Built from anglers' and guides' own Facebook and Instagram posts dated October 14–20, 2026.
Lake Buchanan
- Activity: Striped bass led the week. Amy G. posted a sunset-to-night trip (trip on October 18) that put about fourteen stripers in the boat. Largemouth bass are being caught too — Ray W. posted largemouth from a bass boat on October 17.
- Guide highlight: Ken Milam of Ken Milam Guide Service put a family of four on ten striped bass on October 15 — the fish were stacked on the cleaning table.
- What's working: The evening window. The week's biggest Buchanan haul came fishing from sunset into the night; guided trips are putting fish on the cleaning table as well.
- Weekend game plan: Fish the sunset-to-dark window for stripers — that's when Buchanan produced this week.
Canyon Lake
- Activity: Largemouth bass, from boats and from the bank. William B. and Tiffany F. caught largemouth from shore on October 15; Brandon R. posted a largemouth on October 19; Steve N. posted a family trip with the kids reeling in largemouth on October 19.
- Guide highlight: Tyler Stanley of Game On Guide Service ran largemouth trips on October 14 (clients holding bass) and October 17 (a father-and-son trip — bass from the dock and the boat, with the boy holding his own fish).
- What's working: Soft-plastic worms from shore; a small silver crankbait; guided trips are catching bass both off the dock and out on the water.
- Weekend game plan: Make it a bass trip — soft plastics and small crankbaits, and don't overlook the bank.
Lake Calaveras
- Activity: The hottest lake of the week. Red drum all week long, with catfish riding along. Vickie D. posted a couple behind six red drum at the cleaning table on October 15; Robert R. landed a big redfish from his kayak the same day; Nick G. posted a mixed catfish-and-redfish trip (with Carlos) on October 17.
- Guide highlights: Albert Soto of Kat-Mars Fishing Charters found a big school of reds on October 14 — doubles coming over the rail and six redfish on the cleaning table — then landed two large redfish on camera on October 15, one about 35 inches. Raymond Esckilsen of Bones Fishing Guide Service put a family on a big redfish on October 18, with a cleaning table piled with catfish the same day. Soto also runs open-boat trips on Sundays at 7:30 in the morning, a hundred dollars a person.
- What's working: Spoons over a located school of reds ("spoon-fed reds," per Soto's own post); the cleaning-station spreads stayed full of reds and catfish from October 14 straight through October 20.
- Weekend game plan: Go. Calaveras red drum are the surest bet in Central Texas this weekend.
Granger Lake
- Activity: Crappie. Deon H. posted a morning trip on October 14 that filled the livewell with about twenty-five crappie.
- What's working: LiveScope over structure in ten to eleven feet of water — the fish were stacked on it.
- Weekend game plan: Crappie over mid-depth structure with electronics — the morning pattern produced a full livewell.
Lake Travis
- Activity: Largemouth bass, and a lot of them. Charles W. posted two anglers holding large bass on October 20 ("Hammer time on Travis"); Ray V. posted a golden-hour largemouth on October 16.
- Guide highlights: Captain Wyatt Rae ran scoping lessons on a client's boat on October 19 — about seventy fish caught, with a twenty-four-pound best five. Barefoot Fishing Tours put two clients on largemouth bass on October 19. A topwater bait at first light is producing (reported October 19).
- What's working: A soft-plastic trick worm behind the scope (Rae's trip); a multi-colored spinnerbait; a swimbait fished near docks; a green soft-plastic worm; a paddle-tail swimbait on an underspin.
- Weekend game plan: Topwater at first light, then soft plastics — that's the Travis pattern from guides and everyday anglers alike this week.
Overall summary
Calaveras is the headline — red drum day after day, from kayaks, pontoons, and charter boats. Buchanan's stripers are an evening story: the sunset-to-night window produced the week's biggest haul, and the guides are putting fish on the cleaning table. Travis is giving up bass in numbers, including a seventy-fish scoping day. Canyon is a bass lake right now — boats, docks, and bank all produced largemouth this week. Granger's one verified report is a good one: a livewell of crappie off mid-depth structure.
Weekend weather (Austin area)
- Friday, October 23: Partly cloudy, high 85. Wind from the south-southeast at 6 miles an hour.
- Saturday, October 24: Partly cloudy, high 87. Wind from the southeast at 8 miles an hour.
- Sunday, October 25: Cloudy, high 84. Wind from the east-southeast at 8 miles an hour.
The wind is a factor all three days: a light southeast breeze at 6 to 8 miles an hour will put a chop on open water — noticeable on the big lakes, but well within fishable range. Warm and dry across the board, with just a slight chance of rain Saturday and Sunday.