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Places similar to Lake Bastrop?

Posted: Fri Mar 31, 2017 1:15 pm
by Luckee
After last visiting in 2011, I'm finally getting a chance to spend a week in and around Austin again! Very psyched!

Back then, I took a kayak out to Lake Bastrop and thought I had died and gone to heaven. There just seemed to be bass everywhere, and the lake is a size I really like; small enough to get around with some determined paddling, but big enough that you feel like you've got room to explore.

Heard there was a big fire on the lake not long after I visited. Hope things have recovered.

Can/would anyone recommend similar bodies of water for a kayak fishing visitor who loved Bastrop Lake? Again, size of water isn't a big factor; I've been more of an expedition-type kayaker in the past, visiting places like Naknek Lake and PWS in Alaska. I can deal with some wind :)

Re: Places similar to Lake Bastrop?

Posted: Fri Mar 31, 2017 3:55 pm
by texnomad
Lake Somerville was my favorite canoe fishing lake.

Re: Places similar to Lake Bastrop?

Posted: Fri Mar 31, 2017 7:26 pm
by golfmanswl
Fayetteville County Resevoir about an hour East of Bastrop in La Grange.

Re: Places similar to Lake Bastrop?

Posted: Fri Mar 31, 2017 8:18 pm
by Cigarsnjeeps
Buescher State Park in Smithville is a nice small lake that doesn't allow motor boats. Nowhere near as big, but a nice quiet place and a nice park as well. 10 miles east of bastrop.

@cigarsnjeeps on IG and Twitter

Re: Places similar to Lake Bastrop?

Posted: Sat Apr 01, 2017 9:43 am
by Luckee
Thanks very much guys! Somerville looks a little bigger, which is great; Buescher is small, which could also be good; and Fayetteville looks just about like Bastrop :)

Appreciate the help! If you ever come to fish the San Joaquin delta for stripers & bass, or try the salt in Santa Cruz, hit me up for some data.

Re: Places similar to Lake Bastrop?

Posted: Mon Apr 03, 2017 3:08 pm
by Blue Devil 7
That fire didn't effect Lake Bastrop, so it is still good to go. You could also explore Decker lake (AKA Walter E Long) just east of Austin. It is a good size to paddle and has some varied terrain to cover with the reeds and the rip rap along the dam. Also a good place to troll deep for hybrid stripers. You said you can handle some wind, but I'll warn both Decker and Fayette can get sporty if the wind gets brisk.

Re: Places similar to Lake Bastrop?

Posted: Sat Apr 22, 2017 6:25 pm
by Luckee
Yep, Bastrop is still much as I remember it!

I saw two cool things there this morning: one was a wildcat patrolling the shore just after dawn, and the other was -- a catfish hitting a topwater popper! I'll be damned. Fought alright, too. Managed that event and a half dozen bass, half of them pretty good ones, before the wind convinced me to give it up.

No shortage of power boats out, but it was a Saturday, and a kind old guy at the launch mentioned they were having a "paper" tourney to benefit veterans.

So great to get out on nice warm bass water again :)

Re: Places similar to Lake Bastrop?

Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2017 5:32 pm
by Luckee
AND fwiw I got out on Fayette this morning!

Pretty stiff wind even at dawn. And a good half-dozen boats Doesn't anyone work weekdays any more ? :)

I sought out some sheltered insides of points SE of Oak Thicket park, and, after two fruitless hours with a popper, acknowledged that they weren't going to take it. After switching to leechish fly with a marabou tail I started get lots of takes. Couple of decent fat ones too!

Would love to fish again tomorrow, but churning around in that wind was a chore. I'm pooped. There seems to be plenty of Springtime wind to go around, between the coast and here.

Re: Places similar to Lake Bastrop?

Posted: Sun Apr 30, 2017 2:09 pm
by Luckee
It was like a small miracle: two whole hours on Bastrop without a single bass boat for company! And all it took was a tornado watch :D

Tiny bit of visible lightning and thunder, but the storm was dying/passing at dawn, and by 9 it was crisp, clear, and cool, with only a handful of boats around.

Some of you guys who fish Bastrop may recognize this guy: Image

I've got him and another really great topwater take on gopro video too. Great morning out there!