I never got a chance to write this report due to how much I have been on the water. However my clients for today canceled due to the rain. Since I've got some free time I wanted to give y'all some info on Lake Belton.
Lake Belton is not one of the lakes I guide, its just too far away to make it feasible. And to be honest I find that lake kind of boring, it fishes a little like Lake Travis but I alway seem to do way better on Travis. Lake Belton is very clear and rocky with a lot of timber in the lake. There aren't stumps like you'd find out at Toledo Bend or Lake Fork, but there are plenty of trees out deep from when they flooded the lake a long time ago. We don't really have pine trees in Central Texas so it's mostly Oak.
I have a Bass Champs tournament out there next weekend. This weekend is Media Bass, so another Austin Fishing Guide that I know joined me in my boat. We set out to fish the morning and see if we could figure out a pattern. The wind was forecasted to get up to 20 mph in the afternoon, so we only fished until about 1:00 PM.
Baits That Worked
Wacky rigged senkos always work, but they were getting the job done last week. I don't typically rig them with a weed guard but on Belton I would advise it. There is a lot of sticks and brush in the shallows that the fish were holding around. Slow down with the bait and give it plenty of time to sit on the bottom. I like to add a tungsten nail weight into the bait to help a little.
Flukes worked very well too. Fish them around isolated cover and make long casts. Areas being hit by a lot of wind seemed best.
Swimbaits- a Keitech on a belly weight hook also produced a few fish
Texas Rig- a brush hog or a small creature bait worked well. Ander gave me a little tip I plan to try out... he said he always puts a bead under the weight when he Texas rigs. I sometimes do this, but have never found it to make a difference. He was throwing a T rig with a bead and was out fishing my Texas rig, so I plan to do some comparisons and see if I can decided if I think it helps. Something you might try!
Time to Go Fishing!
Right now the fishing all over Austin and the Central Texas area is heating up! If you are looking for a Lake Travis fishing guide give me a call! I have several days open next week and the fishing is getting hot!