Boy oh boy has it been hot lately! I can't wait for a cold front to roll through. Despite the heat the fishing has been good. Obviously spring and fall are the peak times of year when the fishing gets easy, but if you know where to look and how to approach the fish you can still catch bass during the summer. Lately I have been guiding trips on both Lake Travis and Lake Decker, let me give you a little run down on both lakes.
First thing though, I am extremely excited to announce my wife and I purchased our first house out in Lago Vista. We purchased a dirt lot a while back and had a home built... she got to pick the colors, flooring, fixtures etc. I don't care about that stuff! haha but garage was all mine. I now have a nice big garage to fit the bass boat and make life easier parking it. One of the big reasons we moved out here was access to the private boat ramps. The reason I mention it in this fishing report is because Lake Travis is extremely low right now. Most of the public boat ramps are closed, fortunately I have access to deep water private boat ramps now and have no issue getting on the water.
Lake Travis Fishing Report
As for the fishing on Lake Travis, like I said the bite has been good. With that said, it's not like we are catching fish just anywhere. Most fish we have been catching have been in the 20-30 foot depth range with some fish coming shallower in the morning. If you are headed out on the water I recommend getting to the lake no later than 6:30AM. With the heat the midday bite after noonish has been slow. The bite picks back up in the evening, but that "midday lull" is in full effect.
If you are fishing all day though you can get bit by moving offshore or around bluff walls. When its hot and sunny I have been graphing for fish around offshore points and humps targeting them with deep crankbaits and carolina rigs. You are either trying to fish fast to trigger a reaction bite or slow enough to get them to feed. For crankbaits a deep diver such as a 6th Sense Crush 500DD in a shad pattern has been good. For carolina rigs I have been throwing speed craws and baby brush hogs, watermelon red and green pumpkin have been solid colors that will get bit. There are a couple other colors that have been working really well, I have those in my Honey Hole Report.
No fishing report for Lake Travis would be complete without mentioning a drop shot! haha Slowing down and picking apart small ledges or docks with the drop shot has also been good. I wish I could tell y'all we landed it, but yesterday I had a morning trip and at the end of our trip my client hooked into a monster! I don't like being that fishing guide that tells the "one that got away" story, but this fish jumped twice, one time only a few feet away from the net, so we got a great look at her. She made one last hard run and got up by a dock cable and broke the line. I conservatively estimate she was a 7 pounder. We hooked here pitching a drop shot up around docks. The key to this though is getting your casts as close to the dock as you can. Those fish like the shade and don't always want to venture far from the dock to chase a bait. Fish your bait subtle enough to keep the work moving, but not move the sinker off the bottom. Working it this way will keep your bait in the strike zone longer.
If you are willing to get out there early there is still a topwater bite to be had. However, after about 7:30AM that bite dies way off and fishing deeper is more effective. Small bone colored pop-r's or a small profile walking bait such as a spook jr. in bone has been good. Get up around the rock and target places adjacent to where you would expect the fish to be when it gets hotter. Essentially you are targeting those shallow areas the fish move to to feed while its cool. Once it gets hot again they will pull back out.
Once schools starts and kids are back in class my the lake crowd slows down. My business usually slows down a bit until fall gets here and it cools off as well. If you are looking for a coaching trip where we will really go in depth on breaking down seasonal patterns and really educating you to better understand the lake and fish behavior now is a great time. I have more openings and we don't have to deal with as much boat traffic. As you've read in the report there are a variety of ways to catch them right now and we will spend time covering them all. Shoot me a message or book through my site!
Walter E. Long Lake
Lake Decker has historically been a power plant lake, and while they don't operate it much anymore I find that lake fishes well during the summer. The average size fish in Decker is a bit bigger than Lake Travis, and lately we have been catching some nice sized fish up to 5 lbs. There are a couple ways you can catch them, but the pattern I want to key you in on is finding isolated patches of Hydrilla.
Lake Decker is full of hydrilla, but in most areas it grows out in large flats, or just along the reeds. However, in some places you can find patches of it growing on the bottom all on their own. These little spots are the ticket to big bass! Use your side imaging and graph areas you know there is grass but further out from the grass than you normally would. You are looking for those patches of grass out there all on their own. I have still caught a lot of fish out of those big grass flats, but when you can find a patch of grass all on its lonesome, it tends to hold more fish consistently.
Soft plastics such as a weedless drop shot, a neko rig, or a Texas rig have all produced fish. Natural dark colors like green pumpkin or variations of it have been good. Play around with the colors you're throwing though, as Decker is one of those lakes that sometimes color can make all the difference. I have more info on the exact baits and colors I'm throwing in my honey hole report.
If you haven't yet, consider checking out my Honey Hole Reports! These detailed fishing reports are uploaded every Thursday and contains the EXACT coordinates to spots I am catching fish with clients, the baits and colors I'm using and much much more.
Comments