Hill Country Region Week of January 21, 2026

Austin

FAIR. Water stained; 57 degrees; 0.59 feet below pool. Bass are good early in the morning along deep grass edges. Neko rigs, dropshots and Texas rigs fished parallel on deeper straight cut grass edges are good. Keeping bait near or on the bottom is key, very few bites on top of the grass beds. Seeing a decent amount of fish suspended out away from grass edges around small bait. Jerkbaits, flukes and underspins fished over top of them are getting them to react. Expecting a large cold front this weekend. Fish will really be getting on the jerkbait and Alabama rig better with the colder water temperature. Overall the bite is good right now. Report by Carson Conklin, ATX Fishing. Bass are being caught on dropshot rigged finesse worms, light Texas-rigged soft stick worms, and crankbaits in 10–20 feet of water. Focus on submerged vegetation and docks for the most consistent action. Unseasonably warm winter conditions have kept bass from fully settling into typical winter patterns, but with a strong cold front expected, anglers should look for fish to shift toward the deeper, outer edges of grasslines. Dropshot rigs should continue to produce, and groups of bass may begin relating more closely to schools of shad in the main river channel. Jerkbaits and mid-strolling minnow-style soft plastics fished with forward-facing sonar should become more effective as this transition occurs. Report by Ander Meine, Bassquatch Fishing.

Brady

SLOW. Water stained; 55 degrees; 0.43 feet below pool. Expect fish to push deeper and the bite slow due to the weather. Bass should be offshore biting Carolina rigs, jerkbaits or small swimbaits. Crappie will be scattered.

Brownwood

GOOD. Water stained; 54 degrees; 3.04 feet below pool. Black bass to 9.34 pounds are good on shallow crankbaits on the rocks and docks and Alabama rigs around main lake pockets and points suspended. Crappie are good to 12 inches on minnows, or white and chartreuse or shad colored jigs on the main lake scattered brush piles in 11 feet and shooting jigs under docks in 18-22 feet. White bass are good to 1.5 pounds on crankbaits scattered around the main lake. Catfish are slow on minnows and on jug lines with cut shad or perch in the Main lake docks and drains.

Bryan

SLOW. Water stained; 60 degrees. Bass bite is slow and inconsistent for most of the day, but starts to pick up in the late afternoon once the fish become more active. Brush piles and the dam have been the hottest spots lately with a shaky head, jig, or dropshot worked tight near cover. There have also been a few schools pushing up on offshore humps, and those fish have been eating a Carolina rig really well when you can get on them. Overall, the lake is still a little off, but the afternoon bite and key structure areas are starting to show some solid signs of life. Report by The Aggie Anglers.

Buchanan

SLOW. Water stained; 53 degrees; 2.36 feet below pool. Water is muddy to stained on the majority of the lake. Stripers continue to bite on live bait in 22-36 feet of water. Trolling for stripers has improved, but is still inconsistent. White bass are biting strong up river trolling and casting. Report by Travis Holland, TH Fishing. The winter weather may disrupt the fishing patterns, so expect patterns to emerge in the coming weeks. Report by Captain Aaron Dick, One Up Fishing Guide Service. Crappie should bunch up in deeper water. Crappie are fair in standing timber suspended 25-30 feet down with minnows. Blue catfish are good in 25-30 feet of water on midlake points with cut shad. Report by Jess Rotherham, Texas Crappie Fishing Service.

Canyon Lake

FAIR. Water normal stain; 57 degrees; 20.92 feet below pool. Stripers and white bass are holding in the 30 feet mark near the hump at the dam. Jigging spoons have been the best technique for success. The largemouth bass have moved out a little bit deeper with the colder nights. Soft plastics work slowly have been the ticket for getting most bites. A weightless worm around the edges of deeper grass has been doing most of the damage. Report by Tyler Stanley, Game on Guide Service.

Georgetown

FAIR. water stained; 57 degrees; 9.09 feet above pool. Fishing slowed this week as water temperatures dropped into the upper 50s. Water remains stained across the lake. Largemouth bass are related to wind-blown points and deeper rock ledges, with a few fish caught on crankbaits in 10–15 feet of water. White bass activity was limited, though a few were seen schooling near the mouth of the river channel.

Granger

FAIR. Water stained; 54 degrees; 0.58 feet above pool. Black bass are fair to 7.5 pounds on jigs fished up river. Crappie are fair on jigs fished up river. White bass are fair to 2 pounds up river in areas where shad are concentrated. Blue catfish are good on jug lines fished along windy shorelines. Yellow catfish are slow. Report by Tommy Tidwell, Tommy Tidwell's Granger Lake Guide Service.

Inks

EXCELLENT. Water stained; 54 degrees; 0.99 feet below pool. Bass are biting well on jigs, dropshot rigged finesse worms, and crankbaits in 6–17 feet of water. Focus on areas with submerged vegetation, rock, and brush, especially where baitfish are present, as bait concentration has been a major key to consistent action. With a strong cold front expected to move through, anglers should be on the lookout for bass shifting into more traditional winter patterns. Fish are likely to move deeper and relate more tightly to schools of baitfish, making umbrella rigs, mid-strolling minnow-style soft plastics fished with forward-facing sonar, drop-shot rigs, and football jigs on deeper structure increasingly effective. Report by Ander Meine, Bassquatch Fishing.

LBJ

FAIR. Water stained; 53 degrees; 0.31 feet below pool. Crappie should bunch up in deeper water. Crappie are fair in 25-30 feet of water with chartreuse jigs and minnows. Channel catfish are good in 25-30 feet of water on midlake points with punch bait. Report by Jess Rotherham, Texas Crappie Fishing Service. Any rock around the lake has been able to produce some bass bites on shad imitating baits. Also, there are schools of bass chasing around balls of shad. Livescoping these fish with a minnow has been productive. Water clarity is 2-3 feet of visibility. Report by Evan Coleman, Big Bassin Fishing Tours.

Marble Falls

FAIR. normal stain; 55 degrees; 0.72 feet below pool. Crappie should bunch up in deeper water. Crappie are fair in 30 feet of water with chartreuse jigs. Channel catfish are good in 25-30 feet of water on midlake points with punch bait. Report by Jess Rotherham, Texas Crappie Fishing Service.

Medina

SLOW. Water lightly stained; 56 degrees; 85.24 feet below pool. The lake is very low at only 5.8-percent full. Medina Lake is closed due to low water levels.

Travis

SLOW. Water normal stain; 58 degrees; 14.11 feet below pool. Bass are slow, but with the right conditions you can have fun. When the wind picks up and the weather warms up later in the day the fish will pull up in that warmer water. Cover water and target rocky wind blown banks throwing medium diving finesse crankbaits. Another tactic is slowing down with a jig or dropshot fished around drains in that 20-30 feet depth range. Be sure to slow way way down with your presentation when fishing the bottom. Report by Tyler Torwick, Torwick’s Guiding Service. Bass are fair on suspending jerkbaits, crankbaits, jigs, and shaky head finesse worms in 8–17 feet of water. Focus on windblown rocky shorelines and main lake ledges with brush for the most consistent action. Schools of bass are also roaming open water following shad and can be targeted with jerkbaits when they are active. With a strong cold front expected, anglers should look for bass to shift more toward deeper offshore structure such as rocky ledges. Alabama rigs, football jigs, and drop-shot rigged finesse worms should become more effective, and nomadic fish relating to shad schools can be caught using umbrella rigs, jerkbaits, and mid-strolling minnow-style soft plastics with forward-facing sonar. Report by Ander Meine, Bassquatch Fishing.

Waco

SLOW. Water stained; 48 degrees; 0.64 feet above pool. Search in 15-25 feet of water in creek and river channels in the lake. Target the edges with depth changes like deep pockets in the mouth of the inlets and slews. Check standing timber and other structures. Live bait is best, but live bait or jigs need to be presented extremely slow. Crappie are slow and lethargic with fish scattered in 15 feet of water. Crappie are very finicky, so use live bait and be ready to feel the light bite. Report by Greg Culverhouse, Crappie King.

Walter E. Long

GOOD. Water normal stain; 55 degrees. Water levels are very low, and the boat ramp continues to be closed to power boats due to ongoing repairs. You can still launch personal watercraft like kayaks and canoes from the shore, and bank fishing is possible. Much of the submerged vegetation has died back. Try locating vegetation with a couple feet of water above it. With cooler water you'll want to slow down your presentations or possibly look for reaction bites with jerkbaits, swimbaits, chatterbaits, and lipless crankbaits. Weedless soft plastics, stick baits, dropshot rigs, and jigs are also good options at grass edges and across submerged vegetation. Report by Team YAKUSA.

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