Canyon Lake fishing: Largemouth Bass, Striped Bass, Smallmouth Bass

Target species: Largemouth Bass, Striped Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Rainbow Trout, Walleye, Redbreast, Blue Catfish
Boat: 1 ramp or launch on file for this water.
Start here: Launch at Canyon Lake Marina.

The reservoir

Canyon Lake covers 8,243 acres in Texas, across Comal County. It is a reservoir: the deepest figure on record is 147 feet (44.7 m), as published by USACE CWMS, a figure without a map of the bottom. Our records hold 15 species for this water.

7 target fish, led by Largemouth Bass

  • Largemouth Bass — Feeding water: 65–85°F.
  • Striped Bass — Feeding water: 60–75°F.
  • Smallmouth Bass — Feeding water: 60–75°F.
  • Rainbow Trout — Feeding water: 50–65°F.
  • Walleye — Feeding water: 50–75°F.
  • Redbreast — Feeding water: 65–80°F.
  • Blue Catfish — Feeding water: 70–85°F.

Also recorded here: White Bass, Black Crappie, Channel Catfish, White Crappie, Common Carp, Grass Carp, Blue Tilapia, Threadfin Shad.

Stocking: 17,385,550 fish, 1989–2026

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department records list 17,385,550 fish released into this water from 1989 to 2026.

  • Walleye: 10,301,113 in 1965–1985
  • Striped Bass: 3,686,922 in 1999–2026
  • Smallmouth Bass: 732,012 in 1974–1989
  • Blue Catfish: 259,795 in 1991–1992
  • Black Crappie: 72,446 in 1967–2021
  • Largemouth Bass: 30,380 in 1987
  • Channel Catfish: 19,200 in 1966
  • White Crappie: 7,000 in 1966–1967

2 more species on the stocking list.

USACE Canyon Lake and Dam Texas.jpg
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, photographer not specified or unknown · Public domain

Water and conditions

Water clarity runs 4.3–17.9 feet on our readings, averaging 9.4 feet, from 62 readings. Our water temperature readings average 70°F; they do not cover the whole year, so this is not a yearly average. pH averages 8.1. These readings span 2016–2026.

Depth and bottom

Deepest figure on record: 147 ft (44.7 m), as published by USACE CWMS. We hold no survey map of this bottom, so we show no depth bands. We hold 57 depth contour lines for this water.

Canyon Lake, TX.jpg
Eric Polk · CC BY-SA 4.0

1 ramp or launch on this water

On this water we hold 1 boat ramp.

  • Canyon Lake Marina — Canyon Lake. 280 Marina, Canyon Lake 78133 · phone +1 830 935 4333 · website canyonlakemarinastx.com

The place listed has no fee or opening hours on file: a blank means we hold no such field, not that it is free or always open, and this list may not be complete.

What is hard here

Wind is the limit, not the fish: 8,243 acres of open water build a short steep chop, and there is no shelter in the middle. Clarity swings from 4.3 to 17.9 feet between our readings — the water you meet is not the water someone photographed. Only 1 public ramp is on file, so the launch decides where you fish.

Where this data comes from

  • Texas Water Development Board — Texas Water Development Board: depth contours: class A, a survey of the bottom, 2010.
  • USACE CWMS — USACE CWMS elevation-area curves: class B, a depth figure measured and published by an agency, without a bottom map.
  • Webster, K.E., McCullough, I.M., Soranno, P.A. LAGOS-US DEPTH v1.0, EDI, doi:10.6073/pasta/64ddc4d04661d9aef4bd702dc5d8984f (CC BY 4.0); Cheruvelil et al. LAGOS-US LOCUS v1.0 (EDI) — LAGOS-US DEPTH v1.0: Lake depth for 17,675 lakes in the conterminous U.S.: class B, a depth figure measured and published by an agency, without a bottom map.