Fresh Leander Fishing Reports

Main lake water temperatures are rising and are now warm enough for bass to successfully spawn. After searching for only an hour on my Saturday guide trip, I found 4 bass on beds and was able get my client to catch two of them! Every day of warmer weather is going to activate more and more bass to move shallow to feed and spawn. If you’re targeting pre-spawners, tie on your favorite finesse swimbait or crankbait and cover water! Don’t be afraid to try your favorite top water on calm mornings or cloudy days. My favorite top water bait is a Zara Spook but have had success with Pop-R’s and Whopper Ploppers. If you’re targeting spawners, you’ll need to find a fish that is locked on his bed. A Texas-rigged craw strategically placed directly on the bed is usually all it takes. Sometimes the fish doesn’t telegraph exactly where the “sweet spot” is, so repeated casts to the target area and/or fish might be what it takes to get that fish to trigger. Wacky rigged Senko’s and Drop shots are also good baits to get spawners to “attack.” March is usually one of the best months to be on the water and the bite is only going to get better as the water warms.

Lake Travis is at 637.37’ above sea level or 43.7’ below full pool. The boat ramp at Mansfield Dam Park closes at 637’. Bottom line, pray for rain! Despite the low levels the lake is fishing good. Stretches of unseasonably warm weather in January and February have unfortunately been immediately followed by strong cold fronts, which have kept water temperatures well below conditions suitable for spawning. As such, most of the fish in the lake have remained in their winter holes. My guide trip catch rates are still good, but I am having to slow down for my bites. Texas rigged and Carolina rigged soft plastics worked extremely slowly on main and secondary points and ledges have been the most productive for me. 25 to 40 FOW seem to be where I am finding most of these fish. There is still some hydrilla on the lower end of the lake that are holding some fish. Alabama rigs and swimbaits retrieved slowly above the top of the grass have been triggering a few bites. If you are not getting bit in the grass, do not be afraid to work the deeper water just outside of the grass line. Rock and shell on a point or ledge adjacent to a creek or river channel will be more productive than others. Our next warming trend is next week, and I expect to see a wave of fish move up and stage. As soon as the surface temperature reaches 60 degrees and stays there, we will start seeing fish on beds. This is when the whole lake opens and becomes fishable. Crankbaits, swimbaits, topwaters, flukes, and wacky rigged Senkos will all be players. Not all fish move up to spawn at the same time, so deep water patterns will still be productive during this period as well. March and April are historically the best and most consistent months of the year, so if you are considering a trip now is the time to book!

Surface Temp: 58 degrees The lake is 43.5’ low and fishing great. On my last three trips this month my clients caught 18, 24, and 16 bass including a few quality bass (Largemouth up to 6 lbs and Guadalupe bass up to 2.5 lbs). We’ve been catching a ton of larger than average Guadalupe Bass lately. I’m expecting this latest cold snap to slow the bite down but expect it to pick back up as soon as it warms back up. On warm, sunny days I’ve been catching some of my best bass on jigs, shaky head worms, and Texas rigged worms on main lake points and outside grass edges in 10-15’ of water. On colder, cloudier days I’ve been able to catch them in the same areas but work my bait out deeper 20-40’ deep. Bites have not been particularly aggressive and the fish seem to prefer a different presentation each day. Altering your presentation as you fish will help you figure out how they want the bait presented that given day. When you do get a bite, pay attention to how you were working your bait as this could mean the difference between a few bites for the day or 20 plus bites. There are also some fish on main lake ledges in 30-40’ of water. While I will use the same jigs and soft plastics on these ledges, I have also been deploying an underspin slowly retrieved just above the fish. The bites aren’t aggressive so pay attention to your line during your retrieve. As we get into February, the first good warming trend will trigger a mass migration of bass into shallow water to get ready to spawn. Once the water temp hits 60 degrees, we’ll see bass move up to begin their annual spawn.

Past few trips have been phenomenal on Walter E. Long Lake (aka Decker Lake). The topwater action is GREAT on schooling fish in the mornings.

Bass have moved up to spawn on all of our Austin area lakes and will continue to spawn all the way through April. Sight fishing for bedding bass is whole different kind of "hunt" and one that I love to teach my customers how to do. If you want to learn how to sight fish for bedding bass, now is the time to book your trip. Not all bass spawn at the same time, so if you weather conditions or water clarity aren't favorable for sight fishing, there are plenty of pre and post-spawn fish to target!! Top waters, swimbaits, jerkbaits, and crankbaits have all been productive for preand post-spawn fish. A texas-rigged craw, worm, jig, or drop shot accurately placed on a spawning bed have been the keys to triggering spawning bass to bite. Let's go fishin'!!!

Surface Temp: 58 degrees While Lake Travis water levels are up almost a foot since last month, at just 38% capacity the lake is still 49.3 feet below full pool. With the lake being so low, all but one public boat ramp is closed. The one ramp that is open is the low water ramp at Pace Bend Park (aka Tournament Point). They close the concrete ramp at/around the -50’ mark, but you can still launch off of the dirt directly next to it. They have put some gravel down to help with traction but I still recommend you not launch there unless you have 4 wheel drive. If you can get on the water, the bite is really good right now and will only get better as Spring nears. Above average temperatures have kept water temperatures in the high 50’s, which has helped fishing. A number of patterns are productive right now with some being more prevalent than others. On sunny days, jigs and Texas-rigged soft plastics worked slowly on the bottom around docks and marinas have been producing some of my better fish. On warm, overcast days medium diving crankbaits fished around submerged stumps, boulders, and rock have been getting bit. If you come across a good piece of cover, be sure to make multiple casts to it from different angles. Making your crankbait hit and deflect off of the cover you are targeting will increase your likelihood of triggering a strike. With each passing day, our photoperiod is getting longer and longer and will ultimately trigger the annual migration of bass shallow to spawning grounds. With suitable water temperatures and enough available sunlight, bass have everything they need from Mother Nature to successfully spawn. My general rule of thumb is 60 degrees as the ideal water temperature for spawning, but I have seen bass paired up on beds in water temps as low as 56 degrees before. On light wind days, some of my “go-to” baits for pre-spawn bass are weightless flukes, wacky-rigged Dingers, and shaky head finesse worms. In breezy conditions, I will target pre-spawn “Stagers” with crankbaits, jerkbaits, and swimbaits. The key to maximizing your success this time of year is to cover a lot of water, make as many casts as you can, and keep a bait in the water. For those of you wanting to get out on the water, I would love the opportunity to take you fishing!