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.
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)