LADY BIRD LAKE Big Bass Guide

What's New in v3

  1. The whole lake. Tom Miller Dam to Longhorn Dam: 6.0 river miles in 12 reaches, with four new reach chapters (9–12) and 20 new spots east of Congress, each with a micro-map, profile, deep-water access and GPS analysis.
  2. Built for giants. New chapters on records and biology, every Lady Bird ShareLunker (69 entries), seasonal giant locations, lures and techniques (glides, big worms, jigs, punching, live bait, night fishing, the moon), tackle and landing near pilings, and fish care and ShareLunker entry.
  3. A giant-potential score for every spot, with a ranked map and table, and a giant strip on every spot card.
  4. New maps: a hillshaded whole-lake overview, a fold-out whole-lake map, the ranked giant-spots map, four seasonal maps, and a 3-D view of the lower lake for the cover.
  5. Bladed-jig material removed from the reach chapters and spot pages; v1 and v2 stay available.
  6. Sun and wind tables now cover all 12 reaches.
  7. Waypoints for all 51 spots, ranked (GPX, KML, CSV).
  8. Corrections. The deepest water is at the Holly bend (~35 ft), not at Longhorn Dam (15–21 ft at the face). Boggy Creek and Montopolis are below Longhorn Dam, not in the lake.

What I Could Not Verify

Carried over from earlier editions:

  1. Current depths. The newest published survey is from 2008. TWDB's 2025 resurvey for the City, approved at up to $107,038, isn't published that I could find (City of Austin).
  2. Navionics or other chart data. I didn't check any.
  3. A typical release schedule. LCRA doesn't publish the hydropower schedule. I captured two days of releases, and I can't confirm which calendar day each one covers.
  4. Release water temperature. The 462-ft turbine intake elevation comes from a search summary of TWDB's 1999 Lake Austin report.
  5. Current lake temperature and clarity. I found no live gauge in the lake itself.
  6. Milfoil's current status. The City and TPWD disagree. I also don't know how thick the fanwort is this October.
  7. Bass numbers since 2019. TPWD's planned 2023 survey isn't online.
  8. Where the private docks, bulkheads and riprap are in this stretch.
  9. The exact location of the submerged "shallow water dam" near the old Green plant intake, and of the "historic submerged dams" the City mentions.
  10. Whether the no-boat zone (City code 8-5-82) is current. Confirm with Lake Patrol at (512) 329-8841.
  11. Red Bud parking details come from third-party guides.
  12. Items I could only see in search summaries: the Phormidium link, the CBS Austin closure story, the Boardwalk location, the ACL closure dates, and the kayak tournament results.
  13. Austin Bass Fishing forum threads blocked my reader.
  14. Crawfish abundance. TPWD doesn't survey them.
  15. Rowing and paddle traffic times are inferred, not measured.
  16. Fish-consumption data is from 1998.

New in this guide:

  1. TWDB's 1-ft raster isn't published. Every depth figure here comes from my own triangulated 5-ft grid of TWDB's published points analysis. Small coves where TWDB has no coverage, such as inner Johnson Branch and upper Barton Creek, are hatched on the maps, and I give no depths there.
  2. Depths are measured from 429 ft. Real depths may be up to about a foot shallower, and the bottom may have changed since 2008.
  3. Spot markers and labels are placed from OpenStreetMap and are good to about ±100 ft.
  4. The Texas Hawgs claims (14.05-lb record, 18-ft maximum depth) conflict with TPWD and TWDB.
  5. No Lady Bird-specific source for squarebills, swim jigs or Neko rigs.
  6. Excluded sources. I left out sites whose Lady Bird "reports" read as auto-generated (andermeine.com "Bassquatch," BassHawk, bassaiq.com, guidepole.com), so their lure claims don't appear here.
  7. The seasonal plays, boat positions, cast angles and flowchart branches are my analysis built from the sourced facts. They are not rules published by any source.

New in v2:

  1. Pier positions are inferred from NBI span counts. Only the railroad bridge has surveyed footings (TWDB). Pfluger has no data. Real piers may be tens of feet off.
  2. Bank types come from a georeferenced print map (median error 76 ft, worst 382 ft in the Barton arm) and from OSM. Cypress can't be mapped. Docks are under-represented.
  3. Sediment and debris zones were traced by eye from the City's PDF exhibit. The location of the "partially collapsed dam near Seaholm" isn't given.
  4. This October's grass: TPWD 2019 and the City's 2023–2025 accounts disagree, and nothing current is published.
  5. Shade assumes 40-ft trees everywhere. Real heights vary, and lawns and bulkheads cast none.
  6. Fetch comes from the 2008 water outline and the reach centerline. Real chop also depends on gusts, bluffs and buildings.
  7. Slopes within about 20 ft of the bank depend on how the grid joins the shoreline to the first survey line. Walls are real; the exact steepness may be overstated.
  8. Spot GPS is ±50–100 ft. It hasn't been checked on the water.
  9. Pressure and front behavior is general bass-fishing practice, not Lady Bird data.
  10. The Pfluger Bridge build year (2001) is from memory, not a cited source.

New in v3:

  1. The giant score is my judgment. Deep-water access and data support are measured; cover, forage and especially pressure are judgment calls inference.
  2. East-of-Congress depths are sparser in places. Spots 10D, 10E, 11A and 11D sit where soundings are far apart, so their breaks are mostly interpolated (data score 1–2).
  3. Max depth conflict. TPWD's lake page lists 18 ft; TWDB's 2008 soundings show about 35 ft at the Holly bend. I used TWDB.
  4. Lagoon boat access. Whether a boat can get into the Fiesta Gardens lagoon (11B) through the channel near the Holly pier is unconfirmed.
  5. I-35 construction. Pier positions, barges and closures at 10A may differ from the 2025 NBI data and the 2008 survey.
  6. The ShareLunker archive may not list every entry (for example, Grant Langmore's 13.50-lb 2015 record isn't in it). Entries reflect where and when people fish, not only where giants live.
  7. The nearest certified weigh station (Loop 360 on Lake Austin) should be confirmed through the hotline before you need it.
  8. Park hours for bank fishing at night weren't confirmed; the 5 am–10 pm limit cited is for boats.
  9. The offshore humps TPWD mentions near Longhorn Dam aren't located.
  10. Longhorn Dam gate operations and safe distances weren't sourced.
  11. Bank-type and bottom maps still cover only Reaches 1–8.

Sources

  1. TPWD: https://tpwd.texas.gov/newsmedia/releases/?req=20251230b
  2. TWDB 1999: https://www.twdb.texas.gov/hydro_survey/ladybird/1999-03/TownLake1999_FinalReport.pdf
  3. TPWD: https://tpwd.texas.gov/fishboat/fish/recreational/lakes/lady_bird/
  4. TWDB 2008: https://www.twdb.texas.gov/hydro_survey/LadyBird/2008-12/LadyBird2008_FinalReport.pdf
  5. Outdoor Life: https://www.outdoorlife.com/fishing/record-largemouth-caught-in-downtown-austin-is-the-biggest-bass-so-far-of-the-2025-texas-sharelunker-season/
  6. TPWD 2019: https://tpwd.texas.gov/publications/pwdpubs/media/lake_survey/pwd_rp_t3200_1385_2019.pdf
  7. TWDB 2008 shapefiles: https://www.twdb.texas.gov/surfacewater/surveys/completed/files/LadyBird/2008-12/Shapefiles.zip
  8. TPWD release: https://tpwd.texas.gov/newsmedia/releases/?req=20250211a
  9. TPWD all-tackle records: https://tpwd.texas.gov/fishboat/fish/action/alltackle.php?WB_code=0737
  10. USA Today FTW: https://ftw.usatoday.com/story/sports/outdoors/2025/05/29/texas-fisherman-catches-record-bass-releases-months-later/83908625007/
  11. ShareLunker archives: https://texassharelunker.com/archives/
  12. TPWD regulations: https://tpwd.texas.gov/fishboat/fish/action/fishregs2.php?water=0737
  13. City code 8-5-82: https://services.austintexas.gov/edims/document.cfm?id=173264
  14. Tackle Tour: https://tackletour.com/reviewbaitsanityantidote.html
  15. Tackle Underground: https://tackleunderground.com/topic/40638-experienced-glide-bait-builders/
  16. Bassmaster/Iaconelli: https://www.bassmaster.com/column/michael-iaconelli/dont-miss-this-glidebait-window/
  17. MeatEater: https://www.themeateater.com/gear/gear-fish/how-to-fish-a-glide-bait
  18. City of Austin: https://services.austintexas.gov/edims/document.cfm?id=432234
  19. City of Austin: https://services.austintexas.gov/edims/document.cfm?id=458109
  20. TPWD general rules: https://tpwd.texas.gov/regulations/outdoor-annual/fishing/general-rules-regulations/general-fishing-regulations
  21. congressbats.com: https://congressbats.com/
  22. KVUE: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/lady-bird-lake-now-listed-as-infested-with-invasive-zebra-mussels/269-609390611
  23. TPWD map: https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/species/exotic/zebramusselmap.phtml
  24. Wired2Fish: https://www.wired2fish.com/summer-fishing/fishing-for-smallies-in-zebra-mussel-waters
  25. TPWD catch and release: https://tpwd.texas.gov/regulations/outdoor-annual/fishing/freshwater-fishing/catch-release-tips
  26. Austin Rowing Club: https://austinrowing.org/weather-water-conditions/
  27. TPWD bass catch and release: https://tpwd.texas.gov/fishboat/fish/recreational/catchrelease/bassconserve.phtml
  28. Captain Experiences: https://captainexperiences.com/fishing-reports/locations/regions/lady-bird-lake
  29. City of Austin 2020: https://services.austintexas.gov/edims/document.cfm?id=352244
  30. City plant page: https://www.austintexas.gov/watershed-protection/programs/plant-life-austins-lakes
  31. TXST 2019: https://gato-docs.its.txst.edu/jcr:375d9d74-fb78-47ce-b4bd-5918eaa3cb2c/Lady%20Bird%20Lake%20Watershed%20Data%20Report_190925.pdf
  32. TPWD paddling trail: https://tpwd.texas.gov/fishboat/boat/paddlingtrails/inland/lady_bird_lake/index.phtml/1000
  33. TPWD access: https://tpwd.texas.gov/fishboat/fish/recreational/lakes/lady_bird/access.phtml
  34. City of Austin: https://www.austintexas.gov/watershed-protection/algae-austins-waterways
  35. City news: https://www.austintexas.gov/watershed-protection/news/blue-green-algae-returns-red-bud-isle-walsh-boat-ramp
  36. ARC map: https://ladybirdnavy.org/media/map.pdf
  37. City of Austin: https://www.austintexas.gov/parks/locations/lady-bird-lake
  38. Torwick: https://www.torwicksguidingservice.com/single-post/lady-bird-lake-bass-fishing-report-fall-2024-november-16-2024
  39. City of Austin 2025: https://services.austintexas.gov/edims/document.cfm?id=460946
  40. Rowing Dock: https://www.rowingdock.com/plan-your-visit/
  41. City of Austin: https://www.austintexas.gov/parks/locations/zilker-metropolitan-park
  42. City of Austin, Barton Creek study: https://services.austintexas.gov/edims/document.cfm?id=186235
  43. USGS 08155500: https://waterservices.usgs.gov/nwis/iv/?format=json&sites=08155500&parameterCd=00060,00010&period=P1D
  44. City of Austin: https://www.austintexas.gov/parks/locations/about-barton-springs-pool
  45. Shoal Creek Conservancy: https://shoalcreekconservancy.org/vegetative-trash-trap-mouth-shoal-creek/
  46. City of Austin: https://services.austintexas.gov/edims/document.cfm?id=452169
  47. NBI via FHWA: https://infobridge.fhwa.dot.gov/
  48. FHWA NBI: https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/bridge/nbi/2025/delimited/TX25.txt
  49. OpenStreetMap: https://www.openstreetmap.org/
  50. WeatherSpark: https://weatherspark.com/m/8004/10/Average-Weather-in-October-in-Austin-Texas-United-States
  51. LCRA River Operations Report: https://hydromet.lcra.org/riverreport/
  52. LCRA data feed: https://hydromet.lcra.org/api/RiverReport/GetRiverReportData
  53. flood status page: https://hydromet.lcra.org/floodstatus
  54. USGS monitoring location 08155500: https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/08155500/
  55. 2025 daily values: https://waterservices.usgs.gov/nwis/dv/?format=json&sites=08155500&parameterCd=00010&startDT=2025-01-01&endDT=2025-12-31&statCd=00003
  56. WeatherSpark history: https://weatherspark.com/h/m/8004/2024/10/Historical-Weather-in-October-2024-in-Austin-Texas-United-States
  57. Trail Conservancy safety study: https://thetrailconservancy.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/BUTLER-TRAIL-Safety-Mobility-Study-1.pdf
  58. TRC: https://www.texasrowingcenter.com/kayak
  59. Capital Cruises: https://capitalcruises.com/bat-watching/
  60. Austin Bat Refuge: https://austinbatrefuge.org/congress-avenue-bridge/