July 2025 Lake Travis Fishing Report - Information About New Lake Level

Over the past month, the lake level of Lake Travis has climbed significantly, rising approximately 27 feet—from around 637ft MSL to a current level of about 664 ft MSL as of July 13, 2025 . This increase follows exceptionally heavy rainfall across the basin, with gauges in the Pedernales River, Sandy Creek, and Llano River systems recording 10+ inches of rain over the past 30 days. Just down the road from where I live in Sandy Creek there was quite a bit of destruction due to the flooding. Sadly it's usually a scenario like this that fills Lake Travis back up. My thoughts and prayers are with all those affected by the recent flooding.

On a lighter note with all that rain the lake is looking good! As of writing this there are still significant flows coming into Lake Travis, so I expect by the time you read this the lake will be higher. With all that new water in the lake has come a ton more cover to fish! The brush; mostly Honey Mesquite, that grows around the lake has had several years to grow in. There is SO MUCH new cover to fish and habitat for these fish to get up in.

I've been on the lake several days since the flooding and increase in the lake level and the fishing conditions are actually really good. I have seen very little debris in the lake, and the water clarity on the lower end of the lake is still quite good. I don't want to diminish the fact that you need to be extra cautious when navigating the lake, but all the debris the news and people on the local boating groups are talking about is way up lake... I've read a lot of false information and fear mongering about the lake this past week. I've fish from Cody Park all the way down to Hudson Bend and the debris in the lake is very minimal.

You probably read on the news that "Lake Travis is closed", that is not entirely true. Just to clarify this, Travis County Judge Andy Brown very foolishly passed an order closing the lake to all lake access... this included all recreational and commercial activity... even the dock companies that have been working hard to repair and move people's docks and boats affected by the flooding. Thanks to public pushback, as of today that order has since been amended to only restrict access to Lake Travis upstream of mile marker 36 and upstream of Sandy Creek park. This is way up river from where I fish and will NOT have any impact on my upcoming trips. If you have a trip booked fret not! I think this amendment is much more reasonable and inline with public safety.

As far as the fishing goes I find you do have to move a lot looking for fish as there is a ton of brush to cover, but when you find them schooled up it can be game on! Keep in mind the fish don't just evenly spread out in the brush, it's very common for them to school up in specific areas. During my last trips I got on one school of bass sitting out off a little ledge with submerged brush on it and we TORE THEM UP! And when I say that I mean I sat on spot lock for an hour and never moved... we caught probably 25 fish with our biggest 5 going around 17 LBS. The young boys and their dad I took out fishing got spoiled! It was the kind of fishing I live for.

With that said it's not always like that. Due to there being so much brush in the lake you do need to cover water and keep fishing until you get bites. Don't slow down until you get bit. One of the keys to finding brush that's holding fish is locating bait. With my sonar I've been able to locate areas with schools of sunfish around the brush and schools of shad out in front of it, this is important to finding the bass.

Fishing grass is still in play, but depending on how much more the lake rises it may not be. In the past I've found hydrilla as deep as 26 feet. I expect the grass that used to be up shallow as of a few weeks ago will make it, but the grass that used to be the deeper outer edge to it will die off with the new water over the top of it. Hydrilla needs sunlight to thrive and the lack of it when its too deep will cause it to die off. It's a very invasive plant, so I expect it to come back quickly.

As far as patterns to fish right now you can get up shallow and flip and pitch, throw frogs around the flooded brush, or run weedless swimbaits around it. While I have caught fish this way, the majority of the fish I have found are still out deeper near the front edge of the brush, or up in the brush in that 10-25 feet of water. When locating spots I like to use my down imaging and side imaging to locate areas of brush underwater and drop some way points on it. From there I basically set up and fish it exactly like I would do with Hydrilla. Weedless rigs such as drop shot and Texas rigs picked through the top of the brush will work well.

If you read my reports or purchase my Honey Hole Reports you'll know I talk alot about pausing when working your bait in order to allow it to fall down in the holes within the grass... basically do that same thing but with the mesquite brush. Those fish will get around the base of those bushes and you are trying to drop that bait in their face.

If you are a "scoper" and are good with Livescope, I recommend spending some time in the morning looking around the areas out in front of the brush in 25-15 feet of water. I was seeing a lot of fish out here roaming. I believe these are transient fish that are moving up from the areas they used to live in looking for new habitat and food. The bass I was finding this way were on the move and would set up best for targeting with live sonar and shaking a minnow across their face.

In terms of locating brush to fish, I would recommend starting out graphing areas that form points either out on the main lake or near the mouth of a cove close to a creek channel. Fish that were living deep previously due to the warm water temps will move up to take advantage of this new habitat.

Water clarity is still pretty good depending on where you are in the lake. It's definitely more stained, but it's not super muddy by any means. When selecting colors take this into consideration. The dirtier the water the darker the color I like, colors like green pumpkin are good. If the water is more clear something with a base color of watermelon or something like a plum color can be good. It has been years since the lake has been this full and I've been able to fish flooded brush, so I am very excited for my trips this week. If you are getting out there soon you should stay tuned for my next Honey Hole report coming out Thursday. The spots and patterns it will contain will be way different than any report you've purchased in the past.

The "new" Lake Travis is really cool to see from the water, looking at it from the bank doesn't do it justice. All the bushes in the water and structure to fish is awesome! There is no better way to experience it than getting out in a boat and fishing it. If you are interested in booking a fishing trip reach out via the contact form on the homepage of my website, or you can conveniently book online.

Tight lines and be safe out there!