Week of October 10–17, 2026 · Sources: public social posts + private Buchanan group scrape (summarized, never quoted)
Lake Buchanan (striped bass, hybrids, white bass)
Activity: Striper/hybrid bite is real and active. Ken Milam Guide Service (Oct 15): family of four, ten stripers on a cleaning table. Black Rock Guide Service / Cody Box (Oct 13): strong morning topwater bite by the dam, stripers + hybrids repeatedly; bite "intermittent over the past couple of weeks." Private-group members: evening boils with aggressive strikes on lipless cranks and blade baits (bite dies at sundown); mid-afternoon schoolie blowup between Striper Island and Rocky Point (~1:30 PM); War Eagle jig off the bottom produced two 22"+ fish after working through schoolies. Bird Island schooling Friday — watch the birds. White bass: asked about, zero confirmed catches. Hot spots: the dam (morning topwater); Striper Island to Rocky Point (mid-afternoon schoolies + jig bite); Bird Island (schooling fish); brushy banks/rocky formations (surface strikes). What's working: topwater at first light (light medium-action rods, 15-lb braid); lipless cranks + blade baits on evening boils; War Eagle jig bounced off bottom for bigger fish; follow diving birds to schooling fish. Conditions: no posted water temps, clarity, or level figures. Photos show calm water, fall skies. Weekend game plan: dam at first light with topwater, then the Striper Island–Rocky Point stretch for the mid-afternoon schooling bite. GO.
Canyon Lake (striped bass, hybrids, white bass)
Activity: Stripers still quiet — Tyler Stanley, Game On Guide Service (weekly report Oct 15): "a little tough locating numbers of fish"; lake needs to cool ~10 more degrees; "another month" before serious surface action. White bass ACTIVE on structure ~30 ft (hump at dam, North Park point, small rocky drops) — schools moving, staying on them is the hard part. Largemouth schooling action "hard to beat" in creek channels/drains. Catfish good on channel transitions 20–30 ft. Hot spots: dam hump + North Park point + rocky drops ~30 ft (whites); creek channels and drains into backs of coves (schooling bass); rocky transitions to creek/river channel 20–30 ft (catfish); Boat Ramp 5 from shore (Martina Contreras, Oct 11: stringer of catfish + big largemouth on live perch). What's working: vertical jigging spoons for whites; small square-bill crankbaits, clear topwater torpedos, small spoons worked fast just subsurface (early schooling bass); drop shot on deeper structure; chatterbait/topwater in flooded brush for bigger bites; cut bluegill straight down for catfish. Conditions: water 78°F (warm for mid-Oct, dropping late week); lake ~907.9 ft MSL (~1 ft below pool); clear down-lake, slightly stained up the Guadalupe arm; windy most of the week. Weekend game plan: skip the striper hunt; jig spoons on 30-ft structure for whites or chase schooling bass in creek channels early. GO (pick your wind).
Lake Calaveras (red drum)
Activity: Red drum bite is ON — hottest of the week. Two 30-inch kayak personal bests on lipless cranks, both released (AndyEli Flores Lopez, Oct 10, Ratlin Rap; DPesk210, Oct 11 & 14, Rat-L-Trap style). Kat-Mars Fishing Charters: big school producing doubles on spoons, six reds on the cleaning table. Albert Soto running client trips Oct 16–17 (3–7 reds + catfish per group); Sunday 7:30 AM open-boat trip, $100/person. Task Force Outdoors veterans event Oct 10–11. Robert Rodriguez (Hook'd R Lures): big sunrise red from kayak on silver-green hard bait. Hot spots: open water near the industrial shoreline (big schools); open-water flats for kayaks. No named coves/ramps in this week's posts. What's working: lipless crankbaits (Ratlin Rap / Rat-L-Trap style) cast-and-retrieve; spoons ("spoon-fed reds") producing doubles; spinning gear, lip grippers, landing nets. Conditions: calm open water, partly cloudy/golden-hour skies in photos; no posted temp/clarity figures. Weekend game plan: open water with a lipless crank or spoon — or grab Albert's Sunday open-boat seat. Absolute GO.
Granger Lake (white bass, crappie, catfish)
Activity: THIN. Crappie is the only confirmed in-window action: Deon Hamilton (Oct 14), ~25 crappie in the livewell, LiveScope over structure at 10–11 ft on jigs. Renee Krenek Mueck (Oct 13): ~20-lb catfish on a spring scale. White bass: no catch photos all week (only seasonal chatter about "the steps"). No guide social posts in-window. Hot spots: structure at 10–11 ft (crappie); upriver/Dickerson's Bottom (whites per TPWD, unconfirmed by catches). What's working: jigs + LiveScope on 10–11 ft structure (crappie). Conditions: no reliable current figures (TPWD page content reads stale). Weekend game plan: not much to report beyond the crappie — jigs over 10–11 ft structure or hold off. HOLD.
Lake Travis (striped bass, white bass, largemouth)
Activity: THIN for target species — zero striper or white bass posts/reports Oct 10–17. Black bass SOLID: texashawgs.com (Oct 12): "fishing well," bass moving shallow as water cools; Bass Tours ATX (Oct 12): client Jeff, steady Guadalupe bass on artificials around structure out of Lago Vista; Matison Wayne Smith (Oct 15): largemouth from a small boat. Hot spots: main lake points; mouths of coves/creeks; cliff walls and ledges; wind-blown points and banks. What's working: topwater at first light (Spook, Whopper Plopper, Choppo); shallow crankbait, jerkbait, spinnerbaits, lipless baits along banks/secondary points for numbers; deep crankbait/swimbait off deeper edges for bigger fish; drop shot, shaky head, Ned rig in 15–25 ft on bright calm days; Texas-rigged worms/craws in green pumpkin/watermelon for clear water. Conditions: water 74°F, dropping toward upper 60s by month's end; lake 677.75 ft (~3 ft below pool, back in the coves after ~1.5 ft of rain); fall feed starting — shad pushing into coves, bass following. Weekend game plan: no striper/white bass action to report — but the largemouth bite is fair-to-good if you want to bend a rod. GO for black bass.
Overall summary
Best bets: (1) Calaveras red drum — the week's hottest bite, schooled up in open water; (2) Buchanan stripers/hybrids — dam topwater at dawn, schooling fish mid-afternoon; (3) Canyon white bass on 30-ft structure + excellent schooling largemouth. Weekend weather: Friday's cold front flipped the region into fall. Saturday: sunny, 68°F, gusty afternoon (up to ~25 mph — favor sheltered coves), 0% rain, ZERO lightning risk. Sunday: partly cloudy, 74°F, light wind, 0% rain, ZERO lightning risk. Verdict: GO — dry, cool, no lightning anywhere in the picture.