This past Thursday morning, May 11, I fished with the Campbell kids from Gatesville, Texas. Joining me today were David who is about to be 12, Dalton, Shiloh, and Nicole. This trip was in celebration of David’s birthday.
From left: Nicole (16), David (12), Dalton (10), and Shiloh (14).
We took a multi-species approach this morning and fished for what was most eager to bite. The first thing we found were very willing hybrid striped bass in 42 feet of water with next to no white bass intermingled with them. We enjoyed two hours and 45 minutes of continuous hybrid action and during that time put 38 legal hybrid and 4 white bass in the boat on both live shad and on some special cut baits I prepared.
There were times when I wasn’t sure if David or Dalton had a fish, or if the fish had them! These hybrid stripers were a good bit larger and much more aggressive than the largemouth bass, catfish, and sunfish they are accustomed to catching from the bank.
At one point, the hybrid were so numerous beneath the boat that I pointed out their signatures on sonar to the kids. David said, “Wow, there must be a whole college of them down there!” When Nicole asked if he meant to say “school”, David replied, “No, these fish are too big for school.”
About the time the hybrid stopped hitting both live and cut bait, the wind was beginning to ramp up beyond a level I was comfortable in keeping kids out in open water, so, we retreated to the protection of one of the tributaries, and searched out bottom hugging, tightly congregated white bass. The first area we located fish at gave up a few whites, but the fish were pretty nonchalant about chasing our baits. I gave up on this in hopes of finding some better action, and I was glad I did.
In 44 feet of water at the base of a gentle slope, I found hundreds of white bass within 3 feet of the bottom. Using the Minn Kota’s “Spot Lock” feature, we hovered right over top of these fish, got our three-quarter ounce slabs complete with Hazy Eye Stinger hooks down to them, and began using a smoking tactic to land fish after fish. We took our tally from 42 fish up to 73 fish in the final 50 minutes on the water fishing two distinct areas just a few boat lengths apart, but over the same group of fish.
At the close of the trip I was sure to mention to Mr. and Mrs. Campbell how respectful and well-behaved their kids were. All four are homeschooled and, given that they are growing up on a 40 acre ranch, all have responsibilities to tend to regarding schoolwork and livestock. Wish all of our kids in America could be like this crew.
TOTAL = 73 FISH, all caught and released
Wx SNAPSHOT:
TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 7:00a
End Time: 11:15a
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 71F
Water Surface Temp: 73.5F
Wind Speed & Direction:
Sky Conditions: 40% white clouds on a fair sky
Water Level: 0.66 feet above full pool and falling; 0 cfs release at Belton Dam
GT = 45
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area 150/1012 – 38 legal hybrid & 4 white bass by 9:40a
**Area 1942 – 31 white bass
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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