Nature Works on a Bell-Shaped Curve — 112 Fish, Stillhouse Fishing Guide Report, 20 Nov. 2012






This morning I fished with Harker Heights-based chiropractor Jason D., and his two boys, Dylan and Drake. The boys were fast learners and our trip tally of 112 fish reflected that!!

Jason took this nicely colored largemouth on a slab. It was no doubt “ghosting” along near the school of white bass looking to make a meal out of a small one. With her fist-sized mouth, she could easily have done so!!


White bass action for fish up to ~13.5″ was excellent this morning. From L to R that’s Dylan, Jason, and Drake.

The morning started off looking tough — no wind, bright sun, and no helpful bird activity. So, we relied on our eyes, ears, and sonar as our means of finding fish today. Our first stop came as we witnessed multiple small white bass chasing shad to the top on the glassy surface. We idled in, looked around with sonar, saw fish primarily in the top 10 feet of the water column, and picked up one fish to “break the ice” (nice going, Dylan!), but decided to move on after a few minutes as the fish were not showing consistently.

We headed over to Area 1146 which has been very productive of late. As the depth rose out of 40+ feet of water up to the 25 foot range and shallower, we saw schooled, active fish in a feeding posture right at a gentle breakline at the 25 foot mark. I buoyed these fish and we got down to business. We boated 15 more fish here in about as many minutes, including 4 fish that went over 14″. The action died here pretty quickly, and sonar scans of the general area revealed little in the way of fish holding nearby. So, off we went again in search of fish.

We contacted fish, fortunately, at the very next location we checked (Area 371). This area treated us very well, especially given the less than optimum conditions. We had bright skies and just a breath of wind, but, that wind was from the west and a westerly wind nearly always gets the fish into a feeding mode. Long story short, we stayed over this one patch of bottom and boated 96 fish at that location, hitting the 100 fish mark at exactly 9:50am.

While here, we began with a “smoking” tactic which accounted for a vast majority of our fish. We used TNT180 slabs in 3/4 oz for this work. For variety’s sake, I spent some time with Dylan (a 3rd grader at Central Texas Christian School in Belton) teaching him to cast and retrieve with spinning gear. He picked this skill up in about 3-4 practice casts and was casting very smoothly and consistently thereafter. I put a bladebait on for him, thus allowing him to work in a horizontal plane out away from the boat (lift-drop style), while Dad and Drake kept the fish directly under the boat on their toes (fins?). Of the fish boated in this area, 4 were largemouth bass, 1 was a freshwater drum (gasper gou), and the other 91 were white bass primarily 1, 2, and 3 years old.

By 10:10, the morning bite was beginning to fade, so we geared up with downriggers in an attempt to comb out from among the many inactive/uninterested fish a few that were still willing to give chase and strike. We spent the next 40 minutes working the downriggers for a final 8 more fish including 1 largemouth, 1 drum, and 6 white bass, 4 of which were landed in pairs (one pair for each boy) as we used twin Pet Spoons on a tandem rig. This all took place at Area 371, where we’d been “smoking” slabs earlier.

By 10:50, nature’s “bell-shaped curve” had played out once again, going from zero activity at sunrise, slowly building and peaking, then slowly declining, and finally going back to zero. We watched the whole cycle unfold today and were grateful it lasted as long as it did.

This turned out to be just a great trip — having active fish all through the 4 hour span where younger kids are involved is an ideal situation. I thank the Lord for every trip I get to conduct, but I can’t help having a little extra enthusiasm in thanking Him when it all comes together nicely like it did today!

TALLY = 112 FISH, all caught and released

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TODAY’S CONDITIONS:


Start Time: 7:00a

End Time: 11:00a

Air Temp: 55F at trip’s start.

Water Surface Temp: 63.5F

Wind: Winds were SW2-3 for the entire trip.

Skies: Skies were fair with 10% high, wispy clouds.








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