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