WHO I FISHED WITH: “Grandpa” Pete Stebbins of Salado,TX, Pete’s son, Herb, of Cypress, TX, and Herb’s 16-year-old son, Zach. With the school year postponed until further notice due to Hurricane Harvey flooding, Herb and Zach paid Pete a visit and decided to do some fishing while they were at it.
Herb Stebbins with a nice channel cat which moved in for “floor cleaning duty” after white bass had fed strongly for over an hour.
Pete Stebbins with a schoolie largemouth he caught up high in the water column after the white bass we were catching made some commotion and drew in other fish.
Zach Stebbins with a pair of white bass he landed on tailspinners after the white basses’ initial enthusiasm for faster slabs faded.
WHAT WE FISHED FOR: Multi-species trip focused on white bass. Our catch included 73 white bass, 4 largemouth bass, and 1 channel catfish
WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow
WHEN WE FISHED: Friday morning, 08 Sept., from 7a to noon.
HOW WE FISHED: We fished downriggers for the first 90 minutes for very inactive, scattered fish with sparse results. Around 8:30a we encountered our first school of tightly congregated, bottom-hugging fish on a slope adjacent to the river channel in 37-42 feet. We made a series of “short hops” using the “Jog” function on the Minn Kota Ulterra to maintain contact with these fish as we enjoyed success on “smoked” slabs. After this school dispersed, we found similar action at a second location on the deep end of main lake point. Although smoked slabs did well initially, tailspinners saw us through from the time the fish geared down from chasing aggressively and until the school dispersed. We landed 48 of 78 fish at this last location in our final 75 minutes on the water.
OTHER OBSERVATIONS:
TALLY: 78 FISH, all caught and released
TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 7:00am
End Time: Noon
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 61F
Water Surface Temp: 79.5F
Wind Speed & Direction: Light and variable through 8:30a, then a breeze from the SE tapered up to 13 mph over the next 40 minutes
Sky Conditions: <10% white cloud cover the entire trip.
Water Level: 0.74 feet low and slowly falling with only evaporative losses; 0 cfs release at dam
GT = 0
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area 1203 – smoked for a bottom-hugging school we encountered while downrigging. Fish were holding on a slope in 37-42′. Downrigging up to this time had been slow, producing only 7 fish. This area produced 23 more fish by 10:15.
**Area 1150 – 48 fish in 75 minutes from bottom-hugging school in 40′. Smoked slabs then used tailspinners.
Bob Maindelle, Central Texas Fishing Guide
Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service
254.368.7411 (call or text)
Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
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