The bass fishing continues to be consistently good on Lake Travis right now! Clients ask me all the time my favorite time to fish, and my answer is always the same... spring and fall. Both of these seasons trigger bass into feeding for a variety of reasons. Water temperature is a huge factor in bass behavior, and these cooler temps in the mid to high 60's is optimal for them to feed. Essentially what they are doing is preparing for winter when their metabolisms will slow down and they will become less active. While the fish are behaving this way is a great time to get out on the water. If you are a new angler or are introducing someone to the sport of fishing now is the perfect time to fish! We have been averaging 20-30 fish each trip consistently. You can't catch fish just anywhere right now, but let me give you a few tips to help you find them. Once you understand seasonal patterns and the feeding behavior of largemouth bass, they can become more predictable and easier to find. With these cool water temps as I mentioned earlier, a lot of the bass in Lake Travis have made a push up to the shoreline. You can catch fish at a variety of depths, anywhere from a foot of water to 35 feet of water. To start with, let's discuss two predictable places I recommend you target these fish right now. 1. Bluff Walls Bluff walls on Lake Travis are good almost year around. There are times when they won't be here in large concentrations, but in general they just move up and down the water column to a depth they like. As of this past week we have had quite a few days with very little wind and not a ton of cloud cover. When you get bluebird days like this it creates high barometric pressure. This affect the fish's swim bladder. When fishing these conditions I find that the fish tend to move deeper. Target bluff walls near the entrance to large coves. If the weather is like I described earlier, focus your casts anywhere from 15-30 feet away from the shoreline. You will be working the 20-35 foot range by doing this. I recommend keeping your bow graph on and familiarize yourself with how far away from the shoreline 35 feet is. Some bluff walls are near vertical, others are more sloped into the lake. Keep this in mind when working your bait away from the bank. On cloudy overcast days I tend to make long casts and start up shallow. This is not to say all your bites will come shallow, but it is a good idea to start there since this time of year the bass will move shallow to feed if the conditions allow. A drop shot is an excellent bait to use when fishing bluff walls. A 1/4 or 3/8th ounce cylinder weight with a 1/0 drop shot hook is all you need. I favor the lighter weight when there is little wind, and on more gusty days I go with the heavier weight to help me feel the bottom better. A Zoom trick worm in green pumpkin or watermelon red has been a consistent producer. 2. Points Inside Coves Points in general are always good places to fish. A point is a natural ambush spot for a bass to sit and wait for prey to come to them. Largemouth bass are very opportunistic, so they prefer places where they can sit and wait for dinner to be served to them, not where they have to go out and chase it down. When you enter a large cove, try fishing the first or second point inside of it. Below I have annotated a screen shot of a cove on Lake Travis as an example. This is the cove just up river from Crosswater Yacht Club. Here you can see how there are several points as you go further back into the cove. As fall progresses and the water cools, you will start to find more and more fish further back into the coves. My last fishing report discusses this in detail and explains why the do that, so if you missed that report go read that one before continuing. What to Expect with this Cold Weather- Lake Travis Fall Fishing Report 10/27/2020 Since my last report we have had some very nice warm weather. This has warmed the water temps back up since that last cold front. Due to this I have not been finding fish all the way in the backs of coves, but there are plenty of fish closer to the main lake. These points as illustrated by the red arrows are close to creek channel bends, when fish move back in these creek channels, these points are the first places they will pull up on. Think of them as staging areas for the bass to hang out before deciding where they want to go next and feed. Points closer to the mouth of the cove will be better early in the fall. The points in the back of the cove will be better later in the fall. There are a variety of baits you can throw around these areas but a drop shot, a ned rig, or a football jig have been my baits of choice lately. As the weather cools the locations bass hangout will change, but you can expect this pattern to last several more weeks until the weather gets a lot colder. Fall is a great time to fish so book now!