Lake Austin Fishing Report: Baitfish Blitz, Bass Bonanza, and Catfish Crushers

Artificial Lure here with your Lake Austin fishing report for Saturday, September 13th, 2025, bright and early after sunrise. Morning temps kicked off around 73 degrees, climbing into the upper 90s by afternoon, with high humidity and barely a whisper of wind. The sunrise stretched out at 7:12 this morning and sunset will hit at 7:38 tonight—so you’ve got a healthy chunk of daylight to work with. Lake levels remain steady and, though we ain’t got coastal tides up here, water clarity is fair—expect patchy vegetation, particularly upriver and along bulkheads. The big story is the start of the fall transition: according to several experienced anglers and supported by chatter on Fishbrain, baitfish are swarming right now. Schools of shad and bluegill are drawing in predators, and the bite is strong around sunrise and sunset, tapering off but not stopping mid-day as the heat rises. Largemouth bass are dominating the catches this week with reports of 2 lb to 5 lb fish landed throughout the lake, especially near rock ledges, docks, and deeper grass lines. Topwater baits continue to get crushed just after daybreak—think whopper ploppers, walking baits, and prop baits. Once the sun’s up, switch to moving baits that imitate shad, like chatterbaits, white spinnerbaits, and underspin swimbaits. Teamu’s chatterbait in shad or gold color has been landing quality fish, and an underspin or a classic jerkbait is pulling solid numbers, especially within shaded pockets and current eddies where baitfish cloud up. If you’re more about numbers than size, the bluegill and sunfish bite is hot using small worms or pieces of nightcrawler below a float in the shallows around boat docks. Catfish, particularly channel and the occasional blue, are still active on live or cut bait in the evenings—try chicken liver or shrimp off deeper bends or creek drop-offs. Recent catch reports from Fishbrain highlight largemouth bass as the lake’s main draw, with over 50,000 reported catches in the Austin area; channel catfish and bluegill are the steady bridesmaids. Over on Lady Bird, which connects to Lake Austin, the Texas Parks and Wildlife record books show some whoppers this season, including a 14.05 lb largemouth just landed earlier this year—so you never know when your number is up with that trophy fish lurking below. Hot spots today? Don’t overthink it: the shallows by Emma Long Park are loaded with bait in the mornings, and powerlines near the Pennybacker Bridge consistently yield bites all day, thanks to structure and current breaks. Upriver bends stacked with hydrilla and rocky points, especially around St. Stephens Cove, are primed for midday punching or weedless swimbait work. For best results: - **Early**: Topwater action with whopper ploppers, buzzbaits, or poppers. - **Midday**: Transition to chatterbaits, spinnerbaits, jerkbaits, and weedless underspins. - **Catfish**: Stinky baits like liver or shad heads on the bottom near creek mouths after sunset. - **Sunfish This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.