Stillhouse Fishing Guide Report – 16 Mar. 2010 – 40 Fish






FACT: Fish do bite in the rain. Now, ask how I know this. Well, that’s because Grandma Joyce W., and her grandson’s — 1st Grader Nate and 4th Grader C.J., and I fished for 4 straight hours in everything ranging from a mist to a downpour, and we caught fish from start to finish despite the damp conditions.

Joyce returned with the boys after first coming out with me last Spring Break. They drove down overnight from the Dallas area and would not be deterred by a little precipitation. And they were rewarded for their persistence.


The boys landed a pair of nice black bass today going 2.75 and 2.25 pounds.

C.J. landed this 15.75 inch white bass, thus qualifying him for a Texas Parks and Wildlife Big Fish Award

Start Time: 7:35a (DST in effect now)

End Time: 11:45a

Air Temp: 51F at trip’s start

Water Surface Temp: 58.2F

Wind: Winds started light from the NNE and then increased to around 10, then slowly tapered off to calm by trip’s end.

Skies: Skies were leaden grey with rain all day.

As we headed out, we made a brief stop at Area 599/600. I marked fish at 20-25 feet, stopped to jig over them and landed one white in short order, but I could tell these fish were going to require more technique than the boys could offer.

We continued looking and found some solid action in 15 to 22 feet of water stretching from Area 109 north to Area 595, with the best action occurring at Area 602 (BA: 14T,8HG,3L). We fished these fish every way we could depending on their fluctuating activity levels. We jigged, smoked, threw blades, downrigged, and drifted bait. In the end, jigging for very active fish, and drifting bait for them when they slowed down turned out to be the most productive combination.

By 10:45, we’d boated exactly 35 fish and it was clear that the action was waning. Little Nate was cold and wet and reminded us all of this fact approximately every 45 seconds 😉

C.J., on the other hand, could have hung with me well into nightfall. We compromised and decided we’d give it another 45 minutes and set a goal of landing 10 fish in that time which would require that everyone pitch in. For Nate, that meant manning the scoop and clearing our deck of rainwater. For the rest of us, it meant keeping lines baited and adjusted while also working our jigging rods. By 11:30, we’d boated an additional 5 fish, including C.J.’s jumbo white bass. We called it a good day at that point and headed home with 40 fish bagged including 4 largemouth, 2 crappie, and 34 white bass.

TALLY = 40 fish, all caught and released