A Little Competition Goes a Long Way, 70 Fish, Stillhouse, 15 March Spring Break 2012






This evening I fished with Rob R. of Austin, TX, and his 2 boys, Drake and Cameron.




Cameron shows his first white bass that eclipsed the 14 inch mark (on L.), caught on a TNT 180 slab.

Drake also landed white bass beating the 14 inch mark. These two came out of 42 feet of water.


Rob, who works in landscaping and irrigation, has been out with me once before, along with Drake, in July when classic hot water tactics of downrigging and fast smoking were the rule. So, it was nice to have them out again in a different season when different tactics are required so as to expose them to some variety. Although a slow version of smoking is occasionally effective for short periods when fish really turn on, by and large vertical jigging is the most effective technique right now.

We made our first stop at Area 1055 where we caught 8 white bass pretty quickly allowing us to work out all the kinks and to get practiced at the techniques we’d be employing for the rest of the trip. Both Rob and Drake hooked up at this area, but Cameron remained fishless.

Rob and the boys remained “good-naturedly competitive” throughout the trip, regularly reminding one another that each had caught more than the other, and that each had caught fish bigger than the others. This kept everyone on their toes, engaged and attentive, never wanting to fall behind in the fish count!

Next we headed to Area 1042 where we boated 41 white bass from out of ~40-42 feet in open water, all on TNT180 slabs, and all using a straightforward jigging tactic. We stayed on these fish a solid hour and a half before the bite trailed off. Needless to say, Cameron shook the skunk off his back here and, once he got the hang of things, did just fine from that point forward.

By now it was around 6pm and the sun was getting lower and obscured by heavy grey clouds. We started fishing in more well-lit, shallower water. We first stopped at Area 519 and put 4 white bass in the boat out of 28 feet of water.

We then headed back to Area 1055 where we boated another 11 fish, again, on slabs.

As we fished here, the clouds in the west thickened even more, so, by 7:00p, I headed to the shallowest water I’d been encountering fish in thus far this week. In the vicinity of Area 995, we geared up with flatlined crankbaits and put a final 6 fish in the boat trolling slowly and working hard on keeping our baits just above the bottom.

By the time we’d finished up we boated a total of 70 fish.


TALLY = 70 fish, all caught and released.


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TODAY’S CONDITIONS:

Start Time: 3:45p

End Time: 7:45p

Air Temp: 73F at trip’s start.

Water Surface Temp: 62.1F

Wind: Winds were S8-10.

Skies: Skies were partly sunny to mostly cloudy.








You Fear ’em; We Clear ’em!! 135 Fish, 15 March Spring Break 2012, Austin Fishing Guide Report






This morning I fished with “Grandpa” Sam S. of Baytown, TX, U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Johnny I., and his teenaged son, Johnny, a proud Shoemaker High School Greywolf!


From L to R — young Johnny, Staff Sergeant Johnny, and Grandpa Sam, with our best 6 of the 135 fish boated today on bladebaits.

You may remember the Old Milwaukee beer commercial that showed two fellows on “Bedico Creek” casting crankbaits and catching bass … as the commercial ended the one fisherman says to his buddy, “Let me tell you, it doesn’t get any better than this.” Well, that’s the kind of morning we had this morning.

We met at the boat ramp, got to know one another a little bit, then covered some safety basics and some fishing technique basics. Sam is an 8th Grade science teacher near Houston, and Johnny is currently assigned to a Route Clearance unit on Ft. Hood. The unit’s motto is “You Fear ’em; We Clear ’em!” referring to their mission of removing mines, booby traps, and improvised explosive devices from roadways used by our other armed forces.

We headed off to Area 995. We did a bit of flatline trolling to try to nail down the location and activity level of white bass in that general area. As we motored around, I saw the first topwater feeding white bass of the season, albeit very, very light. Then it happened, we came over an area we’d been over 3 times already, but this time the fish had moved in and moved in big time. I let the boat continue to motor past the fish to avoid shutting it off and making a sound change right near the fish. We got a double hookup on the crankbaits were were trolling, letting me know these fish were ready to feed.

Next, I got us positioned within a cast’s length of the large school of fish we’d just encountered and we went to work.

We caught fish for 3 1/2 hours straight. The action ebbed and flowed but never stopped as we worked our bladebaits right through these hyperactive pre-spawn white bass.

When all was said and done we’d boated exactly 135 fish before the brightening sun finally killed the bite around 11:15. By then it was all over but the picture taking.

This was a very productive day definitely aided by the fact that everyone already had a good bit of fishing experience under their belts.


TALLY = 135 fish, all caught and released.


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TODAY’S CONDITIONS:

Start Time: 7:45a

End Time: 11:45a

Air Temp: 66F at trip’s start.

Water Surface Temp: 62.7F

Wind: Winds were S3 at sunrise with a slowly building S breeze increasing to S7 by trips end.

Skies: Skies were 100% overcast but still bright.