I postponed a trip this morning with a father-daughter pair from Austin as wet cold front conditions typically bode poorly. Regardless, I headed out to use the time to experiment with an umbrella rig.
The suspect cars are seen here on the far right side of the right hand screen.
This is a zoomed and cropped outtake from the screen shot above to enhance the details.
As I cruised around looking for signs of life, I saw some terns diving in an area I thought too shallow for white bass. As I motored in, I saw that loons were pushing and chasing bait up shallow, thus causing all the ruckus. However, as I motored along I was surprised to see on sonar what appeared to be at least one, and possibly two, submerged vehicles. I took several screen shots with my Lowrance HDS-10 sonar unit, saved the GPS coordinates, and later reported this to TPWD and the Bell Co. Sheriff’s Department.
Well, after that excitement, I headed to Area and found fish tight to the breakline’s slope here. I jigged for them to check on their presence, identity, and activity level. I put 20 white bass in the boat as I worked my way along the face of the breakline to see how far east and west the activity extended. Once that was determined, I dropped buoys and then began the experiment with my umbrella rig.
Long story short, I was quite pleased with the potential this rig has and look forward to tinkering and adjusting all the variables to make sure I know exactly where the rig is in the water column. One immediately apparent lesson taken away was the fishes’ preference for that center, “straggler” bait. Of the 8 white bass I caught on the umbrella rig, 7 of them came on that center straggler bait.
Like his other 6 buddies, this white bass fell for the bait furthest back in the set of 5 on this umbrella rig.
Fishing will continue to rise and fall with frontal activity with pre-frontal action being the best of all scenarios.
If you’re reading this and are contemplating a holiday fishing trip, please don’t delay in getting that on the books. The week before Christmas is now booked, but there are a few half-days remaining during the week between Christmas and New Year.
Also, remember I do have gift certificates available.
I’m at:
Bob Maindelle
Holding the Line Guide Service
254-368-7411
www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
TALLY = 28 FISH, all caught and released.
Start Time: 8:00a
End Time: 10:30a
Air Temp: 53F at trip’s start.
Water Surface Temp: ~56.2F
Wind: Winds were NNW3.
Skies: Skies were greyed over the entire trip with a light rain beginning to fall at trip’s end.