I also went to Bastrop yesterday, first time fishing it from a boat. I had a good day, though if I would have got there earlier I probably would have caught a lot more. Had 8 bass on the line and landed 6. The biggest was around a pound and a quarter, maybe a pound and a half. He swallowed my lure and was bleeding quite a bit so I kept him. I didn't see any sunfish or anything other than bass and minnow. The little coves and inlets look extremely fishy, but I saw no fish there except for babies.

This is a scenic part of Texas, compared to the San Antonio area at least. The pine forests made me feel at home. I saw lots of birds of prey around the lake and I saw an Egret catch some baby fish. Great day overall, I could have gone swimming too, the water feels like it's somewhere between 60 and 70 degrees.

Those creeks LOOK fishy for sure, but there's not much of a channel in most of them and deeper water is pretty far away. I fish them sporadically to get out of the wind or to sight fish on occasion. The creek leading into south shore camping area has always been best for me, but some do well around the boy scout camp.

They should have sunfish, are there bluegills in the lake?

Great pictures, Thanks for the report

Yes, there are bluegill in Bastrop. Even a few Rios, if you can find them. I've fished for them out of my kayak a few times.

Those are definitely sunfishy holes in those pictures. I've only launched and fished out of the South Park. Are these coves on the north side of the lake?

Nice report and great pics. I've fished that lake a couple times, but it's been awhile. Lots of bass in the 1 to 2 pound range.

I caught about 125 in 3 days during summer camp (BSA) around 1968.

Wow, that would make even Chuck jealous. I didn't see any, but I'm not a sunfish fisherman. If I can't see them I only catch them by accident.

Yeah, man back in the day Bastrop was chock FULL of big sun perch and even had some goggle eye perch (tasty). My first fishing came from the boat slips at the north side of the ramp that use to be at south shore. There use to be a little store right there, too and a big barge to the south of the ramp where I spent all my nights cat fishing. Saw a guy come in real late one night/early one morning with what looked like a 50lb cat to a little kid!

Funny thing about the 125 was I caught them all using a tree branch, kite string and a safety pin with a very small ball of bread on the tip of the pin.

I had forgotten about the fishing barge at NS. we plowed into it coming out of the launch on a very, very foggy morning. We were idle speed and it appeared out of the fog. My buddy said, "Stop us!!!" He didn't have a reverse on his POS Chrysler OB. Smashed his anchor winch and put a pretty good bow in the chain link.

Fun times.

you weren't the first nor the last...alcohol may have been involved

Bastrop is a beautiful lake to fish, and once you figure it out, having 25+ fish days are common. FYI though on keeping bass, regardless of if they're bleeding or dying: For largemouth bass, length limit is a 14-21” slot. Bass 14 inches and less or 21 inches or greater in length may be retained. Only one largemouth bass 21 inches or greater may be retained each day. For smallmouth bass (if present), minimum length = 14 inches. No minimum length on spotted, Guadalupe, and Alabama bass (if present.) Daily bag limit for all species = 5 black bass in any combination. (Just for the future to keep you from being ticketed)

Here's some old Lake Bastrop photos, one of them shows the old fishing barge on the north shore. These were back in the late 60's to early 70's when you could still run jug lines on there. IN '74 my parents and I lived on the north shore, my Dad ran the store there. We lived in a single wide trailer that was right next to the boat ramp, where the pavilion is now.

My Wife and I fish Bastrop on a regular basis. There are some things that I have noticed about this lake but they are just my view points.

1) I rarely, if ever, see any panfish. My Wife has a real knack for catching them while we are bass fishing. She have NEVER caught one and neither have I.
2) Bass do not seem to hold to wood structure. I don't fish Boy Scout cove, which is full of tree stumps, because it is just a waste of time for us. One the main lake, there is a tree overhanging a deep pocket that I throw a crank bait at every time we fish. In 12 year, I have yet to catch a single fish. There are plenty of stumps in Cedar Cove; nothing, ever.
3) I don't waste my time in the creeks. I never catch any fish there, I don't go.
4) If there is a decent catfish population, I have yet to catch one. I ALWAYS catch a catfish.
5) I can count on one hand how many fish I have caught on top water and have four fingers left over. I don't do top water on Bastrop.
6) Bastrop is an eel grass lake. Find the grass, fish the grass, catch the bass. (Hey, that rhymes!)

JMO!

Yeah I caught all mine a bit off shore, but they were topwater though, or maybe a few feet down for the most part.