For those of you new to Lake Travis, the lake is around 65 miles long. As long as you stick to the main river channel, watch for hazard buoys, and keep your lake map up while driving, its still a very safe lake even as low as it is. Keep this in mind the next time you are fishing docks! Watermilfoil and pondweed. I like to throw the jerkbait across points and up in the backs of small drains. March and April are historically some of the best months to fish Lake Travis. While the bite this time of year can be a little more hit or miss, if you put in the work you can still have some very rewarding days on the water! (Photo: @MikeyTantalo) Aug. 2022. If you are not seeing any baitfish activity, keep moving. A small roboworm or trick worm in something watermelon, green pumpkin, or purple is a sure fire way to put fish in the boat. Jun 30, 2009. During the fall there are two main forages the bass prefer; crawfish and threadfin shad. Pictured below is a young man that caught some good ones in a classic spawning creek on the lower end of the lake. Not every deep spot like this is loaded with fish, but when you find the right one they can be loaded. 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. Now that you know where to start your search lets talk about what bait to throw. I especially like the drop shot when fishing around docks as you can effectively fish it close to the docks. The other place I find shad spawning is up in the marinas and docks as they lay their eggs in the algae that grows on the dock floats. Be focused on creek channels, or the river beds at the bottom of the lake. Make long casts and use a slower retrieve. Its not uncommon for me to let my bait sit there for 5 to 10 seconds before moving it. 6,770 Readers. There are a couple baits that I like to throw in particular when the bass are spawning. Lake Travis water levels way down. Finesse fishing excels this time of year, there are lots of other baits I throw, but what I call the holy trinity of finesse fishing is always on the deck of my boat; a shaky head, a drop shot, and a ned rig. Unlike some fishing guides, I offer what I call a coaching trip. Schooling Fish Lake Travis Lodging Little twitches of the rod tip every once and a while can also help to trigger bites from followers. Early in the mornings bass relate to marinas heavily on Lake Travis. If the slow presentation wont draw a bite, switch baits to something fast moving. Ill take 100 degree temps over snow any day. When they do this you are able to sight fish for them and catch them off their nests. I take out anyone from novice to most advanced and a lot of kids as well. In the part of Texas the bass tend to spawn fairly early compared to the rest of the country. I like to keep my boat as far away as possible and make long casts with the swimbait or Alabama rig and run it right through the middle of those schools of bass. They are not trying to feed, rather they are just trying to get your bait to go away. Look for small white circles on the bottom of the lake bed, this is where the male bass has cleaned away the sediment to make a suitable place for a female to lay their eggs. Alabama Rig- This bait has a reputation as a cold water bait. Really, its times like these when Im able to hoan in and focus, making my time on the water count. 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. The fish have moved a little since the flooding several weeks ago but we are still coming across some really nice ones. Happy New Year and I hope to see you out on the water! I promise you will not find a guide in Austin with a better boat! Ex: Small Drop Shots, Small Shaky Head Worms, Small Jerk Baits, Strategy 2: Throw large baits and retrieve at a slower than average speed. Threadfin Shad are one of the main food sources for largemouth bass. When fishing open clear water like this I can easily see out to 80 feet away from my boat with the forward facing live sonar. You have to train yourself to move a lot this time of the year, because you can bet the fish are. The upper end of Lake Travis feels more like fishing a river. A drop shot is also hard to beat. I especially recommend this pattern if you are fishing in the evening on a day thats been warm and sunny. Average Weather in Town Lake, Travis in April. During the month of May there are two patterns I would recommend you stick to. Topwater baits such as pop-rs and spooks in bone or chrome are very fun baits to throw early in the morning. The fishing is only going to continue to get better over the next couple months! Winter is my slower season and I have more open dates. I have been using my electronics lately to graph for these fish, and have found schools as big as 40+ fish. Choose a bait that will get down to the depth the fish are at, oftentimes bottom contact is key to getting these fish to bite. Look for areas up shallower where there is deep water nearby. Right now you have the opposite affect going on. An underspin is just a swimbait lead head that has a small willow blade attached to the bottom of it. During these periods of the day you can find bass patrolling marinas that sit over deep water. Until then, you are best off targeting pre-spawn fish. If you want big you need to fish 20-50 feet of water. On these days our best success has been on deeper flats and drops (the 15-25 ft depth) with a slow falling bait (fluke or senko). And dont forget about the night time striper fishing this time of year. In my experience it throws off the bite and makes it a little tougher. Use code LAKETRAVIS.COM for 10% off your first report! A good mess of white bass and crappie make for a great fish fry and table fair. I mean isnt Lake Travis made up mostly of rock yes and no. I guarantee youll notice there are small ledges made up or rock with usually 10-20 feet of gravel and small chunk rock above or below those veins of rock. Read on to learn more about the temperatures you should look for when going for a dip and some tips on acclimating your body to cold water swimming. With this heat and warm water, the bass have been moving around and a couple new patterns are working well. So what should you throw to catch these shad hungry bass? Generally the very first dock, closest to the mouth of the cove will be the best. We stared seeing action pretty quick with most of our bites coming in the 20-30 foot depth. Areas where there are small drops offs that allow fish to sit at the base of them waiting to ambush prey are even better. In addition to the location were catching them I also tell you the exact baits, colors, and techniques Im using. If you are looking to up your game I would love to be your fishing coach! Slowing down your retrieve, especially on calm sunny days can be the key. I recommend rigging up a ounce jig in a brown or green pumpkin color and working banks with large rock. My go to Summer techniques are swimbaits, carolina rigs, shaky head worms, and drop shots. Its mainly about how high in the water column the fish are positioned and their level of activity. Warm water temps drive fish deep in search of more comfortable conditions. This bite is referred to as a reaction bite. We will also cover bait selection, colors I like to throw, how to rig your gear, but most importantly the why behind all of that. Early in the fall I focus heavily on shad patterns, baits with gray, silver, and chartreuse in them work well. For the most part though you will be more productive searching out deep. I will also start moving up further and further into the backs of coves as it cools down. Focus on the mouths of small coves, points within a these coves, and drains along the shoreline in these coves. Avoid the steep bluff walls or banks with large rock. Either I fish very slow, or I fish very fast. Austin pumps highest amount of water, so far this year. The A rig and the crankbait are effective ways to burn the bank and cover water. During the winter I will pause my bait a lot longer than I normally would. If its windy or I want to get the bait a little deeper I will opt for the hook with the belly weight. Getting that jig as close as you can to the backs of the docks near the staircases is going to get you bit. In fact, this past week with the very cold temps, I have been catching more fish consistently deep. Bass fishing in September on Lake Travis can be a very fun time to hit the water! As our shakey head worm crept over deep rocks our line would just become heavy and swim off. I offer what I call a coaching trip. Main lake points, drains just inside large coves, and small ledges are all places these fish will move to after spawning. Currently water temps are around 60 degrees on the main lake, up to 64 degrees in the backs of coves. I recommend sticking to natural colored baits that resemble a threadfin shad due to the clear water in Lake Travis. I find year after year my largest fish come off this bait. Numerous things affect bass behavior, but water temperature affects the metabolism and how active/ inactive they will be. Stick to shad pattern baits until the water temps get down into the 70s, then start throwing some crawfish colors. When there is wind I like o throw these baits, especially the A rig. (Remember, arms of the lake such as Sandy Creek or Cypress Creek are as large as some small lakes!) Well go over understanding seasonal patterns, how to establish a pattern, and how to understand how it positions the bass and where to look for them. Zara spooks, buzz baits, and poppers just to name a few. With water temps this warm expect to find most of your fish out deep once the sun comes out. The premium is now placed on utilizing electronics to discover condensed groups of fish on select pieces of offshore cover. Largemouth Bass are going to start moving up into coves to continue feeding on baitfish. Live sonar is very effective for finding these fish, but simply paying attention to the water and looking for splashes can also give away the bass location. Their lives revolve around their diet, so if you find the bait, youll find the fish! Make sure you can feel the bottom, maintain that contact with the rock, and give it plenty of pauses. April is an excellent month to fish on Lake Travis! With that said everyday more and more fish are pulling up into their spawning areas to make nests and spawn. I love teaching new and veteran anglers alike. With this report you even get the exact GPS coordinates of where I recommend you fish! Typically these nests will be up along the shoreline in 5 feet of water or less. Nearly all my weekends are booked up, but I have quite a few openings mid week. Sounds dumb right? Watermelon and Green Pumpkin have been the best colors lately with the water being so clear. Largemouth bass prefer cooler water which also contains more dissolved oxygen. Lee Benton Fishing Guides Austin, Ready or not summer is here! Thats one of the greatest gifts my dad has passed on to me and his father to him and I am to my kids. Bonus tip: When its windy, look for sharp mud lines, they make for great ambush points. My favorite baits this time of year are rattle traps and mid to shallow running crank baits, during periods of wind or cloud cover. haha However, I hold nothing back in my Honey Hole Reports. I have been doing best targeting spots in the 8-15 foot depth range. 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. I also live near the dam on Lake Travis and fish the lake over 200+ days a year. If the fish are a bit more active I prefer to fish a small football jig. Jul 1, 2009. I like to keep the sinker only 4-6 inches from the hook, this way the bait isnt up above the fishs head. If you know me you know I HATE the cold! I have been catching fish out deep on deep diving crankbaits, and as the water gets even hotter, more fish will begin that migration. Due to the changes in bottom composition the lower end of Lake Travis can get very clear. Bass are instinctive creatures and will hit a fast moving bait not because they are hungry but because its in their DNA. If you havent gotten out on the lake, now is your time! One reason that I like to throw a drop shot for bed fish is because it allows me to continually move and work the bait without actually moving the sinker and pulling it off of the nest. Repeated casts alongside structure like this can often lead to a few extra bites. I have noticed the fish relating to the deep sloped chunk rock banks as the lake level creeps down. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgP4t5LSesM. Some of those days with less than ideal forecasts can be some of the best fishing! Once you see water temperatures down in the high fifties you can expect the bite to slow. A crankbait such as a Storm Wiggle wart or Spro Rock Crawler in a crawfish color is an excellent bait to cover water with and quickly work a rocky shoreline. More shallow sloping banks are what I recommend you focus your time fishing right now. Creek channels are a major factor during the fall, as these fish will move up into the creek channels and use them to move from the main lake to the backs of the coves. It casts far, covers a lot of water, and looks very realistic. Bright colored baits allow you to visually see the fish eat the bait and thus set the hook quicker. Pair this up with a ounce lead head and fish it slowly just over the bottom. Not that you cant catch them, but you have to work hard for them. Look for ledges that sit in 10-20 feet of water on top and drop off deeper. Legend: <0F 0F 10F 20F 30F 40F 50F 60F 70F 80F 90F 100F Weve definitely noticed that the bite is better near the lower end of the reservoir, meaning closer to the dam. Fish it with small twitches of the rod top and dont be too aggressive with the bait. The current lake level is about 28 feet low, but by the time you read this it may be a couple feet lower! Jul 1, 2009. There is write up on there I did last year covering this its a long read, but well worth it! With these current water temperatures the moving bait bite has been very good. Once I find the fish I like to slow down and pick the area apart with a slower moving bait, then go back to the moving baits. At this point in the season, you shouldnt be looking in the creeks at all. I completely disagree! One other important thing to mention! On those calm days I tend to slow down a bit, however a crankbait can still be very productive. 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. Largemouth bass love eating shad, Threadfin shad is like candy to them! Tight lines and have a great July! Throwing the moving baits is more fun in my opinion, but sometimes the fish get lethargic or the conditions just call for slowing down. With these moving baits stick to colors that resemble a threadfin shad. Lake Travis Hotels Bass tend to spawn in waves, with fish moving up at different times throughout the spring. 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. The weather averages for the month of April, temperature averages around 26c and at night it feels like 15c. For the Texas Rig and Carolina Rig I like a Green Pumpkin Zoom speed craw or senko. The bass fishing on Lake Travis continues to be good! Tip: a Donkey Rig is a rig with two separate flukes on it, this is a fun way to fish this bait and make it look like a small school of bait fish.