This morning, I fished with returning clients Steve and Hunter Crawford targeting white bass on Stillhouse Hollow. Steve and his family are from Beaumont, TX, and Hunter is now a majority of the way though his junior year at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton, TX, where he is pursuing a degree in international business.
Hunter landed two fish on the same lure at the same time in our final hour on the water. One fish was caught on the treble hook at the tail-end of the lure, and the other was caught on the stinger hook on the head-end of the lure.
Both pre-spawn (fish on far left) and post-spawn fish (thin fish held by Steve, in blue shirt) were mixed together and feeding heavily on shad in the pre-frontal conditions we encountered this morning. From left: Hunter and Steve Crawford.
This morning we faced even heavier grey cloud cover than yesterday, and, accordingly, the bite got off to a lighter and later start, but, once it cranked up, around 8:15, the fish fed heavily until about 9:25a when a blanket of fog moved in, lowered the light level and killed the bite. During this feed, casting bladebaits in 10-16 feet of water was met with a willing response on just about every-other cast.
As the fog rolled in, the winds went slack for about a 45 minute span. I used this time to instruct Steve and Hunter on how to work a slab in what would be our next approach at catching fish: vertical jigging.
We moved to deeper, clearer water and I began to use sonar to search out patches of the bottom attractive to fish. Once I found what I was looking for, I buoyed the fish, then lowered my #Ulterra and used the Spot Lock function to hold right on top of the fish. We then employed the tactics I’d instructed the fellows on earlier, and we enjoyed another nearly 90 minutes of consistent action as we fished 3 distinct areas in this manner.
The cold front generating this pre-frontal fishing was forecast to enter into this area right around 6pm this evening.
TALLY = 94 FISH, all caught and released
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TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 7:30a
End Time: 11:30a
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 63F
Water Surface Temp: 65.6F
Wind Speed & Direction: LIght winds under ESE3 for the first 2.5 hours, then ESE6-7 for the balance of our time on the water
Sky Conditions: 100% grey cloud cover with fog forming for about 45 minutes from 9:25 to10:05a
Water Level: 625.40 and falling with 622.0 being full pool. Water being released at 1143 cubic feet per second. Lake fell 0.01 feet in the past 24 hours
Other: GT= 50
Wx SNAPSHOT (a graphical look at the forecast that faced us today):
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area 1718 to 1722 — shallow white bass action on blades for active post-spawners chasing shad
**Area 306 – vertical jigging with slabs
**Area vic 1049 – vertical jigging with slabs
**Area 055-140 – vertical jigging with slabs
Bob Maindelle
Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service
254.368.7411 (call or text)
Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
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