I will switch baits depending on the depth of the rock I am fishing, so I recommend having several similar colored baits, but with different diving depths. The bite has been good and will only continue to get better until about June. Occasionally you will come across small schools of suspended bass. The premium is now placed on utilizing electronics to discover condensed groups of fish on select pieces of offshore cover. On days when the fish dont want to commit to a moving bait bite, slowing down with finesse techniques can be very productive. During slow periods, the baitfish and bass will relate to the creek channels. Additionally the White Bass are moving up to spawn, and with the low lake levels I have found them spawning in unusual places. In my experience it throws off the bite and makes it a little tougher. I also am a big believer in not fishing spots and fishing a pattern instead. Later this month I expect to start finding fish up on beds. For trips with children I recommend a half-day trip. TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas - The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) is investigating a deadly hit-and-run crash in Southeast Austin. When I get younger children in the boat the trolling bite has been the ticket lately. The backs of coves will stay slightly warmer than the deep part of the main lake. A small swimbait is another bait that works year around on Lake Travis, but especially excels in the fall. You can find these by using your side scan sonar, or even just looking on Google Earth at old satellite imagery from when the lake was low. One other important thing to mention! As soon as the bass catch the shad they are after they go back down 10-15 feet deep, so being fast to cast is critical. Hook sets are free! Lake Travis Parks. Evenings They move from creek channel to flat, and back to creek channel, constantly. Areas where there are small drops offs that allow fish to sit at the base of them waiting to ambush prey are even better. My approach to bass fishing often involves the science behind it, and not just whatever the latest fad on BassMaster is. I love these since I can cast them far, feel the bottom easily and they dont get snagged too easily. With bed fishing you may spend 30+ minutes looking for a nest and trying to get the fish to bite. For this set up I typically throw a 3/8th ounce tungsten bullet weight and a Rage Craw or Zoom speed craw. Let it take line and sink out to help it get deeper. Look for creek channels or big drop offs, then find the nearest point or ledge where a fish could pull up to in order to ambush prey. The areas we target are near the main river channel that runs through the lake. When fishing for these bass I recommend having four baits tied on, a swimbait, an Alabama rig, a jigging spoon, and a drop shot. Best Lake Travis Lakeside Restaurants When they are more lethargic I like to drop a small fluke on a drop shot down to them. There are fish in every part of the water column from a few feet to all the way down to 60+ feet. If you follow me on social media you probably have noticed a lot of posts from Lake Travis. (just watch out for those dock cables). There is also a type of grass called chara that grows up shallow, its an annoying stringy grass that doesnt help attract fish but rather fouls up your hooks more than anything. Small medium diving crankbaits, paddle tail swimbaits, and jerkbaits have all been very productive. Fish it with small twitches of the rod top and dont be too aggressive with the bait. When I say this I am referring to baits you cast and retrieve that mimic threadfin shad. This is when they move to the shallows to build a nest and lay their eggs. You can cover water quickly, you can trigger reaction baits by choosing a bait that will bump into the rocks on the bottom, and the come in tons of realistic colors. Austin pumps highest amount of water, so far this year. On windy overcast days, especially if the barometer is dropping from weather moving in, I like to get on main lake points and shorelines getting hit by the wind. Alternate between these baits and target points and drains outside of areas bass spawn. The same locations as before apply, however you are trying to get this bait down to the rocks and get it to bump into the bottom. Often times they like to make their nests directly next to some cover such as old stumps, rocks, or shallow anchor blocks from docks. Each report contains 5+ EXACT spots with all the information needed to fish them. Cast right on top of them when they are boiling on the surface. Look for hard targets like stumps and or boulders, with sand and gravel nearby. During the winter time the lake has no thermocline and the water is cold from the bottom of the lake to the top of the lake. For this type of fishing there are four baits that are my go-tos, but there are plenty of others that will work. I have seen water clarity as good at 12 feet on the lower end. Fishing has been getting good and will only get better until it gets really cold! Bonus tip: When its windy, look for sharp mud lines, they make for great ambush points. The last but biggest bit of advice I can give you is to slow down! Make sure you can feel the bottom, maintain that contact with the rock, and give it plenty of pauses. Fall fishing is a blast, not only can you catch them on a variety of patterns but I typically see high numbers and a larger average size fish. On windy days, especially when you get a drop in the barometer, I have found bass positioned suspended off the ledge willing to eat a moving bait like a crankbait or swimbait. These fish will move on you when you find them, so if you dont get bit after 10 minutes of fishing, graph them again. July fishing is notorious for being challenging. Nearly all my weekends are booked up, but I have quite a few openings mid week. Current water temps on Lake Travis are in the upper 80s, anywhere from 85-88 degrees depending on the time of day. With a little less water in the lake, the end result is being able to target the fish a little easier in certain areas. Areas of structure such as rock piles, small ledges, or grass not far from the shallow areas I described early, will hold fish. Well, there are several things I like to throw, but lets go with my top three. Quick, accurate casts into the schools of bass hitting the surface are key to getting bit. Aquatic Vegetation. Fish the bait slow and really try to get a feel for the bottom. We have been getting quality bites fishing carolina rigged lizards and stick baits. Ive seen it as low as 61 degrees recently though. Look for ledges and secondary points in anywhere from 15 to 35 feet of water. During the cold months the baitfish congregate in these river channels and move in condensed clouds. Towards the end of this month I would expect more and more fish to be pulling offshore. The slow fall of the bait can often get you bit. When following these creek channels, look for areas where they touch close to a shallower point or flat. A Rapala DT-10 or a Storm Wiggle wart are two good options. The fishing on Lake Travis has been exceptional the past month! ARL:UT Lake Travis Test Station Real-Time Weather Data Lake Travis Test Station 04/30/2023 01:55:00 PM https://www.torwicksguidingservice.com/honeyholes. These three rigs will cover a wide array of spots on Lake Travis. 11,848 Readers. (Which in my opinion is better fishing anyways due to the lake being empty) March through May are some of the best months to bass fish in Austin, so get out there on the water! The fishing on Lake Travis has been phenomenal the past few weeks! Until the water gets a little colder, they will continue to do so. A jig with a light brown skirt with some orange or red it in works very well think natural! Water Data For Texas Lake Travis: 44.0% full as of 2023-04-29 Recent Historical Statistics If you know anything at all about Lake Travis then you know the lake is quite low right now. Change baits often and rotate through your arsenal of lures to draw bites. A lot of the deep-water marinas on Lake Travis hold schools of baitfish, which attracts the bass. The bite is still good during the summer, but its hard to beat springtime fishing! Water clarity is the typical gin clear Lake Travis. Small minnows fished on a 1/16th ounce lead head have also been very productive. These two baits are perfect for putting numbers in the boat. Medium Diving Crankbait When fishing with any of these baits make sure to keep your retrieve very erratic, lots of stops and starts and changes to the speed of your retrieve will help to elicit reaction bites from the bass. Lake Travis has a ton of bluff walls, but not all of them are created equal. During the fall the fish move shallower, but keep in mind on Travis shallow is a relative term. Its about to be a great time to get out and on some nice fish. About Torwicks Guiding Service Skipping docks will always get you bit as well. The first being throwing moving baits. As I have said many times before, water temperature is the biggest factor affecting how fish behave. My biggest piece of advice this time of year is to get out early while its cool, avoid the weekends when its busy, and pack lots of cold drinks! Depending on the water clarity, I would focus on the 15-20 ft depth range, near isolated patches of rock. If the water appears to be more clear, you might move deeper. Towards the ends of April you will also begin seeing Threadfin and Gizzard Shad spawn in the lake. As the lake level gets low on Lake Travis there are a lot of places that set up well at first glance, and on a map look fishy. Points, bluff walls, and offshore structure such as rock piles or brush piles can be especially good. We are still starting our mornings with top waters or shad imitation swim baits early. www.torwicksguidingservice.com. Days with no wind, high barometric pressure and sunny skies will make fish move a little deeper and hold tight to cover. If you lack confidence in a jig you can substitute it with a Texas rigged craw style bait with a 3/8th ounce weight. Winter is definitely here and the fish in Lake Travis know it too! Also, I might focus on very main lake bluff type areas. Here on Lake Travis a lot of our coves are very deep and are basically flooded canyons. Clients always ask me my favorite time to target largemouth bass on Lake Travis. Jul 1, 2009. Have a crawfish pattern and a shad pattern ready to go. During the summer the bass spend a lot of time just hanging out in small schools. I do experiment a lot with colors and changing them up, but when in doubt one of these three colors will get you bit. Read on to learn more about the temperatures you should look for when going for a dip and some tips on acclimating your body to cold water swimming. Bass will move from the creek/ river channel to feed up shallow. As the lake level creeps down on Lake Travis the fishing has been great the last few weeks. Lake Travis has finally begun what I refer to as the fall transition. These reports are updated weekly on Thursdays at 6:00PM and contain a minimum of 5 pins on the map showing you EXACTLY where to fish, what bait to throw, what color to use, how to present it, what time of day to fish the spot, etc etc. In addition to this, avoid the banks that are made up of just sand and gravel with one exception. These recent cold fronts have brought colder water temps, and with it the bass in Lake Travis are changing their pattern once again. I spend more time fishing Lake Travis than any other local guide as this is my home lake. We have been catching the majority of my fish on drop shot flukes, on spinning tackle, in 10-20 ft of water. Once they go back down you are kind of just blind casting. If you are too slow they will go back down deep and never see your swimbait. Everything during the spring revolves around the water temperature. When I find fish out deep I pay attention to how they are positioned on the fish finder to help me decide what bait to throw. This normally means slowing way down with your presentation or going with a bait that will trigger reaction strikes. Make long casts with the swimbait around cover and work it over any drop offs you find underwater. Once you determine these factors, you can select a presentation to suit the specific situation. That is still a little ways off with as hot as its been. A ounce brown and orange football jig with a speed craw for a trailer is a deadly combination. While the fish arent out on the deepest structure in the lake, they have made a significant move to the 1st major break. Water temps throughout the winter have been cold. Threadfin Shad are one of the main food sources for largemouth bass. Spawning Fish Dates for spring are filling up so get your trip booked soon with Texas Hawgs, Lake Travis is fishing good right now. That considered, its important to focus on offshore locations near deep water access, where fish can access cool water. You can never go wrong picking up a spinning rod with light line. A Heddon Zara Spook- A bone colored spook is one of my favorite topwater baits. Topwater Baits: a chrome pop-r or bone colored spook are great topwater options that will allow you to cover a lot of water. The shoreline of Lake Travis is mostly limestone and as the lake drops exposing new rock and the wind creates chop it tends to make the water a bit more cloudy than normal. Aug. 14, 2022 (KLAS) June 2022. Next time you are targeting pre-spawn fish look for these and target your casts along them. Lakes Buchanan and Travis, the two water supply reservoirs in the Highland Lakes, were designed to fluctuate, capturing water during rainy times and holding it for use when the weather turned drier. Texas rigged craw style plastics work well too, but a personal preference of mine is a jig. Right now Lake Travis is very much in a fall type pattern. Get out there and catch a few! If you have a boat and fish Lake Travis on your own, consider checking out my Honey Hole Reports. So it begs the questions, why do they do that? If I am targeting a little better grade of fish, I like to throw a Texas rigged senko. Water clarity is still very good, Lake Travis is known for being very clear, but at the present time can be a bit more cloudy in some areas depending on the wind. The majority of Lake Travis bass have now transitioned to post spawn. When it comes to baits to use there are a lot of options but I will give you my top three. As for the crankbait, I like to throw mostly craw imitation colors such as red/ orange and brown. Dont get fixated on throwing just one or two of your favorite baits. Carolina rigs are always a good choice for a long, lazy approach, for lethargic cold water bass. Best fishing hours are early morning and late evening in low light conditions. Lets discuss both! With these baits you want to really slow down and pick apart the structure you are fishing. Make long casts with your spook across main lake points or ledges adjacent to deep water. 6,013 Readers. While not the species I normally guide for, I love catching them as theyre hard fighters and are great for clients who want to keep their catch. We would recommend a small black and blue craw imitation, worked slowly on the bottom over brush piles or grass patches. Subtle movements with your rod tip, smaller dragging motions to the side, and a slower reeling presentation with moving baits tends to do better when the weather is hot and the water is hot. Due to the changes in bottom composition the lower end of Lake Travis can get very clear. When its like this, backing off the shoreline and picking up a crankbait can produce really well. Coves that are protected from the wind will be the first places I look. (Aaron E. Martinez/American-Statesman/USA Today Network) I have caught fish from 10 feet all the way down to 35 feet. Long casts with this style bait, covering lots of water, are very effective. If this fishing report helps you, please consider sharing it on your social media! When the water is low I focus more on man-made structures such as docks, staircases into the lake, concrete walkways, etc. Orange Spike-It dye is a must have in your boat for dipping your soft plastics in. Currently water clarity on Lake Travis is around 4-5 feet depending on the part of the lake youre on. I love teaching new and veteran anglers alike. I use these bright colors since they are easy for me to visually see on the bottom of the lake. Let the bill of your bait hit and deflect off rocks; this will often trigger bites. Largemouth bass are at their heaviest when they are full or eggs but have yet to lay them. Deep docks with numerous cross members and a low platform are probably the best. We have found the walking the dog baits have been very productive (Zara spook style). Stick to natural colors like Green Pumpkin and Watermelon. What this means is that your typical pre-spawn spots will reload quickly with different fish. With that said, hot surface temps can cause a thermocline to develop in the lake. Most of the bigger fish are hitting jigs, shaky heads and Carolina rigged plastics. The Lake is HEALTHY! These reports give you 5+ EXACT spots on Google Earth showing you exactly where to fish. Nowadays I feel like so many anglers simply regurgitate the same info over and over. For more aggressive and active fish I like to jig a silver ounce jigging spoon around these schools of fish to trigger bites. This allows the plankton in the lake to bloom longer. While I do not offer guided Crappie trips, there are some nice ones in Lake Travis. As the water cools you will find these shad moving from deep water, which in the case of Lake Travis will be the river channels and major creek arms. Largemouth Bass are going to start moving up into coves to continue feeding on baitfish. These are the primary species of baitfish that bass feed on in Central Texas. Another bait I throw is a or ounce football jig in brown/ black. Spring is right around the corner! Yep, when these fish move up shallow but the bite is a little tough, I like to break out a wacky rigged senko. Currently water clarity throughout the lake is a bit stained, the lower end by Mansfield Dam is still quite clear, but not by our usual standards. Fish live deep on this lake all year, so catching them in 20 feet of water right now is not uncommon at all. Be focused on creek channels, or the river beds at the bottom of the lake. With that said everyday more and more fish are pulling up into their spawning areas to make nests and spawn. There are a few fish on beds already as well. I find that little bit of color makes it stand out and get a few more bites. Get right over the schools of bass and drop your bait down close to your transducer so that you can see it go down the screen, stop it once you are at the same depth as the fish. A quick tip is to look for Blue Herons and Egrets, these birds feed on the shad and are a dead giveaway to the presence of bait fish. During the summer months the bass take advantage of the cooler temps in the early morning and late evening. A football jig or a Texas rigged craw will also work extremely well. By this time the bass have begun spawning and will continue to do so the rest of the month. https://www.torwicksguidingservice.com/honeyholes. Until the water temps dip below 60 degrees the patterns I discussed above will be good. Repeated casts to high percentage targets, fishing quick, and rotating baits often will also help get you more bites. Please check out my most recent video on fishing Lake Travis in the winter. The Bassmaster Elite guys (2018 Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest) showed up to Lake Travis and wacked some big ol bass! Water clarity is great as always; expect to find visibility 5-10 feet on the lower end of the lake, and slightly less as you get further up river, especially past the split. Summer conditions are still here and will be for at least the next month or two. Top Bassmaster Tournament Lures on Lake Travis (slide show), Its May and the fishing is really strong on Lake Travis. Weve had some really productive trips lately, so dont let the fear of summertime fishing stop you from hitting the lake. When they move offshore they usually are not super active even though they are schooled up. Mammatus clouds over Crosswater Yacht Club on Lake Travis on April 28, 2023 . Make long casts and use a slower retrieve. Currently with the water still just below that temperature needed for the shad to spawn, the bass in Lake Travis are post-spawn. While I dont like seeing the lake so low I do see it as an opportunity to get out and scout. Male bass will clear away debris and sediment on the bottom of the lake creating a nest for the female to lay their eggs. This is important because it brings cool, oxygenated water and food to the bass. Lowest 31 January, 2023 26.6 F; Average 2023 59.6 F; Highest 3 April, 2023 90.5 F; Please feel free to visit my website, or give me a call! When fishing it I prefer a medium speed retrieve but I stop and start the bait a lot as well as very the retrieve by speeding up and slowing it down often keep the retrieve erratic and avoid just reeling it in over and over again at the same speed. If you see fishing jumping you need to be quick and accurate. Lets not forget the night time crappie fishing. Recently I had a day with a morning and evening trip we caught numerous fish, up to 5 pounds, on a spook all throughout the day. On days with a little wind, cloud cover, and a falling barometer I like to throw baits that elicit a reaction strike, a jerkbait, an Alabama rig, or a small paddle tail swimbait on a ounce lead head work well. I recommend throwing this on braided line with a fluorocarbon leader. Summertime fishing can be hit or miss for a lot of anglers, but I promise you, if you put in the time and learn how bass behave and why certain conditions make them behave a certain way, you will be more successful. One key to the topwater bite is finding the right kinds of banks. These hold fish almost year round. There are few hope-giving warming trends that somehow find their way through a calendar of brutal cold fronts. Personally I prefer winter fishing to summer fishing, but as water temperatures drop, the fishs metabolism slows. The fish will move up shallow early in the mornings. Without going super in depth (if you want that level of info consider purchasing one of my Honey Hole Reports) I recommend having a variety of crankbaits in different diving depths as well as a swimbait tied on. Legend: <0F 0F 10F 20F 30F 40F 50F 60F 70F 80F 90F 100F A watermelon red trick worm on a shakey head has been our ticket the last few weeks. Football jigs and finesse jigs with a craw style trailer work very well and tend to draw larger bites. My trips are geared around education, and I promise I can cut your learning curve drastically. As water temps during the fall drop the main lake cools faster than the backs of the coves, which in turn allows plankton to keep growing. 20-35 feet of water is where I have been finding the most fish. As the water warms up the bass become more active and begin to feed more and more. Once the sun has come out and it starts to warm up the bass tend to back off the bank and move a little deeper. Theres nothing better to get clients excited than when the bass are literally jumping in front of you! These are trips geared towards teaching you how to fish Lake Travis and not just running you to my honey holes. Related Links: I typically start with a brown craw color this time of year, but if Im not getting bit on it I will quickly switch to a shad pattern. Temperatures above that are more comfortable for those not acclimated to the cold. Stick to natural colors like green pumpkin, watermelon, or variations of those. If you purchase a report and dont think it was worth your hard earned money I will refund you no questions asked! With this report you even get the exact GPS coordinates of where I recommend you fish! Crankbaits- Medium diving crankbaits can also be a terrific bait to throw at these shad hungry fish. During the end of September and the beginning of October, depending on when we first start seeing cold fronts, the lake temps will start to drop. Knowing when a thermocline is present can help significantly in figuring out how deep to fish. A Texas rig with a creature bait and a pegged weight can work very well for making accurate pitches at a bed. Cleanups help protect marine life and the quality of the water itself. Once you have found some fish, or pulled up on your favorite spot, there are a couple baits I recommend you have tied on. As fall gets closer the topwater and crankbait bite will also improve. Once Fall arrives the fishing will fire back up again since the water will cool again. I have noticed the fish relating to the deep sloped chunk rock banks as the lake level creeps down. The fish have moved a little since the flooding several weeks ago but we are still coming across some really nice ones. I can cut your learning curve of fishing Lake Travis in half but dont take my word for it, check my reviews online! Sounds dumb right? Bass like stability; so going deeper provides them with water that is not prone to change a whole lot. I recommend looking for areas with rock or grass, avoid spots where the bottom is mostly sand or gravel. A Texas rigged curl tail worm, a wacky rigged senko, and a flipping jig are all baits I like throwing around this kind of cover. As I mentioned in my previous report, my approach to bass fishing has a bit of a scientific twist to it. That is a high percentage spot for those fish to pull up on. 639.82 ft updated 6:00 AM. June marks the beginning of summer, and with the warm weather lately the fish know that! September is typically a transition month here in the south. Drop shots and shaky head worms have been doing well for me. What I mean by that is that the behavior and location youll find fish is going to change a lot throughout the month. If you notice the majority of your bites come on the pause, fish even slower! We have been fishing ledges and drops in the 20-35ft depth and having to fish very SLOW Without going in to great detail the heavy soft plastics, jigs, a-rigs, and slab spoons have been the go to baits this winter for most of us. I will also start moving up further and further into the backs of coves as it cools down. Jigs, ned rigs, drop shots, and Texas rigs are all good ways to present a bait slowly along the bottom to entice that feeding bite. I like to keep my boat as far away as possible and make long casts with the swimbait or Alabama rig and run it right through the middle of those schools of bass. This is one of the absolute best places to have Garmin Panoptix in your boat. During increased periods of activity they will move onto the point or flat. Have a boat of your own? A hike and bike trail along Lady Bird Lake is feet from the end of Rainey Street on Sunday, April 2, 2023, in downtown Austin. A Strike King 6XD or 10XD, depending on the depth, is a great bait to cover water and get down to these schools of fish. We are now officially in the heat of the Summer. These small silver bait fish are plentiful in Lake Travis and are like candy to hungry bass. As the water gets into the 70s the bait fish in the lake spawn. The evening bite has been very good. Bluff walls near the mouths of spawning coves can also hold a lot of fish early in the pre-spawn phase. For docks sitting in water deeper than 15-20 feet I will often add a small tungsten nail weight into the senko to make is sink slightly faster. During late February bass feed on both crawfish and shad, so I like to mix it up with the colors I throw. Fish baits that are fast moving, throw off a lot of vibration, or have some flash to them. Small swimbaits, topwater lures, and jerkbaits can all be excellent baits to target these fish. I still have some dates in spring coming up so get your trip booked soon with Texas Hawgs, Lake Travis has been fishing well this month. Im talking about the 7s, 8s, and 9+s. If the bass you are targeting are not getting fired up with the fast moving bait, slow down. This popular Texas lake is massive, spanning almost 19,000 acres, with a length of 63.71 miles, up to a 4.5-mile width, a 271-mile long shoreline, a 190-foot maximum depth, twenty-plus marinas, and hundreds of boat launches. It is more narrow, has smaller coves and creek arms, and the water is more stained. Schooling Fish Deep Offshore Fish Wind breaks up light penetration through the water and causes it to refract making it a little more difficult for the bass to get a good look at your bait. Typically the edge of the ledge will be the most productive area. Cover as much water as possible and fish fast! Once water temps reach the low 60s you will find fish on beds. A deep crankbait, a fluke on a heavy scrounger head, or a Biffle bug on a swinging jig head fished on the bottom can work well. While I prefer throwing moving baits, sometimes slowing down will do the trick. At this point in the season, you shouldnt be looking in the creeks at all. There are a variety of baits I throw but especially jigs, dropshots, ned rigs, and neko rigs. Seventy is a magical number on Lake Travis as that is the temperature needed for the shad to begin their spawn. Fish this bait over and around cover can trigger some exciting blow ups. A topwater bait can be productive, but that bite is mainly limited to the first hour of daylight. Long accurate casts are the key to catching these fish. My next two baits are for once you have made numerous casts at the schools and are now ready to get directly over the top of them and fish vertically over them. If the fish are a bit more active I prefer to fish a small football jig. Until then, get out there on the water and keep fishing! Now all I have to do it pan my transducer around and tell you exactly how far away and how deep the fish are. They are not interested in eating it, just hurting or killing it. When the moving bait bite is good I like to tie on a red/ orange squarebill, a white spinnerbait, a 4 Keitech on an underspin head, or a fluke rigged on a belly weighted hook. For these trips the focus of the trip is to teach you to be successful on your own. Those rocky veins on the other hand provide all of that! Where can I find information regarding Lake Travis water temperature, swimming and lake conditions?
lake travis water temperature april
