Stillhouse Fishing Guide Report – 10 October 2009 – 49 Fish (AM Trip)






I fished a family outing this morning with Barbara R. (mom) and two of her three sons, Michael (10) and Justin (7). Little Austin (5) was supposed to join us, but got sick, so dad took him to the doctor while the rest of the bunch continued with our fishing plans. This was the coldest morning we’ve had since the Spring, and it was grey and damp as well, but mom’s time to do things like this with the boys is limited, so we persisted despite the weather, and all 3 were real troopers. They all came dressed for the weather thanks to dad’s overseeing that process, and it all turned out well.

MICHAEL R. OF COPPERAS COVE WITH A 6.00 LBS. LARGEMOUTH

Dave (dad), Barbara (mom), Michael (big brother), Justin (middle brother), and Austin (little brother) with a pair of nice white bass we trolled up early today.

Start Time: 7:10a

End Time: 11:35am

Air Temp: 53F at trip’s start.

Water Surface Temp: ~73.1F

Wind: Winds were from the NNE the entire trip at about 8mph .

Skies: Skies were leaden grey and heavily clouded the entire trip.

As we started out our trip we looked for shallow water white bass, but found them hard to come by. Tough fishing conditions, in addition to the fact that all 3 were rookies when it came to casting and retrieving, put us off to a pretty slow start. We did manage to hook into one ~11 inch white bass, but he shook the hook right at boatside. We stuck with casting from an anchored position until about 25 minutes past sunrise, and then went with a flatline trolling approach. Michael put our first fish in the boat off of Area ___, and about 25 minutes later, Justin put his first fish in the boat off of Area ___.

By now, we’d been at it for a while, the boys had both put a fish in the boat bigger than they’d ever caught before, and we were ready for a little something new. I moved us over to Area ___ and found some shallow water sunfish in a willing mood. We made short “hops” along this area and stayed on these fish for a full 90 minutes and landed exactly 45 sunfish using worms for bait. This was classic American stuff here — bobbers and bluegill!! The boys caught bluegill sunfish, longear sunfish, and green sunfish. On our second “hop”, Michael brought in a green sunfish, which, for that species, was a nice-sized fish going 4.75 inches long. A quick check of my onboard copy of the TPWD’s Jr. Angler records showed that this would set a record for that species on Stillhouse, so we placed that one in the livewell for the required photos and measurements at the close of the trip.

By around 10am, my trio of troopers was getting a little cold, as the temperature hadn’t risen at all, the N. wind was increasing a bit, and they’d been out in these conditions for over 3 hours now. I offered the possibility of baiting up with some live bait so we could have an opportunity at some larger fish to close out the trip while also having a chance to down some snacks and then keep hands in pockets and stay warm while still fishing. This got a big thumbs up from all concerned. We headed over to Area ___ and and I anchored on the N. facing slope which was being struck by the wind. We put baits out, swallowed snacks down, and placed hands in pockets for warmth. It didn’t take long to get our first big bite. It was Michael’s turn to catch a big one, so he took the rod and did his best, but the fish escaped before we got him close enough to see what it was, although I suspected a solid largemouth. So, we went back to waiting and watching. About 5-6 more minutes went by and our front rod went down. Michael grabbed this one and started reeling, but the fish was just stripping line off the reel despite all that. A few seconds into the fight a big largemouth lumbered up out of the water for a lazy headshake about 30 yards from the boat. Everyone’s eyes got big in disbelief. Michael kept reeling, and we finally got the fish boatside. Michael listened real well and manuevered his rod so as to slip the fish into the waiting net. His brother jumped up and down and he got a big hug from his mom. This fish weighed exactly 6 pounds!! Well now of course Justin’s hopes are up that he’s going to catch the twin sister to that big fish. We stayed a bit longer to try to make it happen, and we did connect him with a keeper white bass, but, that big fish was to be one of a kind this day. By 11:35 we’d had enough wet and wind for one day, met dad and Austin back at the dock and took some good family photos, as well as the photos of Michael’s record green sunfish and then parted ways.

TALLY = 49 FISH, all caught and released


Bob Maindelle, Owner, Holding The Line Guide Service and Kids Fish, Too! Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide, Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Lake Georgetown Fishing Guide, Walter E. Long (Decker) Lake Fishing Guide. Offering Salado Fishing, Killeen Fishing and Ft. Hood Fishing








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