One Down & Seven to Go, Stillhouse White Bass Fishing, 80 Fish, 11 Dec. 2014

This morning I went white bass fishing on Central Texas’ Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir, near Salado.  This was a family trip with my brother, Andy Maindelle, and my nephew, Trent Maindelle.

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New Aggie Trent Maindelle with a low-light white bass taken on a horizontally retrieved bladebait.

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My brother, Andy Maindelle, with a mid-morning fish taken on a 3/4 oz slab from out of 34 feet of water.

Trent just successfully completed his first semester at Texas A&M Corpus Christi  — one down, seven to go!  With great conditions for this time of year apparent in the weather forecast, we made some plans to fish until lunch and then drop in on mom for some soup and sandwiches.

The conditions this morning were great as far as grey cloud cover and good water temperatures (high 50’s), but we were lacking in the wind department with just a bit of a ripple on the water most of the morning.

We encountered a solid low-light bite under birds right at sunrise, then kind of picked our way through a slow mid-morning time until, around 10:30, some SE wind developed and the fish put the feedbag on.

In our final 45 minutes on the water we caught a fish per minute, literally, and took our tally from 34 fish up to 80 in no time.  Not only did we catch more fish in these last few minutes than during the remainder of the trip, but the technique we used (easing) was a much more active and aggressive technique than the more lethargic fish of the mid-morning were willing to respond to.

We used both 3/4 and 3/8 oz. slabs this morning to get the job done.  For our efforts today we wound up with 78 white bass and 2 freshwater drum.

The vertical jigging bite won’t get much better than it is right now with the water temperature plateaued in the high 50’s.  If you ever wanted to learn vertical technique and or learn to read sonar while fishing vertically, now is the time to call.  2 or 3 more severe cold fronts will make the fishing much more like work than the easy pickings taking place now.

TALLY = 80 FISH

 

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TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:15a

End Time:  11:40a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  43F

Water Surface Temp:  57.7F

Wind Speed & Direction:  S6-9

Sky Conditions: 100% grey skies with no direct sunlight.

Other: GT=0

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 1496/1310 casting with Cicadas for 21

**Area 1499 vertical jigging for 13 fish

**Area 1172 vertical jigging for 46 fish

 

 

Bob Maindelle

Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide

Belton Lake Fishing Guide

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Fishing near Salado, Texas: 54 Fish, Stillhouse Hollow, 08 Dec. 2014

This morning I went white bass fishing on Central Texas’ Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir.  This was a scouting trip — something I do in between trips with clients in order to stay abreast of the movements of fish and bait and, this time of year, bird activity which is helpful to solving the fish-finding puzzle.

shot 47

At mid-morning, as skies lightened and the winds rose, the white bass got more and more active.  This large school of white bass holding tightly together is very typical for wintertime conditions.  This school numbers several hundred fish .

I fished for 3 hours and landed 54 fish from 3 locations, all of which were initially revealed by bird activity.  The fish responded well early on to a horizontal retrieve as I used Cicada bladebaits, and, later, as the action moved deeper, they responded well to a 3/8 oz. slab.

 

TALLY = 54 FISH

 

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TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:15a

End Time:  10:15a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  52F

Water Surface Temp:  57.8F

Wind Speed & Direction:  SSE6-10

Sky Conditions: 100% grey skies with no direct sunlight,  Some cloud thinning allowed for some brightening at the midpoint of the trip.

Other: GT=0

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 1496/1500 casting with Cicadas for 19 fish

**Area 1497 vertical jigging for 6 fish

**Area 362 vertical jigging for 19 fish

**Area 1498 for 10 fish

 

Bob Maindelle

Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide

Belton Lake Fishing Guide

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)