This evening I finished with Jack Oliver, his dad, affectionately known as Pa, and Jack’s two sons, Isaac and Eli. Jack and his wife and boys live near Marble Falls, Texas, where Jack makes a living as an electrician. “Pa” Oliver in Temple, Texas.
(L to R) Jack, “Pa”, Isaac, and Eli Oliver with a sampling of our catch of 71 fish taken by downrigging and vertically jigging with slabs on Stillhouse.
As we launched this afternoon the air temperature was 95°F, but just minutes before we got going a nice northeasterly breeze began to blow. This was the stiffest wind we have encountered in the last four days, and as far as the fishing was concerned, it was a welcome game changer.
Just 20 minutes after launching, and 30 to 45 minutes after that breeze began, we found white bass swarming all over a 28 to 32 foot breakline. These fish were bottom-oriented and were spread over a 60 yard area. Although we discovered these as we downrigged into this area, we pulled the downrigging gear out of the water as quickly as possible, e-anchored with the i-Pilot, and used slabs fished vertically to put 52 fish in the boat in the first 80 minutes of our trip. Using small 3/8 oz. TNT slabs to match the look and size of the small forage fish being fed upon in this area did the trick.
When this action died it marked a slow decline in the fish action for the evening. We never found another group of fish willing to chase and strike our slabs, and therefore wound up downrigging for the remainder of our time on the water, finding an additional 20 fish at two distinct locations. The go-to setup for this duty was the 3-armed umbrella rig with Pet Spoons attached.
As with many student athletes, Isaac and Eli had excellent coordination and very quickly picked up on how to rig the downrigger. This helped greatly having two capable ‘riggers on board, as it allowed me to steer the boat, focus on sonar, and keep or ‘rigger balls in the fish. Our results bore this out, as this trip would be the most productive of the entire week.
TALLY = 71 FISH
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TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 4:15pm
End Time: 8:30pm
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 95F
Water Surface Temp: 84.6F
Wind Speed & Direction: NW10-12
Sky Conditions: Fair with 10% high, thin, white clouds
Other: GT=40
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area 1432 and 1433 smoking
**Area 1231 to 1232 downrigging
**Area 1134 through 196 through 863 downrigging
**Area 1419 downrigging
Bob Maindelle
Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service
254.368.7411 (call or text)
Salado, TX