This Spring Break morning I fished with Central Texas Christian School athletic director Joe Oliver, his father (also named Joe Oliver), his son, Tom Oliver, and his grandson, seven-year-old Ben Pugh. We set out in pursuit of white bass on Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir.
From left: Tom Oliver, Ben Pugh, Joe Oliver, and Grandpa Joe Oliver. Can’t you just tell these guys get along real well?
I always look forward to getting a call from Joe asking about setting up a fishing date. Joe is a godly man with a family he has every right to be proud of, a strong. long-lasting marriage, and he’s working in a position where he has the opportunity to influence kids for the Lord every day by encouraging them in their athletic pursuits. He always brings family along fishing and they always genuinely enjoy one another’s company, even if they do get a bit competitive and kid one another (especially Izzy, whether or not he happens to be attending the trip!).
Today, we caught fish, but we had to work for all we caught. We had some of the toughest conditions to hunt for white bass under — calm fog in the early morning, followed by calm, bright conditions after that fog cleared.
We fished shallow and deep, vertically and horizontally, and passively and aggressively and everything produced about the same, which just wasn’t a bunch of fish.
This was young Ben’s first trip out with me, and he did well. He landed our first fish of the morning, learned to handle a spinning rod, and he even worked up the nerve to touch, hold, and release fish by the time our day had come to an end.
Our best action came while we still had some cloud cover, but after the fog had lifted. We found some white bass pushing schooled shad around in shallow water and worked them over by casting blade baits into the fray when it was visible and by blind casting when action was not visible. We landed the majority of our fish in this short window of time before it got bright and calm on us.
Once the skies cleared and the wind remained calm, our results went downhill; we got only 3 more fish from that point forward.
As they often do, as they departed, they left me with a Zero Coke as a bit of refreshment as I took on the chore of boat scrubdown and prep for the afternoon’s trip.
TALLY = 38 FISH, all caught and released
GUIDE’S WEBSITE: http://holdingthelineguideservice.com/
TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 7:35a
End Time: 11:15p
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 64F
Water Surface Temp: 59-60F
Wind Speed & Direction: Calm to light and variable at under 2mph
Sky Conditions: Fog until ~9:30, followed by clearing and calm conditions
Other: GT = 60
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area 1496 vertical jigging
**Area 979 vertical jigging
**Area 1535/363 downrigging
**Area 554/531 bladebaits
**Area 1538 vertical jigging
**Area 1530 vertical jigging
Bob Maindelle
Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide
Belton Lake Fishing Guide
Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service
254.368.7411 (call or text)