Hey y’all, this is Artificial Lure checking in with your Lake Sam Rayburn fishing report for October 18, 2025.
Sunrise today hit at 7:29 AM and we’ll have daylight till 7:43 PM. Early risers caught a calm, crisp autumn start—the air’s cooler but water temperatures are still hanging around 80 to 90 degrees, and the lake sits roughly 8 feet below pool, so watch those shallow humps and points if you’re running a big rig. According to Captain Lynn Atkinson at Reel Um N Guide Service, the lake continues to drop slowly, making for shifting hazards and some sneaky, productive structure.
Bass action this week is heating up in the low light hours—folks have been boating nice numbers of largemouths, especially working topwater frogs and senkos on the shallower points, grass lines, and around boat docks right at daybreak. Once the sun burns off the mist, that bite slows down but you’ll still pick up solid fish on medium-diving crankbaits and Carolina rigs worked along ledges and in deeper drains. The textbook Texas jig bite is on around timber and stumps, especially where you can find a little brush on the drop.
Crappie anglers have something to smile about—brush piles and standing timber are finally loading up with keeper slabs. Most are being caught suspended at 12–18 feet with small jigs or minnows. The bite is best near creek mouths and major channel intersections.
White bass are just starting their schooling shenanigans off main lake points and humps. Look for birds and surface busting in the late afternoon. Spoons, small rattletraps, and tiny swimbaits are getting the job done. Catfishing reports say you’ll find the better blues and channels stacking up deep in creek channels and along river bends. Cut shad or chicken livers are tough to beat right now.
Today’s solunar tables show our major fish activity periods between 8:31 to 10:31 AM and picking up again from 8:59 to 10:59 PM, so you’ve got a good mid-morning bite and a firecracker late bite if you wanna try some after-supper fishing. With the moon just 10% waxing crescent, fish activity is solid but not off-the-charts—still, seasoned locals know these moon phases keep big bass hunting shallower just a bit longer, especially on the overcast mornings we’ve seen.
As far as hot spots, Veach Basin is holding plenty of good fish—bass, crappie, you name it—with the creek channel edges producing. The south end, near the Black Forest and Five Fingers areas, has been steady for both crappie and bass. Jackson Hill and Needmore Point are also harboring active fish, especially early and late in the day.
Recent catches have included multiple bass in the 2 to 4 pound class, a few pushing 7 pounds, and slabs of crappie thick enough to fill a cooler by midday. Blue cats up to 25 pounds were weighed this week, with a 31-pounder making the local brag board. The bite isn’t wide open, but if you work for ‘em and hit the right spots, dinner is all but guaranteed.
Top lures this week: white and chartreuse spinnerbaits in windy pockets, black/blue jigs around wood, and translucent/chartreuse crappie jigs. Best live bait right now is fresh-cut shad for cats and live minnows for crappie. Don’t forget: the lake is low—navigate safe and idle into new areas.
Thanks for tuning in to the Lake Sam Rayburn fishing report. Don’t forget to subscribe for updates and tips straight from the lake. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.
Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn
This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI
