Largemouth Bass & Panfish Thrive in Lake Austin's Warm Waters

Lake Austin greeted anglers this Friday morning with a warm start—water temps holding steady at **82 degrees** and levels just a whisper below full pool, about 0.38 feet low. With one eye on the coming weather, expect sunny skies and highs nudging the low 90s by mid-afternoon, so pack that extra sunscreen and keep your cooler iced down. **Sunrise broke at 7:09 AM** and you’ll get about twelve hours on the water today before sunset wraps things up around **7:48 PM**. No tides up here, but bass have been plenty tidal in their own right: *Texas Parks and Wildlife’s* midweek report called the bite **good**, with fish eager in the early hours, especially in the weed beds and shallow grass. Most locals have kept the focus on **largemouth bass**, and the bite continues to impress—just ask Carson Conklin from ATX Fishing, who’s been scoring on dropshots pitched around deeper brush piles and shallow, weightless plastics right in the morning dew. Numbers have been solid, with catches across the board in the **2–3 pound** class and the occasional four pounding in from main creek channels. *Major League Fishing* noted a tournament haul nearby, with top teams stacking up **over 60 pounds of bass**, mostly on plastics and shad-imitating crankbaits. **Best baits today:** - Weightless soft plastics (think Senkos or flukes) fished early over shallow grass - **Drop-shot rigs** around deeper brush - *Carolina rigs* and jigs if you’re working those mid-morning to midday transitions - Crankbaits in shad colors and **chrome Rat-L-Traps** are heating up as shad schools start to move in the evenings **Bluegill** and **sunfish** have been relatively active along rocky shorelines and docks—haul out some crickets or bits of worm if you want some panfish action for the kids. **Catfish**—channel and occasional flats—are best after dark or just pre-dawn using live or cut bait (try chicken liver or cut shad). Reports have been light on big cat numbers, but the locals working the deeper bends between Steiner Ranch and Emma Long Park have pulled up a couple chunky channels this week. **Recent catch highlights:** - Good largemouth bass numbers, shallows early and deeper grass midday - Sunfish bite solid near the pier and rocky outcrops - A handful of channel catfish, mostly night catches on cut bait - Bluegill in 4–8 ft around submerged brush and dock pilings **Hotspots worth your morning:** - **Emma Long Metropolitan Park:** Hit the deeper grass edges out from boat ramps for consistent bass and the occasional kicker fish - **Hippy Hollow to Bob Wentz Park:** Early risers work the rocky points for topwater blowups, especially when shad balls are flickering at sunrise - **The Boat Docks between Lake Austin Spa & Resort:** Dock fishing puts you on bluegill, sunfish, with an outside chance at largemouth staging under shaded cover For hardware, go light and subtle: clear and watermelon plastics are best when the sun's up, chrome and shad hues once the shad