Lake Travis on a cloudy day

I got up before 7am today which is late for me but it was my day off and I still had my kayak and gear in the truck from yesterday so no need to rush. This gave me time to have a muffin and coffee and contemplate on where on the Lake I would go today. Since I pretty much had not been to nearby Lake Travis in months, I decided to go to nearby Sandy Creek park and launch from there.

I was on the water by 8am and the sky was still very overcast with some sprinkles which was actually a good thing. I like fishing under these conditions. One thing though, it was starting to get a little windy. This I don't like as it tends to push my kayak around and my casts start to get worse than normal.

A minute after I got on the water, a gentlemen with a spin rod and fishing vest popped onto shore and asked me if I had any luck. I mentioned I had just gotten here. He said he could see some activity but hadn't had much luck and off he went. This was slightly disappointing as I know it is peak full moon time and sometimes that does affect the catching during the day. I was not going to be deterred and continued on.

One reason I decided on Lake Travis is that it is close to my house and this week's fishing report that I read last night said folks were catching bass in 5 to 8 feet of water with plastic worms and top waters. Those are fly rod accessible depths. I ended up leaving the Gurgler fly tied on that I used yesterday when I fished the Llano river.

To get out of the wind, I went around a cove and started pounding the banks. I came across one of those PVC pipes that people use to draw water out of the lake. In the past, I usually have had pretty good luck catching fish around them. For some reason they are attracted to this structure. My fly got some nibbles from some small brim. Suddenly, the fly disappeared and my line started moving and I set the hook. At first it felt like I had gotten it snagged on a log as my rod tip bent over. It was a fish! For a few seconds it ended up pulling my kayak along. Fortunately I had my small hand net and netted a nice largemouth bass that had the fly hook in the skin on the inside of its mouth. The bass measured just shy of 18" and seemed a little thin for its size but it had still put up a good fight. I was excited now as the fish was caught in about 3 feet of water so I was hoping more were close to the banks.


I ended up catching a couple of smaller fish at the end of the cove in the back of boat docks. I had to force one over one of the mooring lines so it didn't tangle me up. The wind started to pick up again and after it blew my hat into the water, I decided to call it a morning. I was only on the water for two hours but it was still great fun plus I caught a few bass. Better than working in the office y'all!

Last fish of 2009

I've been on vacation for just over a week and a half now. Time seems to have gone by pretty quickly with family visiting through Christmas and right before the new year. The wife said I should get out and do some fishing so I did.

Since I had not fished around my favorite section of Lake Travis in some time, I headed to Arkansas Bend to see how things looked. When I got there I noticed the boat ramp was still closed and even though we are finishing December with a 2" surplus of rain, the lake still looks awfully low. I drove down along the shoreline which is typically several feet underwater and launched my kayak.

The coves I usually fish felt much smaller as I paddled around. I fished a few points, large coves and finger coves for a while with not much luck. I spotted what looked like a carp rooting but then noticed it swimming rapidly into deeper water while still on top and proceeded to follow it.

Normally, if you get close to a carp and it spots you, it will high tail it out of there but this carp must have been sick or injured because I was able to paddle right next to it and it didn't submerge or try to evade me.

I should have known better than to down some coffee before heading off to paddle around and fish as I had to find a suitable beach to land on that had no homes around to relieve myself as I was about to burst! Whew!

After I paddled off again, I saw a splash that gave away the location of a bass and that turned out to be the only fish I was able to catch. It also turned out to be the last fish I caught for 2009. It was a spunky little bass though.

I hope 2010 brings more fishing time and better catches and I hope it does as well for anyone else reading this. Happy New Year!

Lake is low and fishin' was slow

I got to Lake Travis around 6:20am and found a fellow kayaker already at the boat ramp. We exchanged hellos and he continued fishing from shore. He said he was waiting for a friend of his that also fished from a kayak. After a brief pleasant exchange, I paddled off and started fishing.

Water visibility was fairly good. I could see between 3 to 4 feet below the water. In the past clarity has been far better (up to 8 feet or more). The water level was even lower than I recall. I believe the lake is now about 21 feet below the historic June average. Dang drought.

For the next hour I caught zip, nada, nothing. I switched flies to a #6 gray bead chain clouser tied with EP fibers and then caught a small bass.

Fishing was still slow. I caught a couple more bass. One was tiny at about 8 inches long. He was an aggressive little fellow though. As I was putting him in the water, I felt it clamp on to my thumb and after letting go with my other fingers he held on for a minute; enough time for me to snap a photo of him. He finally realized he could spit my thumb out and split and so he did. Good thing bass are not man eaters. I think this one liked the way I tasted.

I then paddled back to the ramp and passed the kayaker from this morning and his friend and I introduced ourselves. He indicated he fishes the surf and bays around Corpus Christi often but mostly the surf.

After I got to the ramp and brought my truck down, the first kayaker also came in while his friend continued to fish. About this time, a park ranger walked down to the two of us. We all started talking about how low the water was noting the ramp would likely be closed for motorboats if it fell another four feet. We could pretty much see the end of the ramp below the water.

As I left the park and headed down the winding country road, passing cyclists, I saw a glimpse of a deer crossing the road ahead and then saw a young fawn that as I approached decided to lie down on the road so I slowed and stopped. Upon getting out to try and get it off the road, it stood up and bolted for the fence and was gone. A couple of cars were now behind me so I got back in my truck and went home.

With June heating up like it is July already, I think I may start fishing the lake at night. I may have better luck then and hopefully it will be slightly cooler, too.

Memorial Day Fishing

First of, God bless all those that have served and kept this country free!

I got up around 5:30am to prepare to be on the lake by 7am to get in a couple of hours of fishing before heading over to my brother-in-law's house for a Memorial Day cookout.


As I was turning into Jonestown Park I noticed a mini van following me. When I parked, it parked next to me and a guy came out telling me that he was a fellow kayaker and he knew a spot where I could drive the truck to the water's edge to be able to launch quicker. We talked for a bit and he was a fellow member of texaskayakfisherman.com. Nice guy and it was good to talk tackle and kayaks with a fellow kayak angler. He also pointed out a couple of fishing spots I could try. I wished him luck and paddled out to some boat docks across the lake.

About the time I paddled out, a heavy fog set in. I cast around the docks and up against the rocky shoreline. I caught a small bass on a red and yellow seaducer. I later switched to a purple and black crystal minnow. In all, I caught five spunky little bass before paddling back to the put-in to talk with the fellow kayaker before packing up and heading home.

My friend mentioned he had caught a small spotted gar on a bass popper which was interesting. He promised to upload a photo he took on his phone to tkf.com when he wrote up his fishing report.

I enjoyed the short time fishing and also getting the chance to meet a new fellow kayak angler. Hope to fish with him in the future.

No longer hardcore?

I haven't been fishing in over a month (no tears please). Last night the planets aligned and I loaded up the kayak to try and do some night fishing. I loaded my 5wt reel with Teeny T-130 sinking line as the hope was that I would get into some white bass.

I got to the lake around midnight and paddled out to a boat dock in water 8 to 10 feet deep and adjacent to a deep channel. The dock had several bright lights illuminating over the water. I could see baitfish nervously swimming about and then a couple of splashes. I tied on a #8 Cypert Minnow and made a poor cast. I let it sink, put the tip of my rod down below the surface of the water and started to strip it in. In that first cast I caught my first white bass. Cool!

In the next hour I proceeded to catch seven white bass, males between 11 and 12 1/2 inches long. From 1am to 1:30am not a single bite. At this point, the wind started to pickup and the temperature dropped as a week cold front started pushing through. My legs were still wet from the paddling and I was getting cold. My shoulder was also starting to hurt a bit. In the old days, I would have kept on fishing until dawn. I paddled back to the ramp and headed home. I was back in a warm bed just before 3am.

I got up four hours later as I had promised my daughter that I would take her and her boyfriend fishing today. We were back at the lake by 9:30am. The wind was a steady 15mph coming from the NNE. Air temperature was in the mid 40s and so it felt pretty cold. We found a spot somewhat sheltered by the wind where we fished for about an hour and a half and then we decided to come back home.

I filleted the fish I had caught the night before and we had them for lunch. I then remembered why white bass are more trouble than they are worth. The fillets aren't all that big and so it takes more fish for a decent fish fry. This means a long time filleting fish.

Once again, in the old days I would not have been complaining. I must be getting old and losing my hardcore fishing attitude. Man, I hope not!

Right now, after cleaning everything and putting it all away, I am dead tired. I think I am going to take a shower and go to sleep early. I am such as wuss! :-(

Oh yeah, Happy Valentine's Day! Hope you get some today! Fish that is! ;-)

Big Guadalupe bass in Lake Travis

This weekend is sort of a repeat of last weekend in that my daughter's high school band has yet another marching competition. My son has a birthday party to go to in the afternoon so I basically had a couple of hours this morning to fish. And fish I did.

This time, I launched from Jones Brothers Park in Jonestown which is just about 15 minutes from the house. I mostly stuck to a narrow arm of the lake across the park and fished along the shadowy cliff side.

The morning was cool in the mid 50s and the water is still warm in the 70s so there was a light fog on the glassy smooth water. It was beautiful. It was also much different than last weekend in that the skies were clear and blue.

I was tempted to tie on a top water fly but really wanted to try the experimental seaducer along with an all chartreuse cactus minnow I tied last night. The cactus minnow was the first fly tied on.

I love to target the corners of docks or any structure/cover that has a corner as I tend to find bass usually near there. However, I started with the cliff walls throwing the fly as close to them as possible. I was rewarded with a couple of small Guadalupe bass.

I continued working the docks and cliffs picking up a couple of more bass. Some of them gave themselves away as they chased baitfish up to the surface. Once I got into the sunshine away from the cliffs, I didn't get much action so I paddled back to where I started and had caught bass and worked along the other way.

By this time I had switched to an all olive and black seaducer and as I cast it to the back corner of a boat dock I saw a big hit and felt the rod bend as the fish dove deep. This is typically the sign of a good Guadalupe bass as they tend to want to dive while a largemouth surfaces and shakes its head.

The bass circled the front of my kayak and I got to see him and he was impressive so I pulled out the net and hoped it wouldn't come off. Once landed, I measured it and it was just shy of 16 inches. For this species of Texas native bass, this is a trophy size fish as they don't normally get much larger (the water body record for this lake is 18.25 inches at 3.69 pounds). The fish easily went over 2 pounds. I released the fish and packed it up for the day.

I was really pleased with the fish I caught in the two hours on the lake. I got a new personal best for a Guadalupe bass and it was on an experimental fly I tied. Couldn't get any better.

Back in black

My oldest daughter has a marching band competition today and my wife was volunteering so she said if I wanted to go fishing, Saturday morning was my only chance and I HAD to be back by noon. You don't have to tell ME twice!

So, at 7:30am I was on my way to the lake. I watched deer crossing the road on the dark overcast, drizzly morning. I also watched a small armadillo walking along the side of the road and I was hoping the little guy didn't become roadkill that day.

I was in the water by 8am and paddled along to the opposite shoreline for a bit, throwing by experimental seaducer for about 30 minutes with no bites other than the tugs of small brim. Thinking through all the tactics I have read through the years, I recall that black or dark colors were recommended during dark overcast days so I switched to a purple and black cactus minnow I had tied earlier in the week.

The cactus minnow is simply composed of a cactus chenille body with a marabou tail. It also has a cone head bead to allow it to sink nicely. That's it but today this was the ticket.

Within a few casts along the drop-offs near shore, I caught my first bass. I also worked the fly towards the back of some docks and caught a 15" bass that looked somewhat malnourished. Its tail and head looked too large for its body. It also had a few gouges underneath as if it had been foul hooked and the hook ripped out. The bass is the one in the photo above. I released the skinny fellow back in the water.

I picked up another bass and lost a couple before paddling across the lake to a long rip-rap section of the shore near the ramp. My first fish there turned out to be a catfish which surprised me! He twisted around and slimed up my leader before coming off while I was trying to grab the landing net.

I proceeded to catch four more bass from 13" to 15" along the shoreline. Most were caught in two to four feet of water. Two of the bass I caught were really light green in color. One of the best fish I caught had the fly right in its tongue. I was fortunate not to have lost that one.

As I headed back to the ramp to make it back by 11am, I passed over a large, dark shadow in the clear water that I could easily see was a big catfish. That would have been cool to have caught on my 5wt. Maybe next time. Hope it's a dark day, too.

Arkansas Bend at Lake Travis

I think the last time I went fishing around Arkansas Bend at Lake Travis was probably a year ago. I did fish a different part of the lake in February though. Driving down the road as I approached the lake from the top of a hill, I could tell that the water level was low once again. I hoped that the water temperature was the only other thing that fallen in the hopes this would start giving the fish the idea Autumn is approaching and to start feeding aggressively.

According to lake level data, the lake is down by around 22 feet. A couple of years ago we had a really bad drought where the lake dropped by almost 40 feet. Thanks to rains in the spring of 2007, the lake recovered nicely.

I was able to park on the shore which is normally underwater and launch my kayak in calm, clear water. The air temperature was around 70 degrees and water was warmer than that at about 81 degrees. A power boat had started working the point where I was launch and the angler caught a nice bass on what looked to be a spinnerbait as I was paddling to the next point.

The first fly I tied on was a size #2 Gurgler top water fly in yellow and orange. It wasn't long before I had a bite. It was a big brim. As I worked the point I kept catching these big brim and seemed that each was bigger than the rest. I was really hoping for a bass.

I entered a nearby cove and worked my way around it and continued to catch big brim on minnow flies and managed one small bass. I then moved on and started working around the swimming platforms. Same pattern occurred on all of them as I would catch big brim along the shady side of the platform.

As I was undoing a knot on my fly line I felt a large tug and thought I had finally caught a decent bass. It tuned out to be a really big coppernose which is a hybrid type bluegill found in the lake that can be identified by a copper or golden color near the top of its head.

As I looked up I saw a big roadrunner trying to catch a meal along the grass and I paddled my way back.

Before leaving for the day, I started fishing around the point where my truck was located trying to catch a decent size bass. I was stripping my minnow back to the kayak when I saw not one but a school of four bass following it! They looked to have been about two pounds each! But they continued to follow it to the kayak, saw me and departed. Nuts!

I decided to switch to a black woolly bugger and work it slowly. After a few casts I felt some resistance and was fighting a very nice Guadalupe bass. I netted it, photographed and admired it and then released it. I fished for a little while longer but it was tough with all the ski boats, cigar boats and personal water craft making lots of waves and stirring up the bottom so I got out and headed home.

It was beautiful morning to be fishing on the lake. The water was a pretty green color and fish were caught. I'm not sure I could ask for anything more though I am hoping we get some rain soon so the lakes don't get any lower. I'll try fishing the lake after the next real cold front and hopefully I will catch some more bass.

Warm bed or fish at night?

I got up at 2am this morning to go fishing on nearby Lake Travis. Of particular interest for this trip was to look to see if the white bass are staging before the spawn later this month or next month.

I was in the water by 3am. The wind was blowing about 10mph from the south and so the air temperature was comfortable in the high 60s. I paddled to a boat slip that I have fished for white bass before that is in about 10 feet of water on the edge of a much deeper channel.

Unfortunately, the main lamp that lights up the water was malfunctioning and would turn on then turn off a few seconds later then after a long period of time would randomly do it again. I did fish it for a few minutes but didn't get a single bite.

I found an underwater green light near a floating houseboat. I saw one fish hanging around the lights but had trouble anchoring in 40 feet of water as that is about the length of my anchor rope and the wind would push me towards the lights.

After a while I decided the fish just weren't here in numbers yet and left the water by 4am at which time the wind settled down to about 5mph.

When I got home to get back into bed my wife asked, "Huh, you still here?".

South San Gabriel

This morning I tried to see if I could wade a section of the South San Gabriel river near where it joins the North San Gabriel river in Georgetown. I decided against taking the kayak as the South San Gabriel has less water than the northern arm.

The water in the section I fished was very clear and running well. The water was also fairly cool though not really cold. The fish were a bit spooky so it took finesse to catch some of them. I saw small bass but didn't land any. I did catch plenty of green sunfish, bluegill, and redbreast sunfish. I was really hoping to find a Rio Grande Cichlid but not in the couple of hours I was in the river.

I, however, wasn't able to wade all the way down to where the two sections of the river join together. There were some sections that were deeper than I wanted to wade. I may consider next time taking the kayak since most of the section was deep enough to paddle and the water was moving slow enough that paddling back upstream wouldn't be bad at all.

I am reading reports from friends that Lake Travis is on fire at the moment with schools of white bass feeding around points. I would have gone to Travis this morning except the wind was a good 10-15mph and so it would have been a bit choppy on the lake. I need to consider a night trip though as the whites would be located along lighted docks and so it wouldn't be too bad then if it were a bit windy.

I am planning a saltwater trip to the coast in two weekends from now so not sure if I will get a chance to fish Lake Travis next weekend. I may. We'll see.

Granite Shoals night fishing

Last night I went to fish the underwater lights of Lake LBJ in Granite Shoals about one hour west of where I live. I went with a fellow kayak angler and his 12 year old daughter.

Dennis had read some reports about white bass being caught there at night and was anxious to catch some of them. Since I had been there a couple of times before, I decided I would go and provide assistance with information about the area plus gets some night fishing.

I brought along my 4wt since I knew the bluegill sometimes get in a frenzy around the lights and some tend to get pretty big. I also brought my 5wt with a sinking like for any bass.

I was very impressed with Dennis' daughter. She is on her way to being a very experienced kayak angler. This was not her first nighttime fishing expedition. She and her dad have fished Lake Travis before at night and they were prepared with the required 360 degree light on their kayaks along with flashlights.

Once the sun had set and the underwater lights came on, we found only a half dozen lights on. Usually there are twice that many on in the cove we were in. Finally, we found one lone light on the deeper side of the lake that appeared to have some white bass.

We all caught some fish that night and had some good conversation as well. I probably landed 5 white bass and lost just as many. I also landed a nice largemouth that was around two pounds. In addition, I caught a dozen or so bluegill with several of them around 8 and 9 inches.

It was a nice night to be out fishing with friends. The wind was light which was good because this particular cove is not all that protected and can be difficult to fish in windy conditions.

Dennis and I discussed coming back in spring during the staging before the white bass run. We also discussed doing some fishing in Lake Travis since he lives along the lake and has access to several private parks that offer some prime launch spots to avoid too much paddling from where I normally launch. If I can, I may take him up on these offers.

After packing everything up to head out and driving through the neighborhood, we spotted a really fine buck. The neighborhood in Granite Shoals is literally infested with deer. Hopefully, in the spring the underwater lights will be infested with whites, too.

Retro bass fishing

I really like fishing for largemouth bass but in the summer, it can be a little tougher to catch fish on the lake with fly fishing tackle. I reserve the fly tackle for night fishing where the target is lit and doesn't involve lots of casts to search for fish. I find I am also more successful when fishing rivers with fly tackle. Anyways, I thought I would go "retro" this morning.

So out came my seven foot medium action baitcasting tackle. My wife asked me when did I buy the rod since she hadn't seen it before. I told her I've had it for years except because I tend to now lean towards the fly rod, she just hasn't seen it in a long while. I got all the stuff together and took my 6wt with me for "backup".

I started off casting some medium diving crankbait plugs along ledges and also tried a hard plastic jerkbait and I had a couple of small bass chase it with one little one taking a nip at it right at the kayak but not hookups.

The water conditions were OK, clarity to maybe four feet which may be fine is some lakes but in Travis it should be better than that. Seeing as things were going fairly slow, I switched to a soft plastic worm, the trusty Gary Yamamoto 5" Senko in watermelon red rigged weightless Texas style on a 3/0 wide gap hook. Now I was ready!

The Senko is a magnificent lure. It has been my favorite soft plastic for bass fishing and also a very successful one. I've even tried some in saltwater for the heck of it though not enough times. The lure has a wiggle to it and a can be rigged to drop nose down or horizontal with that enticing wiggle or pulled through the water like a fluke jerkbait. Lots of possible techniques and riggings work wonders with this lure.

I was casting to a ledge in an area between diving platforms that I haven't ever really consider and as I was bringing the Senko back, out came a flash and hit that Senko hard! At first I thought it was a white bass from the flash but it turned out to be a nice largemouth!

I had almost forgotten how nice a good size largemouth can pull when it wants to dive deep. Really good feeling. The hook was right in the corner of the lower lip so the bass wasn't going anywhere. I finally lipped the bass and brought him in the kayak for a photo. It measured about 16 3/4 " long and weighed about 2 1/2 pounds. Nice!

I had one "tap tap" after that bass but no further hookups. With all the ski boats and jet skiers on the lake, I decided to leave at 10:30am.

If I get out to the lake again soon, I will try the Senko one more time for that "retro" feeling of catching bass on conventional tackle.

Early morning on Lake Travis

Since the rivers are still not ideal for traversing, I thought I would try the lake early in the morning. I headed for Lake Travis just before 5am.

When I got down to the boat ramp at Sandy Creek Park, I found a car and a pickup truck parked near it. It looked like a couple of people were asleep in the bed of the truck. It seemed uncomfortable so I tried not to make much noise unloading the kayak to launch. It's likely it was some teenagers that came out to the lake at night to party. It hasn't been the first time I've encountered partied out teenagers. They're harmless enough.

I was hoping to fish one of the green lights located in front of a floating house but apparently there was a party going on that must have started the night before. Dang! So I tried a few lighted boat docks and didn't have any luck.

The wind was still and the air was slightly humid but not uncomfortable. The bug repellent was doing the job keeping the mosquitoes away which I was thankful for.

Since I wasn't having much luck I decided to wait for sunrise so I could see better. While lying in my kayak looking up at the sky, I caught sight of three shooting stars (meteorites) in less than an hour which was pretty cool. I also heard the flapping of ducks flying overhead in the quiet morning. Strange that I couldn't hear the frogs after a while just as sunrise started to show.

I continued looking for fish around submersed vegetation. My sinking line would occasionally get tangled in the underwater brush. I switched to a yellow Gurgler fly that the sinking line could suspend below the water line and would bob as I retrieved it. I had fish follow it but no takes. I also had small bluegill peck at it but the size #2 hook was a bit too big for them. I also saw lots of fingerling bass but no adults.

I paddled into the back of a deep cove lined with trees along its steep banks. I finally got one bite which I promptly pulled the hook out of the fish's mouth. I headed back out just before 9am since the morning was starting to warm up and I had had only one bite all morning.

All in all, it was good getting out for a paddle. I need to paddle some more as I think lack of a weekly paddling has gotten me out of shape!

Finally hit the lake

These past few weekends have been spent working on the house with projects such as replacing the carpet in the bedrooms with laminate wood flooring and cleaning out the storage shed out back which has meant no fishing...until this weekend.

I took care of mowing the yard during the week since the days are now longer so that I would have the weekend free. I took out the kayak yesterday and cleaned off the cobwebs and drained water it held inside from all the rain we've been having lately.

Speaking of the rain, I was eager to see what the lake looked like since all reports indicated that due to all that rain, the lake was now 102% of full pool. They were finally releasing water from the dam downstream to maintain pool level. Back in a December post I mentioned that Lake Travis was 37 feet below pool level and after that post before the rains really started in March it had dropped to around 40 feet below full.

The days lately have been warm and muggy with temperatures in the high 80s to low 90s making it feel much warmer so I decided I would do my fishing at night. I got all my gear together and went to bed at 9pm on Friday and set the alarm for 2:30am.

Well, 2:30am came around and I just couldn't get up! So I reset it for 4am. I did get up later, had breakfast and headed to the lake and was in the water by 5:30am. The water level was right up to the top of the ramp! I launched and headed to the boat slip I wanted to fish since it was usually surrounded by lots of bright lights. Denied! The lights were not on so I had to find something before sunrise. I found one set of green lights with baitfish and some predators and had one hookup with my black Bonker Zonker fly but it came unhooked a few seconds later. I had a couple of other short strikes but didn't land anything by the time sunrise came around 6:30am so I moved on.

I again got a strike but no hookup near a swimming platform. I saw some splashing around me but some of those spashes were from carp and some appeared to be from bass pushing baitfish to the surface. I noticed one splash on the opposite shore and I headed directly to it and cast in the same spot.

I was stripping the fly back to me when the line got heavy about 8 feet from shore and then it dove! Fish on! It was pulling very nicely and when I got it up near the surface I saw it was a nice bass! I played the fish and I'd almost forgotten what a nice fight a keeper size bass puts up on the 5wt especially when it wants to dive into deeper water! I think I've been fishing for brim on the 2wt for too long.

I landed the fish and it was a nice, healthy 15" largemouth. I released the fish and kept paddling around the back of the cove. Sections of this cove were high and dry not long ago. I explored some of the area and fished it with several more bites but no other fish landed.

I decided to head back just before 8am as it was starting to get pretty warm and muggy with light winds. As I was walking up to my truck after leaving my kayak at the ramp, I saw a rather large spider strolling across the road. Since I figured last night I was going to be night fishing, I didn't bring the camera with me. I got really close and it looked like a Texas Brown Tarantula but it could have been some other kind of tarantula. I found a photo that best looks like the spider I saw on wikipedia which I have linked to this post. It was a beautiful tarantula. It was heading for my truck and since I didn't want to accidentally run over it, I gently redirected it with my shoe. Boy, can those tarantulas move fast when they want to! It scurried for the wooded area on the other side of the road and it was gone.

Even though I didn't land a bunch of bass, it was great being on the lake again and catching a nice fighting LMB as well as seeing the lake back to full level again. I also enjoyed seeing the wildlife. Besides the tarantula, I spotted a Jackrabbit and diamondback water snake as well as some herons. I'll hopefully be out on the lake a few more times this summer.

I see upcoming fishing opportunities

I had a call from my cousin this week that there are big trout in the surf now. So, it looks as if I'll be heading down for some saltwater fishing within the next few weeks! Cool!

Also, the rain we've had the past few months is really bringing up the levels in the nearby lakes. Lake Travis is now almost 2 feet above the historical May average. Cool. The surface water temperature is now somewhere around 77 F degrees which means there will be some shallow swimming largemouth bass.

My 6 weight is itching to hookup with a 2lb bass that wants to dive deep. Then again, it also wants to hookup with a 6lb carp in the river that takes the line into the backing. Man, a 26" speckled trout sounds good though with its big mustard colored mouth and head thrashing back and forth.

This time of year decisions on where to fish start to get more complicated. Fish the rivers? Fish the surf? Fish the bays? Fish the lakes? Carp? Brim? Bass? Trout? Reds? I love this time of year! Sweet!

Quick camping trip

We decided to do an overnight camping trip on Friday given the nice weather with mild night temps in the low 60s. I loaded up the family SUV with the tent, sleeping bags, cooler, portable grill, etc. and of course the family and headed out to a small park on the shores of Lake Travis.

I set up the camp quickly on a campsite we all agreed upon and while putting up the tent I had a little vistor scamper up the side. It was a small Texas Tree Lizard. My son loves lizards and has a terrarium in his room with a Green Anole and Bahamian Anole that he takes care of. The little Texas Tree Lizard blends in really well with oaks and is really fast on the ground but on that tent he was fairly easy to catch. We studied him a bit and then let him run off. These little guys are one major reason why Texas roadrunners run so fast.

We had hot dogs and beef fajitas for dinner and took one of the trails down to the lake to watch the sunset and skip rocks on the water. I think the best I could do was get 4 skips on the water. I'm not all that good at skipping rocks.

Once back at the camp, I lit the Coleman lantern and we went into the tent to basically just goof off and then fall asleep under the clear sky and stars.

In the morning, I made some pancakes on the iron skillet then went down to the lake to cast plastic worms in the water for a little while. Even my wife cast one of the spinning rods for a short while. I got only one bite so after a few minutes we did some exploration of the trails around the park. I did note that with all the recent rain, the lake level has risen dramatically. While it's still not full, it's now only 2 feet below the average for the month. I also noted the water was quite clear. I think I'll be out there in the kayak one of these weekends for some night fishing.

Since my oldest daughter has to ride a horse we lease several times a week, we decided to go back before noon so she could go ride. I packed everything back up into the SUV and we went back home. My kids acted like we were on our way back to the civilized world though I can tell they really enjoyed the short, camping trip. Next time, we may head to Bastrop State Park to camp there one weekend.

First White Bass of 2007

Last night I went down to Lake Travis around midnight to fish dock lights for white bass. With the recent rain the lake is up about 5 feet so the ramp was actually open at the park I went to.

I really enjoy fishing at night. There is something about paddling in the darkness that is exhilarating. You also tend to find larger fish at times feeding at night.

I paddled over to some underwater green lights I remember but there was a big boat parked right above them so I moved on. I went to another dock and tried it for 20 minutes with no luck. I paddled around a long point near deep water and found a big brightly lit boat dock for a single cigar boat. The area seemed very fishy with water from 5 to 8 feet deep and sandy bottom which white bass prefer. The water was stained. On nearly my first cast with my 5wt, something ate my chartreuse/white clouser.

From the way the fish pulled and dove, I could tell it was a white bass and a good one. After netting it, it was a hair under 16". Very nice! A few casts later I caught a smaller male then another that I lost at the boat. I missed a few other subtle strikes. Before leaving around 2am, I caught a keeper largemouth around 15" long. It was getting misty and with the steady 12mph wind it was feeling cold so I quit for the night.

I'll be sure to try this spot another night soon when hopefully the water is clearer and the temps a little warmer.

Spring is almost here

The Bradford pear and cherry trees are in full bloom now. I've see dozens of deer in neighbors yards. The weather has been beautiful recently with warm temps in the high 70s to low 80s. It's almost time.

Yesterday afternoon I went down to a local park pond to see if the fish were active. They were of course. I caught probably 15 or more greenies and redbreasts on gurglers and stimulators in the hour I was there. A lot of those fish were large and fat. I also saw a couple of small bass around what looked like beds so the spawn is coming.

So, I decided to check out Lake Travis this morning for similar action. The water temp on Lake Travis is about 58 degrees. Still a bit cool for all out bass action.

The weather was great this morning. It was slightly cloudy with light winds which made for an easy paddle from Arkansas Bend park in Lago Vista.

I caught one Guadalupe bass on a gray/white clouser minnow tied with my latest, favorite synthetic material, Enrico Puglisi's EP 3D Fibers. The EP fibers look great in the water and have a subtle action along with great translucency.

I headed to the back of a cove and found a section containing some bass, likely males, preparing nests. I almost had one of them on the clouser but he spit it out before I set the hook.

While I was paddling along shore, I had a black Labrador following me. He did so for about 300 yards and even when I pulled into a pocket where I found shad, really big carp, and gasparegou though I didn't catch any because the dog jumped in the water and started swimming to my kayak. I told the dog not to try and get in my kayak and he swam around me for a bit until I paddled away.

Even though I didn't catch a lot of fish, it was a very nice morning and hopefully there will be more like it to come.

Skunked

My wife suggested I go fishing this morning. The weather forecast called for cloudy and drizzly morning with temps in the mid-60s and light variable winds less than 10 mph. This looked fine to me so I drove down to Lago Vista and put in at Arkansas Bend park to fish on Lake Travis. I was really hoping to catch a decent bass on my 5wt.

Since the water is still really low, something like 37' below full level, I drove on shoreline that normally is 10 to 15 feet below the water. I paddled around and looked for fish but it was really difficult finding any. The water temperature was in the low 60s as well so it's likely the fish went deep. I think I saw one large carp the whole three hours I was at the lake but got no bites. It's been a while since I've been skunked. I think I didn't catch any fish maybe one other time this year or maybe two. Still, the weather was mild even with the occassional light shower which made for a pleasant four miles of paddling in the yak. I had no problems casting my 5wt either with the light winds even though nothing bit.

Here is a photo I took of a favorite point I've caught fish from. The water is normally where the dark gray boulders are just below the tree line. Lake Travis has very little underwater vegetation so I key in on structure like the ledges you see in the photo. Baitfish will move along close to those ledges and the bass will not be far from them and occassionally hide in irregular areas along the structure that serve as ambush spots.

Lake Travis sunday morning fishing

I went out to fish one of my favorite areas of Lake Travis around Arkansas Bend park for a couple of hours in the kayak with my 6wt. As I was paddling out of the shallow flat I putin at around 8:30am, I saw one very decent carp cruising in the clear water and then to my right I saw one of the biggest carp I've ever seen pass me. It had to have been at least 40 inches long! This carp would rival a bull red. It was huge!

This morning out was the first real fishing trial for the XP 691-4. First fly I tied was the yellow and orange #2 gurgler I tied the night before. I was easily able to cast that fly over 45ft. The XP generates amazing speed and even with my poor casting abilities I am able to get the fly an inch off the shoreline from a considerable distance when I concentrate enough.

The water was smooth as glass and so that gurgler just seemed a logical choice. Coming around one of the first points I put the gurgler to the test on a drop off and caught my first small bass. Very nice! The rod tip bends well and the backbone in the rod is amazing. I caught three more fish that morning and left around 10:30am as the temperature rose.

I truly like the XPs. I think the combination of backbone and soft tip. There is also a feeling that if I were a better caster I could really tap into the full performance of that rod. One thing I like today that even with some of my sloppy casts I never once produced a bad enough tailing loop that it caused a windknot in my leader. That may be a first for me.

Yesterday I played around with my new XP 486 and that little rod is a rocket. Same characteristics as the bigger brothers but smaller and leaner. Even the cork handle is smaller than that on the 5wt. I'm not sure I like that much but I will get used to it.

I hope we get a lot more rain so I can do some river fishing soon. I'ld like to catch a nice carp with the 6wt and see if it can tame one. I think it can.