A slowly rising lake level and a surface temperature hovering at 65 degrees have created some outstanding bass fishing on Lake Travis. April fool’s Day produced the catch of the week.

Longtime friend and client Mike Appel and I cruised out from Lakeway Marina at sunrise on the overcast morning of April 1. Neither of us suspected what a grand surprise the fish had in store for us.

We were pre-rigged with pearl hologram Senkos and chartreuse shad Bandit crankbaits that were the hot lures recently. Casting these lures close to rocky shorelines is usually the ticket for fast action.

Our first 10 minutes resulted in no takers and me thinking about relocating.

Then the loud sound of surface chasing bass exploded behind us in open water. Panicky shad skipped madly across the surface trying to escape voracious bass.

I quickly rigged up a brand new Rapala bait called the BX Waking Minnow. This topwater lure is designed to create the maximum surface wake with a slow rolling action on a steady retrieve.

Mike’s Senko hooked up quick, but the fish ripped off. My first cast with the DX Waking Minnow ignited a vicious strike. After a hard battle, I boated a four-pound striper.

I immediately handed over my rod to Mike, who proceeded to put on a world class fish catching exhibition for the next half hour.

He kept me busy using pliers to unhook the fish. Then he’d have another bass on the very next cast. Fish were busting shad at the surface all around us.

My landing net boated 12 stripers in the 18- to 20-inch class and a dozen more black bass. A beautiful five-pound largemouth followed a hooked fish to the boat and hovered just below the surface for a full minute. Twice over a dozen bass followed a hooked fish to the boat. We totaled over 40 bass that morning. See why I love April fishing?

For updates or a guided excursion call 512-261-3644 or email achristenson1@austin.rr.com.