This is one of 5 reports for a 5 day vacation trip made to Canyon Lake, TX from M-F, 11-15 August, 2008.
WEEK’S SUMMARY:
To summarize the weather, Monday was heavily overcast and unseasonably comfortable up until around 11:00am when the thick blanket of clouds burned off. By that evening the temperatures had climbed back to mid-August norms with partly cloudy skies and hot, humid conditions.
On Tuesday, we woke to rain and occasional lightning right up until around 2pm. The skies then cleared out and again, by that evening the temperatures had climbed back to mid-August norms with partly cloudy skies and hot, humid conditions.
Wednesday and Thursday were photocopies of one another, with fair skies, unobscured sunrise and sunset, and hot, nearly windless conditions during the day with temps in the high nineties.
Friday was much like Monday with heavily overcast skies and unseasonably comfortable up until around 11:00am when the thick blanket of clouds burned off. By that evening the temperatures had climbed back to mid-August norms with partly cloudy skies and hot, humid conditions and a light SE breeze with thunderheads building in the SE.
In reviewing the entire week, morning success far exceeded evening success, and Areas 230 and 224 were by far the most productive during that morning time.
MONDAY’S REPORT:
Monday’s trip was spent in two distinct areas. The first half of the trip, to around 10am was spent in a very successful pursuit of white bass. I found fish up shallow in ~20-22 feet of water as soon as the light conditions were just right at Area 219, and up as shallow as 16 feet deep to the SW within 80 yards of this area. 3 large schools of white bass briefly broke and worked the surface after small shad, about 1 inch long. This schooling was so unpredictable that stuck with the sure bet of smoking through bottom oriented fish seen on sonar. After the light level increased and until exactly 9:09am, light surface feeding continued over 42-50 feet of water along a line from NE to SW of Area 230. These white bass were mixed with occasional largemouth, and were feeding near the surface, but not on it. I took several whites on a fly rod, including the pending lake record. Once the surface action died, I saw heavy schools of suspended white bass at 32 to 36 feet deep, and so worked a ½ oz. Cicada over these in a smoking fashion, and racked up the fish. I departed this area with 72 fish caught.
I headed to Cove 237 and caught 10 sunfish to attempt tightlining for stripers, and then headed to the vicinity of Areas 221/224 to search for stripers.
Most stripers were found in heavy suspended schools adjacent to the old river channel in 60-72 feet of water, over 100+ feet of water. These fish simply did not respond to my downrigger tactics with Pet Spoons, Lunker Lickers, Sassy Shad, or Wildeyes. I finally just left these fish alone and looked for more white bass around noon time.
I located a sluggish school of whites at Area 226 and picked up 3 whites and a small striper here on a smoked ¼ oz. silver Rattle Snakie. We then broke for lunch.
I returned in the evening and again focused on stripers, this time with a vertical jigging approach. I caught 4 nice stripers from 3-6 pounds each on both a white and chartreuse TNT 180 ¾ oz. slab, as well as on the black and silver version of that slab. The trick was to locate fish on the console sonar while idling through the area, then to stop and hover the boat with the trolling motor while keeping the fish on the bowmount sonar. I dialed the sonar’s flasher dial into the 30-70 foot range by setting the upper and lower depth limits, and then smoked the slab from beneath the fish right through them and watched for a response. This action only lasted about 45 minutes, then the stripers, still present, refused to respond any longer.
I noted the 2 largest stripers showed ruptured blood vessels on their face and around their anal vent. 1 was difficult to revive. The smaller fish did not seem to have any problem with the trip up out of deep water.
I headed to Area 220 and managed 2 nice largemouth with live sunfish on a tightline rig.
TALLY TODAY: 92 FISH, all gamefish caught and released
Bob Maindelle, Owner Holding The Line Guide Service and Kids Fish, Too! Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide, Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Lake Georgetown Fishing Guide, Walter E. Long (Decker) Lake Fishing Guide. Offering Salado Fishing, Killeen Fishing and Ft. Hood Fishing