Just as things were getting warmer around here we had to have another big cold front! Typical Texas weather! However, have y'all looked at the forecast for next week? Highs in the 70's will be very nice, and best of all, the bass should be spawning!
Currently the largemouth in Lake Travis are pre-spawn. Until the water moves up closer to the 60's those fish will stay out a bit deeper. Once it gets above that though you can expect to see more and more fish up near the bank looking for areas to spawn. While I love when the bass are up spawning and we can sight fish them, I love it just as much when they are behaving like they are now. My last several trips have caught quite a few fish with several big ones in the mix!
If you are headed out on to Lake Travis this week the most consistent pattern I can recommend is looking for deep grass flats. Sometime to note about the hydrilla in Lake Travis is that it's just like any other plant in that it needs sunlight for photosynthesis. This is why during the winter months when the water is cold and they days are shorter, some of the grass recedes or dies off. With spring right around the corner you'll notice areas that already have grass start to get thicker with it.
Water clarity greatly affects light penetration into the water, thus affecting how deep you will find grass growing. I know this all sounds overly scientific but it's important to understand this stuff. The grass that I am referring too provides excellent habitat for the fish. Locate grass in 15-25 feet of water and look for the edges to it. Typically your bigger fish will position themselves around these edges as they use them as an ambush spot to feed. When looking for this grass, set your side imaging to 100 feet out and run it with the highest frequency your graph is capable of. I like to run a three panel view on my graph with my lake map up, my side imaging, and my down imaging. Side scan is by far the most valuable tool for locating grass. Spend time graphing over areas with a soft bottom thare are in that 15-25 foot depth range. When you located grass drop multiple waypoints on your gps marking the edges of it. This is the most effective way to locate and properly position yourself to be able to cast to it. There are quite a few things you can throw, but let me drop a couple of my favorites at the moment.
Baits to throw:
Carolina Rig: I've been throwing this a lot more lately! I recommend a 1/2 ounce tungsten bullet weight. Typically I throw lead as its a lot cheaper, but tungsten will help a lot when fishing in grass as it is smaller in profile and slides through the grass better. I like to use about a 3' leader or 15# fluorocarbon with a 3/0 EWG hook. For baits a 6th Sense Hogwalla in Green Pumpkin or Watermelon Magic are working well. This bait is a little larger than a brush hog and has a little more action from the appendages. I have been getting a lot of my bigger bites lately fishing this.
Drop Shot: If you follow me you know I love this rig! Rig this with a light cylinder weight and a 1/0 ewg hook in order to rig it weedless. For plastics a Zoom trick worm in green pumpkin or watermelon black seed has been really good. This is another rig that will slide through the grass easily.
Alabama Rig: This is one that works well when paired with livescope. You want to fish this slow enough to keep it over the top of the grass, but not so slow that you snag the grass. I like to rig this with 6th Sense Divine 3.2 swimbaits, but with a 3.8 on the back of the rig. 90% of the time the fish hit the back or the bottom bait. I like to throw this when the grass I am fishing is in an area that there is wind blowing into it. A little choppy water and some wind can really make this bait produce. You'll notice on slick calm days the A rig bite tends to be slow.
If you end up ordering anything from the 6th Sense Website, please use my code TORWICK as it will save you 10% and helps me a bunch!
Get out there and experiment with other baits! There are a lot of other things I throw, all of which gets mentioned in my Honey Hole Reports. Right now is a great time to get on the water. Best of all the fishing will only get better over the next several months. March and April are historically my busiest months of the year. I highly recommend hoping online and booking your trip now before I fill up!