Lake Travis Early Summer Patterns

With one of the hottest Septembers on record here in Central Texas, the bass are still feeling the heat and roaming in their typical summertime locations. Usually, we start migrating with the bass into the creeks off the main lake. However, the water temperatures remain in the mid to upper 80s, and the bass are still very thick in the deep-water marinas. We start the mornings in one of the several main lake deep-water marinas on the lower end of the lake. The top water bite was a little off today due to the cloud cover. We maybe caught three bass on top water but the remaining bass were all on a swimbaits. Ten bass in all were boated in the first hour and a half at the first marina. The bite was slow fishing the main-lake points and bluffs. We managed to boat another eight bass before the lunch break on a variety of soft plastics. Fish them slowly and from the bank down to around 20 feet deep. For the best success, make sure you maintain contact with the bottom. You really can’t fish too slowly this time of year. If you can find a main lake bluff with a ledge in about 15 feet of water, that seems to be the sweet spot. Once the sun passes high noon we typically start jigging for bass deep in the marinas. The bass and other fish will suspend between 30 and 40 feet deep over 80 to 120 feet of water. Good electronics and a heavy jigging spoon will put fish in the boat. In the last hour and a half, we boated another eight bass jigging in the empty slips around the main lake. If you don’t see any fish on the sonar, move to the next slip or until you find a substantial amount of fish signatures. The last slip of the day gave up one catfish and five bass. At the end of the full day trip, twenty-five bass made it to the boat. With the cold from hitting the area in the next week, we would expect to see the bass starting to migrate back to the creeks. Following the shad is solid advice this time of the year leading into fall. For more information on a guided fishing trip, contact Captain Randal with Central Texas Fishing Guide **hidden content**

What an amazing lake! The July 4th weekend floods have nearly tripled the volume of water on Lake Travis. It’s fishing like an entirely new lake with miles and miles of freshly flooded brush shorelines, points and creeks. We’ve fishing a few solid patterns right now can catching good numbers from sunrise until just after noon. These patterns should hold for the next few months as the water temperatures are just about maxed out at 87-89 degrees. Flooded Main-lake Brush Start the morning just before sunrise and head out to the nearest recently flooded flats on a channel swing. Put the boat in 20 to 30 feet of water and throw up to any visible brush and exposed vegetation. Big worms and creature baits are catching nice keepers from 2 to 3 pounds. We’re able to catch consistently until around 10 am when we move to fishing the second pattern for the remainder of the morning. Main-lake Bluffs Once the sun starts to really shorten the shadows on the bluffs, the bass will hold very tight to the rocks, docks, and shady cuts. Fish the shade close to deep waters. The boat can be in 30 to 70 feet of water, but the target areas are the ledges from the shoreline down to 20 feet deep. Texas rigged worms, speed craws and dropshots are still catching good numbers until the sun apexes and the shade is gone. Follow **hidden content** on Instagram and let us know if these tips help you have a successful trip on the water!

Summertime bass fishing can be a grind. Searching the lake for deep water haunts on a lake that fluctuates can be challenging. This isn’t the case with beautiful Lake Travis! When the daytime temperatures are approaching 100 degrees and the water temperatures are in the lower to mid-80s, there are a few patterns, locations and techniques that are guaranteed to consistently catch fish. Marinas Largemouth bass and other fish species are being caught in good numbers in the mornings and evening around the deep-water, main-lake marinas. The water is significantly cooler under the large marinas that sit in 50+ FOW. Throwing topwater and swimbaits are loading the boat! Once the sun comes up, we continue to catch bass, catfish and some crappie by jigging down to the schools that are chasing shad between 35 and 50 feet deep. Offshore Grass The grass bite has slowed since the water temperature reached 80 degrees. We are still catching some solid 3 to 5 pound bass by dragging a large worm or jig at the grass edges in 20+ FOW. As the summer grinds on, these bass will get lots of pressure. The bait that caught 20 fish last week, may only catch a few the next. Be prepared to throw a few different baits each outing. It’s almost a guarantee that something will work. Remember, these bass are keying in one type of forage. Shad!! If a bladed swim jig isn’t working anymore, try a jerkbait or a flutter spoon. When the bass are chasing shad, they are in the mood to eat. Keep cycling though the imitation shad baits until you find the right bait for the day. Follow **hidden content** on Instagram and let us know if these tips help you have a successful trip on the water!