I love how the Lord provides! As I was on the water Thursday evening, a call comes in from the fellow who was scheduled to fish with me this afternoon. Since he had made the reservation just that morning, it took my by surprise. He was to drive in from Dallas, saw Friday afternoon’s weather forecast, got cold feet, and wound up canceling on really short notice.
From left: James Powell and Ricardo Cisneros each with a 14″ class white bass taken from a school of white bass numbering in the hundreds that turned on strong just in advance of an incoming cold front.
As a small businessman, cancellations on short notice are really a lose-lose which I try to avoid at all costs. Not only does the client lose their deposit, I lose out on the opportunity to earn the balance of the trip’s fare by putting people on fish.
With less than 22 hours to respond, I put out a Facebook post advertising the opening and sharing this week’s excellent fishing results. As my Friday morning trip came to a close, I had two “nibbles”, but no takers.
As my Friday morning clients headed to the parking lot, I was by myself cleaning up the boat. Another boat came in to load up and go home and one of the two passengers overheard my phone conversation with my wife lamenting the missed opportunity for putting people on fish.
Long story short, after struggling a bit to catch fish all morning, this man, Ricardo Cisneros, his friend, Rick Powell, and Rick’s brother, James, decided to take advantage of the opportunity. We agreed to meet back at the same location at 3:45pm. I had a good feeling about the trip, as pre-frontal conditions were quickly developing and I knew the fish were going to feed hard.
At 3:45p, we headed out and I began sweeping with sonar thanks to a lack of bird activity (which is now almost ended for this season). I found a few fish in 40′ adjacent to the river channel, and we jigged for 1 white bass and 1 crappie.
We checked a second area — nothing.
We moved a bit shallower, and there they were — a strong concentration of fish numbering several hundred individuals.
We began jigging and the fish started coming over the side. The nearly calm winds went NE3-4. The breeze slowly increased to 6, then 7, then 8 mph. Then came a noticeable cool down. All this time the fish fed hard and the fellows kept right on jigging and catching. We boated 65, then 75, then 85, then 95 fish.
When that 95th fish came over the side, right at 6:50pm, the skies darkened suddenly. I told everyone to batten down the hatches because the cold front was about to roar in.
In minutes, the lake went from docile to a whipped froth with the wind blowing 20+. My guests took a (very!) quick poll amonst themselves and everyone decided they’d caught enough for this day.
We skidaddled!
The winds would continue to increase and blow strong right through 2pm Saturday afternoon, but, it sure was fun while it lasted.
The Lord took those lemons and made some lemonade! Thank you!
TALLY = 95 FISH, all caught and released
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TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 3:45p
End Time: 6:50p
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 68F
Water Surface Temp: 66.0F
Wind Speed & Direction: See report above
Sky Conditions: 100% grey cloud cover the entire trip
Water Level: 625.10 and falling with 622.0 being full pool. Water being released at 1143 cubic feet per second. Lake fell 0.13 feet in the past 24 hours
Other: GT= 20
Wx SNAPSHOT (a graphical look at the forecast that faced us today):
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area 1563/1567/1720 – vertical jigging with slabs
Bob Maindelle
Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service
254.368.7411 (call or text)
Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle
