A question I often get asked from clients is, “When is the best time of the year?” For the average person, booking a guided fishing trip isn’t something the happens on a regular basis, so it’s understandable when clients want to maximize their odds of having a successful trip even if it means waiting for several months to get out. So, when exactly is the absolutely best time to go bass fishing in the Austin, Texas, area? The answer may surprise you.
It is common for anglers of various species of fish to cite different times in which the fishing is “the best” for that species. The truth is, the only reason why people feel as though the fishing is the best at a particular time of year is because that is the time of the year when we (or that particular angler) understand that fish species’ behavior the best. If someone tells you that the fishing for marlin in the winter is terrible, it’s simply because they don’t understand the marlin’s behavior in the winter well enough. Whether it is because they don’t understand where the marlin have migrated to at that time or what types of lures/baits that they react to the best at that time of year. There is something that they don’t understand about the marlin’s behavior during that period of time.
So to answer the question, of “When is the best time of the year to go bass fishing in Central Texas?” the answer is: it depends on who you ask! My opinion: “We have excellent bass fishing year round here in Texas!” I always tell clients that it is far more about the conditions that you get on that particular day than it is the time of year. Certain environmental conditions can sometimes cause the bass to feed less and some can cause them to feed more, but these conditions generally happen from day to day and not season to season. For savvy bass anglers, we have excellent days all year long (along with some tough ones peppered in between). So if you are looking to book during the “best time of the year,” my recommendation is to just book your trip and hope you get ideal conditions on that day.
Having said that, it may also help to know what to expect at various times of the year. There are pros and cons to booking at various times of the year. The gist of it is, consistent weather patterns tend to produce the most consistent fishing. Perhaps some of the things I mention here will give you an idea of when you may want to book your trip. I will break it down by season:
- Winter (mid December through mid February): This is one of my personal favorite times of the year to fish. There are virtually no recreational boaters on the water so it’s very peaceful and this time of year tends to produce some excellent fishing. The weather also tends to be a little more consistent at this time of year, so the fishing is generally consistently good. This is the time of the year when most of the absolute biggest bass in the state get caught. The downside? Not everyone wants to potentially have to deal with sub freezing temperatures, and the average Austin-ite does not even own cold weather type clothing. If you have the proper gear (clothing) to be out in sub freezing temps for several hours, then you can be extremely comfortable and have an amazing day. Otherwise, if you come ill prepared for the cold, you may find the fishing to be tough. Not because it actually is, but because you are too focused on how cold you are to pay attention to what you are doing.
- Spring (mid February through late April): This time of year is generally revered by most bass anglers as “the best” time of the year. This is largely due to the fact that this is when the bass spawn. The average angler does well this time of year because the average angler tends to prefer to fish shallower waters for bass and use slow moving soft plastic lures. This tend to work very well this time of year, so this accounts for why most bass anglers perceive this season as the best. The truth of the matter though is, the weather in the spring is pretty up and down, and this causes the fishing to be up and down. Yes, spring time tends to produce some absolutely phenomenal fishing trips, and those are the days that anglers tend to remember. Spring can also produce some incredibly difficult fishing. This is a rollercoaster season where the fishing can go from the absolute highest of highs to the lowest of lows. So it just depends, are you feeling lucky? If you are looking for the trip of a lifetime, this might be the time, but it might also be a bust. It is true that I have more giant bass caught by clients in the spring than any other time of year, but this could very easily be accounted for simply by the fact that I conduct way more trips in the spring than any other time of year. If I stayed as busy in the winter as I do in the spring, I would bet you’d see the same kind of numbers of big bass caught by clients in the winter. The plus side? Generally, the weather is pretty darn comfortable. It usually doesn’t get quite as cold as it does in the winter, and it isn’t going to get as hot as it does in the summer.
- Summer (May through mid October): This is our longest season in Texas taking up nearly half of our year! Ha! The weather tends to be consistently hot, but then so does the fishing. Obviously there are some periods where the fishing will slow down, but generally, we have some great summer time fishing. Some of our highest number producing days happen in the summer time. I have more days in the summer that produce 50+ bass in the boat than probably any other time of the year, and we will still have days where we catch over 20 pounds for our best 5 bass that day. Generally though, the rate at which lunker bass are caught is certainly the highest in the winter and spring periods. Topwater action also tends to be a big player in the summer months for any of you that love that topwater bite! The downside? It’s HOT! If you can put up with possibly being out on a 100 degree day though, then the fishing is absolutely worth it. Just drink lots of cold water and sports drinks!!!
- Fall (mid October through mid December): Very similar to the spring period, but perhaps generally, not quite as good. It’s a rollercoaster season again. Fluctuating weather conditions produce inconsistent fishing. We have some unreal days of excellent fishing in the fall immediately followed by some unbelievably tough days. So again: it just depends on if you’re feeling lucky. But once again, like the spring, the weather is generally pretty comfortable!
So there you have it! Hopefully this gives y’all a little direction when deciding when it is you’d like to book your trip!