Lake Austin Winter Bass Report - Slow & Natural Presentation Keys for Largemouth & Guadalupe Bass

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

We’re sitting on a stable winter pattern. Weather Underground and the National Weather Service show cool, clear high‑pressure over Austin today: light north to northeast breeze, morning temps in the low 40s warming into the 60s, bluebird skies and steady pressure. That’s classic “tough bite early, better once it warms” weather. Sunrise is right around 7:30 a.m., sunset near 5:50 p.m., so your prime windows are first light to about 10, and again from 3 to dark.

Lake Austin’s a river lake with Mansfield Dam holding Travis above it, so there’s no real tide, but you do get current pulses when they generate. LCRA’s release schedules and local chatter out of Austin Bass Fishing and Texas Fishing Forum all point to those generation periods being key: when you feel that subtle push on the main river channel, the fish slide up and chew.

Recent reports this past week from local guides working Lake Austin and the lower Colorado stretch in town say the bite’s been steady, not on fire. Numbers of **2–4 lb largemouth** with the occasional **5–6** showing up, plus plenty of feisty **Guadalupe bass** mixed in, especially closer to town. Texas Parks and Wildlife data and Major League Fishing coverage of nearby Lake Travis both back up that this system is loaded with keeper‑size bass, with Guads acting like piranhas on moving baits.

Water’s cool and clear, so think slow and natural. Best producers lately:

- **Lures**
- Finesse and football jigs in green pumpkin or PB&J with a small craw trailer.
- Shad‑style swimbaits in the 2.8–3.3" range on light heads, worked mid‑column on the river channel edges, a staple on Travis that translates perfectly here.
- Suspending jerkbaits in ghost shad and perch colors over 10–15 feet.
- Small Ned rigs and micro swimbaits for Guadalupe bass around chunk rock.

- **Live bait**
- Local bait shops and guide reports say **live shad** slow‑trolled or drifted along the channel swing banks is producing the better largemouth.
- Nightcrawlers on light line will keep kids bent on sunfish and the odd catfish along bulkheads and docks.

Fish activity’s been best late morning once that sun’s been on the rocks and seawalls a bit. Work **steep rock, bluff banks, docks, and the first drop off the grass lines**. Winter fish here love to suspend off that first good break, then slide up to feed when the current or light angle is right.

Couple of local hot spots to focus on:

- **Pennybacker Bridge / 360 bridge stretch** – Classic winter water with deep channel, rock, and current seams. Work jigs and jerkbaits along the pilings and nearby ledges.
- **Emma Long / City Park area** – Good mix of docks, rock, and remaining grass edges. Swimbaits and finesse jigs along the outside edges and first break are pulling solid largemouth with Guads thrown in.
- Bonus: Any **deep dock lines and retaining walls** on the lower lake toward the dam can kick out a surprise big fish mid‑day when the sun is high.

Keep your presentation slow, watch your graph for bait pods off the channel, and when that current starts to move, don’t leave – that’s when the better fish have been getting caught.

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