“Stay in touch” trip yields 53 fish — Stillhouse — 13 Dec. 2010






I fished a “stay in touch” trip this evening to do just that — stay in touch with the fish — their location, their activity level, the location of bait, the location of birds, how the fish respond to various presentations and more.

I took this screen shot at Area 103. When I first came in with sonar on, only a few scattered fish showed above bottom. After boating 15 fish, the school was on full alert, suspended off bottom and willing to hit anything that moved.


This helps me put guests on fish without spending undue time searching before we can wet a line.

Today I searched and found fish at Area 079, right at the break as it rolls over from 30 to 50 feet deep. I boated exactly 25 fish here on a single TNT180 3/4 oz. slab, as well as on a tandem rig using the Hazy Eye Shad. Once I’d boated 25 fish, I packed up and left these fish while they were still biting to search for other active fish. I spent 40 minutes here.

I next found fish at just N. of Area 103, also on the break as it rolls from 27 to over 40 feet deep. I fished over these fish for 38 minutes with a slab (only) noting that the bite got soft right at 5 minutes before sunset.

Following sunset, I headed to Area 033 and found a very weak bottom bite here. I picked up 3 whites right off bottom on a 3/8 oz. slab. Once I saw fish on sonar following but refusing to commit to strike, I packed it up.

TALLY = 53 FISH, all caught and released

TODAY’S CONDITIONS:

Start Time: 3:30p

End Time: 5:35p

Air Temp: 59F at trip’s start.

Water Surface Temp: ~56.4F

Wind: Winds were S9-11.

Skies: Skies were fair.








9 1/4 Pound Largemouth!! SKIFF Trip # 16 for the 2010 Season






S.K.I.F.F. (Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun) exists to take the children of deployed and deceased soldiers on professionally guided fishing trips at no charge to the family. These trips are provided through my guide service, Holding the Line Guide Service, with funds generated by the Austin Fly Fishers, and with the support of businesses and individuals from all over the U.S.

Below is my report to these people…

Saturday, 11 December, 2011


Dear Friends of S.K.I.F.F.,

This morning I welcomed aboard two 4th grade boys, Chris Grainger and Bryan Masteller. Chris is the son of Jenny and Specialist Daniel Grainger of Killeen, TX. Bryan is the son of Dusty and Sergeant Sean Masteller of Belton, TX. SPC Grainger is currently serving in Afghanistan with C Company, 4-4 Attack Reconnaisance Brigade. SGT Masteller is currently serving in Afghanistan as a crew chief with 2/4 Aviation.

Chris Grainger and his 9.25 pound largemouth bass taken on a white and chartreuse TNT180 3/4 oz. jigging spoon.

Bryan Masteller with our two largest white bass taken today.

I had a real good feeling about today’s trip as we were due for a wind shift around late morning in advance of our next cold front.

As we launched around 7:40, we had slack wind conditions and no bird activity. We tried to make something happen by vertical jigging in a few areas, but had no takers, so, we changed tactics and headed to Area 703 where we flatline trolled using crankbaits until the wind kicked in and got the fish stirred up. We identified one specific area along our trolling circuit that was particularly productive and it was from that patch of water that we landed 11 of the 12 fish we boated in this area. Our first fish was a barely legal largemouth bass, and the other 11 were all beefy white bass.

At 9:45, the winds went from near calm to suddenly gusty from the WNW at 10-12, increasing and transitioning to NW14 over the next 30 minutes. At this time we left the flatline trolling behind (the boys were ready for something new by now, anyway) and went to search out open water for schooled, aggressive white bass.

We combed over a few areas with sonar and finally picked up solid sonar readings at Area 702.

By now, we’d just spent about 2 hours working to boat 12 fish — following the wind shift, we boated 36 more fish in our final 65 minutes on this area!! Wind and fronts do matter!!

While here, we began vertical jigging and quickly drew fish in from around us and drew fish up off the bottom. This then allowed for a “smoking” retrieve for the now aggressively feeding fish. As I used my “clicker” device to keep an accurate tally of our fish, I commented to the boys when we hit the 40 fish mark. It was then that Bryan let me know he was getting cold (as the wind chill factor was rising as the temperature was falling). Chris, on the other hand, was still ready for more. I struck a compromise that Chris and I would try to boat 10 more fish if Bryan could hang tough for a few more minutes, then we’d head back in. Well, Chris and I landed #41 through #47 and then it happened…Chris had just dropped his slab to bottom and had gotten it properly adjusted when a large fish inhaled his bait. His rod slammed down toward the water and the line started to sing off the spool of his spinning reel. I actually used the trolling motor to follow after the fish both to help Chris gain line and ease the pressure on the tackle system. After what seemed like an eternity I saw a large, light green form become visible just beneath the surface. It was a monster of a largemouth bass. I continued to calmly coach Chris so we didn’t make any mistakes here in the final moments of the battle. Chris did all I asked him to do and for his attention to detail, he was rewarded with the capture of a 9.25 pound, 25.50 inch long largemouth bass!! To add to the drama, no sooner did the fish come to rest in the net than the hook came out of the fish’s mouth, lodging just briefly in his doral fin, then pulled out of that and came to rest in the bottom of the net!

This bass (weighed on a certified scale) breaks both the “kept” and the “catch and release” records for Junior Anglers on Stillhouse. We photographed and immediately released this fish to ensure its survival.

Well, after all this hoop-la for this bass, Bryan was now thoroughly chilled and ready to head to the dock, so, we called it quits at fish #48 and headed on in where I was able to snap a few shots of the boys with our 4 nicest white bass and even include Mrs. Masteller in one of the photos.

From this point on, weather will determine whether I’m able to run any more trips for the 2010 season. Currently we’ve put 34 children on the water this year (versus 28 the first year) and I’m planning on shooting for 50 trips for 100 children in 2011.

Thank you all so very much for your support, whether you’ve donated money or equipment as an individual or corporation, sent a note of encouragement, offered discounts on your products, or helped raise funds, I can tell you that beyond providing a memory of a lifetime for kids, this really means a lot to the deployed spouses AND the spouses here state-side.


Sincerely,


Bob Maindelle

TODAY’S CONDITIONS:

Start Time: 7:30a

End Time: 11:30a

Air Temp: 58F at trip’s start.

Water Surface Temp: ~56.7F

Wind: Winds were slack at sunrise, starting suddenly at 9:45 from WNW10-12,increasing to NW14 for the remainder of the trip.

Skies: Skies were fair.








“Stay in touch” trip: 60 fish — Stillhouse — 09 Dec. 2010






I fished a “stay in touch” trip this evening in advance of a guided trip on Saturday hoping to continue to pin down fish locations as the water temperature continues to drop and the fronts continue to roll in.

I took this screen shot at Area 079. 14 of the 20 fish I caught here came as doubles on a Hazy Eye Shad tandem rig. The fish were really in high gear on the strong south wind blowing at 20 mph.




Today I searched and found fish at Area 079, right at the break as it rolls over from 30 to 50 feet deep. I boated 20 fish here, 14 of which came on a tandem rig using the Hazy Eye Shad. Once I’d boated 20 fish, I packed up and left these fish while they were still biting to search for other additional fish.

I next found fish at Area 135. These fish were more sluggish and required a jigging approach. These fish were also roughly half the average weight versus the fish I found at Area 079. I worked on this school a while to put together a catch of 20 fish, but finally did and then moved once more.


I made one last stop picking up a final 20 fish at Area 549. These fish were also very active — in fact, it was due to the abundance of solid, suspended sonar returns here that I stopped, only then finding fish on bottom (as none showed on sonar as I approached). After I’d boated these fish, I slowly motored with sonar and also noted fish action, both on bottom and suspended, from here, through Areas 702 and 108, and halfway over to Area 143.

TALLY = 60 FISH, all caught and released

TODAY’S CONDITIONS:

Start Time: 2:00p

End Time: 5:15p

Air Temp: 64F at trip’s start.

Water Surface Temp: ~58.0F

Wind: Winds were S20 at mid-afternoon, slacking off to S15 by trip’s end.

Skies: Skies were fair.








Fish Went on a Rampage Today!! — 04 Dec. 2010 – 231 FISH (77 AM / 154 PM)






I fished a “Kids Fish, Too!” trip this morning with 14 year old Jess D. of Round Rock, accompanied by her mom, Jenn. I first met Jess and Jenn when they came out bowfishing with me late in the summer this year. I was very excited and hopeful about the weather forecast for this trip, as the weatherman called for pre-frontal conditions this morning (that is, with winds going from the south, through the west, and to the northwest in advance of a cold front). If you’ve been following this blog this winter, you’ll see significant spikes in our success on trips fished under pre-frontal conditions.

Consistent technique and pre-frontal conditions really added up today. Jess is shown here with her 3.75 pound slab-caught largemouth.

The ladies grip-and-grin with 4 of the 77 we boated this morning.

We met just prior to 7:30am, watched a beautiful sunrise on clear skies, and headed out to the fishing grounds. Based on my scouting trip the day before, we headed directly to Area 546 where I introduced Jess to the spinning gear we’d be using as well as both the jigging and smoking techniques that would be employed this trip.

Jess is a neat young lady — she’s very self-disciplined and very persistent. I knew that once I showed her how to do something I wouldn’t have to keep correcting her or reminding her to watch her form. So, the fact that this wintertime fishing consists of nearly 100% vertical jigging suited Jess well. She very consistently and very methodically worked both the 3/8 oz and 3/4 oz slabs right where they needed to be worked and with just the right cadence to enjoy success from start to finish today.

From the very start of the trip to the end of the morning bite at around 11:20, we caught fish consistently without moving more than 30 yards the entire trip. It is very rare to catch fish from one area for such an extended period of time — but that’s the “boost” that the pre-frontal conditions contributed to this trip.

In all, we boated exactly 77 fish, including 75 white bass and 2 largemouth. Jess’ big fish of the day was a 3.75 pound largemouth. Oddly, none of our white bass exceeded 12 inches, whereas better than 1/3 of my catch of 61 fish taken (and released) on yesterday’s scouting trip were 12 inches or larger. All fish were taken on the TNT 180 slab in both 3/8 and 3/4 oz. Despite ample and extended action today, very few fish were taken via a smoking approach. Most of our fish came via jigging.


TALLY = 77 FISH on this morning trip, all caught and released.

The afternoon trip today, detailed in a separate blog entry, yielded 154 fish for two adult anglers, thus the total number of fish boated today was 231. Pre-frontal fishing is hard to beat!!


TODAY’S CONDITIONS:

Start Time: 7:30am

End Time: 11:45am

Air Temp: 58F at trip’s start..

Water Surface Temp: ~60.9F

Wind: Winds swung from light from the SW, through W, to NW at 11 by trip’s end.

Skies: Skies were clear and blue.








… And the Rampage Continued this Evening – 04 Dec 2010 – 231 Fish (77 AM / 154 PM)






The pre-frontal bonanaza continued after a brief mid-day lull from 11:30 to around 2:00p. By now the winds were turning from NNW through to due north, but the winds were high indicating still-changing pressure. The fish responded to that in a big way. This afternoon I had newlyweds Josh and Laura S. of Temple out on the water with me. These two very personable young folks are both pursuing careers in the medical field — Josh is in the midst of a medical school stint at Scott and White, and Laura is pursuing a nursing degree through Temple College.

Josh and Laura were like kids in a candy store today … 154 fish boated in less than 4 hours.

This couple had done a bit of fishing in the past, but most was limited to fishing from the bank with a more traditional approach — bait, bobbers, experimenting with various lures, etc. So, I built on what they already knew and, by trip’s end, had coached them to become quite proficient at working a slab for hungry white bass.

I planned our trip’s start time for 1:30p based on the previous day’s forecast and the timing of the wind shift related to the approaching front. As it turned out, we got on the water a bit early and found little fish activity over the first three areas we searched with sonar. But, by around 2:45p, things began to change as the sun began to work its way towards setting and its intensity decreased a bit. Success came first at Area 700. I found abundant, aggressive white bass ready to feed in 25-27 feet of water, although there was precious little to see on sonar as I made a scouting sweep over the area. Once we got the boat in position, we got slabs down and before I could even utter a single word of instruction, both Laura and Josh were fast to fish — nice foot-long white bass. We stayed in this vicinity, not manuevering beyond Areas 699 or 130 up or down wind for about 45 minutes, and boated fish continuously, winding up with 65 fish taken off this area. All were white bass.


We continued the search, looking over 3-4 areas but seeing little until I did a sonar sweep over Area 145. I saw the trademark winter visual of a few fish hugging close to bottom with little to give away their presence except for a color differential showing on sonar confirmed by the target separation on StructureScan. We got slabs down and immediately I boated a drum and a white bass and Laura likewise landed 2 white bass, then, just as suddenly as it started, the action stopped abruptly. This often happens when a pack of large predator fish move in be it largemouth, gar, or bit catfish, however, these fish often also strike the slabs, get caught or move along and the white bass action resumes, but that was not to be the case here. So, we settled for 4 fish added to the tally for a total of 69 now and moved on.

We again contacted fish at between Areas 033 and 530 and again sonar showed precious little, especially given the high chop on the water’s surface making sonar hard to decipher to begin with. The time was now about 4:00pm and the sunlight was beginning to fail. The combination of decreasing light, significant wave action, and the continuing change in pressure with the front’s arrive combined to form the “perfect storm” to absolutely turn the fish on for one final feed before conditions crash for a few days. Josh and Laura boated exactly 85 fish from a patch of bottom approximately 30 feet in diameter in the final 70 minutes of our trip. We began jigging, but no sooner had the two of them boated a fish or two than the fish began to pull up off the bottom and put the feed bag on. From that point on both of them were able to use a smoking tactic to boat fish after fish. I couldn’t fish if I wanted to as I was busy simple unhooking their fish and quickly getting their slabs back into the water in order to keep the feed alive. Every so often if there was just a slight lull, I’d pitch a slab out away from the boat and walk it back in towards us. That alone would bring “fresh” fish in from beyond the radius that the couple’s slabs were attracting and they would immediately begin to hook up again. Our last fish came at around 5:10, just 10 minutes before sunset. By trip’s end we’d boated exactly 154 fish for our efforts and sent Josh and Laura back to Temple just ecstatic about their successful outdoor experience.

One note to those of you who follow this blog regularly concerning “keeping the feed alive”. You have to understand that white bass area a schooling fish by nature. They are almost always in the presence of others of their kind. Whenever you hook a white bass (especially in the winter when they tend to congregate more heavily and move less than at any other time of the year) you should assume there are other white bass present. It is vitally important to get a bait back down to the schoolmates of a fish you’ve just landed in order to catch more fish. The first fish you catch from a school is very likely to regurgitate food into the water as you reel it in. It is also likely to deficate, and all hooked white bass will struggle and give off vibration and flash. All of these this cause their schoolmates to “turn on”. The trick is to get your presentation back down to those “turned on” fish. If you do this several time, you’ll essentially create a chumline in the the water wherein the area you’re fishing becomes filled with slowly sinking feces and fish parts ejected by the fish you’ve caught. After years of observation in our clear Central Texas reserviors, I’ve seen fish each these things, as well as attempt to steal the lure out of the mouth of hooked fish. This is why tandem rigging can be so effective, allowing an angler to catch 2 fish at a time. So many times I watch fishermen catch a fish, then fool around getting it unhooked, then go and put it in the livewell or snap a photo or whatever, all the while being pushed by the wind off of the spot they were fishing at and away from active fish and, more importantly, letting precious time slip by as the “turned on” fish quickly cool down, settle back to bottom, and become lethargic by default. Something to think about!!

Our water temperature is still hovering right at 60F. If catching white bass or simply learning the jigging and smoking technique so it may be used on other species is of interest to you, the next 3 weeks or so should remain reliable (of course we’ll have to “play the fronts” as the roll in from the north). So, give me a ring and we can work something out. As always, weekdays are best.

TALLY = 154 FISH, all caught and released

The morning trip today, detailed in a separate blog entry, yielded 77 fish for a solo teenaged angler, thus the total number of fish boated today was 231. Pre-frontal fishing is hard to beat!!

TODAY’S CONDITIONS:

Start Time: 1:30pm

End Time: 5:20p

Air Temp: 68F at trip’s start, then falling as cool air began to filter in.

Water Surface Temp: ~60.9F

Wind: Winds swung from NW11 to N14.

Skies: Skies were clear and blue.








Afternoon Scouting Trip Yields 61 Fish – Stillhouse – 03 Dec. 2010






With a morning and afternoon trip lined up for Saturday I wanted to get out on the water this afternoon as it has been a while since I’ve fished Stillhouse other than in the morning. I wanted to get a feel for where the fish were locating at this time of day, when they turned on, when they turned off and how enthusiastic they were (or weren’t!) about hitting.

This screen shot shows excited fish lifted and staying well off the bottom and very active after just a few minutes of jigging over them.

My objective was not to catch a bunch of fish, rather, it was to locate areas fish were using so that I’d have options I was confident in with customers on board on Saturday.

I got out on the water at 1:45p and found my first fish at 2:20pm. From that point I tried to boat 10 fish at each area where I’d located fish, then leave them biting and go look for additional active fish while the “window of activity” was still open.

I found fish in the following Areas:

Area 546 – 10 fish

Area 103 – 10 fish (there were a LOT more fish here)

Area 699 – 10 fish

Area 700 – 10 fish

Area 539 – 11 fish (first fish was a flathead, so I kept fishing to see if white bass were here and found they were

Area 675/530 – 10 fish

At each area, fish were up off the bottom and obvious on sonar. Once I began to jig for them, they became very aggressive and were able to be caught with a smoking retrieve and often remained up off bottom as the above sonar screen shot shows.

This trip turned out to be a good confidence booster. With Saturday afternoon’s forecast showing an approaching front’s north wind coming in around early afternoon and the uncertainty of whether this will hurt or help fishing, I wanted to at least know where the fish will be so I know to hang tough over productive areas if they get tightlipped.


TALLY = 61 FISH, all caught and released

TODAY’S CONDITIONS:

Start Time: 1:45p

End Time: 5:20p

Air Temp: 72F at trip’s start..

Water Surface Temp: ~62.1F

Wind: Winds were SSW at 9.

Skies: Skies were fair.








. . . And Then It All Came Together!! — Belton — 23 Fish — 01 Dec. 2010






I fished today with returning guest Pitt G. of the Austin area. We’ve fished together several times now, but never in the cold months when vertical jigging is at its finest. Pitt had a real desire to learn to vertical jig well. I explained that this is done with a system consisting of trolling motor, sonar, slab, and rod and reel, all used in combination with one another.

We put that system to use today and coached Pitt not only to the point of success, but to the point where he can replicate success on his own boat on his home waters.

Pitt cracked the code today!


We had a rough start today … Pitt got to the dock late due to a traffic hold up near Belton High School. Between sun up and his arrival, I watched a strong feed take place complete with hybrid slashing bait on the top, birds diving down, and no guest to shuttle out to the frenzy!!

By the time we got underway, the birds were done and resting fat, dumb and happy back on the shoreline. That was simply a missed opportunity.

We looked far and wide for active fish and, long story short, came upon a single semi-active school of bottom-oriented white bass on a slow tapering area (Area 691) in 24-25 feet of water.

In our last 70 minutes on the water (11:15 to 12:25)we boated 21 of the 23 fish we caught on this trip. These fish were taken by jigging and smoking, as the fishes’ posture dictated.

Step-by-step I walked Pitt through the method I use to consistently boat fish like the fish we’d found. The first element was boat control — knowing where the fish are, where we were in relation to them, and then staying on top of them or relocating them once contact was broken. The next element was presentation — exactly controlling the distance the lure was kept above bottom, as well as using the correct presentation given the fishes’ behavior. The next element was sonar interpretation — I showed Pitt exactly what to look for with sonar in various modes. The final element was bite detection and hookset — we watched fish hit, watched the rod tip react, made sure no slack was introduced to the system once a fish was on, and more. It was neat to be next to Pitt when all of this came together for the first time and resulted in catch, and to then see him develop confidence and consistency as he continued to boat fish all the while burning lessons into brain and muscle memory. He kept saying, “This is so cool!”.

We never experienced a significant post-sunrise feed today, nor did I expect we’d have much more than average fishing on this day that was not impacted by frontal activity, but, as I always try to be, I was up front with Pitt about that over this past weekend as we chose this day to do this trip on.

And that’s the way it went today…

TALLY = 23 FISH, all caught and released

TODAY’S CONDITIONS:

Start Time: 8:30am

End Time: 12:37pm

Air Temp: 30F at trip’s start..

Water Surface Temp: ~60.9F

Wind: Winds were SW5-12.

Skies: Skies were clear and blue.