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

Target species: Largemouth Bass, Striped Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Walleye, Blue Catfish, Redbreast, White Bass
Boat: 1 ramp or launch on file for this water.
Start here: Launch at Crosswater Yacht Club.

The reservoir

Lake Travis covers 17,761 acres in Texas, across 2 counties: Travis and Burnet. It is a reservoir: 91.1% of it is 120 feet deep or less; the deepest point measured is 169 feet (51.7 m). Our records hold 12 species for this water.

Depth: down to 169 ft at the deepest measured point

Deepest measured point: 169 ft (51.7 m). 91.1% of the water is 120 feet or shallower.

Lake Travis at Capacity.jpg
Trey Perry · CC BY 3.0
  • 0–10 ft: 13.1% of the water
  • 10–20 ft: 13.4% of the water
  • 20–30 ft: 10.7% of the water
  • 30–40 ft: 9.5% of the water
  • 40–50 ft: 8.4% of the water
  • 50–60 ft: 7.5% of the water
  • 60–70 ft: 6.3% of the water
  • 70–80 ft: 5.3% of the water
  • 80–90 ft: 5% of the water
  • 90–100 ft: 4.9% of the water
  • 100–110 ft: 3.8% of the water
  • 110–120 ft: 3.2% of the water
  • 120–130 ft: 2.8% of the water
  • 130–140 ft: 2.3% of the water
  • 140–150 ft: 2% of the water
  • 150–160 ft: 1.6% of the water
  • 160–168 ft: 0.5% of the 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.
  • Walleye — Feeding water: 50–75°F.
  • Blue Catfish — Feeding water: 70–85°F.
  • Redbreast — Feeding water: 65–80°F.
  • White Bass — Feeding water: 65–75°F.

Also recorded here: Rainbow Trout, Channel Catfish, Common Carp, Blue Tilapia, Inland Silverside.

Stocking: 20,131,620 fish, 1967–2026

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department records list 20,131,620 fish released into this water from 1967 to 2026.

Lake Travis March 2016 1.JPG
Fredlyfish4 · CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Walleye: 12,752,065 in 1976–1979
  • Striped Bass: 3,600,302 in 1973–2017
  • Smallmouth Bass: 751,390 in 1977–1979
  • Largemouth Bass: 238,000 in 1967
  • Channel Catfish: 101,474 in 1971–2018
  • Blue Catfish: 101,313 in 1979

3 more species on the stocking list.

1 ramp or launch on this water

On this water we hold 1 boat ramp.

Aerial - Mansfield Dam and Lake Travis 01.jpg
Joe Mabel · CC BY 3.0
  • Crosswater Yacht Club — Austin, Crosswater Yacht Club. 1505 Hurst Creek Road, Austin 78734 · phone +1 512-261-5253 · email [email protected]

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.

Water and conditions

Our water temperature readings average 77°F; they do not cover the whole year, so this is not a yearly average. pH averages 7.5. These readings span 2021. The latest reading is from 2021, 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: 17,761 acres of open water build a short steep chop, and there is no shelter in the middle. 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, 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.