This past Saturday afternoon, April 16th, I fished with members of the Killingsworth clan of Lampasas including (grandpa) Kenneth Killingsworth, (grandma) Frances Killingsworth, (son) Ken Killingsworth, (15-year-old granddaughter) Sarah Killingsworth, and (13-year-old granddaughter) LeeAnn Parker. As I understand it, this whole thing was Grandma Frances’ idea.
From left: Kenneth, Frances, Ken, LeeAnn, and Sarah, each with a 13+ inch white bass taken during a solid bite as winds became more southerly following this morning’s easterly winds which dampened the fishing somewhat. Look at those teenaged girls grinning!!
Leave it to Grandma Frances to catch the biggest fish of the trip — a nice 2.75 pound channel catfish that hit her slab in 37 feet of water.
The weather was looking questionable but, within 30 minutes of our 3:45p start time, a quick check of the weather radar showed only heavy clouds and occasional light sprinkles heading our way.
After a short prayer to start us off right, I went over both safety considerations and how to correctly use the slabs I had tied on to each of the spinning rods I’d prepared for my guests. We made sure the reels’ handles were on the side that everyone preferred, and then we were off to hunt large schools of white bass in an attempt to get everyone catching fish.
I search one area, and then another with no result. I searched a third area and found just a few fish holding tight to bottom. I used Spot Lock to hold us in place over these fish as we jigged for them, but only 2 fish responded. We caught 1 and missed the other. This was not the fast action I was hoping to put a large party onto.
We moved to a fourth area and, as we motored slowly over a breadline from 50 feet up to 32 feet, the sonar screen began to come alive with fish showing on and near bottom. Since everyone had worked the kinks out on their technique at the last area, all went very smoothly getting 5 baits effectively down to the bottom and working amidst the fish.
Sarah was the first one to connect, then her dad, Ken, hooked a fish, then LeeAnn was fast to another fish. As the fish were hooked and reeled in, I watched on sonar as the hooked fishes’ schoolmates followed them toward the surface hoping to get a nip at the object in the hooked fishes’ mouths. There were literally hundreds of fish in this area. We caught fish after fish after fish, and whenever things slowed down, I simply moved us a few boat lengths left, right, forwards, or backwards to encounter even more fish that had not yet seen our lures.
We fished just 3 areas very thoroughly over the course of our 4 hours on the water, and by 7:30p, had amassed a catch of 108 fish including 1 freshwater drum, 1 channel catfish, 3 largemouth bass, and 103 white bass.
Between the fish catching, the story telling, the jerky eating, and the being with family, a cool, damp day turned into a very memorable event.
TALLY: 108 Fish, all caught and released
TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 3:45p
End Time: 7:45p
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 73F
Water Surface Temp: 68.3F
Wind Speed & Direction: Winds were SE12-13 the entire trip
Sky Conditions: Very heavy grey skies the entire trip with occasional drizzle.
Water Level: 622.41 and holding with 622.0 being full pool. Water being released at 765 cubic feet per second. Lake neither rose or fell the past 24 hours
Other: GT= 50
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area 1720/1741 – slow easing results at this first stop over fish
**Area 638/803/1156 – short hops and slow easing for a solid white bass bite
**Area 786/1055 – short hops and slow easing for a solid white bass bite
**Area 108/702/1048 – short hops and slow easing for a solid white bass bite
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