This morning I enjoyed being on the water with yet another combination of Oliver family members. Of course Joe, who arranges all of these trips, was present, as was his dad, who we all call “Pa”. Setting foot on my boat for the first time was Joe’s brother, Jeff, and Joe’s wife Dicque.
From left: Joe, Dicque, Pa, and Jeff. Twice during the trip we had a quadruple-header, where all four of the Olivers caught fish as the same time!
Dicque “Wet Britches” Oliver and her husband, Joe, with one of our largest fish of the trip.
We enjoyed yet another day of very easy fishing for hybrid striped bass. In fact, lately, more effort has been required to find the bait than to find the fish that eat that bait. We made just 2 stops today, both in about 27 feet of water. The process that has been working for us goes like this: find active fish on sonar, then Spot Lock on top of them, get live baits out, get chum down to cause a stir, then sit back and enjoy the results.
As the 10 o’clock hour came, the winds began to increase, as did the size of the swells. Dicque chose the front starboard rod and rod-holder as “hers” and therefore had the luxury of sitting on the rear edge of the front casting deck. As I saw the wave size growing, I let everyone know that we had a special “early warning device” for dangerous wave height aboard, and her name was Dicque. I explained that the first 63F wave that broke slightly over the bow would so thoroughly soak through the seat of her jeans that she would surely let out an audible noise.
Well, sure enough, in crashed a wave and, just like clockwork, Dicque let us all know about it. Problem was, we now had water collecting on the floor of the boat sufficient to soak the shoes of Pa and Jeff who were fishing in the stern. It was then that I made the observation that no matter how many other people stood on a given side of the boat, the water only seemed to collect on Joe’s side. Joe (a pretty big, athletic guy) said he resembled that remark. All other Olivers concurred. As for me, I kept my mouth shut and bailed!
We wound up with 112 fish including 108 hybrid striped bass and 4 white bass.
TALLY = 112 Fish, including 4 white bass and 108 hybrid striped bass
GUIDE’S WEBSITE: http://holdingthelineguideservice.com/
TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 7:45a
End Time: 11:45a
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 68F
Water Surface Temp: 65F @ lower lake, 68 @ upper lake
Wind Speed & Direction: S11-13, increasing to S14-15 by 10:30a
Sky Conditions: Grey and overcast @ 100%
Other: GT = 40
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area 1546
**Area 1545
Bob Maindelle
Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide
Belton Lake Fishing Guide
Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service
254.368.7411 (call or text)