Written by Austin Fishing Guide Tyler Torwick
I finally made it out to Lake Travis yesterday! I am the type who hates sitting inside for long, I always have to be out doing something. With that said, I hate the cold more! The recent ice storm we had here in Central Texas kept me off the water. For one, I was worried about the road conditions, and two I would have been miserable out there on the water. haha
This past Friday, February 3rd I finally made it back out on the lake for a guided trip I had booked, that we had to push back a day due to the weather. It was still pretty chilly out but it wasn't bad at all. Water temps right now are around in the mid 50's, surprisingly not as cold as I expected with the cold weather we had... still chilly for this area though. Water clarity has been a bit dirtier than I am used to on Lake Travis, but its been that way for quite a while now. (Compared to other lakes though its still quite clear.)
My client yesterday was a young man from out of state here in Texas to go visit Baylor University. As y'all may know I am a Baylor grad and big Baylor Bears fan! So I thought it was very fitting he booked a trip with me. With the colder weather and overcast conditions I figured we would be best off starting with crankbaits looking for reaction bites. The lower end of Lake Travis has a ton of hydrilla right now, I'm absolutely loving it as its improved the fishing. Targeting grass edges with crankbaits turned out to be the ticket. Small finesse crankbaits as well as some larger flat side squarebills produced the most bites. If you purchase my Honey Hole Reports this is nothing new to you, its a pattern that has been producing for a while.
The key to fishing crankbaits over grass is getting them to hit the grass in order to get snagged in it, allowing you to rip free from the grass. That ripping action followed by a brief pause will help to trigger those reaction bites. I recommend tying on a variety of baits and changing your selection frequently. The color, action, and especially diving depth can be incredibly important. I can't tell you how many times I have fished over water that another boat just fishing, that I know is productive and still caught fish. Not to say there is always some secret lure out there, but conditions from day to day cause bass to change their feeding behavior. An example of this that can help you right now is throwing more finesse crankbaits. During the summer I like big crankbaits with a wide wobble, a lot of action, and noise from a rattle. During the winter time baits will a tighter wobble such as Shad Raps can be notoriously good.
As an update to this report, I was also on the lake on Sunday February 5, 2023. I am fishing the TFL tournament next weekend and Sunday was the last day to fish prior to the off limits period. I tried a variety of patterns but what I described above still worked the best. For those of you interested in my Honey Hole Report... as I am fishing TFL I will not be on Lake Travis during the off limits period. Please read the rules, but my interpretation of them will allow you to use my report as it's not info obtained during the off limits period and its open to the public. With these reports I am an open book, I will not be holding back any info just because I am fishing the tournament too. With that said, don't be surprised if you see me fishing one of the pins in the report that's coming out Thursday!
By the way! I got a new boat! If you book a trip with me you'll now be fishing from a LOADED 2022 Phoenix 921 Elite. This boat has every bell and whistle imaginable.