It’s starting to feel like fall! Sort of…. We finally had a few small cooling fronts move through the Central Texas region in early October. This allowed the water temperatures to drop into the low 80, which triggered the shad migration in parts of Lake Travis. Over the past several weeks, we’ve continued to catch a good number of bass at the entrance to major creeks and some offshore structures. However, in recent days we had some very nice cooler weather move in briefly where the daily high was in the 70s and 80s! Combined with a low-pressure system and some good wind, the bait along with the bass moved about half way up the major creek arms of Cypress Creek and Sandy Creek on Lake Travis. The key to a successful trip was targeting shallow points where you could see brush sticking out of the water or shad being chased by bass. I used a variety of baits depending on the wind and depth I was fishing. On these days, 5 or 6 feet was going to be deep fishing. Most of the bass fell for a ¼ oz sexy shad spinnerbait, a ¼ oz Texas-rigged tube in bluegill, or a 1/8 oz belly-weighted white fluke. All three baits could be worked from a few inches to a few feet of depth without getting hung up on the brush or rocks. You can’t be too shallow this time of year. At times, I had the boat sitting in 3 feet of water and was casting a spinnerbait or fluke right at the bank into inches or water. When I came to a ditch, I would switch to a ¼ oz shaky head with a speed craw to go after the bass hanging out a little deeper. This made for some great, fast-action fishing for about two days until the region was once again consumed by another high-pressure system and rising temperatures. Don’t overlook main lake pockets this time of year. Not all bass are going to migrate to the major creeks. A large portion of bass on Central Texas lakes are resident bass. They will live out their lives in a very small area of the lake. The biggest bass of the week was a 3.85# caught on a very shallow, wind blown rock pile next to a catwalk after dark! I threw the ned rig a little too far and it got hung on the rocks. When I popped the lure free from the rocks the rod immediately loaded up with a bass. After several spectacular jumps I was able to get it into the net. I’ve caught some big bass on net rigs up to 6 pounds. Be sure to use the heavy wire rigs if you’re going after bigger bass. A three pounder can straighten the hook on the light wire ned rig hooks. We are expecting another cool front this weekend. Keep an eye on your electronics and look for the bait balls. They will continue to move further and further up the major creeks. As the waters continue to cool, keep that bait moving! You’ll find your trips will be successful! Tight Lines.