As the weather cools the fishing gets ho
September 08, 2020 Lago Vista 3 photos
Bass (Largemouth)
Bass (Largemouth)

Trip Summary

The bass fishing on Lake Travis has started to pick up! These past couple of days have been the first "cool front" we have had in a long time. I saw temps in the morning as low as 71 degrees! Burrrr! With this recent rain you should expect to see water temps continue to drop slightly more. With the cooler temps at night and the rain we have been getting, water temps are down to 81 degrees on the main lake. As temps cool you will see a migration of more fish back up to the shoreline feeding up shallow. The last two days have been very good fishing with good sized fish and great numbers. I attribute this to the big drop in barometric pressure both days as well as the cooler weather. If you are getting our there this weekend I would recommend either fishing super shallow or really deep. I have found there are fish at a variety of depth right now. You have those more adventurous fish moving up to the bank looking for food. You also have more lethargic fish still hanging offshore. Right now you can take your pick whether you want to graph for them and set up on deep schools, or pick apart the shoreline. If you are wanting to fish shallow there are two rigs I recommend having tied on. A ned rig has been killing it! A lot of these bass are feeding on crawfish and this compact little bait is a perfect morsel for them. Green pumpkin is always a safe bet, but today I was dipping the tail of the worm in red dye and it was working very well. If you ever turn over some rocks and find a crawfish in Lake Travis, they are usually a light brown color with some red and orange in them. Keep this in mind when selecting baits. The second bait I would recommend is a small round ball finesse jig tied up in a craw color. This will be better when you get around those rocky snag prone shorelines. We are also getting to the time of year when they should start eating crankbaits well. Having a medium diving crankbait tied on when you get around rocky shallow shorelines is a good idea. As for the deep fish, there are still schools of bass out deeper off points and ledges. I have not found any really big schools in a while, however you will find plenty of small schools of 3-5 fish. A drop shot is always a fish getter on Travis, so that should definitely be tied on. The other rig you should try is a Carolina rig. A zoom speed craw or a 7" power worm are good options for plastics. If you book a trip with me these are some of the things we will be doing! If you are interested in leaning more about bass fishing le'ts set up a "coaching trip" and we will approach the day as if we were practicing for a tournament. Once you book shoot me a message and we will set up a time before your trip to discuss this in further over the phone.
Tyler Torwick
Lago-vista, Texas, United States
Lake Travis Fishing Guide thumbnail
Capt. Tyler with Lake Travis Fishing Guide offers all inclusive guided fishing trips in the Austin area. In business since 2017, Capt. Tyler is a full time guide and tournament angler and spends 250+ days annually on the water. Trips are offered on Lake T...

Other reports from this charter

Spring is Near and the Fishing Has Been
Spring is Near and the Fishing Has Been
February 10, 2025
You can't go wrong with a fishing trip anytime from February to June. Not to say you can't have great fishing in the summer, but the spring is a killer time to be on the water in Austin. Keep in mind in Central Texas, even in February the water is only in the upper 50's at its coldest. This means the fish spawn much earlier around here than they do in most of the US. As of this past week I have seen plenty of signs that bass are on pre-spawn patterns, with some fish even building nests in some spots! This past week I have had clients catch a bunch of fish. I had one trip on Lake Travis a couple days ago that caught well over 30 bass. The lake is super healthy this year with beautiful grass flats growing bass and clean clear water on the lower end of the lake. At the moment I've been catching a lot of fish fishing a little deeper throwing Carolina Rigs, Jigs, Dropshots, and Neko Rigs. We have also been targeting fish throwing jerkbaits and crankbaits when we come across fish working the deeper weed edges feeding on shad. As the water temps increase the patterns will start to change and more moving baits such as swimbaits, flukes, crankbaits and topwater lures will be on deck. The fun part about this time of year is that depending on the part of the lake you are in the fish can be on different patterns. This means you have a bunch of different ways to target them! Historically this is the time of year I have lots of trips that average 20+ fish... I'm not the kind of guide to over promise and bullshit you, but I've had a lot of trips in the springtime catch 50+ bass during their trip. If you can cast I can put you on fish! The other fun thing about getting out there on the water is that you never know what you're going to hook into! This past week the Buffalo carp seem to be following me around as I've had two BIG ones hit the net. If you are interested in getting out on the water, book your trip and we'll get on a phone call and discuss what you want to catch and what would be your ideal guided trip.
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