Bill Schweitzer with his almost 5-lb bass.
Just after sunrise on Lake Travis is now an excellent time to give your fishing rod a great workout. The bass are biting all day long, but there is just something magical about first light. No boat traffic; just you and the fish.
On Saturday morning April 6, my good friend and neighbor, Bill Schweitzer, had the thrill of hooking, fighting and landing a largemouth bass weighing just shy of 5 pounds. Netting these big bass is a thrill for me.
A 5-pound bass is a big battle using light spinning tackle and 8-pound test line. Bill duped this bass with a blue pearl shad four-inch Senko fished weightless. The magical Senko produced 31 bass that morning for Bill and his friend, David Greis of Lakeway. We had to switch to Texas rigged green pumpkin worms after the sun broke out at 10 a.m.
The previous afternoon I guided nine men on a Lakeway Marina pontoon boat. I introduced them to Texas rig worms, and they responded by catching 28 bass on watermelon seed worms. It is always more of a challenge fishing on a pontoon boat when the bass are hugging the shorelines, but I’ve learned how to make it work positioning the boat using the Honda outboard motor.
The cold (46 degrees) morning of April 4 produced a big thrill for me. My black Senko landed inches from a rocky cove shoreline and was instantly mugged by a 6-pound largemouth that for several minutes refused to cooperate. My good friend Tony DiCello of Lakeway, did a smooth job of netting this big bass for me. That cold, windy morning produced 24 bass on Senkos and worms in just three hours of casting in coves.
April is a fantastic month on Lake Travis, and May is darn good. Black bass are in the middle of the spawning stage and very aggressive.
Threadfin shad will be spawning very soon. Masses of these baitfish will run at the surface next to shorelines and boat docks. Hungry bass are always close by and will attack spinnerbaits and surface lures.
Lake Travis offers so much action and variety in the spring.
For updates or a guided excursion, call 512-261—3644, email
achristenson1@astin.rr.com and visit
www.northshorebeacon.com.
