See the water before you hook up the boat

Before you burn the gas, look. Where a public camera watches the lake, BassHawk shows its latest photo at the bottom of Conditions: the water's color, chop or slick calm, and how high it sits on the dam or the ramp.

Tap a camera and it opens full screen. Pinch or double-tap to zoom in on the far bank or the gauge numbers, without leaving the app. The cameras are public ones run by the USGS and the National Park Service, checked every week, so a dead camera drops off and a new one shows up on its own.

Lake Cams under Conditions: the dam and the West Fork, 13 minutes old — Lake Houston, Texas

Tap a camera for the full-size photo, pinch to zoom — Lake Houston near Sheldon

The West Fork San Jacinto feeding the lake: color and level at a glance — near Humble, Texas

What you can get

• USGS GAUGE CAMERASMounted at the lake's own water gauge, most on the dam: the level against the staff gauge, the water's color, wind on the surface. A new photo about every 15 minutes, its age shown on the card.
• NATIONAL PARK SERVICE WEBCAMSBoat-ramp and marina views on lakes inside a national recreation area, like Amistad's Diablo East ramp and Lake Meredith's Sanford-Yake marina.

Lakes with a live camera

12 lakes today. The list is checked every week, so it grows as new public cameras go up.

How to use it

1. Open the Guide tab and tap Conditions.
2. Scroll to the bottom. Lake Cams appears on every lake with a public camera.
3. Tap a camera to open it full screen; pinch or double-tap to zoom, X to close.