Fished an adult half-day morning trip this morning with Eric T. and his fiancee, Amanda L., both of Ohio. Amanda is pursuing her doctorate in vet. medicine at A&M, and Eric came to Texas for her Spring Break for a visit.
AMANDA WITH TWIN 15+ INCH STILLHOUSE WHITES
Start Time:7:45a
End Time: 1:10p
Air Temp: 58F at trip’s start, warming to the low eighties by the afternoon peak.
Water Surface Temp: ~58-59F
Wind: Winds were flat calm until around 10am, then a SE ripple began and built quickly to a nice breeze at S 8-10.
Skies: Skies were clear and bright.
We started off in the morning calm downrigging to get a feel for the fish, the water, the bait, etc. We contacted fish consistently in and around Areas 375 to 143 to 106. These were all white bass, and all just over 11.5 inches. We landed 8 this way
As we downrigged, we encountered a significant congregation of fish holding on Area 108 so we stopped to jig for those fish and added 14 fish to our tally here.
When these fish went quiet, we resumed downrigging picking up 4 more whites and then this area shut down.
We tried a little flatline trolling at Area 374 but scratched there.
We then headed to open water to search for some deepwater fish now that the sun was brilliant and the winds were flat calm. Around 10a, a slight breeze began to ripple the surface. At this time, the birds began to get restless, and by 10:30 we found a good number of terns and gulls working within a 50 yard radius of Area 400. We closely examined the area with sonar and found tightly schooled white bass holding on a 36 foot break here. We got the TNT 180’s headed to bottom and immediately began to pull fish via jigging and smoking. We landed a mix of whites and blacks here in a 90 minute span, bringing our tally to 78 fish before the fish got sluggish. Two whites here went over 15 inches.
At this time, the birds began to coalesce over Area 401. This was a nearly identical situation as at Area 400. Again, the fish were tight to a 40 foot break and were very active, responding to both a jigging and smoking retrieve. By 12:45, we’d landed 92 fish and agreed to stick it out for 100 even, despite the fact that the fish were beginning to get sluggish. Well, it took us an extra 25 minutes, but, at 1:10, fish #100 came over the side and we called it a great day.
TALLY = 100 FISH, all 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