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Re: Lake Travis [Re: Palirwin] #14086342 08/06/21 07:00 PM
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Originally Posted by Palirwin
Got out for a couple of hours this morning. Now, this report won't necessarily help you catch fish, but I will at least tell you about it. Started right before sunrise, fishing a secondary bluff in a creek arm. I was using a 4" Megabass Shad colored Swim bait on a 5/8 oz megabass head. Never used this lure before, but was in Central Texas Outdoors the other day and had to give it a try. 3rd cast up towards the bank, and in about 8 feet was the first ledge. Got bit, nothing to brag about, but the bite was very soft. It just got a little heavy and I set the hook just in case. Didn't measure it, probably 12" LMB.

Right behind me, in about 60 feet of water, there was a specific spot that something kept hitting the surface. It seemed to be one fish, but it hit the same spot about every 5 minutes. After about 5 times of seeing this, I finally cast over there. Reeling my bait through, thinking, this is stupid, then all of a sudden it got a little heavy. No pop, no shake, nothing, but I set the hook and BAM! Brought in a 14" LMB. Cast to that spot for another 5 minutes and nothing so moved on down the bank.

Nothing happening for a little bit, and I decided I wanted to throw a Texas Rig. Looked in my box, figuring I would go with something beside my usual color today. Saw some greenish brown lizards that I don't know where they came from and figured what the heck. But as I reached in to grab on, I noticed under those lizards were some Baby Brush Hawgs. Now, these Hawgs were a sort of motor oil color, but they were discolored a bit by the lizards they were in the same compartment with. I thought they looked pretty cool, but decided I would dip only the arms of the brush hawg in chartreuse die. I ended up with a cool looking, kind of camoflauge with safety arms type of creature bait.

First cast, threw it up to a ledge in about 10 feet of water and let it fall. As I went to hop it the first time it felt a little heavy. I kind of waited for a second to see if it shook or if I just found a little grass. Then I noticed my line was swimming towards the deeper water! I reeled up the slack and set the hook! Brought in a nice 3+ lbs LMB! I was feeling pretty good, because that is a good fish on Lake Travis. Continued down the bank for a few more minutes and no new action. My fishing buddy had not caught anything, and he was ready to move, so we headed to the main lake.

There is a little cove that I like to fish, it isn't much, and I don't know if it even has a name, but we pulled up to the bluff just off the point going into the cove. I cast my camoflauge, custom Zoom Baby Brush Hawg up towards the bank on a 60 deep foot bluff. While casting, as the lure flew threw the air, I said out loud "Come on fish, they don't all have to be 3 lbers." I was a little short of the bank from where I intended, but It started to fall. After about 1.5 seconds my line stopped falling. I knew there was no way it hit bottom, and there are no trees on this bluff wall, so I reeled up the slack and set the hook.

It was one of those moments where you think...what did I get snagged on? Except, whatever it was started swimming deeper. FISH ON!

It started swimming straight up to the surface! I was reeling to keep up and keep tension on the line and she blew through the surface like a Berkley commercial. My heart is racing at this point because I know I have a REALLY nice bass on!

Back down she dove. I was trying to figure out the right amount of tension to get her in, but keep on her to keep her from jumping again. Suddenly she started darting for the surface again. I shoved my rod tip in the water and watched in horror as she blew through the surface another time, giving me a really good look. By now my partner is scrambling for the net and we are both as excited as 12 year olds at a peep show. I am so thankful right now that the Gamakatsu hook stayed in place.

I am making progress now, getting her closer to the boat, when she starts darting for the surface again. I just know, if she busts the surface again, I can't possibly keep her on. However, I am fishing with 8 lbs flouro line, and I don't want to horse her is, and yet she seems to be a wiley veteran fish who knows how to spit a hook. I shove my rod tip back into the water, and she is probably 12 feet away from the edge of the boat at this point. She gets close to the surface, and I guess sees the boat and dives back down. She starts pulling drag like I have never seen a LMB do. I can't believe she is doing this, but I know there are no trees or cables in this area, so I loosen my drag a little and make sure she can pull a little. Finally she is getting tired, and I am able to turn her around and start bringing her to the boat. As she gets about 6 feet away, I have the net in one hand and start to bring her in when she decides to jump again. I about have a heart attack!

By the grace of God, the hook holds again, and I bring her to the net. Now, I would love to tell you that I was cool and scooped her up in the net beautifully. Unfortunately, I looked like I had never operated a net before in my life, and I basically pushed her away with it instead. Luckily, she was out of fight, and I got her turned around again, and on the second scoop I got her in, or rather on, the net. I need a bigger net I now know.

I landed the second biggest fish (on Lake Travis anyway) career today. I have caught bigger fish in other places, but this baby had a mouth like a bucket on her. I tried to weigh her on the [censored] Berkley digital scale, but it was not working right still...I need to get a new scale. I was able to measure her at 22" length though. The size of her head was amazing to me, and her mouth was disproportionately large for her girth. I don't know what she weighed, probably like 6 lbs. Now, I know this is no lake record, but this was one of the most exciting catches of my life! Sometimes things just work out for you.

I fished about 15 more minutes without a bite, and packed it up to head home. I do have to get work done today, and the skiers were coming out. Besides, I couldn't top that story and asking for any more would just be selfish!


Nice write up and great fish! Almost has me excited enough to convert the boat back to fishing rig rather than restaurant runner/tube puller. LOL


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Re: Lake Travis [Re: Palirwin] #14087059 08/07/21 02:25 PM
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Great story very well written. I didn't know until the end that you were going to get this Travis hog into the boat. That will definitely get me back on the lake next week in the August heat.

Re: Lake Travis [Re: Palirwin] #14088591 08/09/21 01:27 PM
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P, thanks for the story. Nice job!

About a year ago (8/23/20), Skeeter_John and I were fishing on Travis and I hooked what we thought was a decent fish a good ways from the boat. She surfaced quickly and we both thought it was a 5-6 or so, so we kept talking about whatever while I worked her in. She surface again closer to the boat and we got a good look -- she had some size and the adrenaline started to kick in for both of us. She made some good runs and we finally boated her. Ant 8.8# super healthy fish with good mouth and solid belly. Like you said, no lake record but a fun time none the less. Mine wasn't 8# test, but it was a 3xd with thin hooks that were bent-out. A thrill for sure. We were trying to get her back in quickly and forgot to get girth/length measurements. It sure if fun when you hit a good one on Travis.

I got out Friday ~7am-10am mainly to run the boat and scan some new areas with the lake up. Boated 7, most being shallow crank early with a few more on the drop shot in 15-30ft of water. Generally 12-14" (with a couple of guads on the smaller end).

Re: Lake Travis [Re: Palirwin] #14091339 08/11/21 05:13 PM
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I've been catching crappie fairly reliably all summer on a small brushpile I made. Last week a friend asked me to take him and his three visiting grandsons to my brushpile and "put them on some fish". I netted a bucket of minnows and we set out. Naturally, we didn't get a bite and the three boys (ages 5-10 years) lasted only about 2 hours.

Today, I set out bass fishing and decided to give the brushpile a quick try first. So, today, of course, the fish cooperated. I used a 1/32 oz jig with crappie bites to get 8 bites in about an hour. I landed 5, 2 came off as I lifted them into the boat, and I think the other was either a catfish or bass because my 4# test line broke fairly quickly.

Fishing in 35 feet; all bites were very close to bottom. Decided to skip bass fishing and clean the crappie for supper tonight.

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Re: Lake Travis [Re: Palirwin] #14093015 08/12/21 09:14 PM
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Nice Crappie! Haven't caught a crappie in years, but they are my favorite to eat!
I got out this morning and caught a few on Flukes with a 1/8 oz weighted hook. Nothing bragging size. Caught one on a swim jig. All were caught on bluffs in deep water, but they all hit near the surface. Tried fishing the bottom with Texas Rig but no luck.
All in all, nice day but slow fishing today. Some jack [censored] on his wake boat decided where I was fishing was the place he HAD to be and started doing laps around me. I finally left before I chased him down and did something I shouldn't do. Why do people have to suck? I wasn't even in an area out of the wind...it just seemed so intentional. Anyway...tight lines!

Re: Lake Travis [Re: Palirwin] #14094412 08/13/21 11:04 PM
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Went out today to see if my back could hold up for a few hours. Put in at Lago Marina at first light and fished around the marina for about an hour. Caught 7 and missed another 6 or 7 on a spook, all under a pound and a half. Typical Travis dink fest. 2 were guads, so I'm betting the short strikes were probably small guads. Tired of catching babies so headed up river past cow creek to the first major creek north of cow, not sure of the name. Caught two on Texas rig and one on a bandit in about 10 feet. Biggest may have gone a little over 2 pounds. The jet fleas started coming out around 9:30 and I called it a day. Hey...wasn't much but at least I'm back in the boat. MRI this Wednesday...fingers crossed and say a little prayer boys!


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Re: Lake Travis [Re: fivebites] #14098499 08/17/21 07:21 PM
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Glad you got back out there! Always nice to put some in the boat, even when they are small. Wish I could have made it out today. Probably not going to make it this week if I had to guess.

Re: Lake Travis [Re: Palirwin] #14111602 08/28/21 06:33 PM
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Got out Thursday morning for a good day on the lake. The fish were not on fire, but we managed to catch them pretty regularly from sunrise until noon. Mostly on swim jigs, but some on finesse rigs in 20 feet. The big one was 21" but only weighed 3.9 according to the Berkley digital scale. Not sure I believed it, but re-weighed it a couple of times and all weights were plus or minus 2 ounces from there. Anyway, it was a good fish. Had a monster grab a fluke and strip me off under a marina where my line broke, pretty sure it was the zebra mussels on the corner that got me. It was 14lbs Abrazx but it came off clean like someone cut it. Either I had a bad spot in the line, or it was cut by the mussels. At any rate, it must have been a striper the way it took off. It gave me 5 seconds of adrenaline pumping action then 5 hours of frustration and wondering what the heck it was! All in all, it was my best day of catching in a while. I am wondering if the fall pattern is getting started, even though that doesn't make sense. Waning moon, and temps are as hot as they have been all year. Next new moon is Sept 6, and I think that will get them really going for us daytime fisherman. Do you pay attention to the moon phases?

Last edited by Palirwin; 08/28/21 06:34 PM.
Re: Lake Travis [Re: Palirwin] #14122315 09/07/21 11:48 PM
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Fished 7:15 to about 10 this morning. Wish I had more time. The Spook bite was ON! Caught 13 or 14. No giants but most were solid 2 - 2.5 pounders. For Travis that's a good day for me. Biggest was about 3.5. Dang near had to throw it in the dirt to catch em they were so shallow. The topwater bite died about 9 so I moved out to a secondary point and threw a bandit crankbait. When I pulled it off the ledge in about 6 feet the bait just got real heavy. Thought maybe I had hooked some brush for a second. NOT. Felt the line start moving and I rared back on it. GOOD striper!! Net was under my front deck and she was stripping drag like crazy as I tried to open the front box up. No go. She pulled way too hard. Ran to the back and bam, line broke...no bait...no fish. I saw her and I've never caught a huge striper, but have caught several over 12 pounds up at Texoma. Biggest I've caught was a little over 16. She was a least that big. Fish or no fish...THAT was a blast. First striper I've even seen on that lake! One of these days I'm gonna figure out how to use the GoPro I've had for nearly 3 years! LOL. Fun day.


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Re: Lake Travis [Re: Palirwin] #14125480 09/10/21 06:03 PM
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Nice day fivebites! I went out Wednesday morning for a few hours and only managed a few small ones. It was dead calm, and the only bites we had were on ledges in 10-20 feet. Only caught like half a dozen or so, and the biggest was probably 2 lbs. Admittedly I didn't spend much time fishing near the bank because it was so calm and still. I figured there was no way they were that shallow. We need to go fishing together my friend! Sure wish you had landed that striper. I have never caught a good striper on Travis either, which is amazing with all my years fishing out there. Caught a few small ones when white bass fishing, but never a really nice one on Travis. Makes me want to go to Buchanan and chase some down.

Re: Lake Travis [Re: Palirwin] #14128089 09/13/21 11:21 AM
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That's the first and ONLY striper or sandbass I've ever seen in 4 years fishing this lake! LOL. I may try to go Thursday depending on this crazy wind that's supposed to be blowing in this week. Hit me up and maybe we can get out for a few hours. My back will only let me stay on the water four or five hours, so half a day is about all I can manage right now.


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Re: Lake Travis [Re: Palirwin] #14132735 09/17/21 02:10 PM
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4-5 hours is about my max usually too. I actually went out Monday afternoon and Wednesday morning. Did not do much on these trips. Most fish were caught shallow, on drop shot and texas rig. The wind was a bit of a challenge, but not the worst I have fished in. I have caught thousands of white bass on Travis, but I used to go minnow dunking for them at night (and crappie). The water temp did drop 3 degrees in the lower end, so they should get feeding real soon.

Re: Lake Travis [Re: Palirwin] #14132987 09/17/21 04:49 PM
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Short spur of the moment trip this morning, 6:30-9:30am. 10 fish, a few dinks, a few ok, and 3#. All drop shot. Top water and shallow crank early produced nothing. Gave in and went with the DS 30 min after sunrise. 3 in the first 6 cast, lol. Shallow on rocky shoreline, with decently sharp drop off. After the sun came up, caught the rest on long points and bluffs/shade in 20-25ft.

Last edited by Chis D; 09/22/21 08:39 PM.
Re: Lake Travis [Re: Palirwin] #14133889 09/18/21 02:09 PM
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Any of you boys up for half day at Decker tomorrow? Hit me back so I can buy a pass. Haven't been there since late spring, so not sure what the bite is like. Will be going EARLY and stay til around noon or until the back says get off the lake!


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Re: Lake Travis [Re: Palirwin] #14150289 10/04/21 05:38 PM
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Sorry it has been a while guys. Fishing has been slowly picking up for me. Been catching several in the 2-3 lbs range, mostly on flukes fished very slowly on bluffs and around docks. It seems like the fish get into little frenzies and I will catch several in 15 minutes but then they shut down again. There is so much bait on this lake, it is incredible. The bite is light and you really have to be on your best game. Have caught a few on crankbaits and worms, but mostly it has been the fluke for me.

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