers on dropshots. More bass are starting to show up in marinas. White bass are schooling near bluff walls chasing the shad spawn. Report by Randal Frisbie, Central Texas Fishing Guide, LLC. Fishing patterns are similar with consistent weather. Expect the frog bite and topwater to turn on, and suspended shad under marinas makes for schooling bass as well. The majority of bass are done spawning, but you may stumble upon some along small pockets or ledges on the main lake in about as deep as you can see on bluff walls. Texas rigged soft plastics like stick worms, lizards, or creature baits, and craws work well here, and a medium crankbait also will catch some nice ones. The grass is holding lots of post spawners, and most of your soft plastics will work here, including flukes and swimbaits. Topwater bite is starting to pick up with the warmer weather. Report by Bryan Cotter, Texas Hawgs.

Waco

GREAT. Water stained; 66 degrees; 20.18 feet above pool. All boat ramps are closed due to flooding. The U.S. Corps of Engineers Parks are closed and are projected to reopen June 3, 2024.

Walter E. Long

GOOD. Water normal stain; 75 degrees. Big groups of shad in the back of many coves, but bass are not blasting them. Bass are spread out between the reeds, grass, with bigger fish are biting on the deeper edges of grass, but there are not as many bites. The worm is still catching the most fish. Many techniques are working giving us options for going after them, but worms are still catching most of the fish. The weather has been cloudy and rainy with similar rain in the forecast. Panfish bite is still going strong. Crappie bite is good in deeper brush tops, and in the grass. Report by David Townsend, Austin Fishing Guide. Crappie are good in 5-10 feet of water with black and chartreuse jigs. Report by Jess Rotherham, Texas Crappie Fishing Service.

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