Austin Bass Fishing Tips and Best Places to Go

Austin, the capital of Texas, lies in the Hill Country region of Texas. Austin bass fishing, as well as Texas fishing in general can be phenomenal due to the long, warm season and impoundments creating quality water resources.

The Colorado River is impounded within the city of Austin, forming the slow river-like Lake Austin and Lady Bird Lake. The shoreline is mostly privately owned, leaving little shoreline access besides a few public parks where one can find a couple of boat ramps maintained by the Parks and Rec Department of Austin.  Recreational boating can be heavy during the day, especially during the summer so non-peak usage times such as evenings and cooler months may be the best time to try your luck. Fishing also can be influenced by water release from the dam of another close Colorado River impoundment, the more “lake-like,” vast Lake Travis.

Walter E. Long Lake is much smaller and located just east of Austin. It is noted for great bass fishing too. The water here is used to cool a power plant so it will remain warm in winter if the plant is running. The hybrid striped bass here and in Lake Travis are a bonus for fishing in Austin with anglers having success with jigging spoons or topwater lures. Other Austin bass fishing opportunities include Lake Georgetown, Granger Lake, and Lake Kyle.

Bring standard bass fishing tackle but that medium action rod and reel combo with 8-10 pound line just may get put to the test. The chance of a true lunker is so high that the state has a ShareLunker program where genetics of these giants are passed along to new generations at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center near Athens, Texas.

Soft-plastics worm rigs are tough to beat throughout the summer. With cooler temperatures, spinnerbaits or swimbaits and lipless crankbaits may get that reaction bite.  When bass fishing Austin, you should go smaller and think more finesse presentations for smaller rivers and streams such as at McKinney Falls State Park.

Although Austin bass fishing usually employs normal bass techniques, you may want to keep an open mind as far as bass fishing tips. Austin also is known for a bridge that spans Lady Bird Lake that happens to house over a million bats. Bass are opportunistic and will eat just about anything that will fit in that oversized mouth. In fact, a bat lure was introduced this year at ICAST. Perhaps, on my next trip to Texas, after I get my fishing license, I may just have to try one of these unique topwater lures below that bridge.