It was "cool" enough today that my Wife joined me out on the lake. As soon as we got to the ramp, I could see that the water was down about 2 feet. It was a heck of stunt even for me at 6'-5" to get from the dock to the boat. With the water down, the hydrilla has gone crazy. It was actually hard to find any eel grass. To get fish the growth, I tried spinner baits, swimming jigs and flukes, with no luck. We only caught a few bass on a small crankbait.

The water was gorgeous. I just have no idea why the powers-to-be let this lake go down like this.

Thanks for the update Rayzor. I fished Bastrop twice last year and both times had to fight the Hydrilla. Judging by your post it has not lightened up! Hopefully that lake will improve!

If they would just keep the lake at full pool, a lot more of the lake would be fishable. For me, at least. I have talked to people at the park and the power plant. They always say it's at full pool, no matter if it's 3 feet or 1 from the dock to your boat.

Full pool is supposed to 450msl. Right now it is at 448.72.

It oughta be full now Rayzor! We've had a turd floater goin on here all last night and all day in Jonestown!

We went out last Friday and again on Tuesday. Lake was down a foot both days. Plenty of eel grass on points and shallows. Hydrilla is plenty and the spiny naiad is everywhere. Two of us boated 14 on Friday and 18 on Tuesday. Water temps were 91 on Fri and 88 on Tues.

Went out again yesterday. Water temps were down to 83-85. We ended up with 32 with 12 coming out of one spot before sunrise.

Best thing was that buddy caught a 6lb 5oz out of that spot. Anything over 5lbs on Bastrop is considered rare. I caught a 6+ a couple of years ago and that was the last.
The lake is noted for quantity, not quality.

A bass over 6 pounds, to me, is a rarity on Bastrop. I caught a 6 pounder there years ago on a hollow-body frog. Never had one that big again.

Does Bastrop also have panfish or catfish? I might head out there next month and I like to keep my options open since I'm not much of a bass fisherman.

Plenty of both.

I am sure the lake does but I really don't think they are there in large numbers. I could be wrong. There are very few lakes that I haven't accidentally caught a catfish. I have never caught one on Bastrop. My Wife has a knack for catching panfish there but they are all very small. If you live close to Bastrop and want to catch some eating fish, I would go to Lake Decker (Walter E. Long).

I went Sunday and got more blow ups on a topwater without actually boating one I've ever had. It was crazy. They were knocking it out of the water and just not getting it. Started with a Spook (which almost always catches them out there for me), and after three or four blow ups, swapped out to a Yellow Magic for a smaller profile. Same deal. Followed up several of them with Senkos and caught a few that way. Overall last Sunday...I sucked. Fished 7:30 to noon and only put 6 in the boat. Biggest may have gone 2 and a half pounds. That's not a good day on Bastrop for me. That's a lake Travis day! I tried punching deep hydrilla looking for bigger fish and never got a bite. You guys ever had success punching out there?

There are a couple of cuts with depth (10ft+) and grass that we caught most of our fish at Sunday.

first thing brother-in-law does when he buys a Zara Spook is change out the hooks. he swears by it

I've caught plenty of bass on Zara Spooks with original hooks on em. I didn't miss any fish. They just weren't getting the bait. When I'm getting blow ups but they're not taking it, generally if I downsize a little ( Yellow Magic), it solves the issue. Sunday was just weird.

My Wife and I went back to Bastrop today. It was cloudy and very windy when we arrived. The lake is still at least 2 feet low. The vegetation is unreal. After a slow start, we managed 18 bass. After all of the storms lately, it doesn't look like this lake got a drop. The gates on the dam are at least 1 foot above the water line, so they aren't letting anything out, as far as I know. With the plant being used so infrequently, drawing water from the Colorado is probably not a priority. Getting in and out of the boat is a pain. It was sunny and still very windy when we left.

They pump from the aquafer now. It flows into the warm water outlet.

Dad lives 4 miles NE of there on 1441. They didn't get a drop out of all the rain last couple of weeks. He said there wasn't even enough rain to make mud of the dust in the bottom of his gauge

There are two of these pumps on Bastrop. I know where they both are. I cannot swear that the pump at the discharge wasn't working last Sunday, I just don't think it was. I would love for some engineer to chime in on how long it would take these two pumps to raise this lake 2 feet. As opposed to how long pumping water from the river would take. Is there even any water in the Colorado?

Went to Bastrop today. We knew the weather was going to be ugly in the morning, so we didn't even get there until 11:30am. The wind was supposed to die down "later" in the day and some sun. The water wasn't any lower than the last time we were there but it sure as heck wasn't any higher. Still a 3-foot drop from the courtesy dock to my boat. I HAVE NEVER SEEN SO MANY COOTS IN MY LIFE. With the water down, they are able to feed on the leaves of that overabundant stuff growing everywhere. Long strands, as long as 10 feet, of leafless stems are a constant pain. My Wife caught 4 bass in about a span of 1 hour, with me going blank. Much later in in the day, I caught 4 in a row in about 45 minutes. We would end the day with a whopping 9 fish.

I hope that this low water thing is some grand scheme to get the coots to eat all of the excess vegetation, but I doubt it.

BTW - I saw water temps up to 79 degrees today. I did not go to the discharge but they must be doing some production at the plant.

Probably not a good thing to complain too loudly about the vegetation.
It's been proven when a lake is cleaned out of vegetation the fishing goes away, and then the jet skiers take it over.
Be careful what you ask for, or you just may get it!

I have been fishing Bastrop for 13 years. I have never seen it devoid of vegetation. I don't think anyone in charge is worried about too much vegetation these days. There used to be a weed cutter machine on Bastrop that they used all of the time. Has anyone seen it? I haven't seen it in years.

The "too much" vegetation problem would be a lot better if there was 3 more feet of water in the lake. Too little water brings about excessive veggie growth.

JMO.

Low water levels are plaguing several Texas lakes. I just spoke to a guy at the gas station that fished a tournament at Choke Canyon. He said there was "too much" vegetation. I am guessing that the fact that the lake is over 21' low doesn't help any.

The only people complaining about too much vegetation are the ones that don’t know how to fish it or the lake lice that aren’t fishing. As for Choke Canyon, 50+ Lbs for 2 days just won the tournament. The grass is the saving grace for that lake, there is definitely not too much grass there. Bastrop is a dink fest lake, just imagine how bad it would be without grass, you don’t want to find out! Learn to fish the grass before the powers that be eliminate it.

Pic of Choke vegetation, if you don’t like fishing it, don’t ever go there! Pretty much a ring like this around the entire lake.

Yeah that thing was a beast and cut the hydrilla and other vegetation about 6' under the surface, but it's been probably the 90s since I've seen it out there. I don't think they manage the vegetation at all. I've only seen the lake "unfishable" one time back in the early 2000's where I couldn't be my boat through the hydrilla.
I fished it yesterday and while there is more than usual I agree the lower lake level is a major contributing factor. One thing I DID notice is that the hydrilla is choking out the eel grass in a lot of locations which is a disturbing trend.

They rid the North Shore launch area of most of the grass a few months back. Luckily, it is coming back strong. As far as coots go.....Good. Need to trim some of the hydrilla and mostly, spiny naida. The veggies have grown up the last month and I'm betting that the warmth for the entire month of October has something to do with it. If the lake had another foot of water, the grass would still be same(surfacing) and in a foot more water.

Lake level is only about 1 foot low. Don't believe me? Go to a timbered cove and check the timber. Old water line is only a foot out of water. While you're back there, check out the undercuts along the shoreline. Only a foot out of the water. While I miss the old water level and fishing those cuts, it is the new norm.

We went out again on Sunday. We caught 19 and the size were getting better up to 3lbs. And the bass are getting their darker color because of all the grass. The fish have moved from offshore to going shallower.

Good news is that pepper grass is finally coming back. Can always catch bass around the pepper grass.

Went to Bastrop for a few hours today. Same ole same. I just wanted to report that water was coming out of the discharge faster than I have seen in quite awhile. Water was only 4 degrees warmer than the rest of the lake, though. There was no water being pumped in at the discharge from the ground well.

Rayzor, one of these days we need to meet up at Bastrop and put a whoopin on em! I've been out there three times and have always caught a decent number of fish. No giants, but still respectable and a fun little lake!

Will send PM.

I work in Bastrop but never fished it, think I may have to take the kayak out there one day and change that.