I hadn’t planned on going back.
Not so long ago we would drive out to Lake Bastrop once or twice a week. But then I discovered the rivers of the Texas Hill Country and found they offered so much to explore and experience that we spent all our free time on them. The lake was just sort of out of our thoughts.
Then the Bastrop fire happened.
As the news of the blaze drew grimmer each day, I found myself worried for the people and special places I used to visit. The fire was eventually put under control and even though I had a new interest in going back out to Bastrop, I stayed away out of respect for the local residents.
That was really a poorly thought out notion because the reality is that the town of Bastrop and the lake were not hit by the fire. As long as people don’t go driving around the burn area just to get a look at the aftermath then anyone visiting Bastrop for a day would be great for their recovering economy. In fact, it’s a perfect way to organically help out that area by using its existing tourism structure.
With that in mind we recently made a day out of visiting Bastrop and the lake. The town center is full of shops, bakeries, creameries and restaurants.
It would be easy to spend a good part of a day exploring the shops and then finding places to treat yourself. We however had plans for the afternoon that involved the kayak strapped to the top of our Jeep.
For those of you who have read the forums, you know that Jaz and I have caught a lot of nice Largemouth Bass at Lake Bastrop. We were excited to get out on the water again and see if we could run into some of the schooling bass that the lake is famous for. o we set off for the South Shore Park that is run by the LCRA. Entrance is a mere $4 per person and they have a relatively elaborate layout with camping, cabins, swimming and kayak rentals.
The bass here can form large schools and start chasing baitfish in late summer and they’ll usually continue until the first big cold front of the year hits. When they surface to attack the fleeing shad, the water erupts violently with multiple large bass getting completely airborne in the frenzy. Find one of these and you are in for a fishing treat.
The feeding frenzy doesn’t last long but we were able to get into a couple of them, pulling in 10 bass each for the day. For the most part the bass are fat, about 16″ long and really, really strong fighters. I guess chasing baitfish all day makes for a tougher bass.
So if you’d like to help out Bastrop and have a great time while doing it go spend a day or even a weekend there. Between the town and the lake you are sure to enjoy yourself.
And remember, whatever your budget for the trip you should try and spend it during your stay as much as is possible. A good example is to fill up your gas tank in town.
