This afternoon I fished with Rick Klein and his wife, Terri, of Sun City in Georgetown, TX. Rick has fished with me twice before, but this was Terri’s first time on my boat. I enjoyed their company.
Terri and Rick Klein braved the post-frontal chill this afternoon to put 32 fish in the boat. Both were glad their new car came equipped with “bun warmers” for the ride home!!!
Catching fish was an uphill battle today. Rick has fished long enough to know before I even said anything as to why I was concerned about how things would pan out today — post-frontal conditions after a hard cold front’s passage like we experienced yesterday always make for tough conditions. The high, clear, “bluebird” skies and near calm wind just put the fish off until some wind and clouds return.
We looked for fish in 7 different areas today, and only found congregated fish at one area. Unfortunately, the fish in that one area were not exceptional fish. Of the 32 fish we boated, only 6 white bass were of legal size.
We used vertical tactics right up until 90 minutes before sunset and then switched over to downrigging as the fish scattered more and more.
The cold front definitely brought in some helpful bird life. I saw 5 times more gulls today than last week, and spotted the first loon I’ve seen this fall working, too. The gull action is not very helpful yet, as they seem to be working over small, migrating pods of smallish white bass that are pushing shad to the surface just briefly and sporadically. This is reminiscent of summer time “popcorn” schooling, only with birds sprinkled over top of it all.
This cold front did not and will not kill the great fishing we’ve had, as the water surface temperature was still 66-67F, making the water and the fish we caught in the 50F air feel toasty. We simply need some fishy weather and the bite will go on as long as the water is in the 60’s. I suspect the water temperature may actually rise a tad toward the end of this Thanksgiving week, if the current forecast holds.
TALLY = 32 FISH, all caught and released
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TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 1:45p
End Time: 5:45p
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 53F
Water Surface Temp: 66-67F
Wind Speed & Direction: NNW1-2
Sky Conditions: Bluebird
Other: GT= 10
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area 1618-1621 – vertical jigged early and downrigged late for the majority of our catch off this one area
Bob Maindelle
Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service
254.368.7411 (call or text)
Salado, TX
www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com