Lake Buchanan fishing: Striped Bass, Largemouth Bass, Walleye
Target species: Striped Bass, Largemouth Bass, Walleye, Blue Catfish, White Bass, Redbreast, Channel Catfish
The reservoir
Lake Buchanan covers 21,979 acres in Texas, across 3 counties: Llano, Burnet and San Saba. It is a reservoir: 93.4% of it is 80 feet deep or less; the deepest point measured is 105 feet (31.9 m). Our records hold 11 species for this water.
Depth: down to 105 ft at the deepest measured point
Deepest measured point: 105 ft (31.9 m). 93.4% of the water is 80 feet or shallower.
- 0–10 ft: 16.1% of the water
- 10–20 ft: 15.9% of the water
- 20–30 ft: 12.9% of the water
- 30–40 ft: 11.9% of the water
- 40–50 ft: 12.1% of the water
- 50–60 ft: 10.3% of the water
- 60–70 ft: 8.3% of the water
- 70–80 ft: 5.9% of the water
- 80–90 ft: 4% of the water
- 90–100 ft: 2.2% of the water
- 100–103 ft: 0.5% of the water
7 target fish, led by Striped Bass
- Striped Bass — Feeding water: 60–75°F.
- Largemouth Bass — Feeding water: 65–85°F.
- Walleye — Feeding water: 50–75°F.
- Blue Catfish — Feeding water: 70–85°F.
- White Bass — Feeding water: 65–75°F.
- Redbreast — Feeding water: 65–80°F.
- Channel Catfish — Feeding water: 70–85°F.
Also recorded here: Sunshine Bass, Common Carp, Blue Tilapia, Inland Silverside.
Stocking: 41,832,348 fish, 1996–2026
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department records list 41,832,348 fish released into this water from 1996 to 2026.
- Sunshine Bass: 19,683,472 in 2007–2026
- Striped Bass: 14,151,866 in 2004–2026
- Walleye: 5,313,332 in 1975–1977
- Largemouth Bass: 500,000 in 1969
- Blue Catfish: 466,040 in 1989–1990
- Channel Catfish: 319,579 in 1969–2023
One more species on the stocking list.
Water and conditions
Our water temperature readings average 68°F; they do not cover the whole year, so this is not a yearly average. These readings span 2019. The latest reading is from 2019, more than three years ago: read these numbers as history, not as the water today.
What is hard here
Wind is the limit, not the fish: 21,979 acres of open water build a short steep chop, and there is no shelter in the middle.
Where this data comes from
- Texas Water Development Board — Texas Water Development Board: depth contours: class A, a survey of the bottom, 2019.
- 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.
