A planning edition for Friday October 23 – Sunday October 25, 2026, built from verified catch posts dated October 16–22, 2026. Every post below carries a logged source URL + full date in the run's research notes.
The week so far (rolling window, October 16–22)
- Calaveras — still the headline. Red drum and catfish on the cleaning tables all week. Albert Soto (Kat-Mars Fishing Charters) posted cleaning-station spreads on October 16 (about a dozen mixed redfish and catfish, six large redfish), on October 17 (families behind red drum and catfish spreads), and on October 20 (a family of six behind seven large catfish). Raymond Esckilsen (Bones Fishing Guide Service) put a family on a big redfish on October 18, with a cleaning table piled with catfish the same day — plus a second October 18 video of a thrashing redfish coming up at the boat. Nick G. posted a pontoon catfish-and-redfish trip on October 17 (about eight fish). HM Guide Service posted cleaning-table catfish spreads on October 19 — one group behind ten large catfish, another behind about sixteen. Ivis C. trolled a kayak on October 20 and picked up a redfish and a catfish on lures, with another catfish on live bait.
- Travis — largemouth in numbers, and the freshest signal in the window. A full largemouth day was reported on October 21 — the tally counter reads thirty-seven fish, with sunset shots over the water. Mark V. caught largemouth from a kayak on October 21 in calm water and clear skies. Cole C. posted six photos on October 17 of young men holding large largemouth on a boat at daylight and dusk. Capt. Wyatt Rae ran scoping lessons on October 19 — about seventy fish, with a twenty-four-pound best five, on a soft-plastic trick worm — and was back on October 20, scoping fish and landing a large bass on camera. Charles W. posted two anglers holding large bass on October 20. The Friz caught largemouth on a multi-colored spinnerbait on October 18. Ray V. posted a golden-hour largemouth on October 16. West Coast Baits posted a largemouth on a swimbait near docks on October 16. Barefoot Fishing Tours put two clients on largemouth on October 19, and a topwater bait at first light is producing (reported October 19). Leon C. fished a Travis dock from evening into the night on October 17 and caught a large catfish plus sunfish.
- Canyon — a bass lake right now, and the posts keep coming. Tyler Stanley (Game On Guide Service) posted on October 21 two older men with largemouth bass, caught from the boat on a sunny day — on top of his October 17 father-and-son trip, with bass off the dock and the boat. Steve N. posted on October 22 — this morning — a family outing with young boys holding largemouth, one boy actively reeling with his rod bent. Brandon R. caught a largemouth on a small silver crankbait on October 19, and Steve N.'s October 19 post had the kids reeling in largemouth.
- Buchanan — an evening striper story. Amy G.'s sunset-to-night trip on October 18 put about fourteen stripers in the boat — the window's biggest haul. Ray W. posted largemouth from a bass boat on October 17.
- Granger — first real action of the window. Melissa C. posted on October 21 a full-day outing with about thirty crappie laid out on a pickup tailgate, from a calm, clear day along dead-tree shoreline. Colin C. posted on October 18 about two dozen crappie neatly arranged at a lakeside cleaning station.
The weekend plan, lake by lake
- Buchanan: Plan an evening trip. The window's stripers came from sunset into the dark (October 18), so be set up before the sun goes down — about 6:51 PM Friday, 6:49 PM Sunday — and fish into the night the way Amy G. did. Largemouth are a posted backup (October 17). Wind caveat: the southeast breeze at 6–9 mph is a factor on Buchanan's open water — expect a chop on the main lake.
- Canyon: Make it a bass trip, and the freshest report on the board favors it — a family on largemouth posted this morning (October 22). Tyler Stanley's October 21 guided trip put two men on largemouth from the boat on a sunny day, on top of his October 17 dock-and-boat pattern. Keep a small silver crankbait tied on (October 19) and work the dock-and-boat water the way this week's trips did.
- Calaveras: Go. The pattern all week is reds and catfish coming to the cleaning tables — posted October 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20. Trolling lures from a kayak produced a redfish and a catfish on October 20, and live bait took a catfish as well. If you'd rather ride with a guide, Soto listed open-boat trips on Sunday mornings at 7:30 AM, a hundred dollars a person (posted October 17). Wind caveat: the southeast breeze is a factor on the open water.
- Granger: Go for crappie. Two verified spreads — about two dozen at a cleaning station on October 18 and about thirty from a full-day tailgate trip on October 21 — say the fish are grouped up and catchable. A full-day effort is what produced the thirty-fish haul.
- Travis: Be on the water before first light. Sunrise is about 7:38–7:39 all weekend, and a topwater bait at first light is producing (October 19). After the early window, follow the week's strongest fresh signal: the October 21 thirty-seven-largemouth day — target the same daylight pattern that day ran. A soft-plastic trick worm behind the scope produced on October 19 and 20, a multi-colored spinnerbait produced on October 18, and a swimbait near docks produced on October 16. A kayak trip on calm water produced largemouth on October 21, and a Travis dock gave up a big catfish after dark on October 17.
Weekend weather (weather.com Austin, retrieved October 22)
- Friday, October 23: Sunny, high 86, low 59. Rain 10% day and night. Wind south-southeast at 7 miles an hour by day, 6 at night. Sunrise 7:38 AM, sunset 6:51 PM.
- Saturday, October 24: Partly cloudy, high 87, low 61. Rain 10%. Wind southeast at 8 miles an hour day and night — the windiest day of the three. Sunrise 7:39 AM, sunset 6:50 PM.
- Sunday, October 25: Cloudy, high 83, low 59. Rain 10% by day, clearing at night. Wind east-southeast at 8 miles an hour by day, easing to 6 at night. Sunrise 7:39 AM, sunset 6:49 PM.
Planning read: The wind is a factor all three days — six to nine miles an hour out of the southeast will put a chop on open water — but well below hold-off levels everywhere. Friday is the lightest-wind day — the pick for open-water plans on Buchanan and Calaveras. Saturday is the warmest and windiest. Sunday brings the most cloud cover.
One-trip pick
Calaveras Lake, red drum. It is the rolling window's strongest verified pattern — reds posted on October 16, 17, and 18 (cleaning tables full, a guided family on a big redfish, a thrashing red at the boat on video), another red from a kayak on October 20, and catfish riding along every one of those days. Any of the three days works, and if you want a guided seat, Soto's open-boat trip leaves Sunday at 7:30 in the morning at a hundred dollars a person.