I know the technical start of summer is still about a week away, but I feel like it's already here. Paying attention to this warmer weather is important when it comes to patterning bass on our local lakes. While the fishing has still been good, it's definitely not the "easy fishing" we had back earlier in the spring. With the water temps up in the mid 80's the fish have moved out deeper and are behaving a little more lethargic. With that said, if you know where to look for them and what baits to throw you can still get bit. As of this past week I've been on both Lake Travis and Lake Decker (Walter E. Long Lake), so I'll drop a little info on both lakes.
Lake Travis
As of the last month the lake has come up a couple feet. Not a ton, but every inch counts. With that increase in inflows comes more stained water on the upper end of the lake. Right now there is a big difference in water clarity between the lower end of the lake and the upper end of the lake. With the warmer water temps the two main patterns that have been the most productive is getting up early to chase schooling fish around the docks, or moving out deep and fishing deep structure like rock piles and ledges.
This time of year a lot of shad will move into the marinas and around big docks that sit over deep water. The bass get up in these areas in schools and chase the bait feeding on it. When fishing this pattern sonar like Livescope is extremely useful. If you don't have it no big deal, keep your eyes peeled and watch the surface of the water. Bass busting the surface will be obvious, but also be looking for small ripples caused by shad breaking the surface of the water. Sometimes these small little ripples caused by the bait fish can key you in on where to cast.
When selecting lures I recommend picking something very realistic that mimics a shad. A Zoom super fluke jr rigged on a 2/0 belly weighted EWG hook, a small chrome popper, a paddletail swimbait, or a jerkbait are all good options. When you see fish or activity on the surface you need to be quick with your casts. Oftentimes the bass come to the surface, catch the baitfish, and go right back down deep.
The other pattern that has been producing fish has been fishing deep structure. I recommend spending some time studying your lake map and looking for deep secondary points and ledges that set up in about 20-30 feet of water. Locating structure like rock piles or natural ledges is also very good. Dropshots, heavy Texas rigs, Carolina Rigs, and deep crankbaits are all great options. When fishing this way I like to rotate through baits often trying a variety of things as I try to establish a pattern. It is not uncommon at all to find a particular color or bait that outfishes everything else you have thrown.
Lake Decker
Lake Decker has been fishing really well the last couple times I made it out there. The lake is a bit lower than full pool, but the ramp is still good to go. The lake is its typical shit show on the weekends, but is still less crowded than the other lakes around town like Austin, Travis and Lake LBJ. The grass has grown in very thick in some parts of the lake, making for some great fishing cover. I don't know why, but the lily pads that in years past were grown in thick in a few parts of the lake are nearly all gone.
The most consistent pattern which works most of the year is fishing the grass. Fishing up in the reeds can yield some good fish, but fishing out in the grass tends to be more consistent. Especially this time of year as it gets hot locating pockets of grass holding fish is key. Like the old adage says, 90% of the fish are in 10% of the lake. My biggest piece of advice for any of y'all headed out there would be to switch baits/ colors often and fish fast. I don't necessarily mean present the bait fast, rather keep moving and covering water. Once you get bit then slow back down and work that area over. After a day of guiding its pretty typical to find several little honey holes within the grass that I can keep rotating around to and know I'll get a couple bites each time. During a guided trip with me I will teach you what it is I'm looking for, what I'm trying to find with my sonar, and how I set up on these spots once I find them.
The usual baits like weedless dropshots, Texas rig, and wacky rigs are all working. Y'all are going to hate me, because I'm going to withhold a little something from this report, but last time I was out there I got on a pattern that was something new I had never really done. Let's just say deep grass, like way deeper than normal. The next time I'm out there I'm going to try and build on this pattern and include it in my honey hole report if its something solid I know is useful to you. But towards the end of my last trip we got on a killer bite targeting fish with Livescope out in some really deep grass. Like I said, this is a pattern I need to explore more but not only did it produce a lot of bites, but we caught several 3-5 pound fish doing it. Stay tuned for my next report to see if this is something special or I'm full of BS. haha But like I said, we we're catching them a way I haven't really caught them in the past and it got me excited.
If you fish Decker often but have limited success, consider booking me for a Full Day coaching trip. I promise for the price of the trip, you'll learn a ton and be a lot more consistent when fishing on your own in the future! Another thing I like about Decker is during the heat of summer during the middle of the day I find the fish are a little easier to catch. They school up and work bait balls offshore more than they do on other lakes. If you're itching to go fishing, hook up your boat and get out there or book a trip with me!
Comments