This morning I fished with Rodney Tyroch and his two grandkids, Scotty and Abby, who are visiting from northern Virginia.

Rodney Tyroch with his grandkids, Abby and Scotty, after a morning chasing suspended white bass on Stillhouse.

Although Rodney lives right on Belton lake, I let him know I preferred fishing Stillhouse lake this time of year, especially where kids are involved. Stillhouse fishes very consistently from the time the thermocline sets up to the time it breaks down again in October. Under most weather conditions white bass can be targeted and caught using downriggers as these fish suspend just above the thermocline. That thermocline is currently set up at around 34 feet deep.

Today we were faced with post frontal weather with its characteristic high, blue skies, high-pressure, and light northwesterly winds.

I’m never as confident when the winds are not out of the south or west, and today was no exception. It could have been a boom, it could’ve been a bust, or anything in between. As it turned out, we caught fish consistently from 8:45AM to 10:00AM after a bit of a slow start. During the slow start we downrigged for sparse, scattered fish. During the peak of the feed we continued downrigging for more heavily schooled, active fish, and once the fish really put the feed bag on, we caught them well for about a 25 minute span on slabs worked vertically. After the peak feed began to wind down, we “mopped up” with Cicada blade baits worked horizontally in the lower third of the water column.

When all was said and done, we managed to put 41 white bass in the boat in the zero, one, two, three, and four year classes.  Scotty took top honors for largest fish caught with his 14 7/8″ white bass, and Abby took top honors for most fish caught, sealing the deal with her early-morning triple (3 fish caught at a time) taken on the downriggers.

Whenever the kids come and visit “Grandpa T”, outdoor adventure is sure to happen. As we returned to the boat ramp, plans were already in the works for more fishing, more shooting, more bug collecting, more turtle netting, sleeping under the stars in the hammock, and more.

 

TALLY = 41 FISH

 

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TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:00am

End Time:  10:30am

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:    71F

Water Surface Temp:   85.7F

Wind Speed & Direction:    NW4-6

Sky Conditions:    Fair with 10% high, thin, white clouds

Other: GT=65

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 871 for an early downrigger bite on sparse, suspended fish

**Area 1222 through 671 for an aggressive downrigger bite on suspended white bass

**Area 1431 about 25 minutes of solid smoking followed by 20 minutes of blade bait mop up on bottom-oriented white bass

 

 

Bob Maindelle

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Salado, TX