I’m gonna be in Austin. End of December any good fishing there? Or should I head over to rayburn ?

Always about the weather in December. Travis has a good bite right now but it's a dink fest as are a lot of these lakes around this area. Rayburn is a two and a half hour drive away from Austin. LBJ has been better for me for fish over 3 lbs the last month or so. If you're in town for very long Falcon would be my choice. 4 and a half hour drive, but a chance at some really nice quality bass. Fayette County is a power plant lake a little closer than Rayburn, but I haven't been out there in a while.

Town lake has put out some monsters lately but the bite is tough. Decker has been producing too

FYI, can't run your big motor on Town Lake and Decker has been really low the last three months or so. I haven't been to Decker since summer and never been on Town Lake. What size are you calling monsters Lipripper? I may have to take a yak out there.

Probably not gonna take my boat. May just find a guide

Get with Evan at bigbassinfishing.com He is usually on-em.

Decker has been fine. Fished the weekly tournament today and had 21-22lbs(102"). Couple club tournaments out there yesterday. Travis putting out better numbers. Book Charles at barefootfishing. He's always on em

Falcon would be the deal this time of year.

Rayburn is good also but its 4-4.5 hrs drive from Austin/RR/Gtn the times I've driven it.

the major Austin area lakes are:

- Lady Bird Lake
- Lake Austin
- Lake Travis
- Lake Marble Falls
- Lake LBJ
- Inks Lake
- Lake Buchanan
- Decker/Walter E Long Lake

if you want to sort by the distance to austin and you are hiring a guide I would do:
1. Lady Bird Lake
2. Decker Lake

LBJ has the largest and most high quality fish
Buchanan is my favorite and has huge bass, and is the largest lake in central texas, but it's an 1.5 hour drive from Austin
Decker is a small slot lake with lots of hydrilla that has very healthy large bass, but i have not fished it in awhile, and i heard it's low? which is weird since it's a constant level lake.

Also Lake Georgetown is close albeit not the best fishing lake. Stillhouse is not that far of a drive. And one of my favorites is the lower Colorado river. Access is difficult unless you are willing to paddle or run a jet boat. I have almost as much fun running my jet through the skinny water as fishing. Decker is low. The lowest I've ever seen it but at least they are pumping water in. I've been launching my Ranger Z520 without a problem but you have to make sure your motor is trimmed up loading and unloading.

If you're headed to Austin my recommendation would be Lake Travis or Lake Decker right now. LBJ is my favorite lake in the area, but its been a little more hit or miss lately.

As some have said Travis isn't known for huge fish, however there are some really nice ones in that lake, you just have to weed through them. It's definitely your best bet for numbers right now. A few things I would recommend... days with a warming trend (I.E. when there is a south wind and the weather after a cold front has stabilized and starts to warm up) throwing moving baits. A Storm wiggle wart has been one of the best for me, pay attention to where the wind is blowing and which rock is getting the most direct sunlight. Rock absorbs heat, and even a one degree temp difference will attract fish. Alabama rigs have also been doing really well.
A 1/2 ounce football jig is also a great bait to throw and it has been what I have been getting my bigger bites on. Travis fish love jigs, no secret there.

On colder days when there are blue bird skies the bite can be a little tougher, so this is when I've been switching clients over to a drop shot or a shaky head. Target those 10-25 foot banks and points since those fish will be positioned a little deeper. That football jig is also good but I fish it slower and switch to a chunk trailer.

I haven't been on Decker as much lately since the fishing on Travis has been good, but a chatter bait or a swim jig is a great search bait. If you find an area that you get more than one bite in slow down and throw a senko. I like to go with a very very small pegged tungsten weight and let it fall down in the grass. A fluke is another great bait to fish the same way. Decker has been a pain to launch and load on, but it can be done, just take your time and be careful.


When you get closer to your trip visit my website www.fish512.com and check out my fishing report section. I live right by Travis and fish it 4-6 days a week, so its the one I report on the most. Shameless plug, but if you opt to bring your own boat for $10 lakeproguides.com has a honey hole report that I write. You get 5 exact pins on a map and accompanying videos explaining how to fish the spots. They update every Thursday and in my opinion is a great resource if you are limited on time and are going to a new lake you're not as familiar with. If you are looking for a guide I would love to take you, all the guides mentioned above are excellent too... take some time to look up reviews and check out everyone's websites and you won't be disappointed!

austin is fun to fish from the bank after all almost all of it has a sidewalk around it!

I'm assuming you are talking about Town Lake. I have only fished it once since I lived here. Caught some fish but it just seemed weird to be driving in to the middle of a large city to fish. It was interesting. A mix of a lot of joggers/walkers with some good scenery (eye candy) and also a lot of homeless vagrants wandering around. I just decided it wasn't for me and have never fished it again.

Lady Bird Johnson Lake/Town Lake is known to have huge bass in it.....and a good bass population. https://youtu.be/wbXbDEimyfg

If you go the guided route I would book Carson Conklin and fish the Lower Colorado on his jet boat or town lake. Carson routinely gets guys on giants

PROOF