Blue catfish on fire across North Texas lakes as May bite peaks

What's Biting

What's Next

With water temperatures already at 81°F at monitored gauges and lake levels running high after recent inflows, the next week should offer some of the best freshwater fishing of the 2026 season across Texas.

**Catfish outlook:** North Texas Catfish Guide is bullish on the weeks ahead, noting that May and June on Eagle Mountain Lake historically produce some of the strongest big-fish numbers of the year. The combination of a nearly full lake and fresh water pushing through creates ideal feeding conditions — blues will continue stacking on channel ledges and creek mouths as water temps stabilize in the low 80s. Cut bait drifted along channel edges is the high-percentage presentation right now. Expect this pattern to hold through late May and potentially strengthen as temps nudge toward the mid-80s.

**Bass transition:** The post-spawn scramble is fully underway. Tactical Bassin notes that bass are splitting between shallow cover — where the bluegill spawn is pulling aggressive fish topside — and open-water transitions toward deeper summer structure. Topwater frogs and swimbaits skipped around flooded timber are productive during low-light windows. As spawning activity wraps over the next one to two weeks, fish will begin staging near deeper summer haunts. This is a narrow, time-sensitive window for easy shallow-water bites, so prioritize morning sessions and don't wait.

**River conditions:** USGS gauge 08211200 is reading just 30 cfs at 81°F — low, warm, and clear. River anglers should concentrate on deeper pools and shaded structure during midday heat. Low-flow conditions this time of year are historically excellent for alligator gar, which stage in warm, slow-moving backwaters through late spring.

**Timing your trips:** With the Last Quarter moon this weekend, feeding windows should be productive but shorter than peak full-moon activity. Target the first two hours after daylight for topwater bass shots. Catfish bite typically extends through mid-morning before heat suppresses surface activity, then picks back up reliably after 4 PM into the evening.

Context

Mid-May is one of the most productive freshwater windows on the Texas calendar. Water temperatures reaching 80–82°F signal that the spring catfish surge — which typically builds from March through late May — is at or near its annual peak. North Texas Catfish Guide documents exactly this seasonal ramp: blue catfish began their spring acceleration in March, built through what the captain called 'Spring Catfish MADNESS' in April, and have now reached peak numbers with consistent limits and trophy-class fish recorded nearly every trip. That arc is fully on schedule.

For bass anglers, mid-May falls squarely in the post-spawn transition, a period Tactical Bassin describes as 'one of the most predictable times of year.' Bass split between shallow cover and deeper structure as the bluegill spawn — which peaks across much of Texas in May — draws largemouth into heavy cover for aggressive feeding. Multiple patterns are available simultaneously, which typically makes this one of the more forgiving windows of the year for anglers of varying skill levels.

Lone Star Outdoor News reports 2026 is shaping up as a record year for Texas anglers broadly, suggesting conditions have aligned well across multiple species this season. Without a specific year-over-year benchmark in the current intel feeds, it is difficult to say precisely how this week's numbers compare to prior May averages — but 81°F water with full lakes and active inflows places conditions comfortably within the prime pre-summer window, before brutal midsummer heat drives fish deep and compresses the bite into narrow dawn and dusk slots.

Alligator gar fishing, highlighted by Field & Stream as a distinctly Texas pursuit with strong river populations including the Sabine drainage, enters a productive phase at these temperatures. Texas river gar fishing typically peaks from late spring through early summer as fish move into warm, slow backwaters to feed — a pattern that aligns closely with the low-flow, high-temp readings we're seeing now at monitored gauges.