2 Casts, 11 Pounds of Bass, Stillhouse Fishing Guide Report, 21 May 2012






This morning I met Michael S. and his son, Colton, for a father-and-son fishing trip on Stillhouse Hollow.


Colton and his 6.75 pound Stillhouse Hollow largemouth taken off a deep hydrilla bed.


Michael and his 4.25 pound Stillhouse Hollow largemouth taken on a doctored Pet Spoon in 30 feet of water.

As soon as Colton hit the dock and introductions were over, I put a rod in his hands and we commenced to fishing for sunfish for two reasons: 1) our catch would serve as bait later on, and 2) it helps me evaluate what kind of kid I’m dealing with as I give verbal directions and observe to see how he would respond to my guidance. This helps me know how much guidance, how much detail, how much supervision, etc. is going to be required of me and what will or won’t be possible technique-wise during our trip. Fortunately, Colton is a sharp kid (what 11 year old guitar player isn’t?) and was eager to do what it took to be successful, so we were off to a good start. He put 9 sunfish in the livewell from near Area 667 in addition to the ones I’d already collected, so then we headed slowly out observing for surface action on the barely-rippled surface.

Surface action was in short supply today, so, our first efforts went into downrigging for white bass suspended at around 24 feet in the vicinity of Area 122. We boated only one fish here and saw pretty scant amounts of bait, so, we headed elsewhere.

We moved on to Area 822/1085 and worked the north/south trough here with our downrigger balls set for ~30 feet. I experimented with a doctored Pet Spoon set up today and that paid off well. From around 8am to 10:45am we stayed on the fish, boating a total of 22 over that span of time and missing 3 more. Of those 22 fish, 4 were largemouth bass (1 a keeper), 1 was a crappie, and 17 were white bass (all keepers with the largest 4 going 13-14 inches). Our largest fish taken on the downriggers came just as the white bass action was tailing off around 10:30. Michael’s rod went down and bent deeply down into the butt section. Seeing this was a large fish, I stopped the boat on a dime (normally, I just put it in neutral and let it drift to a stop) and let him work the fish without the added strain of our forward momentum. He brought a 4.25 pound largemouth to net which we promptly refreshed in the livewell, photographed, and released.

We’d already determined to spend our last hour specifically in pursuit of largemouth using live baits, and so, with the white bass bite dying out, we made the move to hydrilla. We enjoyed success at Area 479, boating 4 largemouth bass here. This was Colton’s time to shine! After boating a 2 pound fish and getting the kinks worked out on how to pull the rod from the rod holder, how to hold the tip, how to guide the fish into the net, etc., Colton got a big bite. When outsized largemouth take a live bait, they do it with authority. There is no nervous bait activity preceding the dirty deed — that rod just rips down into the water, the fish feels the steel, and they take off enraged. When Colton’s rod went down, he reacted immediately. Long story short, after a tug of war that left us unsure of the outcome for several moments, we slipped the net under a 6.75 pound beauty of a largemouth that had seen more than a few seasons. This fish had big eyes with those blue rings around the eyeballs, and some roughed up scales on her flanks, but, no evidence of any previous hook punctures or handling with dry hands. We let her refresh in the livewell and then took a few photos and got her back where she belonged. High-fives went all around the boat. We set out a few more baits, but, that was to be our last fish of the day. The best for last!!


TALLY = 35 FISH, all caught and released

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TODAY’S CONDITIONS:

Start Time: 6:45a

End Time: 11:45a

Air Temp: 73F at trip’s start.

Water Surface Temp: 76F

Wind: Winds were NNW3 at trip’s start, going calm by 10:45a.

Skies: Skies were 10% cloudy on a hazy sky.








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