Bass Fishing in Texas

When to fish

As a point of discussion,  to give you an idea of the size of the state of Texas. When measured in miles: (from the state of Oklahoma on the north to the border with Mexico on the south), is 801 miles. Now, the mileage across the state (From New Mexico on the west to Louisiana on the east) is 773. 

All of this means that Texas has a land and water mass of 267,277 square miles. That translates into Texas occupying right at 7 percent of the total land and water mass in the United States!  I'm not telling you this for bragging rights, just to describe it's vast size in comparison to the number of lakes available for Bass fishing.

To be honest, there are just too many lakes in Texas to pick one over the other, so with that in mind, we're going to talk specifically of how to fish when fishing these lakes.

 
Bass are kind of just like people, they don't like it when it's hot. So Bass try to fool us by leaving their normal spots, when the water temps are above 85.  They will wait until after dark to feed. 

In fact many folks consider night fishing as the only way to catch Bass in the summertime. Believing since Bass prefer water temps around 65 or 70 degrees that fishing is normally best in the spring (after the spawn when bait fish begin to school) and fall (when the water temps fall and shad begin to migrate). Simple fact is, you can start night fishing at most any time. Even as early as January or as late as August in Texas.

Again, the spring and fall offer a good time to Bass fish because of the water temps. But really, it's the bait fish that draw Bass out, regardless of the time of year.  While it's true that the spring and the fall offer the best fishing, it doesn't mean that's the only Bass fishing times. It just means it's the "easiest."

If you are fishing for Bass in the summer, there are some simple things to do to ensure your success. Like finding the deepest parts of the lake. As usual, look for the cover on the bottom, trees, rocks, etc. Great spots for the big boys to hide. Fish later in the day or even after dark and most of all, have an assortment of baits and lures to use for night fishing.

Next up: We are going to talk about some of those lures and setups.