Finding the Fish

[crankitup]

Hey Guys I need some help. Personally I think I am a great fisherman. Pride I guess but for some reason I cannot catch these bass to save my life. Maybe it's because I am putting to much effort into it. I am fishing a Highland Lake called Lake Travis in Austin, Texas. I fished for about 7 hours today with only 4 fish. 2 me and 2 my friend. The water stays pretty rough, water at teh bank and within 5 feet stays clear but everything else has a hue to it, lot's of wind unless your in a cove, and the banks typically drop off quick. I cannot seem to find these fish. I tried cranking, spinnerbaits, finding point with sloping drop offs so that I could fish the point at different depths, etc. I am not sure how to pick my lure color either. This sucks.

Mark

[pignjig]

Highland reservoirs can be bears to fish. Especially if they get a lot of pressure. Right now, in your part of bass heaven, you might be looking at all three spawn stages- Pre, Spawn and Post. If you know the prevelant forage in that lake, match the color and try dragging a C-rig across the points at 8'-12'. If there is a drop off or significant structure or cover nearby, that's even better. Without some more info, it's hard to guess what's going to be most effective. If you can find their migration routes, you'll probably come across some pigs either coming up shallow or staging to go back a little deeper.

You should get some great advise from some of the Texans that haunt these boards!

Good luck-

-Pig

[Rebbasser]

Crankitup, I fish Canyon, which is a lot like Travis. Go with natural colors, and fish the rock. There isn't a lot of cover so they use rock for cover. I really like throwing a deep running crankbait-10 feet or deeper like a DT-10-up shallow where it digs into the bottom. Fish the bare rock banks-they don't look like they will hold fish-but they do.

Since the water is clear finesse type soft plastics work well-4" senkos, shakey heads, etc. in natural colors like watermelon seed, watermelon red, baby bass, etc. A dropshot will also produce well.

If you have a wind blown bank fish parallel to it with a shad colored lipless crankbait or a shad color or white double willow spinnerbait. The more wind the better.

Lakes like Travis and Canyon are not good size lakes but they are pretty good numbers lakes-as long as you can put up with the lake lice, ski boats, wake boats, and other wastes of fiberglass that infest the lakes this time of year.

Welcome to the forum, BTW!

[CMorg]

You may try split shotting as well. I just tried this myself and cannot believe how well it has been working so far. I used a 1/0 hook and Berkley powerbait finess worms , purple color , and a round split shot 18" up from the hook eye on 8# p-line mono.

[cfellis17]

Hey CMorg,
Is a split shot the same as a drop shot rig?
Carl

[Rebbasser]

Nope. A split shot rig is a smaller hook with a finesse worm with a split shot up the line like a downsized Carolina rig. A dropshot has the weight below the hook.

[Mac10]

Rebbasser,

In your first post on this thread, what did you mean by "other wastes of fiberglass"?

Just wondering.....Mac

[Fish2win]

That far south you arr most likely post spawn. If the lake is that clear light lo-vis line is very essential. Your shallow bite will be early/ late. There is one exception. Muddy water lines on wind swept points . Bass love stained water and will seek it out. Overcast days may find you able to hold the shallow bite later in the morning and rain is a plus. The other side is fishing off shore. Humps, drops, deeper brush piles look in 20 feet of water. When bass are shallow they spread out on a bank. When they go deep they school up. That makes it harder to pinpoint the fish. Last week end I was catching bass on a spook in 2 or 3 feet of water until the sun got on the water. Once the sun was on the water (it was a windless blue bird day) the shallow bite stopped. Wind is your friend on clear water lakes. I went first off shore to 20 feet of water on a point where the early bite had been shallow and started catching bass on a 4 inch grub. Later I went to a rock hump and caught the fish 15 to 18 on the same bait. I fish a gin clear highland res in East Tennessee. you did not mention the depth characteristcs off shore so I assume you are not fishing those areas. Fish2win

[crankitup]

This sounds very helpful. The terrain is very drastic. The deepest part of the lake is 190' and the majority of the lake is 40' +. What is the bank typically 20 at the longest stretch drops off very quick. It contains about a 1/1 slope throughout the entire compound. How did you know to choose that grub as your search bait and how deep will you fish for bass? Do you typically stop if it gets deeper than 30 + or do you stay 20' or shallower?

[Rebbasser]

Originally Posted by Mac10

Rebbasser,

In your first post on this thread, what did you mean by "other wastes of fiberglass"?

Just wondering.....Mac

Mac, I'm referring to any fiberglass boat that ain't a bass boat!

[BigBassin144]

Originally Posted by Rebbasser

... other wastes of fiberglass that infest the lakes this time of year....

that's pretty funny Reb.

BB

[stevomac59]

Originally Posted by Rebbasser

any fiberglass boat that ain't a bass boat!

Those PEOPLE... have no respect... if you are fishing along a weedbed, or if there are trees in the middle of the lake... those PEOPLE just speed on by like nothing! Those PEOPLE make it very difficult to troll along an edge of trees, brush, etc. If I were you, I would try to fish somewhere where it's nice and quiet... no other "wastes of fiberglass."

-stevo

[MrPhotographer06]

actually i have a boaters handbook.. it says pg. 11
" Danger Areas
Watercraft passing close to swimming areas, moored boats or boats engaged in fishing , servicing buoys or markings, or similar activites must reduce their speed so as to prevent their wash or wake from causing damage or unnecessary incnvience to occupants of the area or other craft."

SC Boaters Handbook.. its old tho..

[Fish2win]

Crankit up I was just using the grub as a swimbait in a smaller size. We were fishing for smallmouth. Downsizeing the bait can be crucial at times. A crankbiat can also be effective if presented to the correct depth. aIso t rig or C rig. The shad are spwning here right now and the grub can closely mimic the size and action of the real thing. Sort of a match the hatch. There are times when you can throw a spook or some type topwater bait over this same depth and with repeated casts pull an entire school of bass up 20 feet. The depth question is complicated.Part of the answer has to do with the light penetration zone. The fish will be below the deepest depth that you can see your bait flash. Also if the lake sets up a thermocline in the summer that will limit the fish in how deep they can go. Other wise they might be 50 feet deep at times in the late summer. Here we get an oxygen poor area which is at the thermocline. The thermocline may be as deep as 35 feet in the late summer. Some fish will venture below this area but not bass. For now if the water temp is between 75 and 85 dont worry about thermoclines just the light penetration area. Fish2win