Slabbing is the way to go … 53 Fish, Stillhouse, 28 Nov. 2011, Austin Fishing Guide Report






We experienced typical post-frontal conditions today with the last of the passing cold front’s north winds subsiding to calm by 9:30am.

Follow the slabbing action through Sequence A, B, C, and D on this sonar screen shot off my Lowrance HDS-10

This cold front blew hard for a full day and a half, dropping surface temperatures about 4 degrees, from 64F to 60F.

It is usually around this temperature that the “slabbing” bite comes on strong with fish increasingly reluctant to move very far or very fast as the water continues to cool and some winter shad-kill begins.

Today I fished Stillhouse and did some exploring in the early morning while we still had some breeze, then hit some high-confidence areas after the winds went slack.

During the morning bite, I found good numbers of very aggressively feeding white bass heavily congregated on bottom but willing to respond to an easing technique just toward the the break adjacent to Area 789. I boated 20 fish here and moved while they were still biting so as to find other concentrations of fish while the feeding window was still open and the breeze still blowing. I saw a bit of bird activity, but, unfortunately, it was all centered around diving loons.

By around 9:45 or so the wind stopped and things got tough. I headed to Area 945 and idled very slowly with sonar pinging to look very carefully over this area. I did see a small cluster of white bass (which, when such conditions prevail, is all you are likely to see, as the fish blend in with bottom and are not perched above it as they are when feeding aggressively).

I stayed, literally within a 15 foot by 15 foot area for two hours and pulled 32 fish from this spot including 27 white bass of which 23 were legal size, as well as 3 largemouth bass and 2 nice channel catfish.

Sonar use and interpretation is everything in fishing for these open water pelagics.

TALLY = 32 Fish, all caught and released


If you’re reading this and are contemplating a Christmas holiday fishing trip, please don’t delay in getting that on the books. The week between Christmas and New Year is typically booked solid 2-3 weeks in advance. And “yes”, I do have gift certificates available.

I’m at:

Bob Maindelle

Holding the Line Guide Service

Austin Area Fishing Guide

254-368-7411

www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com


Start Time: 7:05a

End Time: 12:35p

Air Temp: 31F at trip’s start.

Water Surface Temp: 59.8-62.5F.

Wind: Winds were WNW6 at dawn, tapering to calm by 9:45a.

Skies: Skies were bluebird.