METABOLISM TRUMPS WEATHER

This evening I fished with Lionel Johnston of the DFW area, down visiting his parents who live in Belton.  We pursued white bass on Stillhouse Hollow.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Lionel Johnston used our time on the water to ask detailed questions about Humminbird sonar operation as we worked together to locate and catch white bass.

As Lionel looked through my online reports in the “Fishing Reports and Photos” portion of my website, he saw I do on-the-water sonar training classes.  As a Humminbird user who mainly fishes for crappie in timber on Lake Lewisville, he was interested in a number of skills, so we worked those into the trip, as well.

Today, despite the foul weather (cool rain fueled by a low pressure system that mixed with an incoming cold front overnight), the fish fed moderately well.  This happens at some point every spring where the rising water temperature drives the fishes’ metabolism up sharply, forcing them to feed at times when, under normal conditions, they would not do so.

We found two “patches” of fish today.  First, we found suspended white bass down 10-12 feet beneath the surface over a sloped bottom going from 15 – 25 feet.  A few gulls hesitated over this area just momentarily and made me curious enough to check it out.  Sonar told the rest of the story when we arrived, and we were able to put 18 fish in the boat in short order by counting our bladebaits down to these fish.  This lasted only about 25 minutes or so.

The second and final group of fish we found was well-scattered on a flat.  Again we worked Cicada bladebaits over these fish, only this time we worked them right off bottom casting either parallel to the shoreline or slightly in towards shore with long casts to really cover a lot of water efficiently.

When all was said and done, we’d boated 47 white bass, 4 drum, 4 largemouth bass, and 1 crappie.

 

TALLY = 56 FISH, all caught and released

 

GUIDE’S WEBSITE: http://holdingthelineguideservice.com/

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 4:00p

End Time: 8:00p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 64F

Water Surface Temp: 61.6F

Wind Speed & Direction: NE8-9, shifting ENE8-9 during last half of trip

Sky Conditions: 100% grey cloud cover with light rain in the final hour

Other: GT = 50

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area  1539 casting blades

**Area 407/700 casting blades

 

 

Bob Maindelle
Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide
Belton Lake Fishing Guide
Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service
254.368.7411 (call or text)

FEEDING FRENZY!! – 256 Fish, Stillhouse, 20 March 2015

There is no other way to describe it … this morning on Stillhouse Hollow, Mr. Steve Niemeier, his 9-year-old grandson Caleb Fowler, and I encountered one of the longest and strongest feeding frenzies I’ve ever seen on freshwater.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Caleb holds up his Cicada blade bait with a white bass caught on each hook.  Many times we saw aggressive schoolmates follow hooked fish up to the boat nipping and swiping at the lure in the less fortunate schoolmate’s mouth.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Although the majority of our catch consisted of smallish fish, we put plenty of 12-13 inch white bass in the boat, as well.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

I customarily take all fish off the hook for my clients. This is what my right forefinger looked like after this morning’s extended bout.

As we launched, everything “felt” right.  There was a slight SW breeze, the air was heavy and humid but without fog, it was warm and balmy, the lake smelled like shad, and, best of all, a mild cold front was on its way to central Texas.

From before sunrise at 7:30 to the arrival of the cold front’s leading edge at 8:50, we boated exactly 92 fish casting blades and Rattlin’ Rapalas to surface feeding white bass which were pinning shad from 1.25 to 2.75 inches in length against the surface.  There were so many fish covering such a large area, the few gulls working over these fish were spread well apart, such that it did not appear that they were on a concentration of fish at all.

At exactly 8:50am, the lead edge of the front arrived, and instantly the fish disappeared off the surface for about 15 minutes.  As the wind picked up from the NNW and slowed down a bit, the fishing slowly built back.

Long story short, these fish fed for a solid 3.75 hours allowing us to amass the second largest catch I’ve ever brought aboard my boat in 23 years of fishing on Belton and Stillhouse.  This is second only to a catch of 364 fish taken during a full-day trip in January several years ago, also in advance of a cold front’s arrival.

Steve and Caleb have fished with me quite a number of times, and our previous personal best for them was another spring white bass fishing trip on Stillhouse in which they boated 116 fish.  So, once we got on these fish and saw that this was going to be a great day, they set their sights on 117 fish.  We knew the cold front was coming, but didn’t know how that would impact the fishing once it arrived, so, we all fished hard to get to that 117 mark beforehand.   As fate would have it, we cleared that 117 fish hurdle not long after the N wind kicked in, and then set our sights on beating the 251 fish mark, which, until today, was the greatest half-day trip total I’d ever guided clients to.

A great day with a great pair of clients!!

TALLY = 256 FISH, all caught and released

 

GUIDE’S WEBSITE: http://holdingthelineguideservice.com/

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:20a

End Time: 11:30a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 64F

Water Surface Temp: 61-62F

Wind Speed & Direction: SSW2-3, shifting at 8:50am to the NNW through to N at 8-10

Sky Conditions: 100% grey cloud cover

Other: GT = 60

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area  54/550 casting blades and Rattlin’ Rapalas

 

 

Bob Maindelle
Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide
Belton Lake Fishing Guide
Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service
254.368.7411 (call or text)

Book Ban — 34 Fish with the Janysek’s, Stillhouse, 19 March

This Spring Break afternoon I fished with the Janysek family of Cedar Park, TX.  Earlier this week Mr. Don Janysek e-mailed me thinking a fishing trip for his 3 kids would do them some good on this week away from school.  So, today I met up with Don’s mom, Rose Janysek of Leander, and Don’s 3 children, 14-year-old Taylor, 13-year-old Luke, and 11-year-old Emma to make some memories.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

From left: Luke, Taylor, Emma, and Rose Janysek with a few of the white bass that fell for bladebaits up shallow today.

As we met in the parking lot at the boat ramp, I could see Taylor was my fisherman — he had on a long-sleeve Livingston Tackle logo fishing shirt, polarized sun glasses, a fishing cap, and he started pointing out and naming items on my boat he was familiar with.  Emma was the tourist, just along for a good time and very much enjoying being out in nature with family.  And Luke was my jovial book worm — he actually brought a novel about as thick as the Bible to read while out on the water.  Instantly I made it my personal mission to keep the trip engaging enough that Luke wouldn’t pull his book out.

As we got going, I did my standard safety briefing and then we headed out to the fishing grounds.  As is often the case on afternoon trips, the bite starts slow and increases towards sunset.  Morning, on the other hand, typically start strong and then soften as the morning progresses.

About an hour into the trip, after picking up a few fish on flatline trolled baits, we got into a nice bunch of white bass herding shad both against the bank and against the surface.  We did some casting lessons for Rose, Emma, and Luke while Taylor looked after himself up on the front deck.  After a few minutes everyone was regularly reeling in white bass that fell for our Cicada blade baits kept just off bottom.

This action died about 45 minutes before sunset, as a low cloud bank in the west obscured the setting sun a good bit.  We returned to more open water and used a combination of downrigged lures and flatline trolled crankbaits to pick off 3 more white bass that were suspended between 7-15 feet below the surface in the warming surface waters.

The kids and grandma did great today, were good learners, and were rewarded for following the guidance I provided.  Dad, who remained behind at the boatramp working on his laptop was briefed excitedly about the trip’s highlights as soon as the kids reached his truck.

Best news of the day: Luke’s book never came out of the bag!!

 

TALLY = 34 FISH, all caught and released

 

GUIDE’S WEBSITE: http://holdingthelineguideservice.com/

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 4:00p

End Time: 8:00p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 73F

Water Surface Temp: 60-61F

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE5-7

Sky Conditions: 40-60% cloud cover on a fair blue sky

Other: GT = 0

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area  100/744 casting blades

**Area  1182 flatline trolling and downrigging

 

 

Bob Maindelle
Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide
Belton Lake Fishing Guide
Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service
254.368.7411 (call or text)

Breaking in Ben Right — 38 Fish, Stillhouse, Spring Break 2015

This Spring Break morning I fished with Central Texas Christian School athletic director Joe Oliver, his father (also named Joe Oliver), his son, Tom Oliver, and his grandson, seven-year-old Ben Pugh.  We set out in pursuit of white bass on Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

From left: Tom Oliver, Ben Pugh, Joe Oliver, and Grandpa Joe Oliver.  Can’t you just tell these guys get along real well?

I always look forward to getting a call from Joe asking about setting up a fishing date.  Joe is a godly man with a family he has every right to be proud of, a strong. long-lasting marriage, and he’s working in a position where he has the opportunity to influence kids for the Lord every day by encouraging them in their athletic pursuits.  He always brings family along fishing and they always genuinely enjoy one another’s company, even if they do get a bit competitive and kid one another (especially Izzy, whether or not he happens to be attending the trip!).

Today, we caught fish, but we had to work for all we caught.  We had some of the toughest conditions to hunt for white bass under — calm fog in the early morning, followed by calm, bright conditions after that fog cleared.

We fished shallow and deep, vertically and horizontally, and passively and aggressively and everything produced about the same, which just wasn’t a bunch of fish.

This was young Ben’s first trip out with me, and he did well.  He landed our first fish of the morning, learned to handle a spinning rod, and he even worked up the nerve to touch, hold, and release fish by the time our day had come to an end.

Our best action came while we still had some cloud cover, but after the fog had lifted.  We found some white bass pushing schooled shad around in shallow water and worked them over by casting blade baits into the fray when it was visible and by blind casting when action was not visible.  We landed the majority of our fish in this short window of time before it got bright and calm on us.

Once the skies cleared and the wind remained calm, our results went downhill; we got only 3 more fish from that point forward.

As they often do, as they departed, they left me with a Zero Coke as a bit of refreshment as I took on the chore of boat scrubdown and prep for the afternoon’s trip.

TALLY = 38 FISH, all caught and released

 

GUIDE’S WEBSITE: http://holdingthelineguideservice.com/

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:35a

End Time: 11:15p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 64F

Water Surface Temp: 59-60F

Wind Speed & Direction: Calm to light and variable at under 2mph

Sky Conditions: Fog until ~9:30, followed by clearing and calm conditions

Other: GT = 60

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area  1496 vertical jigging

**Area  979 vertical jigging

**Area 1535/363 downrigging

**Area  554/531 bladebaits

**Area 1538 vertical jigging

**Area 1530 vertical jigging

 

Bob Maindelle
Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide
Belton Lake Fishing Guide
Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service
254.368.7411 (call or text)

Caught with My Pants Down — 62 Fish, Stillhouse, 18 March

This morning I fished with City of Temple Fire Chief Mitch Randles and his son, Kevin, a soon-to-graduate college student at Pittsburg State in Kansas, home this week on spring break.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

From left: Chief Mitch Randles and his son, Kevin Randles, with a sampling of our catch of 61 white bass and 1 crappie.

Thanks to the marvels of modern technology, we had a heads-up that we’d likely be getting wet this morning as a Pacific low pressure system moved right over us last night and then cleared out by mid-morning. With an overnight low of 64F and a gentle rain and gentle breezes, these really posed no problem to fishing, so, we launched as planned at 7:30am and fished straight through to 12:30pm.

The low-light period was extended a good bit this morning thanks to thick cloud cover, but, as has happened on the past several trips on Stillhouse, the birds began to work before the (obscured) sunrise.We strictly vertical jigged today in water as shallow as 24 feet to as deep as 43 feet, slowly going deeper as conditions brightened and the winds stayed fairly calm.

The fish were a bit moody today, but bit for 4.5 of the 5 hours we stayed on them, weakening right at the end of the trip, and during a lull in the winds just as the clouds and rain cleared. By “moody” I mean this … we would spot some promising bird activity, get to it, spot fish near or on bottom on sonar, drop lines, catch fish right off the bat, and then they would quickly “cool off” and quit biting after we’d boated 5 or 6 fish. We encountered this 4-5 separate times over the time when the grey, rainy skies were transitioning to clear, calm conditions.

Once the clear skies were firmly in place and a bit of a westerly breeze kicked in, we found another patch of fish in ~43 feet of water and stuck with them for over an hour as they loosened up and cooperated very well.

As we got to talking, Mitch told me the account of how he and his family survived the tornado that struck Joplin, MO, several years ago. The whole family was in one vehicle returning from Kevin’s high school graduation exercises when the tornado warning went out. The family diverted to one of the city’s fire stations and weathered the storm there. When they went home, there was no home. They lost home, vehicles, personal effects – just about everything.

About the time Mitch was telling this story, I was getting hot in my raingear now that the sun was shining.  As I sat to listen to Mitch’s story and take off my rainpants, Kevin got a bite, hooked his fish and was reeling it in.  So, there I was with my rainpants down around my knees, too narrow to take off without pulling my boots off beforehand.  So, I kind of stood up and waddled quickly over to Kevin to land his fish and take the hook out as the guys both chuckled at me and suggested I try that again as it seemed to bring Kevin some luck.

By the time we wrapped up around 12:30, we’d boated exactly 61 white bass and 1 crappie.

TALLY = 62 FISH, all caught and released

 

GUIDE’S WEBSITE: http://holdingthelineguideservice.com/

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:30a

End Time: 12:15p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 64F

Water Surface Temp: 59-60F

Wind Speed & Direction: SW2-6

Sky Conditions: 100% grey cloud cover and rain until 9:30, then clearing to 40% cloud cover on blue skies

Other: GT = 0

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area  1531/1321

**Area  1535

**Area 1537

**Area  1536/1538

 

Bob Maindelle
Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide
Belton Lake Fishing Guide
Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service
254.368.7411 (call or text)

Fishing has Turned the Corner! — 41 Fish, Stillhouse, 17 March 2015

This morning I fished with Dr. Ben Vacula and his 3 children, 11-year-old Madeline, 9-year-old Olivia, and 7-year-old Gabriel.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

11-year-old Madeline Vacula.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

9-year-old Olivia Vacula.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

7-year-old Gabriel Vacula.

Ben is an anesthesiologist working for the Scott & White system out of Temple where he trains residents in this discipline, but today he was a non-fishing chaperone for his kids and a very helpful first mate.  This was Ben, Madeline, and Olivia’s second trip out with me, and Gabriel’s first.  Our first trip, taken during Spring Break on the 10th of March last year resulted in a catch of 11 fish on a very cold day with some very unseasonably cold water.  Today was the “polar” opposite (pun kind of intended).  We woke up to 64F thanks to thick overnight cloud cover spinning off a strong Pacific low pressure mass moving up from Mexico.  This continued the nice warming trend we’ve been experiencing and put the fish in a biting mood.

I had planned on using 2-3 different techniques today to account for the younger kids’ shorter attention spans, and, as fate would have it, we actually got to employ 4 different techniques:  downrigging, vertical jigging, casting blade baits, and flatline trolling.

We began the day under birds and actually missed 5 of our first 6 hooked fish on the downriggers in the first 30 minutes on the water as we worked out the kinks of how to and how not to reel in fish correctly.  Once we got settled in, we missed very few fish afterwards.  The aggressive downrigger bite, in which we could physically watch fish pull 3-8 feet up off the bottom to inspect the passing downrigger ball, lasted for exactly 2 hours.

After the birds and fish began to settle down, we moved to another area, found some tightly grouped, bottom-hugging fish, and vertically jigged for them successfully for about an hour when the novelty of that fairly technical tactic began to wear off.

To change things up and keep it interesting, we sought out some shallower, warmer water and flatline trolled a set of 4 crankbaits.  We wound up catching 3 fish on the crankbaits, but, as we idled along, observed white bass chasing shad to the surface and “breaking” the water.  This is the first time I’ve observed this aggressive behavior this season.

Seeing this, Ben worked with Gabriel, and I worked with Madeline and Olivia to do some quick spinning reel casting lessons and we fished  these active fish until each child caught at least one using this technique.

When all was said and done, we’d worked together to boat 41 fish.

TALLY = 41 FISH, all caught and released

 

GUIDE’S WEBSITE: http://holdingthelineguideservice.com/

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:30a

End Time: 12:15p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 64F

Water Surface Temp: 55-56F

Wind Speed & Direction: SW2-6

Sky Conditions: 100% grey cloud cover

Other: GT = 0

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 1531/1496/1310 downrigging

**Area 363/948/1535 downrigging

**Area 1513 vertical jigging

**Area 405/684 flatline trolling and casting blades

 

Bob Maindelle
Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide
Belton Lake Fishing Guide
Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service
254.368.7411 (call or text)

No Emergencies Today — 39 Fish, Stillhouse, 16 March 2015

This morning I fished with Dr. Michael Szkrybalo of Austin on Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir in pursuit of white bass.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

After a nice weekend of warming weather putting surface temperatures at 53-54F, the fish were turned on today.

Michael is an emergency medicine doctor working for Scott & White.  He’s originally from northern New Jersey and received his medical training through the U.S. Army.  He is a combat veteran, having served in Somalia in the 1990’s.

The original plan was for Michael to bring his son, Colton, on what would have been their 3rd trip together with me while Colton was on his Spring Break from school this week.  That plan crashed and burned when Colton got sick over the weekend. So, when 7:30 rolled around, only Michael arrived and we made it a 2-man show for the morning.

The nearly 3 degree warmup we enjoyed this past weekend did wonders for the fishing.  The gulls worked for about two hours this morning while the winds blew, and we caught fish consistently during this time using blade baits in shallower water up to 15 feet, and slabs in deeper water, up to 28 feet.  Over the first 2+ hours we boated exactly 30 fish.

By around 10:15, our light WSW wind completely died for about 45 minutes.  It got very bright and very warm (given the clothes we had on for the 50F start of our trip), and the birds gave up and went to roost.  We struggled during this time, looking over 5-6 distinct areas and finding little to fish for.

Around 11:00, a light NW breeze kicked in and some high, thin white cloud cover.  To help buffer the effects of the less-than-ideal conditions now facing us, we headed for deeper water and, in the last 45 minutes or so, picked up another 11 fish from out of 43′ of water on slabs worked a bit more slowly.

TALLY = 39 FISH, all caught and released

 

GUIDE’S WEBSITE: http://holdingthelineguideservice.com/

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:30a

End Time: 12:00p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 50F

Water Surface Temp: 53-54F

Wind Speed & Direction: WSW6, slowly shifting to NW4-5 with a 45 minute period of calm in between from ~10:15 to 11:00

Sky Conditions: ~30% cloud cover on a fair blue sky

Other: GT = 0

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 1173/1500 cast Cicadas for 1 fish

**Area 1527 jigged slabs for 17 fish

**Area 332 fancast Cicadas for 12 fish

**Area 1169/1534 vertical jigged slabs for 11 fish

 

Bob Maindelle
Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide
Belton Lake Fishing Guide
Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service
254.368.7411 (call or text)

Bad Luck on Friday the 13th – Belton Lake, 2 Fish, 13 March 2015

This morning I fished with Robert and Sherri Goss of Katy, TX, on Belton Lake.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Fishing was tough today on Belton – cold water and clearing skies made for a difficult time on the water.

Robert and Sherri took a little break from his routine in the oil and gas industry and from her routine as a Katy Independent School District bus driver to do a little RV camping at Cedar Ridge Park on the Leon River arm of Belton Lake.

I have not been fishing Belton at all based on poor reports from fellow guides, but this couple was limited on their ability to travel locally, as their RV was the primary means of transportation, so, we fished Belton, and I actually picked them of from the marina in Cedar Creek.

I covered water from above the Moffatt sand flats to the Cowhouse out from BLORA and found no helpful bird activity whatsoever.

We persisted, however, and finally did find a few suspended fish amidst some suspended bait in the vicinity of Area 619/1369 in our final hour on the water.  I chose the Excalibur Swimmin’ Image crankbait to pull behind my downriggers at ~12-14 feet down.  Running a pair of these, we got 3 strikes and landed 2 fish, both hybrid stripers, and so we were saved from being “skunked”, but just barely.

Both Robert and Sherri and fellow Christ-followers, so we had a lot in common and our conversations over the course of the trip tended in that direction.  Robert is also an American history buff, so, that “military art” coursework that was forced upon me at West Point got placed on “active duty” for the morning, as well.

To avoid another disappointment, we compared notes at the end of the trip concerning when to expect solid fishing, and when the transitional times of year occur when fishing can be soft.

 

 TALLY = 2 FISH,  caught and released

 

GUIDE’S WEBSITE: http://holdingthelineguideservice.com/

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:30a

End Time: 12:45p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 47F

Water Surface Temp: 51.3F

Wind Speed & Direction: NW8-11

Sky Conditions: Starting at 60% clouded and clearing to 20% clouded

Other: GT = 30

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 619/1369

 

 

Bob Maindelle
Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide
Belton Lake Fishing Guide
Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service
254.368.7411 (call or text)

Spring Just Around the Corner? — 27 Fish, Stillhouse, 12 March

This morning I fished with Rodrick Rhoads and his 11 year old daughter, April, both of Georgetown, TX.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Rodrick and April Rhoads with the largest 4 of the 27 white bass we boated under cool, north wind conditions.

Rodrick first fished with me a few weeks ago with his son, Oliver, and, having done so, felt his other children would enjoy this as well.  The Rhoads have 5 children and, as I normally do concerning kids in 2nd grade or younger, suggested his younger ones hold off until the summer months when the fishing is less technical and offers more variety.

At age 11, April had no problem with the vertical jigging techniques we are currently using for attracting the white bass in the still-cold water.

This was the 3rd straight day with non-front related north winds. Such winds typically lead to just so-so fishing, and that is what we encountered today.  We had a slow first hour, some consistent action from 8:45 to around 10a, then, around the same time the birds stopped flying and feeding, the fish also stopped feeding.

In our last hour or so on the water we boated only 4 more fish.

I’m anticipating a solid week of Spring Break fishing ahead as we encounter a very slow warmup.  Currently, there are no overnight lows forecast to be lower than the current water surface temperature.

 

TALLY = 27 FISH, all caught and released

 

GUIDE’S WEBSITE: http://holdingthelineguideservice.com/

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:40a

End Time: Noon

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 56F

Water Surface Temp: 51.3F

Wind Speed & Direction: Light N. breeze at NNW4-6

Sky Conditions: Grey cloud cover for the duration of this trip

Other: GT=27

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 1500-1501

**Area 1347-1179

**Area 1532

**Vicinity Area 1278

**Area 1306

 

Bob Maindelle
Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide
Belton Lake Fishing Guide
Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service
254.368.7411 (call or text)

Onward into the Fog — 45 Fish, Stillhouse, 04 March 2015

This morning I fished with Greg Fallon of Cincinnati, OH, and his father-in-law, Dave Bradley, of Georgetown, TX.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

From left: Greg Fallon of Cincinnati, OH, and his father-in-law, Dave Bradley of Georgetown, TX, with the best 4 of our catch of 45 white bass this morning.

Greg left the bluster, cold, and precipitation of Ohio behind for, well …, more bluster, cold, and precipitation here in Texas!!!  Greg works for a logistics firm up north and Dave is both a Vietnam veteran and retired human resources professional.  Greg and Dave’s daughter were high school sweethearts who married after college.
I tried to time our trip such that we could take advantage of the normally strong pre-frontal bite before the incoming cold front struck around 3pm today.  I kept a constant eye on the NOAA forecast for this trip since mid-week last week, but it changed drastically every time it updated.  It was clear, however, that Wednesday would be warmer and less windy than Thursday (which would be essentially unfishable due to high winds), and warmer and cloudier than Friday These were the only other 2 options, given Greg’s itinerary.  So, I made the call for Wednesday morning, but we were greeted with very thick fog, and near calm winds which always makes for tough fishing. At least is was warm — 58F as we began and warming 2-3 degrees by the time we wrapped up.
Fog hinders in three ways.  First, fog normally exists in windless conditions, and when the wind is not moving, the water and the food chain is not moved about or stirred up, and the fishing lags.  Second, fog obscures the sun and reduces the triggering mechanism that the sudden brightening at sunrise normally has on fish.  Finally, the fog prevents the helpful activity of fish-eating birds like gulls and terns from taking place as a visual cue on where to begin looking for fish.
So, we had to rely on using sonar in traditional late-winter areas of the lake to find our fish.  We tried fishing 5 areas and found fish at 2 of them.  Both areas were in 24-26′ of water, and in both areas the fish were strictly bottom-hugging. We had to vertically jig slabs and use an extended pause in order to get bit.  Rarely did hooked fish have excited schoolmates accompany them toward the surface, and not a single fish today was taken on an “easing” tactic up off the bottom.  This wasn’t helped any by the 49.7F water temperature.
Slowly but surely we put together a decent day, landing single fish regularly, and, on occasion hooking up with a second or third fish simultaneously as small schools moved under the boat.
Our final hour was our most productive, as we had a bit of breeze, some minor clearing, and some brightening of the white fog surrounding us, even to the point where a few gulls began to feed near the same “hole in the fog” we found ourselves in.
By trip’s end we’d boated 45 white bass.  I told Greg and Dave at the boat ramp before we launched that there are some days where you know you’re going to knock it out of the park and some days where you know you just need to postpone, but that this day I really wasn’t sure what we were going to get into.  I had in my mind that we’d have to work for 15-18 fish this morning, so, I was pleasantly surprised at our good result, given the poor conditions.

TALLY = 45 FISH, all caught and released

 

GUIDE’S WEBSITE: http://holdingthelineguideservice.com/

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:00a

End Time: 11:50a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 58F

Water Surface Temp: 49.7F

Wind Speed & Direction: Calm through the last hour, then turning NW2.

Sky Conditions: Heavy fog the entire trip.

Other: GT=40

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 1347 vertical jigging with extended pause in 24-26′

**Area 1524/1533 vertical jigging with extended pause in 24-26′

 

Bob Maindelle
Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide
Belton Lake Fishing Guide
Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service
254.368.7411 (call or text)