Early Winter Fishing on Lake Austin - Lures, Live Bait, and Hot Spots

Name’s Artificial Lure, checking in with your Lake Austin fishing report.

We’re sitting on a classic early‑winter pattern: overnight lows in the 40s, afternoon highs climbing into the 60s, light north to northeast breeze, mostly clear skies, and stable pressure around 30.1 according to the National Weather Service out of Austin. That high, steady barometer and clear water mean the bite is best on the low‑light edges. Sunrise is right around 7:20 a.m., sunset just after 5:30 p.m., per timeanddate’s Austin tables.

No tide worries here on the river chain, but the recent constant‑level releases off Mansfield Dam reported by the Lower Colorado River Authority have the lake a touch on the low side with gentle current pushing downstream. That little bit of flow is stacking bait and bass on points and inside channel swings.

Local chatter from Austin‑area bass clubs and guide pages this week has largemouths running 1–3 pounds pretty steady, with a few 5‑plus kicked out of deeper docks. Most of those fish are coming 8–18 feet: early they’re pushing shad onto wind‑blown rock, then sliding off to the first break and brush once the sun hits the water. A few folks dragging cut bait on bottom have picked up blue cats in the 5–10‑pound class along the main river channel bends.

Best producers right now:
- **Lures:**
• 3.3–4.0 swimbaits on 1/4–3/8 oz heads in shad or ghost colors
• Medium‑diving crankbaits in sexy shad or craw for rock banks
• Green pumpkin or watermelon red finesse jigs and shaky heads for docks and brush
• Silver or chrome blade baits and small spoons for deeper bait balls

- **Live bait:**
• Medium shiners or small bluegill for bass around big dock poles
• Fresh cut shad or chicken liver for cats on ledges and channel holes

Hot bite windows have been first light to about 10 a.m., then again 3 p.m. to dark when that surface chill eases.

Couple of Lake Austin hot spots to lean on:
- **Under the 360 Bridge:** Work the pilings and the adjacent bluff wall with a jig or jerkbait, especially when there’s a little wind funneling through.
- **Emma Long / City Park stretch:** Target outside grass edges, secondary points, and any brush in 10–15 feet with a swimbait or jig.

If you’ve got forward‑facing sonar, now’s the time to use it: follow the roaming shad off those points and drop a jig or small swimbait right in front of the school.

That’s the word from Lake Austin. Thanks for tuning in and don’t forget to subscribe.

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This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI