Photo Credit: Bass Champs
If you follow my report you probably have noticed a lack of fishing reports for Lake Travis. Well that was due to not being allowed to fish there for 10 days! This season I am fishing the Bass Champs central division and since I am a licensed fishing guide I am required per the rules to not be on the tournament lake 10 days prior to the event. A totally understandable rule, but it does make guiding a little more difficult when I have to move trips to other lakes. (It worked out well this time though since LBJ and Decker have been fishing great)
If you're from Austin you know how lousy the weather has been... early last week it was warm and sunny, then come the weekend (and the tournament) and we literally get freezing temperatures, ice, hail and snow. I guess thats just Texas weather huh. Anyways, we had a tough fishing tournament unfortunately. I was being a little tight lipped in practice, but I got on a good pattern throwing an Alabama rig around docks. This pattern works best when its sunny out since the fish like the shade and move up under the docks. Its a risk vs reward way of fishing as you risk breaking off big fish on dock cables, and it gets expensive losing A rigs to those cables. So far I am out $50 in baits thanks to that! haha
With the big cold front we had move in, any of those pre spawn fish up shallow, or those fish holding under docks feeding will move. Typically during the winter those fish will move offshore and suspend. This makes them very difficult to find and catch. This is when lots of time graphing and good electronics pays off.
On tournament day I decided to start with my dock pattern despite the lousy conditions. Long story short I put 6 bass and 1 big Striper in the boat. Unfortunately we had a very small limit and were un able to cull up. You needed about 12 pounds to cut a check. We weighed in 8 lbs which was good enough for 51st out of 140 boats... not the day I was hoping for. But hey that's fishing. We did spend some time fishing some brush piles of mine and trying some small ledges, these didn't produce any bites.
Now... this sounds all grim and sad, but fear not! There is some warm weather in the forecast and that's all it takes for the bite to pick back up. Largemouth Bass are very susceptible to temperature changes, barometric pressure, and weather patterns. Its pretty common knowledge that a cold front kills the bite. This week I will be back out on Travis scouting around for some upcoming guide trips. I have a feeling after Wednesday the fishing will improve drastically. I will report back and let y'all know my findings.
I will be fishing Lake LBJ on Friday... right now that is my top pick lake for anglers looking to hook a big one. Still putting out good numbers, the fishing isn't quite what it was at the beginning of the draw down, but its still awesome. IMPORTANT: The LCRA originally announced an extension of the drawdown until the beginning of March. This is NO LONGER the case... The lake will begin filling back up February 24th, so if you want to take advantage of this bite or simply learn the lake and see all the structure and docks that normally are hidden under the water line, NOW is the time to do so. Give me a call and lets get you out there! I will show you the stretches of bank that the fish seem to be keying in on, docks that are higher percentage areas for big fish, and structure that may hold fish in the future.
Lastly, I would like to say congratulations to everyone who finished in the money last Saturday. Also a huge congrats to the winners putting up a huge 17+ pound limit!
Tight Lines!