This past Friday afternoon I fished a second trip with Father Brad St. Romain, the rector at St. Francis Episcopal Church in Temple. We targeted primarily white bass in deep water using artificial lures.
Although the majority of our catch consisted of white bass, Brad managed several hybrid, including this, our only “legal” hybrid, which measured just over 18″. It came on a slab in 27 feet of water and was “ghosting” along within a school of white bass. This hybrid was the first fish from out of that large school to strike our baits.
The morning conditions today were to be avoided. Dead calm, very sunny, and unseasonably hot conditions persisted until around 10:30am. These difficult conditions moderated a bit as a light SE breeze began and a high, white haze began to form thus moderating the temperatures a bit. The forecast called for these winds to continue to build up to 6-8mph from the SE and for the cloud cover to reach 40%+. This, unfortunately, did not materialize.
After the first 90 minutes or so of our trip, which we began around 1:45p, had slipped by, the winds quit and the skies brightened and thus we experienced a lull through the middle of our time on the water. Fishing picked back up again in the last hour as the sun’s intensity lessened as the sun moved towards setting.
Although we found and caught fish this afternoon, the combination of bright sun and calm conditions really put the “dampers” on the fishing. Active fish, which typically show on sonar as tightly grouped schools close to bottom with some of the individuals in the school up higher in the water column, were in short supply. When we did find fish, they often failed to respond as we tried everything from a slow, dead-stick tactic to a fast, attention-getting retrieve.
We experienced our most productive fishing at the front end of the trip, which is unusual for afternoon excursions. We had more cloud cover and more breeze at the beginning of our trip, and the fish reacted somewhat positively to that.
All of our fish today came from 25-32 feet of water up until within 40 minutes of sunset, when fish moved into shallower water, thus allowing us to catch a few between 16-20 feet. Every fish we caught this evening came on slabs used vertically.
TALLY = 36 fish, all caught and released
TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 1:45p
End Time: 6:00p
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 68F
Water Surface Temp: 72.6F
Wind Speed & Direction: Light & variable
Sky Conditions: Slowly building thin white “whispy” cloud cover in the western sky on an otherwise fair, bright sky
Water Level: ~0.35 feet high and slowly falling at ~0.11 feet per day
GT = 0
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area 1624-1637 – deep jigging
**Area 153 – deep jigging
**Area 812-1186 – deep jigging
**Area 1824 & 1825 – deep jigging
**Area 1826 – low light jigging in 16-20′
Bob Maindelle
Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service
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