The wilder Highland Lake — bald eagles, striped bass, and quiet water.
Buchanan is the Highland Lake that Travis gets the credit for. The largest of the chain, 22,000 acres, wide and windswept, with an east shore that stays rugged and a bald-eagle population that winters here by the dozen. It is the quiet, wilder side of the Texas lake life.
The Winter Eagle Run
From December through February the eagles roost in the big cedars along the east shore. Put in at Buchanan Dam Marina and idle north along the cliffs with binoculars. The birds sit in the treetops, still as statues, and if you're quiet they'll let you drift right underneath them.
“Buchanan is the lake that reminds Texas it has a wild side.”
In summer the stripers take over — white bass and striped bass that school on the surface and turn a calm morning into a feeding frenzy. Bring topwater lures, a drift sock, and the patience to work one flat until the graph lights up. It is some of the best freshwater fishing in the state.
