Fishing Report: Bass Biting on Lake Austin During Cool Central Texas Winter Pattern

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

We’re sitting in a classic Central Texas winter pattern: cool, stable weather with light north–northeast breeze, morning temps in the 40s climbing into the low 60s by afternoon per the National Weather Service. Skies are mostly clear. Sunrise is right around 7:30 a.m., sunset just after 5:40 p.m., which gives a tight but very fishable low‑light window.

Lake Austin is a dammed stretch of the Colorado River, so you won’t see gulf-style tides, but you *will* feel periodic current when they pull water through Tom Miller Dam. When that generation kicks on, the bite generally bumps up for 30–60 minutes, especially on main-lake points and the mouths of coves.

Water is seasonally cool and clear. Bass are sliding to winter haunts: channel swings, bluff walls, and deeper grass edges in 10–25 feet, with a brief shallow push at first light. Recent local chatter and guide posts out of the Austin area have shown solid numbers of largemouth with a few true Central Texas chunks mixed in, plus the odd Guadalupe bass and some incidental channel cats on soft plastics.

Best bite windows:
- First light to about 9:30 a.m.
- Afternoon warm-up from 2–4 p.m., especially on sun-soaked rock.

Lure and bait game right now is textbook winter:

- **Moving baits**
- 1/2 oz lipless crank in shad or red along grass edges and channel swings.
- Suspended jerkbaits in clear or ghost shad over 8–15 feet; long pauses are key.
- Medium-diving crankbaits ticking rock in natural craw patterns.

- **Slow stuff**
- Carolina rigs and Texas rigs with green pumpkin or watermelon red creature baits on hard spots off points.
- Drop shot with a small finesse worm for those finicky, deeper fish.
- Football jigs in brown/green pumpkin dragged on rock transitions.

- **Live bait**
- Medium shiners or small bluegill freelined or on a light Carolina rig near docks and bridges will still fool big largemouth and cats.

A couple of local hot spots to try:

- **Under Loop 360 Bridge**: Classic winter structure. Work the pilings and adjacent channel with jerkbaits, football jigs, and drop shots. When current moves, bass pin shad to those columns.

- **Mouth of Bull Creek**: Focus where the creek flow meets the river channel. Slow-roll a lipless or drag a Carolina rig along the break; good mix of numbers and the occasional big girl.

Honorable mentions: rocky banks and docks on the west side downstream of Pennybacker Bridge, and any stretch where you can find remaining grass near a defined drop.

Overall activity: numbers are good if you’re patient and methodical, with better average size for folks grinding deeper structure. Expect 5–10 fish for a half day if you stay on the pattern, with a realistic shot at a 4–6 pounder when the current and low light line up.

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