With spring around the corner the fish are going to be on the move once you see water temperatures begin to increase. Lets start with pre-spawn. The main thing to keep in mind is you are trying to mimic a Threadfin Shad, so select baits that look like them. I prefer the weightless presentation, but in the wind I will sometimes switch to an Owner twist lock hook with a small belly weight. A weedless drop shot with a Roboworm, a shakey head with a straight tail finesse worm, or a small Texas Rig/ finesse jig to imitate a crawfish can be a great choice of baits. The shad spawn on Lake Travis is one of the best bites of the year in my opinion. A few stripers up to 8 pounds have been showing up in the mix as well. Once again, these lures would be most effective when color matched to the predominate prey species in your fishery. A trick worm in Green Pumpkin or Red Bug is an excellent soft plastic to throw this time of year. 6,540 Readers. I always tell clients, spring and fall are hands down my favorite time of year to fish. An Alabama rig is my go to bait for this type of situation. Fishing around the right lighted docks can result in good numbers of fish being put in the boat. To prevent snagging those I like this way of rigging my swimbaits. Bone or any translucent colored bait that mimics the color of a threadfin shad will get bit. A fishing report can only help you so much. Schooling Fish Often times I will have a squarebill crankbait and a medium diving crankbait tied on ready to go and simply alternate rods as I move along the bank and change from shallow to deep water or vice versa. Deep docks with numerous cross members and a low platform are probably the best. silver, white, smoke). They are not trying to feed, rather they are just trying to get your bait to go away. . Avoid bluff walls and steep banks, you will have more consistent success on the more gradual sloping banks. Really, its times like these when Im able to hoan in and focus, making my time on the water count. For these spots I recommend a drop shot, a shakey head, and a ned rig what I call the Holy Trinity of Finesse Fishing. Lately the weather has been all over the place with cold fronts and stretches of warm weather. The night time crappie and striper fishing in still on fire on the lower end of Travis. Torwicks Guiding Service is fully licensed and insured and offers only the highest quality equipment and a brand new Phoenix boat to fish from! Be patient and make sure to let you worm float down to that depth before slowly twitching it back to the surface. Lee Benton Fishing Guides Austin. I recommend targeting the mouths of spawning coves. They move out and down the bank pretty fast. Fall fishing is very much here! (just watch out for those dock cables). There are a couple baits that I like to throw in particular when the bass are spawning. A Storm Wiggle Wart in brown craw is one of my favorite baits, but there are tons of great options out there. Lake Austin's water temperature & fishing - LakeMonster.com If you do not feel it was worth your hard earned money I will gladly refund your money. Also, baby brush hawgs can be super deadly, due to the action that the tail and appendages impart. Our Lake Travis Fishing Report is brought to you monthly. If you follow me on social media you probably have noticed a lot of posts from Lake Travis. Rig up a Texas rig with a or 3/8th ounce bullet weight (the windier/ deeper the heavier I go) and a 4/0 EWG hook and a craw style bait like a Zoom speed craw. Fish these baits with a medium speed retrieve and a steady wind. Well, largemouth bass are cold blooded and as the water cools their metabolism slow. Groundwater district OKs new well for a Spicewood water utility When I have clients in the boat who can cast well, I love to cover water with a medium diving crankbait. So expect to find fish up inside your favorite large coves. If you are taking the time to research a fishing report, this trip may be just what you need. What to throw: I recommend a craw style bait rigged on a Texas rig or a drop shot with a very short tag end between the hook and weight. I promise you will not find a guide in Austin with a better boat! I cant tell you how easy this has made this type of fishing for me! Keep this in mind the next time you are fishing docks! Alternate between these baits as you figure out which one the fish have a greater preference towards. For the most part though you will be more productive searching out deep. Its the season of the spawn, the best time of year for the average fisherman to catch a not-so-average bass on Lake Travis. These are all excellent options when trying to match the shad the bass are feeding on. If you are visiting the area, want to try your hand at fishing Lake Travis, or want to book a coaching trip to get better at fishing, I would love to take you! Lake Travis has a ton of bluff walls, but not all of them are created equal. Since the shad move back here for their food source, predator species such as bass and crappie follow. Most weekdays we have the lake to myself aside from a few dock builders boats. Lake Travis Facts to Know Before You Go - Travisso Blog During the fall there are several baits I always keep tied on, but to keep this short I will focus on three main baits. If I am not getting bit throwing a moving bait, I will then slow down and switch to working the bottom with one of those other baits. With that said, let the fish tell you what they want. This is why times of year like the spring are notorious for great fishing. Related Links: Anything below 18C or 64F is considered to be cold water swimming. A little tip for you guys docks can be very good places to find bass, but especially when they are isolated docks. Our morning started on a deep chunk rock near Starnes Island on the lower end of the lake. We have found the walking the dog baits have been very productive (Zara spook style). I stick with a ounce football jig in very natural colors. Travis is a gin clear rock fishery and finesse baits excel. Bonus tip: When its windy, look for sharp mud lines, they make for great ambush points. The last bait I recommend is an underspin. With that said, some largemouth bass will make a migration to the shoreline early in the morning and late in the evening right before sunset to feed. Once you see water 59 degrees or higher you can expect a change in the bass behavior. Current weather 15C / 58F (clear sky) Wind 13 mph Humidity 65% Quick, accurate casts into the schools of bass hitting the surface are key to getting bit. Winds are out of the SSE at 8mph, with wind gusts of 17mph. Fish these baits very slow and maintain that bottom contact, that is the key. While the fish arent out on the deepest structure in the lake, they have made a significant move to the 1st major break. Cliff Pace started the first day with 10.5 pound bass first thing in the morning. Some clients opt to take a lunch break midday and stop at one of the many great restaurants on the lake. March is always a special month on Lake Travis as it is when a major transition in the lake occurs. Winter fishing, if you read last months report this will be quite similar. Look for bluffs with docks as the bass will oftentimes hangout under or around them for the shade. Average Weather in Town Lake, Travis in April. These reports are updated weekly on Thursdays at 6:00PM and contain a minimum of 5 pins on the map showing you EXACTLY where to fish, what bait to throw, what color to use, how to present it, what time of day to fish the spot, etc etc. The fishing out there has been consistently good and we havent even had a big cold front to cool things off. It is 63.75 miles in length, 4.50 miles wide, encompasses 271 miles of shoreline and covers 18,929 acres. Why does Lake Travis smell bad? | KXAN Austin weather As the water gets into the 70s the bait fish in the lake spawn. Location NWS ID Description Water Temperature Latitude Longitude; Bel Air-Plumtree Run USGS : PTRM2: Plumtree Run nr Bel Air: 55: 39.4964-76.3478: Bristol 2WSW The lower end of the lake feels more like just that a lake. My approach to bass fishing often involves the science behind it, and not just whatever the latest fad on BassMaster is. A Texas rigged curl tail worm, a wacky rigged senko, and a flipping jig are all baits I like throwing around this kind of cover. Make long casts to get away from your boat and target 10-25 feet of water. You need to have the confidence that you can feel your bait hitting the bottom and be confident its down there where the fish are. Make long casts up forward of your boat and get close to the shoreline. This is the first time seeing the lake so low for a lot of Austins new residents, so get out there and fish it! Summer fishing often requires a fair amount of graphing with the sonar before making a cast. Towards the ends of April you will also begin seeing Threadfin and Gizzard Shad spawn in the lake. In a post frontal situation, Ill switch to something like a drop shot or senko. During the month of May there are two patterns I would recommend you stick to. While the weather may be hot, the bite can sometimes be just as hot! Temperatures above that are more comfortable for those not acclimated to the cold. Dont let the heat stop you from booking a trip and getting out on the lake with me this month! The premium is now placed on utilizing electronics to discover condensed groups of fish on select pieces of offshore cover. Austin, Texas 78703. Baits like jigs, dropshots, and Texas rigged craws can also be productive on days when the fish refuse to chase moving baits. With all the recent rain expect some areas to be slightly more stained and more debris in the water. With a little less water in the lake, the end result is being able to target the fish a little easier in certain areas. Lake Travis Vacation Rentals haha. Lake Travis is a gorgeous manufactured reservoir on the Colorado River, northwest of lively Austin, Texas. Fish live deep on this lake all year, so catching them in 20 feet of water right now is not uncommon at all. This will drop the water temps into the mid to upper 60s. Anything before mid May is no swimming just peeing in the water if you're desperate weather but you'll have a great time on the boat. Sunken speedboat now points skyward after Lake Mead water level drops. Water temperature is one of the biggest factors in understanding how bass behave and where they go throughout the year. Spring is just around the corner and the fishing on Lake Travis is about to become prime. These bass are there guarding their eggs, and fish like sunfish and bluegill love to eat their eggs! Warmer water instinctively tells the fish that it is time to build nests and lay eggs. Lake Travis Test Station | Weather (utexas.edu) Public Boat Ramp Information Water Recreation and Safety TPWD Weekly Fishing Reports Water Quality 1996 - 2023 - Lower Colorado River Authority Typically it takes several cold fronts and several days of extended cool temperatures before you see the surface temp of the lake actually start to drop enough to have an effect on the fish. The fishing is only going to continue to get better over the next couple months! Often times when the bass strikes your bait it is very quick and they usually spit it back out. Also check out the background, notice how the bank is all rock? When I get groups of three anglers I usually only go searching for spawning bass if they ask for it making two people sit and watch doesnt make for a memorable trip. During the summer months the bass take advantage of the cooler temps in the early morning and late evening. Strategy 1: Throw small baits and retrieve at an average speed. I have noticed the fish relating to the deep sloped chunk rock banks as the lake level creeps down. The lower end of Lake Travis closest to the dam is typically much clearer than the upper end of the lake closest to the Perdenales split. The big difference between a productive bank, and one that will only produce a few bites is structure. Come on out and book a trip. After an unusually cold winter, the fish are ready for a warm up! Why is that? Well thats because its a great time to get bit throwing moving baits and on topwater. That still is the most consistent pattern for me, with a few exceptions, which we will get too. For the drop shot, Im using a zoom fluke in the albino color. A Rapala DT-10 or a Storm Wiggle wart are two good options. While I do not offer guided Crappie trips, there are some nice ones in Lake Travis. While not the species I normally guide for, I love catching them as theyre hard fighters and are great for clients who want to keep their catch. Keitech, Megabass, and 6th Sense all make a great option. Lake Travis Weather A Heddon Zara Spook- A bone colored spook is one of my favorite topwater baits. Have a crawfish pattern and a shad pattern ready to go. If you have young children now is the perfect time to introduce them to the sport of fishing and get them hooked on the sport that you love! For this type of fishing there are four baits that are my go-tos, but there are plenty of others that will work. Long accurate casts are the key to catching these fish. The water on Travis is getting pretty clear now but you still cant see fish on beds in deeper water like 15-20 just yet. were focusing on main lake points and docks with quick access to deep water nearby. I have been catching fish out deep on deep diving crankbaits, and as the water gets even hotter, more fish will begin that migration. I like to keep the sinker only 4-6 inches from the hook, this way the bait isnt up above the fishs head. Texas rigged creature baits, football jigs, shakey heads and drop shots are all effective baits. Bass want to build their nests in places they feel safe and protected. With the lake level so low, there is very little isolated cover in the lake such as brush or trees. Lake Travis: - Water Data For Texas With that said, I would expect to see pre-spawn fish getting active within a week or two unless a cold front comes through. So how should you best approach the change in seasons? Dates for spring are filling up so get your trip booked soon with Texas Hawgs, Lake Travis is fishing good right now. Largemouth bass want to be around cover and structure, featureless bottoms like Im describing dont give them this. Areas such as shallow points or drains outside of spawning areas will hold bass this time of year. We have been finding numbers up shallow as well as deep. This time of year I will focus on points and ledges close to the mouth of coves. Currently water temperatures are in the 85-88 degree range with temps varying slightly depending on the time of day you are on the water and what end of the lake you are fishing. Town Lake, Travis FISHING Annual Weather Averages Stick to natural colors like Green Pumpkin and Watermelon. During increased periods of activity they will move onto the point or flat. With that winter storm bringing abnormally low air temps and lots of ice and snow, that has delayed this. I mainly throw my moving baits, like crankbaits and top waters, in the mornings and evenings. Bass will move from the creek/ river channel to feed up shallow. This time of year can be very productive! This past week I have fished both the upper and lower end of Lake Travis. A Picasso School-E rig is my favorite Alabama rig to throw this time of year. Wind blow shorelines and big marinas can hold a lot of bait fish, which in turn attracts the bass. Crankbaits- Medium diving crankbaits can also be a terrific bait to throw at these shad hungry fish. If I may offer one suggestion once you catch a fish off a bed, take a quick photo if you desire, but get them back into the water ASAP. (i.e. If you fish Lake Travis but struggle to consistently catch fish, consider booking me for a coaching trip I encourage you to Google my guide service, as I am confident my online reviews will speak for themselves! A crankbait is one of my favorite ways to catch bass in the fall. You can usually see these super shallow fish blowing up in schools on the bank. Lakes Buchanan and Travis, the two water supply reservoirs in the Highland Lakes, were designed to fluctuate, capturing water during rainy times and holding it for use when the weather turned drier. Let it take line and sink out to help it get deeper. Thats one of the greatest gifts my dad has passed on to me and his father to him and I am to my kids. Visiting Lake Travis | A Lake Travis Vacation Guide Where can I find information regarding Lake Travis water temperature, swimming and lake conditions? Its about to be a great time to get out and on some nice fish. I like to use bright colored baits such as white and bubblegum. Largemouth love living down in the grass and will position themselves on holes or edges in the grass in order to come up from below and ambush their prey. The deeper chunk rock banks have been key for this pattern. April is one of my favorite months to guide because here in Central Texas that is when the Shad spawn. Once you have found some fish, or pulled up on your favorite spot, there are a couple baits I recommend you have tied on.
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