During slow periods, the baitfish and bass will relate to the creek channels. However, the swimbait, which is also a moving bait, can work during the day when the wind picks up. If you have a boat and fish Lake Travis on your own, consider checking out my Honey Hole Reports. It casts far, covers a lot of water, and looks very realistic. It was a very subtle bite today but a lot of fun! Weve had some really productive trips lately, so dont let the fear of summertime fishing stop you from hitting the lake. Casting up near the back of the docks near the staircases is always a good spot! January in Central Texas can actually bring some very good fishing! Raising funds for water-related causes is an excellent World Water Day activity. On windy days, especially when you get a drop in the barometer, I have found bass positioned suspended off the ledge willing to eat a moving bait like a crankbait or swimbait. Haha I love this time of year when the weather finally starts to cool back down, the water temps start to drop, and the fish get more active. Most weekdays we have the lake to myself aside from a few dock builders boats. I fish this bait around docks and marinas to mimic the schools of bait fish that are also living around them. This is when the bass make a migration out of deep water where they have been living during the winter. Stick to natural colors like Green Pumpkin and Watermelon. Currently water clarity on Lake Travis is around 4-5 feet depending on the part of the lake youre on. An underspin is just a swimbait lead head that has a small willow blade attached to the bottom of it. A quick tip is to look for Blue Herons and Egrets, these birds feed on the shad and are a dead giveaway to the presence of bait fish. We are still starting our mornings with top waters or shad imitation swim baits early. Orange Spike-It dye is a must have in your boat for dipping your soft plastics in. The upper end of Lake Travis feels more like fishing a river. If its windy or I want to get the bait a little deeper I will opt for the hook with the belly weight. Water temps are currently in the low 60s with water clarity around 4-6 feet on the lower end of the lake. In these areas I select a bait that will stay above it and avoid fouling up the hooks. If you dont have one of these graphs yet give me a shout and I will help you get set up through Mealey Marine. We have been finding numbers up shallow as well as deep. The shoreline directly adjacent to these points is also a very good place to look. You need to be wearing polarized glasses in order to bed fish effectively. I especially like this bait because it is the perfect bait to fish near docks. Now that its that time of year for these fish to start transitioning you can expect to find some populations of fish moving closer to coves. are all structure I find bass on. This style of fishing will last a few more weeks. For this style of fishing its all about visually seeing the fish. When it comes to pre-spawn bass there are a lot of lures you can throw, but I will limit it to my top three baits: a Medium diving crankbait, a jerkbait, and an Alabama Rig. Best Lake Travis Parks. On days when the fish dont want to commit to a moving bait bite, slowing down with finesse techniques can be very productive. These baits stay deep where the fish are, but will make bottom contact while moving to try and draw a reaction strike. Be dynamic this time of year. Water temps throughout the winter have been cold. I switch between them depending on the depth of the bank I am fishing. Look for ledges and secondary points in anywhere from 15 to 35 feet of water. A jerkbait and a swimbait on an underspin head can also be very productive. These feeding windows are often short lived, so dont waste time taking selfies, measuring the fish, or Face Timing your fishing buddies, get back to fishing! ), As far as baits go, there are a couple that I recommend you keep tied on. My biggest piece of advice this time of year is to get out early while its cool, avoid the weekends when its busy, and pack lots of cold drinks! A 1/16 oz weighted hook and a watermelon/red fluke has been producing great numbers and an occasional big bass on the lake. Without going super in depth (if you want that level of info consider purchasing one of my Honey Hole Reports) I recommend having a variety of crankbaits in different diving depths as well as a swimbait tied on. Topwater Baits: a chrome pop-r or bone colored spook are great topwater options that will allow you to cover a lot of water. For me a bone or shad colored topwater walking style bait such as a Heddon Spook is a prefered bait. While I personally hate the cold, I love wintertime fishing! haha However, I hold nothing back in my Honey Hole Reports. The measurements for the water temperature in Lake Travis, Texas are provided by the daily satellite readings provided by the NOAA. You want a bait that gets close to the bottom and even digs into the bottom. A wacky rigged bubblegum colored trick worm is my favorite bait for this. I have noticed the fish relating to the deep sloped chunk rock banks as the lake level creeps down. Nonetheless, the runoff it produces tends to make the lake more stained, also the bottom up river has more mud and dirt, whereas the lower end of the lake is more limestone, rock, and sand. Fish slow enough that you can feel the bottom at all times, long pauses and more subtle movements with the bait will produce more bites. You will notice fish become more aggressive during brief feeding windows rather than feeding all day long. These are all excellent options when trying to match the shad the bass are feeding on. One other important thing to mention! As the "Crown Jewel" of the Central Texas Highland Lakes, Lake Travis is THE most visited freshwater recreational vacation destination in the state. If you fish Lake Travis often this can be the difference between having a good trip every once and a while, to consistently going out and catching fish. These are the primary species of baitfish that bass feed on in Central Texas. . Bring your swimsuit and jump in the lake to cool off before getting back to fishing! The process begins with the fish finder, your underwater eyes. AUSTIN, Texas The mean water level on Lake Travis is 657 feet above sea level, or 64.5% full, down from the same time a year ago. I fish it kind of as a combination of how I fish the morning and mid day bite. A little tip for you guys docks can be very good places to find bass, but especially when they are isolated docks. https://www.torwicksguidingservice.com/shop-2, The Bassmaster Elite guys (2018 Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest) showed up to Lake Travis, Bassmaster Recap Video Lake Travis 2018, Top Bassmaster Tournament Lures on Lake Travis (slide show). The slow fall of the bait can often get you bit. During the summer understanding how a thermocline affects where the fish live is important. Tight lines and have a great July! With the swings in water temps come different patterns the fish get on. . Bait it up with some canned cat food and leave it out over night. Water temperatures are currently between 67-69 degrees, but with temps forecasted in the 80s all next week I expect to see temps finally get over 70. Lake Travis Boat Club for long-term or short-term use during your stay on Lake Travis. Summer conditions are still here and will be for at least the next month or two. A walking style plug such as a Zara spook in a natural shad color has been consistently putting fish in the boat! Threadfin Shad are one of the main food sources for largemouth bass. Shallow areas near deep water are especially good places to look as this is the first place fish will move out of that deeper water to in order to hunt for food. The shorelines of Lake Travis hold all types of forage including threadfin shad, sunfish, bluegills, and cichlids that these bass will hunt for. Lake Travis Camping Winds are out of the SW at 8mph, with wind gusts of 13mph. As our shakey head worm crept over deep rocks our line would just become heavy and swim off. Largemouth bass love eating shad, Threadfin shad is like candy to them! April 23, 2022. These areas typically hold schools of threadfin shad, which is one of the primary food sources for bass. Related Links: Early in the morning I like to start out looking for schooling fish or throwing a topwater bait. The water temperature on Lake Travis is in the high 50s to low 60s, so pretty warm compared to the rest of the country this time of year! During the winter they fish slow down due to cold water, then fire back up as it warms in the Spring. April Temperature Lago Vista TX, Rusty Allen Airport (5 miles) 2023 March April. It is more narrow, has smaller coves and creek arms, and the water is more stained. I can cut your learning curve of fishing Lake Travis in half but dont take my word for it, check my reviews online! They can still find your lure, but I find it makes them a little less discerning and more likely to attach a fast flashy moving bait like an Umbrella Rig. The lake is about to explode though with warmer weather on the way so its a great time to get out and on the fish. One tip though, if you are fishing on the upper end of the lake where the water is a bit more stained, consider adding some chartreuse dye to the tail of your bait. My focus is to keep them busy catching fish, learning about what we are doing, and engage them to prevent them from getting bored or fussy. This stuff will attract them really well! Recently I had a day with a morning and evening trip we caught numerous fish, up to 5 pounds, on a spook all throughout the day. More shallow sloping banks are what I recommend you focus your time fishing right now. While not our target species theyre a blast to catch! The angle of the bank also makes a difference. Now with that said, these fish are not easy to catch. Start by tying your drop shot with an exposed hook and a very short tag end between the hook and sinker. With this colder water you can expect the bass in Lake Travis to be a little more lethargic and tougher to catch. The water temperature on Lake Travis is currently around 64-66 degrees. Dont get fixated on throwing just one or two of your favorite baits. Lee Benton Fishing Guides Austin, As my client found out this morning Lake Travis summer fishing is still strong! Watch your line to make sure you are maintaining bottom contact, especially when you get down deep with the bait. I mean isnt Lake Travis made up mostly of rock yes and no. Lake Travis is still fishing a little tough this month with a few active days in between. Dont be afraid to get out on the lake and go fishing, you can still catch some really nice fish! These two baits are perfect for putting numbers in the boat. Topwater Spook I love throwing a shad colored walking style bait such as a Zara Spook, Sammy, or Gunfish. The bites can be very very subtle. Fish these baits with a medium speed retrieve and a steady wind. I recommend a 3.5 or 4 inch paddle tail swimbait rigged on a ounce lead head. The ability to walk the dog with it, then pause and kill it every once and a while is very enticing to spring time bass. Once you determine these factors, you can select a presentation to suit the specific situation. During guided trips a lot of clients ask me how I find structure, how I know where the good ledges are, and where the productive rock piles are at. On cold bluebird sky days you really need to force yourself to slow down and give your bait long pauses. The dog days of summer are here and its hot out! We will go over how to set up your graphs, what each sonar frequency does and when to use them, and how to interpret what you are seeing on the screen. Depending on the water clarity, I would focus on the 15-20 ft depth range, near isolated patches of rock. Top Bassmaster Tournament Lures on Lake Travis (slide show), Its May and the fishing is really strong on Lake Travis. 1 Austin_Native_2 24 days ago For early April, you can expect the surface water temperature to be about 65. I will switch baits depending on the depth of the rock I am fishing, so I recommend having several similar colored baits, but with different diving depths. Some days you can even find some good ones on top waters. The lake covers 18,929 acres. You can catch several fish up shallow but not too many big ones. Currently water temps are around 60 degrees on the main lake, up to 64 degrees in the backs of coves. These are extremely detailed reports where I give you the info on what is working to catch fish right now! There are a few fish on beds already as well. Something new I am offering on my website is what I call Honey Hole Reports. Jul 1, 2009. For more information about my Coaching Trips please visit my website. April 2023. I like to fish this bait with the same cadence I do a jerkbait, when the bait gets out further from shore where it is deeper I like to give it a long pause to let it get closer to the bottom. Well, largemouth bass are cold blooded and as the water cools their metabolism slow. As I mentioned in my previous report, my approach to bass fishing has a bit of a scientific twist to it. Keep this in mind the next time you are fishing docks! Right now you have the opposite affect going on. What I find to be most important in the winter is timing when you fish based on the weather forecast. The fishing on Lake Travis has been decent as of late. After an unusually cold winter, the fish are ready for a warm up! I recommend sticking to natural colored baits that resemble a threadfin shad due to the clear water in Lake Travis. Im talking air temps in the upper thirties, the kind of weather where we Texas finally pull out our heavy jackets and coats. You can usually see these super shallow fish blowing up in schools on the bank. The first two baits are my search baits when I first pull up on a ledge or point after finding the fish with the electronics. Green pumpkin speed craws are an excellent option. My primary approach for bass fishing Lake Travis in January is to employ 1 of 2 strategies. Lee Benton Fishing Guides Austin, The fishing on Lake Travis is holding strong as summer is officially here. Do you fish Lake Travis often but unsure where to fish? As far as baits go, I recommend a dropshot with a small straight tail worm such as a Roboworm, a Texas rig with a curl tail power worm, or a Carolina rig with a creature bait such as a lizard or baby brush hog. You will never be getting old out date information. Get right over the schools of bass and drop your bait down close to your transducer so that you can see it go down the screen, stop it once you are at the same depth as the fish. Catching them will soon be on more moving baits such as spinner baits, crank baits, swimbaits, etc. I believe this next full moon will push up the last wave of spawning fish. If youve been wanting to get out of the house and catch some fish, visit my website and book a trip! Ill take 100 degree temps over snow any day. Hydromet - Today's Temperature Data (F) Reports Temperature (F) 4/30/23 1:04 PM Temperature Data (F) 4-30-2023 *Disclaimer: Data is automatically retrieved and subject to revision. A football jig or a Texas rigged craw will also work extremely well. Getting them to fire up and bite can be tough at times. This is why times of year like the spring are notorious for great fishing. Long casts, subtle movements of the bait, and lots of pauses work well when fishing this way. I offer what I call a coaching trip. When fishing around the grass you want to select a bait that will dive to the proper depth. Oftentimes, early in the morning, you can find bass chasing shad feeding up for the day. If youve been on the fence about booking a guided trip, now is the time! For the crankbait, alternate between a crawfish and a threadfin shad colored bait, select a bait that will dive to +/- 15 feet. One fishing fast moving reaction baits and another fishing slow moving finesse baits. When everyone else is throwing power fishing techniques like heavy flipping and cranking or spinner baits, the finesse presentations can be quite advantageous. During the summer the bass spend a lot of time just hanging out in small schools. This type of fishing is all visual. The water will feel warm (balmy). With all these baits, slow down and give the bait long pauses. Wind blow shorelines and big marinas can hold a lot of bait fish, which in turn attracts the bass. Great targets can be points, docks, seams, or any other obvious transition where bass have an opportunity to ambush. If you are fishing later in February start looking for the tops of small ledges that are close to deep water. April is one of my favorite months to guide because here in Central Texas that is when the Shad spawn. Go with as light of a weight as you can and still feel the bottom. These three rigs are very effective at getting down deep, being fished slow, all while presenting a smaller easy to eat meal for those sluggish bass. You will also find a population of fish that stays out deep, even when its getting closer to sunset. Also, baby brush hawgs can be super deadly, due to the action that the tail and appendages impart. You may also get more aggressive with your approach and hop the bait more erratically and even try to bump the bait into the fishs nose. This year they have been in the mid 50s with exception of right after that last winter storm we had. (just watch out for those dock cables). In low light or more windy conditions, were seeking out chunk rock and other irregularities on the bank. In addition to your normal guided fishing trips, I also offer what I call my Coaching Trips. Trooper said on April 29, around 11:56 p.m., a 2003 Suzuki . Currently with the water still just below that temperature needed for the shad to spawn, the bass in Lake Travis are post-spawn. If you know anything at all about Lake Travis then you know the lake is quite low right now. Carolina rigs with a 4 leader have been good in the late afternoon. For this though, I will throw colors like Smoke or Natural Shad. A deep crankbait, a fluke on a heavy scrounger head, or a Biffle bug on a swinging jig head fished on the bottom can work well. 1. If I am targeting a little better grade of fish, I like to throw a Texas rigged senko. A Rapala DT-10 or a Storm Wiggle wart are two good options. However, if you are fishing the day after a front moves through and are facing blue bird skies and north winds, the bite can be pretty slow no matter how skilled of an angler you are. Freezing temperatures over night can drop the surface of the lake several degrees, whereas a warm sunny day can do just the opposite. As the water temps rise throughout the day the fish tend to pull up shallower to feed. These reports give you 5+ EXACT spots on Google Earth showing you exactly where to fish. The water on Travis has cleared quite a bit since the flood, but if you can find some dirty water, you can catch fish flipping cover much shallower than in other parts of the lake. For this I like to fish it on a bait casting setup in order to use heavier line and have more control when I pitch this bait into the fishs nest. However, on overcast days or very early in the morning something with some chartreuse in it has been very good. Lake Travis Water Level. Pick your days wisely and you can do very well out there on the water. We have been catching the majority of my fish on drop shot flukes, on spinning tackle, in 10-20 ft of water. There are several ways I have figured out how to catch them and have produced some very big limits this way. When you take a good look at the size of Lake Travis, this large water mass is quite impressive. You want to look for places where its convenient for the fish to move out of deep water and still be close to areas they would eventually build a nest in. Smaller subtle baits tend to get bit better this time of year. Winter is my slow season here at Torwicks Guiding Service, but one of the best times to get out on the lake with me! Bass will move from the creek/ river channel to feed up shallow. During late fall and into winter it is common to find schools of bass suspended out deep off of these kinds of spots. The A rig and the crankbait are effective ways to burn the bank and cover water. Personally I prefer winter fishing to summer fishing, but as water temperatures drop, the fishs metabolism slows. You can cover a lot of water with this bait and trigger reaction bites with it. Get out there and catch a few! Their lives revolve around their diet, so if you find the bait, youll find the fish! During this time of year the bass pull up shallow to feed and spawn, making them more aggressive and easier to target. When bass are on a nest they become very territorial. The late fall/winter period is here. Small baits fished deep and around docks is a consistent pattern on Travis during the colder months. Each week I create a detailed fishing report for Lake Travis that offer 5+ pins in Google Earth that show you EXACTLY where I am fishing, what baits I am throwing, how to work the bait, what colors to use, how to position your boat, etc. The first approach would be to fish shallow for females that are close to beds. I am pretty booked up this week and part of next, but I have openings after that! They fight hard and are great table fare if youre looking to take some home. When its more calm or the bite is slower a jerkbait allows me to cover water, while still fishing slower since Im able to pause and suspend the bait when fish arent as aggressive. Lake Travis Parks. . With bed fishing you may spend 30+ minutes looking for a nest and trying to get the fish to bite. Until then, you are best off targeting pre-spawn fish. If you find them jumping, get your cast as close to the fish as possible as quick as you can. This is the time of year when the water temps start dropping from their summertime highs and some fish start moving up more shallow. Lake Travis is a gorgeous manufactured reservoir on the Colorado River, northwest of lively Austin, Texas. Lowest 31 January, 2023 26.6 F; Average 2023 59.6 F; Highest 3 April, 2023 90.5 F; Central heat wave blamed for at least 4 deaths. Additionally the White Bass are moving up to spawn, and with the low lake levels I have found them spawning in unusual places. I find year after year my largest fish come off this bait. These recent cold fronts have brought colder water temps, and with it the bass in Lake Travis are changing their pattern once again. Largemouth bass prefer cooler water which also contains more dissolved oxygen. Does Travis County rent boats, sailboats or jet skis? Play around with the cadence, but I find a 2-3 second pause between twitches to be sufficient. Key baits this month, when the fish are on bed, are bluegill imitations like square bill crankbaits or small swimbaits. You cant go wrong with a shad colored deep diving crank bait and a carolina rigged lizard or ribbon tail worm, in some variation of watermelon or green pumpkin. Spring is my busiest time of year, but October/ November is a close second. I personally like starting with moving baits in order to cover more water, plus I find it more fun than fishing slow and easier for clients to tell when they are bit. That still is the most consistent pattern for me, with a few exceptions, which we will get too. So expect to find fish up inside your favorite large coves. Water temperature is by far one of the largest factors that influence how the bass behave and what they do. I take out anyone from novice to most advanced and a lot of kids as well. As it gets colder I will continue going further and further into the backs of coves. Ive seen it as low as 61 degrees recently though. I have been doing best targeting spots in the 8-15 foot depth range. Austin pumps highest amount of water, so far this year. In this video I cover my top 5 baits to have tied on. So what does this mean for bass fishing and how to target them? While bed fishing is fun, targeting pre-spawn fish has produced better numbers for my clients in my recent trips. I also encourage you to follow me on Instagram @LakeTravisFishingGuide I post daily on there with tons of great Lake Travis fishing content! Cold water slows the fishs metabolism and they are less likely to feed on an erratically moving bait. There are a lot of versions of this bait, a vixen, sexy dawg, spook, rover, dogma, etc are all good choices by various bait companies. Change baits often and rotate through your arsenal of lures to draw bites. A craw colored crankbait, a jig, or a Texas rigged plastic can all be great ways to target these fish. As the lake level creeps down on Lake Travis the fishing has been great the last few weeks. As soon as the bass catch the shad they are after they go back down 10-15 feet deep, so being fast to cast is critical. Windblown areas can also be great as they congregate bait fish and other prey species. If you know me you know I HATE the cold! Sunset Water Utilities has the rights to 348.74 acre-feet of groundwater but is only permitted to use 152.5 . Its quiet, theres less boat traffic, and oftentimes I find myself in sort of a meditative state. Fishing has been getting good and will only get better until it gets really cold! Lake Travis is Central Texas' largest water storage reservoir, holding over three hundred billion gallons. You can find them hitting the surface on and off, live sonar such as Garmins Pantopix is also very useful to find these fish. Lake Travis water levels way down. The shoreline of Lake Travis is mostly limestone and as the lake drops exposing new rock and the wind creates chop it tends to make the water a bit more cloudy than normal. I will typically start with a search bait such as a crankbait, then gauge their interest in it. My trips are geared around education, and I promise I can cut your learning curve drastically. We will approach the day almost as if we were practicing for a tournament. During the fall there are two main forages the bass prefer; crawfish and threadfin shad. Whereas if most of your bites come when you are actively moving the bait, you can pause less and fish a bit faster when in doubt fish slow though. I know I sound like a broken record, but I throw a drop shot with success year around on Lake Travis. These fish rebound very quickly and will continue to feed until winter. Strategy 1: Throw small baits and retrieve at an average speed. When you think you are fishing slow enough, fish slower! It seems the August key depth zone is about 25 ft. Just because the weather is a little cooler and a little more unpredictable, does not mean you shouldnt get out there and go fishing! Sunken speedboat now points skyward after Lake Mead water level drops. Targeting spawning coves can be a very fun and productive way to fish. I have been using my electronics lately to graph for these fish, and have found schools as big as 40+ fish. Moving baits such as swimbaits and crankbaits is about to get good so keep trying those to get some good bites. The fish will move up shallow early in the mornings. These are places that I have been focusing on heavily during my guided trips as of late. When fishing steep banks, I will sometimes pause and take the reel out of gear halfway back during the retrieve. As we move into early fall, we are finding fish near creek channel swing banks, on the main lake. An Alabama rig is my go to bait for this type of situation. Look for more gradual banks that have rock, stumps, brush, or grass on them the more of these things the better. As of this report though, we finally have our first real cold front. Make a long cast past the school and get it down to depth before you bring it through the school of fish. Related Links: 6,770 Readers. For those of you with a boat headed out to the lake, consider checking out my Honey Hole Reports. The best water temps for spawning fish, in my opinion, would be 63-67 degrees. A Texas rig with a creature bait and a pegged weight can work very well for making accurate pitches at a bed. Conversely, my stained water strategy is to target bass in 7 ft or less. Fall fishing is a blast, not only can you catch them on a variety of patterns but I typically see high numbers and a larger average size fish. For the Texas Rig and Carolina Rig I like a Green Pumpkin Zoom speed craw or senko. If you dont have a boat, or would like to learn more about Lake Travis consider booking a trip with me! Bass will move offshore or away from the bank to find cooler water further down in the water column. If you dont have any of that try using red, they carry it at Academy around here.
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