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 @fishingwiththefriz 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 @fishingwiththefriz on Instagram and let us know if these tips help you have a successful trip on the water!

My clients caught five species of fish during the morning trip! The bass fishing on Lake Travis has been absolutely phenomenal for the past few months. When the water surface temperatures were in the low 70s and the shad were spawning, we were catching 30 to 40 bass in a four-hour half day trip. The largemouth bass and white bass could be easily found each morning fishing the grass flats off the Pointe Venture peninsula and other grass flats around the lake. This was just one of the many predictably patterns that we were fishing to catch fish from sunrise to sunset. Now that summer is “officially” here in Central Texas the water temperatures have soared to the low to mid-80s. Some of the fish have migrated to cooler shaded areas near deeper water. In the past week, we have added main lake, deep water, marinas to the rotation where we are consistently catching good numbers of bass. For a successful day on the lake, I would recommend starting at one of the main lake marinas at least 30 minutes before sunrise. The feeding frenzy is a sight to see as groups of bass breach the surface knocking shad into the air. A fast topwater bait on swimbait can get the attention of these more aggressive bass. Once the sun comes up and the schooling activity dies down, move to the outer edge of the grass flats. The water here will be around 15 to 20 feet deep. Fish the grass wall with swimbaits, flukes, jigs and other Texas rigged soft plastics. Craws and big worms are catching the better fish in these areas. When the sun is high in the sky, targeting shaded areas on the deep bluff walls of the channel swings. These areas tend to hold quality fish all year round. Follow @fishingwiththefriz on Instagram and let us know if these tips help you have a successful trip on the water!