Thread: Wintertime fishing

Are you talking about Travis or that long snake of a lake below it?

Originally Posted by IceNitro

Are you talking about Travis or that long snake of a lake below it?

Lake Austin, the snake below it (smile).

I have a couple of questions for you dhaire. 1:Do you have a GPS map card? I assume with the cool water you fish the deeper lower end. 2:Can you give me a section to analyze? Such as s pleasant valley rd to 35 ; or 35 to s lamar blvd ect... You can search CDC for what crappie look like on fishfinder.

Originally Posted by IceNitro

I have a couple of questions for you dhaire. 1:Do you have a GPS map card? I assume with the cool water you fish the deeper lower end. 2:Can you give me a section to analyze? Such as s pleasant valley rd to 35 ; or 35 to s lamar blvd ect... You can search CDC for what crappie look like on fishfinder.

I have a Lakemaster card from Humminbird. I fish the lower end (toward the east, downstream) because it is deeper. The water temp this time of year is within 2 degrees from each end of the lake as very little water is let out from Lake Travis (upstream). The 360 bridge (Penny Packer) East to Tom Miller Dam would be a great section to analyze. I have seen crappie on charts on Crappie.com but they seem to normally be associated with structure and not suspended around bait balls which I have been told to look for. Thanks for your help.

At the risk of being redundant up here in Yankee land. Crappies prefer a 12-22 foot zone except for spawning season. There are other exceptions like an early warm spring day in March. May cause an insect hatch and I have caught crappie .That their dorsal fin was protruding out of the water. As minnows are scarce that time of year up here.

They love to suspend at almost anytime of year. During ice season I have caught them as shallow as 12 ft in 40 ft of water near a major point. When they do suspend it is usually near some kind of structure. If your Humminbird is capable of running Smart Strike you may want to consider upgrading your card. By plugging in specie and other info it will give suggestions on where to fish.Not all suggestions pan out but some do.

The fellas who have replied know their stuff. Glad you narrowed search area. That's quite an intimidating lake to a guy on the prairie, like me. I looked at it on Lakemaster, Google Maps and Google Earth. I would look for abnormalities on structure/river channel (Rickie/Redge). The points of the incoming creeks; Dry*, Mayfield* & Bee; look promising. I would look for any type of cover on or around the break lines in those areas ; and the points of the cuts/coves up Bee Creek too. The steep ledges of the structure south of Bee Creek look to be worth checking out; easy access to shallow water from deep. On stretches of stable warm weather they can go shallow* (hays47); plenty of that on east side and creek mouths. Usually this time of year you have to fish many depths to find biting fish. I start fishing whatever I can see on fish finder (suspended or on bottom). I don't know about chirp but usually you cant easily distinguish species, just that there is something there. At first it takes a considerable investment of time to find them but when you do...

Thanks, guys. Great insights. Once I get back from deer lease I plan on trying many of the suggestions. It sure helps when you fellows share your years of experience. Hats off.


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Ok, back from a successful hunt. Two Axis for the freezer. Have many of you used the Smart Strike? Considering ordering one for my Helix 10. I have a LakeMaster card already.


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