Fish are biting well for the most part on spinnerbaits and topwaters. Not as many structure fish as I would like out deep, but it’s just a matter of time.

With all the recent rains the fish are moving really shallow into the newly flooded cover.

Hope all is well, send me an email if you are interested in specifics.

.

The post Latest Fishing Reports appeared first on BassMan Austin.

At this point, most of the fish are finished spawning although you will find some fish still on beds with the recent streak of sun we have had lately.

On Bastrop this being Spicer Creek and on Fayette this being Groce Branch which both have been and still continue to produce fish. Targeting Primary and Secondary points in any of the creeks will produce fish out to 25ft on Carolina Rigs, drop shots, jigging spoons and the good ole’ Alabama Rig. Some good fish have been caught on Deep Crankbaits in shad colors as well too.

Here lately on Bastrop, most of our fish are being caught shallow on spinnerbaits, and chatterbaits along the outside and inside edges of grass in 2 to 6 ft. I haven’t seen them generate water for a while now on Bastrop and there is a crane near one of the smokestacks so my assumption is a motor is out or something.

If you want to fight the traffic in the discharge and intake areas of Fayette, as you know, both areas always hold fish. Sometimes this is necessary to escape the blistering wind we have had lately.

Fayette has been consistently producing in deep or shallow water. One of my favorite baits lately both on Carolina Rigs and flipping Texas Rigs is the Mister Twister Poc-It Craw 3.5″ in Bull Bream color. They even work well on drop shots. If you want to site fish, you can’t beat the solid white version the bass just crush it. Sounds like a marketing pitch and maybe it is, but is one I believe in. The craw traps air inside the pockets causing bubbles to be released during the retrieve which shows the fish something different than they have seen over a million times. Show the fish something different and see the results, give them a try and let me know how you fare. I am certain you will not be let down.

I am going to attach a lot of fish that have been caught by my customers as soon as I get the formatting worked out. Make sure you get out on the water this time of year and don’t forget to take a kid fishing. One such event is the Lake Bastrop C.A.S.T. (Catch a Special Thrill) for Kids tournament going on May 4th. It is sponsored by the Bureau of Reclamation, LCRA, and Bluebonnet Electric, among others. Take a moment of your time to make one of these kids days, your heart will melt.

Thanks and I’ll see you on the water.

Robert

The post Lakes Bastrop and Fayette Fishing Reports January through March 2013 appeared first on BassMan Austin.

But I finally just had to get this report out. The fishing has been slow the last month with trips from 6 to 20 fish on average at both Bastrop and Fayette Lakes.

Back at the end of December, I had 3 lovely ladies come down from Wyoming and let me tell you, these ladies KNOW how to fish. They were a hoot, we had a great time on the water and they caught around 20 bass, including a crappie and a catfish. Check out some of the pics below, and they aptly named themselves the bass hoes.

The post Lake Bastrop Fishing Report – December 16th, 2012 appeared first on BassMan Austin.

Fishing has been really awesome on both lakes. As a matter of fact we started the first day of July with the best day of bass fishing I could ever remember on Fayette lake. We had 27 doubles and 150 plus fish. Most fish were caught schooling; however, I fished an old tank that was loaded with fish that were in the 3 to 6lb class. This is the kind of fishing hole you find that wins you tournaments.

I got into a bit of a scuffle with a fisherman this day which was the only sour part of the day. We had the one particular area on Fayette all to ourselves from 7AM till around 1PM and the fish were schooling like crazy. I was idling around to find the schools which we were hammering when we got up to. Some local came up around 1PM and started yelling at me that running your big engine scares the fish and wanted to educate me on the fact that the fish were schooling. You think? Please don’t tell me how to fish schooling fish – especially fish that I have spent catching all morning.

In some cases, he is right, you don’t want to run your engine OR your trolling motor through schooling fish but these fish were not these educated schooling type of fish.

My customer caught a 4.5lber right after we idled over the spot, case in point, when the fish are on fire, they are one fire. Needess to say, we didn’t let this ruin our day, we exchanged a few words and after I expressed the fact that I was fishing the area the whole day the disgruntled fisherman left, thank you LORD. We caught even more fish after he left.

Bastrop schoolies are going nuts but can be tough to catch from time to time. Most folks throw out launcher rigs with small swimbaits or spoons tied to the end of them. Personally, I prefer Blakemore Roadrunners on spinning reels with light 8lb test. In August the shad will be a bit larger and the fish won’t be as finicky or particular and you should be able to catch them on larger baits. We are stil catching fish Carolina Rigging and Drop Shotting plastics on humps and ledges.

The post Lake Bastrop and Fayette Fishing Report Week of June 25th – July 1st 2012 appeared first on BassMan Austin.

Most trips are totalling up to 20 or more fish but there are times when a 4 hour trip may only produce 5 or so fish because the fish are short striking a lot of baits.

When the fish school they can be tough to catch but the fishing should get better as the shad get larger in the later summer months.

See pics below for some of the fish caught on both Fayette and Bastrop Lakes.

The post Lake Bastrop Fishing Report and Fayette Fishing Report appeared first on BassMan Austin.

After one of my customers kindly pulled someone off the ramp who was stuck, I netted up some perch and configured drop shots and we gave it a run.

On the first cast of instruction, one client boated one in the 5 to 5.5lb class range. Normally it is bad luck to catch a fish on the first cast – but not on Fayette lake my friends.

We managed to catch about 30 largemouth this day in the 2 to 5lb class drop shotting live perch and carolina
rigging Nichols Lures creature baits. I love this lake,  it is
worth the extra driving time.

I know football season hasn’t started yet, but we had a great day catching footballs all day long.

The post Lake Fayette – 6/9/12 appeared first on BassMan Austin.

Three fish came on a Nichols 3/4oz spinnerbait with Hologram Blades in Blue Shad color, the rest came on carolina rigged flukes and the largest on a frog.

The post Lake Austin – 6/7/2012 appeared first on BassMan Austin.

The easiest setup to use is the spin cast rod and reel.  Many people know this as a “Zebco”, however “Zebco” is a name brand.  The proper term for this setup is “spin cast”.  The spin cast is ideal for novice and child anglers.  There is very little chance of line tangles or line over runs.  Spin cast rod and reels are easy to cast but do not cast as far as spinning or baitcasting setups. The drag system on a spin cast reel is generally a weak point. Spin cast works best with smaller and lighter fishing line so if you’re out to catch the big ones, a baitcast setup would be ideal but a spinning rod can be used as well.

Spinning rods and reels are very popular and for good reason.  They have no resistance when casting which makes casting smaller lures and baits further much easier – especially skipping lures like under docks.  They have an improved drag system over the spin cast rods and reels.  The line must be held against the rod with a finger during the casting process which makes it a little more difficult to cast, but once you get the hang of it, it’s quite easy.  Spinning reels can also be easily switched from left handed to right handed in a matter of minutes.  Most of my clients use spinning reels on our fishing trips.  The spinning setup is good for intermediate anglers who have mastered the spin cast reel.  Drawbacks to spinning reels are line twist, less leverage and decreased casting accuracy.

The baitcast rod and reel is preferred by most advanced anglers and pro fishermen.  They have the best drag systems and do not twist your fishing line.  Baitcast reels also handle larger and heavier fishing lines the best of the three setups.  Baitcast setups are the most accurate casters. By “feathering” your thumb on the spool of line during a cast, you gain the most control over your bait and where it lands. Baitcast is the only type of reel that you can easily flip and pitch with.  If you are interested in learning to flip and pitch, feel free to ask me during our guide trip and I can teach you the basics. The drawback to a baitcasting setup is the dreaded “backlash”, also known as “line overrun”.  A backlash is when the spool of line travels faster than the rate at which the bait is being cast, causing the line to fly off the spool and tangle.  Sometimes a backlash is so bad, you have to remove the tangled line and put new line on.  For this reason, I only suggest baitcast rod and reels for advanced anglers.

The post Get to know your rods and reels appeared first on BassMan Austin.

The post Learn to tie the versatile palomar knot appeared first on BassMan Austin.

One of the customers was an active duty Army Ranger – thank you for service to our country!

The post Lake Bastrop – 5/26/12 appeared first on BassMan Austin.