Lake Brownwood is an 8000-acre hidden gem in the northern Texas hill country. The lake is located 10 miles north of Brownwood, TX or 70 miles southeast of Abilene, TX off of hwy 279. There is one free public launch at the dam and a very nice 600-acre wooded state park, with a fee launch and full facilities. The Lake was impounded in 1933 at the confluence of Pecan Bayou and Jim Ned creeks which are two major tributaries to the Colorado River. Water clarity ranges from clear to stained on the lower end and stained to murky on the upper ends year-round.
Beautiful views abound from every area of the lake. Wild Game is abundant and it is never a surprise to see a flock of wild turkey or a nice whitetail buck come down to the water’s edge and get a drink while you are on the Lake. The lake has large elevation changes everywhere, with limestone cliffs rising from the water.
The primary structure for the lake is limestone bluffs and boulders on the main lake with mud and sand in both creek arms. While the main body of the lake is clear there is standing timber and laydowns in the upper end of Jim Ned and Pecan Bayou. There are also numerous islands, humps, ledges and well-defined creek channels throughout the lake. This lake is also a dock fisherman’s dream! Almost the entire lake is lined with deep water docks that have been seeded with brush. The lake depth runs from 1 foot in the upper creeks to 95 foot at the damn. The primary vegetation for the lake is water willows and button brush. There are also bulrushes and American pondweed scattered through the lake. Patches of coontail and hydrilla can be found scattered throughout the lake in places where you can find the sandy bottoms. If you go up and into Jim Ned creek you will find a few patches of scattered lily pads that have just appeared in the last year.
The primary pattern on Brownwood is boat docks. Year round you will find fish fishing docks with Spinnerbaits, Vibrashocks, Jigs and Shaky Heads with the predominant colors being crawfish imitators and shad colors. Most of the docks on the main body of the lake are floating but you can find wooden pier docks in the upper ends of both Creeks. If you want to get away from the crowds use your electronics to find the numerous humps and creek channels and fish deeper structure. This is normally where the larger fish are caught all year with the exception of spring when the grassy flats produce the majority of larger fish. Or you can get a good flipping bite going in the bulrushes located in every creek arm of the lake. When the fish are up shallow this can just be a blast with steady catches all day long.
The main body of the lake tends to stay choppy year round with the lake setting southeast to northwest so you really need to pay attention to weather forecast if you are running a smaller boat. Also, in the spring and summer, pay particular attention to thunderstorm forecast and warnings. If you get caught in a thunderstorm on this lake there are very few places to hide and wait it out.
See you on the Lake!!!