WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Thursday morning I fished with Mr. Jim Deuser of Sun City in Georgetown, TX, accompanied by his adult son, Dan, and Dan’s 16-year-old son, Jake, both of San Antonio.
From left: Jim, Jake, and Dan Deuser with a sampling of our take from Stilhouse this morning. With post-frontal calm, bright conditions forecast for this morning, my instinct was to avoid Belton which often produces poorly under such circumstances.
WHAT WE FISHED FOR: This was a multi-species trip focused on white bass.
WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow, based on a short, sunrise recon I did there on Thanksgiving Day after seeing the forecast called for bright skies and calm winds, and knowing that Belton is typically notoriously tough under such conditions.
WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday morning, 24 November 2017
HOW WE FISHED: Helpful gull activity pointed the way to fish during the first half of our trip, putting us atop 2 separate schools of white bass. We fished with slabs in a smoking-style retrieve to catch these fish. After the birds lifted, the light SW breeze we had died and there was no cloud cover. Things got very tough from this point on. We got on one school of very sluggish white bass on a breakline where a deep flat met the channel. After that, we downrigged for one more white bass. We than closed out the trip flatlining in more turbid, more shallow water for a mix of white bass and largemouth bass.
OBSERVATIONS/NOTES: 1) The 2 groups fish we found under birds were both scattered over a large area in small, loosely related “packs” of fish, each covering ~100 yard diameter. 2) Thus far, I’ve only encountered helpful bird action from gulls at both Belton and Stillhouse; no terns yet.
TALLY: 57 FISH, all caught and released
TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 6:45a
End Time: 11:00a
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 46F
Water Surface Temp: 62.7F
Wind Speed & Direction: WNW breeze under 3 until 8:15, then calm until 9, then a light S. breeze tapered quickly up to S11 for the last 2+ hours on the water.
Sky Conditions: 15% cloud cover in the eastern sky at first light, then building to 80% high, thin coverage by trip’s end
Water Level: 2.59 feet low
GT = 30
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area 2056 – fish under birds at sunrise and for ~ 1 hour hence
**Area 1997/1950 – fish under birds also beginning around sunrise, but we did not get to them until the fish at 2056 had run their course, so, once we got to them, they were winding down.
**Area vic 569 – smoking tactic for white bass on Lampasas River channel breakline
**Area 114 thru 343 – flatline crankbait circuit for 4 largemouth and 1 white bass
Bob Maindelle, Central Texas Fishing Guide
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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