[SkeeterLance]

Started off at 8:30, off at 11:30,total for the day was 3. my brother caught one nice 4+lb fish right away, on a frog on the weed beds. One drifting a channel with CR lizard, and one on a buzz bait early.

Now here's my question, we had slight wind, over cast skies, what seemd to be perfect conditions according to everyone here, and we get 3 fish. Others get ungodly numbers on the same baits (flukes,CR rigged lizars, SB etc), same lake ( bastrop is NOT that big) and yet I cant seem to find them.

What am I doing wrong? I have wanted to fish in the Gtown tourney on thursday nights, but Im not good at allfinding fish.

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Maybe some reading material?

 

[Jukebox]

Understanding how fish relate to structure is key. This knowledge can be obtained one of two ways, reading and fishing. When you catch a fish you must make mental notes about where that fish was in relation to water depth ( was it shallow was it deep was it shallow neer deep water), grass or rock. These are just a few examples of things fish relate too. If you begin to associate these things with weather outside you can begin to rationalize where fish are today. Bastrop fish relate especially to water temp and water movement inside the discharge. But when they are not producing you can find fish easily by relating to the edges of grass. Start with baits you have confidence in, if you trust plastics then throw a senko around the grass. If you are a SB guy then by all means throw a spinner bait. Cranks can be a deadly tool on Bastrop, start early and fish points, rip rap or throw shallow cranks or Traps over the grass. I am no expert on Bastrop but I never catch less than 10 or so out there. I myself am just begining to learn this information, it is a huge learning curve. Fish as much as you can and start writing it down if you have to.

 

[txserpent]

Hit bastrop also today only managed 4 dinks 2 for me 2 for the wife all on TR watermelon trick worms on the edge of grass. But fishing wasnt my main reason for going out today, got to take the new to me boat out for the first time managed to hit 65 mph gps with out even getting to full trim.


sorry not trying steal your post.

 

[Hard_Head_Jenkins]

Hey glastronhpv155,

Congrats on the new ride!

You got a pic?

Take Care
H.H.J

 

[Cody_Ryan-]

BassTracker-

Disclaimer: all info. given is all personal opinion and is not backed by scientific studies... haha ;D

Depending on the time of year, plays a big role in finding fish. Spring time can be frustrateing and can make you a hero or you can zero. This time of year I would try shallow areas that are adjacent to deeper water, fishing both until you can gather which the concentration of fish they are in. As the spwn completes itself, the females will back off and typically suspend for a given time until they recoupe and start into a summer pattern... Typically the summers I like to fish shallow early and move to deep ledges, points and drop offs. Also, you might try to fallow your instinct- this plays a bigger role, I believe, than most others... Reason being that if you believe there are fish around, you often slow down and fish better and pay attention more than you would otherwise-
Again, this is not always proven, but my 2 cents! 8)

 

[Kped]

BT- with a little patience and about 4 more months, I bet you will be catch ing 30+ fish on Bastrop .

In the meantime, start off in the discharge throwing whatever you feel, you will catch fish.

If you want to catch more inthe discharge then size down to a finesse worm and fish it adjacent to the ledges on each side (just be ready to rapidly reel up the slack).

For main lake, start off on points with grass and either work out of the point until you don't get bit, or work your way down the grasslines. BBH, Flukes, Traps, and Worms should get you bit.

If you want to search for a bigger contender, then find the numerous brush piles sunk out there .

If all else fails, read this board and monitor other boat's activites while fishing.

I will say and garuntee, the best is yet to come on the 'lil Trop .

kp

 

[Zdawg]

Just spend a little more time out there... I NEVER fish the discharge and usually catch big numbers out there. Like Juke and Swim said...grass lines...

It's weird, one day I can catch 20-30 on one grass line and the mext time...nada...

But I know it's possible to catch 80 in a day out here...we've caught 40-50 in a 3-4 hours recently...

Good luck

Z 8)

 

[BigDUB_BC]

I just got back. fished from 5:30 till dark. I only caught 6 fish and had 2 other guys in the boat and they caught 3 more. Its a funny lake. I fished the same patern I've been fishing the last few weeks and catching 30+ fish afternoons and it just wasnt there tonight. Seemed to be a perfect evening too....We did have about 10 blow ups on top water and the guys in the back were setting the hook to early. I also got to cut a CB out of one of my buddys shirt. He was really close to not having a very good night. He shouldnt have been crowding me so uch up front.

 

[fishytx]

Here are a couple of things that might help you out next time you go fishing BassTracker.

1. Learn and understand your electronics, which I‘m sure you do. Then trust what you see on it and go from there. No fish on the screen, then move till you do locate some. Once you find some fish, make a mental note of what depth the fish are staged at and what kind of cover they are staged on.
2. Now grab up the rod with the bait on it that you have the most confidence in and use it. Look around at your environment while you are fishing; think about what your bait is doing under the water with the type of retrieve that you are using. Change it up from time to time and see what happens. You must come up with the right presentation that the fish will react to. Heck, even two exact same baits will run through the water different, therefore you have to keep playing around till you find what the fish want. I’m not trying to bust no bubbles here, but the sad part is, once you have found something that works, it can and will change before the day is over.


A lot of anglers, including myself, attack the water way to fast when we first get on the water looking for fish. We get into what I call the frantic mode. We start out fishing fast looking for some fish.  And some times we just can not find a bite to save our life. Therefore we slip into this frantic mode where we start fishing even faster. We cast with one pole a couple of times, drop it down and pick up another one to cast out, and then another, etc. etc. Now an hour or so has slipped by us and we still haven’t gotten a bite. We get more excited and we can’t believe this happening to us. We also see other anglers catching a few fish here and there and it bothers us that much more, which only increases our frustration level and we seem to fish even faster. After you have reached this mental state of mind, you will not catch any fish. Your brain is all fogged up with frustration and disbelief. When you get to this point, I believe your body language can actually be detected by the fish and they will not strike at your bait no matter what you are throwing. This is when you need to STOP everything that you are doing and start all over. Pull up your T/M, grab a drink, a snack, sit down, and crank up the big motor so you can begin a slow cruse around the lake while you enjoy your snack, drink and the cool breeze in your face. Now that you have calmed down a little, go a head and pick your brain about all the stuff that you think you were doing wrong, process it, and then think in a positive way about what you can change to make things happen. Once you have established this, you are now ready to start all over with a different approach and attitude. Now go find some fish, rip some lips and have a great day on the water.

 

[lunker-hunter]

Well said Fishytx ;D

 

[bassfantastic]

Very well sd fishy. Some good insight that all of us can get something from. Thanks for poating.
Jim

 

[fishbone]

Frantic Fishing- I can relate to that. Thanks for the post fishytx

Bone

 

[SkeeterLance]

Thanks guys, alot to ponder and think about. I am in the process of getting a good fish finder. I have around $500 to burn ( I can't believe the wife gave me the ok for this) so any recomendations would be great. I went to bass pro shops in houston over the weekend, and no real good deals. i thought I'd ask those who use these things first and get some input.

 

[stratos 278]

That is so true fishytx, I sometimes get to trying so hard to catch that I really get in a blur. I start to get mad and just sit down and enjoy the peace and quiet of the lake, and thank God there is a lake this close to my house. I will then pick up my go to bait and start all over and will usually start to catch some. This site and practice is the only way I will improve. Thanks for the great info.

 

[Ben_S]

Bass tracker, I think juke said it very well with structure and how fish relate to it. 95 percent of the time when you catch a fish he's there for a reason, you just have to figure out why. Bastrop has a whole lot of fishable structure so you kinda have to dig thru the questionable stuff. A buddy and myself actually fished Bastrop for the first time sunday and boated close to 20but we fished hard. Personally when I start to fish a new lake I start by throwing a bait that I'm confident in that I can cover some water with relatively quickly such as a crank or SB and when I locate some fish will then slow down a little and try to pattern them. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't but that's why they call it fishing (not catching) Every fish that you catch take a second and try to figure out why that fish was there and what he was doing. This weekend we seemed to locate are best fish in about 4' of water and most close to brush, we also caught several nice fish off the weedlines. Better yet brush on the weedlines. Don't get discouraged pay a lot of attention to the lake and the nice people on this forumn (they've helped me a lot) Oh and I'll share a little secret that booyah s
SB from Academy in white with the four willow spinners on it. Man I like that lure I've caught good fish on Decker, Lake Austin and now Bastrop with it. Just don't tell anyone else about it

 

[SkeeterLance]

I"ll be sure and pick one or two up. I just pucked up a
Lowrance LCX-18C so Im sure that will help in the locating the fish!