I fished a half-day morning trip today with Danny M. and Tim L. of Georgetown. We caught a mixed bag today allowing for both quantity and quality.

DANNY M. WITH A NICE 4.75# BLACK BASS TAKEN AROUND 8:30AM

THAT’S ME WITH A SWEET 15.25″, 1.75# STILLHOUSE WHITE BASS TAKEN ON A TNT 180 3/8oz. SLAB

Start Time: 6:45a


End Time: 12:45p

Air Temp: 62F at trip’s start.


Water Surface Temp: ~67.4F

Wind: Winds were 15mph+ at sunrise, steadily increasing to ~22 with gusts higher, all from the SSW.

Skies: Skies were fair the entire trip with just enough high thin clouds to take the edge off the sun’s intensity but not darken the sky to the point where topwater activity could be expected.

When Danny and I first spoke he mentioned that most of his experience centered around the pursuit of largemouth bass, but that he wasn’t stuck on fishing for just that particular species, so, we targeted whites early (when they are most accomodating) and largemouth later in the morning (when they are still quite active) and were able to enjoy the best of both worlds.

We began up shallow waiting for the rising sun to clear the cloud bank in the east before searching for the white bass. At Area 777 we boated our first fish on a jigworm — a short black of ~13″.

At sunrise, we continued our trip well east of Area 55 and stayed there for 2 hours and 45 minutes catching fish consistently. The “normal curve” of activity played out today with the action ramping up, peaking, and falling flat over this span of time. We all used the TNT 180 in 3/8 oz. and caught 66 fish here including 7 largemouth bass, 1 drum, 1 crappie, and 57 white bass of all sizes ranging from 6 inches up to 15.25 inches, with most going right at 11.75, and all looking healthy — none had concave bellies nor looked in poor condition. We caught fish primarily with a standard jigging approach with occasional opportunities for smoking the slab, usually in conjunction with another hooked fish being reeled in.

When the action here died, I set up with a downrigger to keep a lure in the water while I idled looking at sonar. Only Area 107 showed any promise, but did not produce. By around 10a we left the white bass in pursuit of largemouth.

We hit a number of points including Areas 420, 421, 422, and 426 and caught fish at each one. These fish ranged from 12 to 16 inches, with one 3+ pound fish lost at boatside. These fish came on a variety of soft plastics, all in darker hues. These fish all came pretty much one at a time, and we had to work for each one. The wind made both boat control and line control a bit tough, and the fish were in a neutral mode. We saw very few fish of any sort chasing bait, very little bird activity, etc. In all, we boated a total of 7 largemouth while fishing the soft plastics specifically pursuing them.

By 12:45 things were getting pretty slow and we called it a very good day.

TALLY = 73 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