This past Friday evening, April 22nd, I fished with Harry and Lisa Irving of Fairfield, Maine, their daughter, Taija, and their son-in-law, Joshua LeClair. The LeClair’s are also originally both from Maine but are now stationed at Fort Hood where Joshua is assigned to a civil affairs unit.
From left: Lisa Irving, Taija LeClair, Joshua LeClair, and Harry Irving, all from the great state of Maine.
Harry Irving with the big one that didn’t get away.
The Irving’s flew down to visit “the kids”, giving Harry a break from his medical practice and Lisa a break from her work as a nurse. The Irving’s decided to give fishing a try after seeing the forecast for ideal weather slated for Friday.
That weather did indeed materialize and we were able to enjoy excellent fishing under blue skies with light winds and pleasant temperatures in the 70’s.
Getting launched has become a bit of a trick given that the rapidly rising water from all of the rain earlier this week has put all of the courtesy docks underwater. Nonetheless, we got launched and began hunting for fish.
We enjoyed a solid bite by smaller hybrid striped bass and white bass for the first 3 hours of our trip, finding fish in two distinct locations at both 50 feet and then at just 25-30 feet. The fish responded aggressively to slabs worked vertically.
For the final 75 minutes of the trip I suggested, for variety’s sake, that we pursue fewer but larger fish using live shad as bait for mature hybrid striped bass. This got the thumbs-up from the whole crew, so, we shuttled over to the third and final area that we would fish this evening. This turned out to be a good move. Despite the presence of hundreds of laughing gulls, it was a handful of terns diving over fish that helped me identify the spot on the spot that held big fish.
By the time darkness fell, everyone had the opportunity to land several large, 18+ inch long hybrid stripers.
TALLY: 106 Fish, all caught and released
TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 4:00p
End Time: 8:15p
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 72F
Water Surface Temp: 71F
Wind Speed & Direction: Winds were steady at NE6-8.
Sky Conditions: 10% cloud cover on a clear, dry sky.
Water Level: Rapidly rising thanks to recent heavy rainfall; 601.60 feet with 594.00 being full pool. No water is being released due to more severe flooding downstream (0cu. ft./sec.)
Other: GT= 25
Wx Snapshot:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area 152/1385 — short hybrid and mixed white bass easing with slabs
**Area 1745 – 2-3 year class white bass and mixed hybrid easing with slabs
**Area 355/1187 – low light bite by keeper hybrid on live shad
Bob Maindelle
Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service
254.368.7411 (call or text)
Website: www.
E-mail: Bob@
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