WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Monday morning I fished with US Army Captain Chris Huggett and his two daughters, just-turned-5-years-old Clara, and 2 1/2-year-old Rosalea. I would not normally take kids so young at this time of year, preferring instead to fishing in the heat of the summer when sunfish are abundant and offer “instant-gratification” fishing just right for youngsters with short attention spans. In this case, however, Chris’ wife, Erin, explained that Chris wanted to do something special with the girls before he deploys as an armor company commander overseas for a number of months. She said they weren’t worried about numbers of fish, nor about the girls lasting for a full 3.5 hours, but just wanted to catch a few fish and have some daddy-daughter time. As it turned out, both girls landed the first fish of their lives and we all had a good time doing it.
US Army Captain Chris Huggett with his girls, Clara and Rosalea, on their big day on the water prior to Chris’ forthcoming deployment. Here, the girls show two of the white bass we landed while trolling with shad-imitating crankbaits.
WHAT WE FISHED FOR: This was a multi-species trip
WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir
WHEN WE FISHED: Monday morning, 26 March 2018
HOW WE FISHED: Given the girls’ age and the current fishing scenario, I opted to simply use flatline trolling and downrigging to keep the pace of the fish catching steady and minimize the technical aspects of the fishing as best I could. We landed 8 fish (7 white bass and 1 largemouth) via flatline trolling using the Storm Smash Shad in under 14′. We also landed 5 fish (all white bass) via downrigging with a 3-armed umbrella rig from out of 40′
OBSERVATIONS/NOTES: 1) “Leapfrogging” egrets indicated the presence of spawning shad along 3 unique sections of bank this morning. 2) Credible report from a fellow guide on Belton indicated a tough bite on hybrid today on that body of water.
TALLY: 13 FISH, ALL CAUGHT AND RELEASED
TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 7:20a
End Time: 10:50a
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 68F
Water Surface Temp: 64.1 to 66.8F
Wind Speed & Direction: S13 all morning
Sky Conditions: 100% grey cloud cover
Water Level: 3.92 feet low
GT = 0
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area vic 745 – flatlining cranks
**Area vic 111 to 114 – flatlining cranks
**Area 1500-1977 – downrigging 3-armed umbrellas for whites both suspended and on bottom
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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