Ft. Hood SKIES Program — Fishing 101 just for Kids! — 84 Fish, 25 Feb.

This past Saturday afternoon I was joined by 14-year-old Charley Elgin and his sister, 9-year-old Addison Tinkelenberg of Ft. Hood for a “Fishing 101” trip — one of the many offerings available to military families through the Ft. Hood SKIESUnlimited program.

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Charley and Addison stayed focused on their goal of beating the results of their previous fishing trip and, over the course of 4 hours on the water, accomplished that goal by landing a total of 84 fish using a variety of techniques.

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Addison ate her own weight in snacks during our trip!

After a dry, mild cold front passed through beginning mid-morning Friday through noon today, winds quickly shifted to the east and brought in some thin, grey cloud cover over a fair sky.  Fortunately, we never experienced a prolonged “post frontal” situation with calm winds, cold temperatures, and clear skies.

The fish were in a biting mode this afternoon and, with the experience from our previous trips (2 for Charley and 1 for Addison), the kids knew what to do and when to do it, thus making our time on the water that much more successful without the beginner’s learning curve to get through.

On our previous outing, we used strictly vertical tactics.  Now that the water has warmed a bit, fish have moved into shallower, flatter areas, thus allowing the use of bladebaits in a horizontal presentation.  The kids enjoyed the more active approach that casting these bladebaits involved, and caught on quickly to the proper retrieved used for this style of lure.

The kids let me know right from the start that they wanted to beat their previous trip’s total of 67 fish, and they stayed focused in order to make that happen.  With about 40 minutes left to go, we matched and then beat that 67 fish threshold, and went on to land an extra 17 fish just for “cushioning”.

We came off the water right at 6:30 with 84 fish landed for our efforts, and approximately 18 pounds of food consumed during those efforts!

IF YOU ARE A MILITARY PARENT INTERESTED IN ARRANGING A TRIP FOR YOUR OWN CHILD:

To participate in such courses, children must first be registered with Child and Youth Services (CYS).  Registration is free and is accomplished by contacting Parent Central Services at 254.287.8029.

Once registered, parents may go online to enroll their children for the myriad courses available.  Payment must be made for courses in advance.

Military families separated from their sponsor may be eligible for deployment benefits in the form of SKIESUnlimited course credits.  Mission Level  1 credits may amount to $300 per child and Mission Level 2 credits may amount to $150 per child.  Parent Central Services can help parents understand which applies to their situation.

 

TALLY = 84 FISH, all caught and released

Wx Snapshot:

25FEB17

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 2:30p

End Time:  6:30p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 62F

Water Surface Temp:  61.2F

Wind Speed & Direction:  ENE7-9 all afternoon

Sky Conditions: 30% cloud cover on a fair sky

Water Level: 1.08 feet above full pool

GT =  0

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 1172 – 12 fish on easing tactic

**Area 1900 – 32 fish on easing tactic

**Area 443 – 26 fish on easing tactic

**Area 1492 – 11 fish on bladebaits

**Area vic 116 – 3 fish on flatline cranks at sunset

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

YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-LGrD-sm7Bo6tDPIv0z4jg

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/holdingtheline/

Passing the Baton – 132 Fish, Stillhouse, 25 Feb. (AM)

This past Saturday morning I was joined by returning guests Gary Moore, Kirk Bateman, and Israel Lozada military veterans, and all friends through Eastside Baptist Church in Copperas Cove.  Also joining us for his first time was Israel’s son, Isaac Lozada, a freshman at Harker Heights High School.

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My 4-man crew this last blustery Saturday morning consisted of (from left) Gary Moore, Kirk Bateman, Israel Lozada, and Isaac Lozada — all fishermen, and all fishers of men.  These men all came to know each other while serving the Lord at Eastside Baptist Church in Copperas Cove.  Their catch totalled 132 fish.

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Kirk Bateman took big fish honors with this 4 pound class largemouth caught early on in the trip in the shallowest water we would visit.

After getting to catch up a bit at the Central Texas Boat Show, Gary made it clear he wanted to see to it that we could schedule the trip such that Isaac could attend and he wanted to focus on number of fish so the young man could get lots of experience through repetition on his first guided fishing trip.  The Stillhouse white bass surely lent themselves to just that on this trip.

A dry cold front begin moving into central Texas the day before, around 8:30am.  Overnight, radiational cooling took place, and cold air moved in from the north and west.  We woke up to the chilliest morning in a while — right at 45F.  This, plus a brisk 10-11 mph NNW wind meant back to gloves, balaclavas, and dressing in layers to stay warm enough to concentrate on the fishing.

This wrinkle in the weather also really got the fish fired up this morning as the wind kept right on blowing, thus the typical clear, calm, bright “post-frontal” conditions never impacted us.

My four guest landed exactly 68 fish in their first 60 minutes on the water.  This is one of the best, if not the best, starts I’ve had to a fishing trip.  The fish were moving bait and were feeding aggressively well up off the bottom, thus attracting birds.  The birds made it easy for us to locate fish, and, thanks to the blustery weather, there were no other white bass anglers anywhere near us.

We slabbed nearly 100% of the time this morning, moving progressively deeper as the sun climbed higher.  The 3/8 oz. white Redneck Fishn Jigs Model 180 rigged out with a Hazy Eye Stinger hook produced over and over and over again.

The last bird activity we observed occurred right around 10 am.  Once the birds settled down, the fish did likewise.  We spent over half of our last hour on the water searching for fish with sonar and finally found a very heavily schooled bunch of white bass and largemouth mixed together in about 42 feet of water very near the old Lampasas River channel.

As they often do, these late morning fish perked right up, hit well for a few minutes, and then shut right back down again.

As we headed back in after a full 4+ hours on the water, hats and gloves were still in place and no layers had yet been shed as the temperature rose only to 52F and the NNW was still blowing.

 

TALLY = 132 FISH, all caught and released

Wx Snapshot:

25FEB17

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:50a

End Time:  11:15a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 45F

Water Surface Temp:  60.7F

Wind Speed & Direction:  NNW9-11 all morning

Sky Conditions: >5% cloud cover on a fair sky

Water Level: 1.08 feet above full pool

GT =  20

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 1060-1682 – strong first light bite under ample birds working slabs with an easing tactic

**Area vic 1741 – working slabs with an easing tactic

**Area 1565 – working slabs with an easing tactic

 

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

YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-LGrD-sm7Bo6tDPIv0z4jg

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/holdingtheline/

Nepotism!? — 100 Fish, Stillhouse, 24 Feb. 2017

This past Friday morning, February 24th, I welcomed aboard R.C. and Marsha Stephenson from the Georgetown area.

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R.C. landed this nice 4 pound class largemouth on a small, 3/8 oz. slab equipped with a Hazy Eye Stinger Hook from out of a school of white bass.  Stillhouse has consistently produced sizeable largemouth as a bycatch as we’ve been white bass fishing on nearly every trip out this winter.

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Despite an Ace Wrap on her “fishing wrist”, Marsha pushed through the morning, contributing her fair share to our catch of 100 fish.

The fishing started off a bit slow as one would expect under nearly windless conditions. Around 8:30 AM, a hard, northwest wind ramped up very quickly with a velocity of up to 16 mph as a dry cool front moved into the area. The fishing instantly improved and stayed strong right until 10:50 AM. By this time, we had boated 86 fish.

The Stephenson’s son, an Austin resident, had read my Facebook post about the 100 fish today I had treated my mother to on this past Monday. Her catch included a 4+ pound largemouth bass. That same son chided them that if they didn’t catch 100 fish with me on this trip, he would suspect nepotism was involved. In the back of my mind, I knew we could put an additional 14 fish in the boat to make theirs a 100 fish day, but this was coming at a time when the fish were showing much less interest in feeding. Long story short, we did put in an extra 50 minutes in order to land the last 14 fish necessary to have a 100 fish day. As icing on the cake, R.C. also landed a largemouth that barely eclipsed the weight of my mom’s largemouth bass, thus dispelling any valid claims of nepotism aboard my boat!

Although I had taken the Stephenson’s out before, we never discussed our shared love for the Boothbay Harbor area of Maine where Rebecca and I had both our first honeymoon, and, 20 years later, a second honeymoon. We all enjoyed reminiscing about the sights, sounds, and eateries in this neck of the woods.

TALLY = 100 FISH, all caught and released

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TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:50a

End Time:  11:50a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 62F

Water Surface Temp:  60.7F

Wind Speed & Direction:  <2SW until 8:30, then suddenly shifting and increasing to NNW16

Sky Conditions: Fair, cloudless skies after windshift

Water Level:  1.25 feet above full pool

GT =  50

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 720 – easing with slabs
 
**Area 1515 – easing with slabs
**Area vic 569 – easing with slabs
**Area vic 808 – easing 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

Probing Belton — 58 Fish, 23 Feb. 2017

This past Thursday morning, February 23rd, I fished an “open boat” trip with Mr. Ray Johnson of Harker Heights, and Mr. Clayton Bell of Florence, Texas.

 

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Using live shad on my first guided trip to Belton in the 2017 season, we were able to land a number of legal (18+ inch) hybrid stripers, along with white bass, largemouth, blue cat, drum, and crappie. Here, Clayton Bell of Florence, TX, shows one of the larger hybrid we took this morning.

 

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Fishing was steady on live shad throughout our morning trip.  Ray Johnson of Harker Heights holds one of the 18-20 inch hybrid that were duped by our live shad.

 

Ray is a retired U.S. Navy flight surgeon turned pediatrics doctor, and Clayton is an artist who uses slate and other stone as his media for creating large indoor and outdoor pieces, including fountains.

The two found common ground over southern gospel music and wound up singing a few bars of their favorite tunes between bites.

When Ray originally booked the trip, he was hopeful that a friend could join him. When that did not work out, he was open to having another party previously unknown to him join us so as to reduce his out-of-pocket expense. After posting the open boat seat on Facebook, Clayton gave me a call and, just a few hours later, we met up at Belton Lake.

As I went through my pretrip “briefing” I explained that this was a bit of an experimental trip. By “experimental”, I meant that I would be testing the waters at Belton specifically in pursuit of hybrid striped bass using live shad. I got a positive, credible report from a fellow angler who had fished Belton on Wednesday, and so we left the good size and numbers of white bass behind that Stillhouse had been producing in a gamble for larger hybrid over on Belton.

Netting shad was not a simple task as the shad  are definitely not in spawning mode yet. I was able to get about 120 baits of various sizes in one hour’s worth of effort.

We fished with these live baits at four areas and found a mixed bag of fishing at each. By trip’s end, we had landed hybrid striped bass, white bass, largemouth bass, freshwater drum, crappie, and blue catfish.

Although the hybrid fishing is far from the forthcoming spring peak which typically coincides with the threadfin shad spawn, this species has definitely moved beyond the winter funk-phase. We caught fish in as shallow as 17 feet of water and as deep as 44 feet of water.

On two occasions, as I was running sonar in search of hybrid stripers, I came across schools of white bass spread across bottom and tightly congregated together. This just screamed out for a slabbing approach, so we broke out the spinning tackle and used an easing tactic to put 1/2 dozen white bass in the boat at each of these stops before the schools lost interest and moved on.

We finished the trip with 58 fish landed, including 8 “legal” hybrid, each exceeding 18”, with the largest two going right at 4.00 pounds.

TALLY = 58 FISH, all caught and released

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:50a

End Time:  11:50a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 52F

Water Surface Temp:  60.1F

Wind Speed & Direction:  <SSW6 at trip’s start, tapering up to SSW 12 by 10:30, the letting off to SSW9 by trip’s end

Sky Conditions: Fair, cloudless skies

Water Level:  1.53 feet above full pool

GT =  0

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 1668/788 – mixed bag catch with live shad at 24′

**Area 818/164 – mixed bag catch with live shad at 24′

**Area 1898 – mixed bag catch with live shad at 24′

**Area 1618 – quick stop to slab for whites stacked on bottom

**Area -817 – quick stop to slab for whites stacked on bottom

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

YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-LGrD-sm7Bo6tDPIv0z4jg

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/holdingtheline/

THAT’S MY MOM!! … 100 Fish, Presidents’ Day 2017

This past Presidents’ Day Monday I invited my mom, Charlotte Maindelle, and brother, Andy Maindelle, out on a white bass fishing trip on Stillhouse.  The weather situation was very hard to predict thanks to a Pacific low pressure system that was to pass overnight, so, I avoided booking a paid trip not knowing if the weather was going to clear in sufficient time to get a full 4 hours on the water.

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Yep!  That’s my mom, Charlotte Maindelle, at (almost) 72 years young.  She landed the largest fish of our trip this morning with this nice largemouth that we found mixed in with a school of large white bass.  We caught both species using bladebaits.

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My brother, Andy Maindelle, pulled this nice 15.125 inch white bass out of the same patch of water that mom landed her outsized largemouth from, also on a bladebait.

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All four of these white bass taped 13.75 to 15.00 inches and were taken on a combination of slabs and bladebaits.

 

A low pressure system’s passage usually bodes well for fishing, and this morning was no exception.  I fueled up the boat and drove to the ramp in the rain, seeing that we were on the clearing edge of the front, which was moving quickly east.

By the time we launched right at 7am, the rain had ended, just leaving  cool, damp, breezy conditions.

The feed began slowly, but then ramped up right around 8:30, as evidenced by increasing fish, bait, and bird activity.  I noted that the fish fed in short spurts today.  We would pull up on fish, catch them well for a few minutes, only to have them not only stop biting, but disappear from sonar.  No sooner would the school we were over die down than another spurt of activity would pop up a few hundred yards away, all over about a 2 mile stretch of lake.

We worked slabs upon arriving at an area, then, once the fish throttled back a bit, we’d throw bladebaits to cover the bottom all around the boat.  We caught  two drum, 4 largemouth bass, and 94 white bass in exactly 4 hours’ time.

Later, mom treated us all to lunch at Papa’s Cafe in Harker Heights.  Our waitress, Flo, saw that I was a fishing guide by the logo on my shirt.  I showed her the photo of my mom’s fish and Flo complimented my mom on the nice catch and told Flo that I take people fishing for a living.  Mom then added, “Yeah, I taught him everything he knows.”   A classic Maindelle family line then repeated in my head, “Robert, don’t argue with your mother!”

This was a great time to enjoy some low-stress fishing with family before what is about to become a very, very busy season thanks to the mild winter, steady spring warmup, and approaching public school Spring Break.

 

TALLY = 100 FISH, all caught and released


 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:00a

End Time:  11:00a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 61F

Water Surface Temp:  61.1F

Wind Speed & Direction:  <10ENE until 8:30, then slowly tapering back and shifting to 8E

Sky Conditions: >100% cloud cover following 1.6″ of rain overnight brought in by a Pacific low pressure system that passed W to E just as we were getting launched.

Water Level:  1.3 feet above full pool (flotsam present on the surface this morning due to hard rains overnight, with colored water coming in from Trimmier Creek.

GT =  0

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 092 – slow action for small whites under dark, calm conditions early

**Area 108 – easing with slabs and casting blades

**Area vic 131 – easing with slabs in the deepest water we would fish this morning

**Area 1176 – easing with slabs and casting blades

**Area -1049 – easing with slabs and casting blades

 

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

YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-LGrD-sm7Bo6tDPIv0z4jg

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/holdingtheline/

One Good Turn… — 118 Fish, Stillhouse Hollow, 18 Feb. 2017

This morning I welcomed aboard Mr. John Stephenson of Salado, U.S. Army Chaplain Captain Matt Woodside, and his two sons, 19-year-old Caleb, and 17-year-old Jacob.

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103 of our 118 fish caught were white bass.  These were the largest of the bunch, ranging from 13.75 to 14.75 inches.  Our best fish came out of shallower water earlier in the trip on bladebaits, and then more, but smaller, fish came on slabs out of deeper water towards trip’s end.

John, a retired Army officer and former Bell County Commissioner treated Matt and his sons to this trip.  The entire crew are members of Memorial Baptist Church in Killeen, but the Woodsides and Mr. Stephenson really didn’t know one another all that well before this morning’s trip.

Chaplain Woodside, an Arkansas native, formerly served as a pastor in Southern Baptist churches before becoming a chaplain about 8 years ago.  Both of his sons serve in the music ministry at Memorial Baptist.

Although we had a nice forecast (see below) for both clouds and wind, neither materialized to the degree forecast.  So, as we pulled away from the dock, we faced clear, calm, bright conditions.  Fortunately, the overnight temperatures were warmer than the surface temperature and we had some warming continue from late Wednesday to present, and fish were ready to feed at sunrise regardless of the lack of wind and clouds.

Frisky terns and gulls were wheeling and diving and eating well this morning as white bass drove shad and sunfish to the surface.  We stuck with bird action all morning until our final stop when we finally had to do things the “hard way” and use sonar.

Our best fish came in the first half of the trip as we used slabs and cast bladebaits in under 27′.  The majority of the 42 fish we boated by 8:45a were large, fat 13-14.5″ long fish, many with abdomens swollen with eggs.  The Binsky bladebait in Sexy Shad really did a number on them this morning.

The deeper the bright and fairly low-wind conditions pushed us as the morning went along, the greater the number of yearling sized fish showed up in our catch.

When all was said and done, we caught a mix of 103 one-, two-, three-, and four-year old white bass, as well as 6 drum and 9 largemouth bass, for a grand total of 118 fish caught and released.

 

TALLY = 118 FISH, all caught and released

Wx Snapshot:

18FEB2017

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:00a

End Time:  11:20a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 59F

Water Surface Temp:  57.4F

Wind Speed & Direction:  <2SSW until 8:30, then slowly tapering up to 8SSW

Sky Conditions: >5% cloud cover on a fair sky

Water Level:  0.9 feet above full pool

GT =  0

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic 702- easing and working blades horizontally in 27′

**Area 1897- working blades horizontally in 17-20′

**Area 1527/1528 – easing with slabs in 42′

**Area vic 1057-986 – easing with slabs in 42′

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

YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-LGrD-sm7Bo6tDPIv0z4jg

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/holdingtheline/

Wind Matters — 122 Fish, Stillhouse, 13 Feb. 2017

This past Monday morning, 13 Feb., I fished with Mr. Ron Snodgrass and his son-in-law, Kyle Brown.  Ron drove down from Ferris, Illinois, over the weekend to visit his daughter and son-in-law, and to celebrate the birthday of their 4 year old grandchild.

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114 of our 122 fish caught were white bass.  These were the largest of the bunch, ranging from 13.675 to 14.50 inches.

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As the water slowly warms from the relatively high winter low temperatures which only fell into the low 50’s, fish are beginning to move up into shallow water.  As they do, bladebaits like this Binsky in Sexy Shad color pattern, do an excellent job of covering ground and tempting fish to eat as it is retrieved horizontally.

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During the peak feeding time the fish became so aggressive that Ron actually caught a largemouth and a white bass on the same lure at the same time and I routinely landed fish on a rod left in a rodholder as I left it to take fish off for Kyle and Ron.

February and early March tend to bring with them the most wildly varying weather conditions of the year.  Several days ago, the forecast called for a morning low of just 48F, but this kept getting revised upwards the closer we got to trip time.  As it turned out, we started our day at a balmy 61F with little wind and thick cloud cover.

The fishing got off to a sluggish start thanks to the light wind conditions.  In fact, in our first 2.5 hours on the water, we managed only 30 fish.  Around 9:15, an ENE wind began to steadily push and increase to 12 mph.  By the time that wind had worked on the lake’s surface for about 15 minutes, the fishing turned into a whole other ballgame.  Most of the fish we caught during this slow time were caught fancasting bladebaits in water less than 18 feet deep in areas where birds were showing interest (but not aggressively feeding).

In the 65 minutes from 9:30 to 10:30, we doubled our catch, taking our tally from 30 fish up to 60 fish.  Then, in the final hour on the water, from 10:30 to 11:30, we once again doubled our catch, taking our tally from 60 fish up to 122 fish.  During our final 15 minutes on the water from 11:15 to 11:30, the bite died back to nil.  During the peak of the feeding frenzy, Ron actually landed two fish on the same lure at the same time, and, as I set my rod in the rod holder to go take fish off the hook for my clients, I routinely returned to the rod only to find a fish had attacked my lure as it hung beneath the boat, thus hooking itself.  This happened a half-dozen times or more.

The trick today was a slow easing tactic using small 3/8 oz. slabs to imitate the small threadfin shad we observed many of the fish we caught regurgitating.  Once the slow easing tactic worked to attract the fish from off the bottom, we replaced this tactic with a slow smoking tactic in order to get our baits higher off bottom.

We caught a mix of 114 one-, two-, and three-year old white bass, as well as 4 drum and 4 largemouth bass.

 

TALLY = 122 FISH, all caught and released

 

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:50a

End Time:  11:30a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 61F

Water Surface Temp:  59.4°F

Wind Speed & Direction:  <2NE at obscured sunrise through 9:00, then quickly ramping up to ENE12

Sky Conditions: 100% grey cloud cover until 10a, then quickly clearing to 70% white cloud cover on a fair sky

Water Level:  0.15 feet above full pool

GT =  10

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 092 – easing and working blades horizontally for 14 fish

**Area 531 – easing for 6 fish

**Area 363 – easing for 10 fish

**Area 1895 – easing for 92 fish as wind finally ramped up and fish turned on

 

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

YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-LGrD-sm7Bo6tDPIv0z4jg

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/holdingtheline/

Personal Best — 85 Fish, Stillhouse, 11 Feb. 2017

This morning, February 11th, I fished welcomed aboard Brent Teller of Harker Heights for a morning in pursuit of white bass on Stillhouse Hollow.

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Retired U.S. Army cavalry scout Brent Teller landed his personal best freshwater fish today.  This largemouth bass inhaled his 3/8 oz. slab equipped with a Hazy Eye Stinger hook.  This fish weighed 4.75 pounds and came out of 22 feet of water.

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75 of our 85 fish caught were white bass.  These were the largest of the bunch, each taping 14 3/8 inches.

Brent, originally from the Newport News, Virginia area, is a retired U.S. Army Cavalry scout who served most recently with the 1st Cavalry Division.  Brent tallied 4 deployments to Iraq and now makes a living selling and installing HVAC systems with a small company based out of Belton.  Most of Brent’s prior fishing experience came in pursuit of striped bass on the Chesapeake Bay, with some more recent pond fishing experience using artificials for largemouth from his own aluminum bass boat.  As he has reviewed his freshwater experiences, he’s seen where he does well on small waters, but often falls short of his hopes when fishing larger bodies of water like Belton and Stillhouse.

As we got going today, knowing that Brent wanted to learn, I spent a bit more time explaining things than I would for a client just wishing to catch fish.  I pointed out a lot about the fish we were pursuing, the forage they eat, the use of sonar, and the reason for the lure selection and presentations we were making.

As is typical for a grey, cloudy morning, the fishing got off to a slower start due to a slow brightening of the skies.  Once the fishing started around 7:45a, we found active fish in increasing deeper water right up until the finally turned off around 11:10a.  Our first fish were caught in 18-22 feet, then in 35 feet, then in 47 feet.

At the first and shallowest area we fished, we enjoyed the very first horizontal blade bait fishing via casting of the 2017 season.  Fish were aggressive and well spread along a slow slope from 18 to 25 feet.  We positioned the boat so as to retrieve our baits upslope with the help of the Minn Kota Ulterra’s Spot Lock feature.  A nice, steady retrieve kept near bottom got us a fish on every 2nd, 3rd or 4th cast for a span of time.

Otherwise, an easing tactic did the trick for the rest of our fish, primarily using the 3/8 oz. white Redneck Fish’n’ Jigs Model 180.   For a short span of time while fishing under aggressively feeding terns (which were feeding over aggressively feeding white bass), we bumped up to 3/4 oz. slabs, mainly to get to bottom more quickly in the nearly 50′ we were in.  The fish fell for these, but then turned off to them as the bite died down.  On numerous occasions we had white bass regurgitate the shad they had eaten just a few minutes earlier.  These shad were all the same size, and that size was just a bit smaller than the profile of the smaller 3/8 oz. slab we were using.

Once again, all of our largemouth (6 of them) and about 60% of the white bass were hooked on the Hazy Eye Stinger hook affixed to the line tie of the slab.

We landed a total of 85 fish, including 6 largemouth, 4 drum, and exactly 75 white bass.  Our largest fish was Brent’s personal best freshwater fish — a largemouth bass that fell for a 3/8 oz. slab.  It weighed in at 4.75 pounds on a certified Boga Grip scale.

 

TALLY = 85 FISH, all caught and released

Wx SNAPSHOT:

11FEB17

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:50a

End Time:  11:15a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 67F

Water Surface Temp:  57.4°F

Wind Speed & Direction:  SSW9 at sunrise, tapering up to SSW14

Sky Conditions: 100% grey cloud cover until 10a, then quickly clearing to 10% white cloud cover on a fair sky

Water Level:  0.19 feet above full pool

GT =  0

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 092 – easing and working blades horizontally for 33 fish

**Area 303 – easing for 14 fish

**Area vic 1513 – easing for 38 fish

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

YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-LGrD-sm7Bo6tDPIv0z4jg

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/holdingtheline/

Retirees Have a Field Day on Stillhouse — 153 Fish, 07 Feb. 2017

This past Tuesday morning, February 7th, I fished with retired military friends Jaime Gonzalez, Ruben Cavazos, and José Chapa. José is a retired US Army Command Sergeant Major, Ruben is a retired US Army Sergeant First Class, and Jaimie is a retired US Air Force Major.

 

IMG_0793

 

Retired U.S. Army Sergeant First Class Ruben Cavazos, retired U.S. Army Command Sergeant Major Jose Chapa, and retired U.S. Air Force Major Jaime Gonzales put a total of 153 fish in the boat during their 4-hour morning trip this past Tuesday morning on Stillhouse Hollow.

Jaimie contacted me about two weeks ago after reading one of my articles in the Killeen Daily Herald. The three friends went in on a fishing boat together, but as Jaimie put it, “We sure don’t pull in the numbers that you do”.

So, today was both intended to be a fun day of fishing for friends, as well as an introduction to more productive fishing tactics used in this season on Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir. The forecast indicated we were to have 11 to 13 mile-per-hour winds all morning, and as I rose just before 5 AM in preparation for the trip, there was indeed a stiff west southwesterly wind already blowing. However, as sunrise approached, this wind slacked off and our first hour on the water was spent under fairly bright, calm conditions.

By 8 AM, a high white, thin layer of cloud cover begin to build in and a south southwesterly breeze returned, slowly tapering up to 13 mph.

During the time of bright, calm conditions the fishing was slow and required a very methodical approach. We used a combination of easing and slow smoking to put approximately 30 fish in the boat during our first 90 minutes on the water.

As the clouds and wind built, more bird activity became noticeable, and sonar revealed that fish were beginning to move higher up off the bottom and into a feeding posture. We hopped to three different areas under these breezy, conditions and enjoyed consistent catching, albeit for mostly smaller fish.

By the time we hit the 60 fish mark around 9 AM, I offered to “leave fish to find fish” in hopes of finding a school of larger fish.

This turned out to be a good gamble, as we found an ample school of 2 to 4 year old fish in 62 feet of water and stayed on this school, which numbered in the hundreds, right through our last fish caught at 11:10 AM. This area produced over 90 fish, 75% of which were over 12.5 inches, with some just touching the 14 3/4 inch mark.

For this deep work, I chose white, three-quarter and three-eighths ounce slabs equipped with Hazy Eye Stinger hooks. Over 60% of the fish were caught on the stinger hook, begging the question would those fish have been caught had I not used a stinger hook?  I have long since answered that question for myself – – that is why every single slab I use is now equipped with such a stinger hook. This is a super effective addition to any vertical presentation involving slabs.

When all was said and done we had voted 153 fish, including approximately six large mouth bass, approximately 10 freshwater drum, with the balance consisting of white bass.

TALLY = 153 FISH, all caught and released

Wx SNAPSHOT:

07FEB17

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:50a

End Time:  11:15a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 68F

Water Surface Temp:  55.7°F

Wind Speed & Direction:  Calm at sunrise, increasing to WSW13

Sky Conditions: Fair skies with light white cloud cover by 8:30a

Water Level:  0.19 feet above full pool

GT =  20

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Areas 1049/996, 1886, 1894, vic 648/1527, 923

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

YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-LGrD-sm7Bo6tDPIv0z4jg

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/holdingtheline/

SKIFF Kicks off a New Season — 67 Fish, Stillhouse Reservoir, 04 Feb.

This past Saturday morning I conducted the first SKIFF (Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun) program trip of the 2017 season. Aboard were Charley Elgin, age 13, and his nine-year-old sister, Addison Tinkelenberg.

ADDISON WHITE BASS

 

Nine-year-old Addison Tinkelenberg holds our largest fish of the trip, a 15.75 inch white bass which fell for a white slab in over 40 feet of water.

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From left: Addison Tinkelenberg and her brother, Charley Elgin, scored fish after fish during the morning’s peak feeding time between 8:30 and 9:30.  The pair landed 67 fish in four hours.

I first became acquainted with this family when Charley ‘s mom, Jessica, signed him up to go fishing with me through the Fort Hood SKIESUnlimited program.

As that trip concluded, Charley excitedly talked about his fishing experience which then caused his sister to want to give this whole outdoors thing a try. I also learned in talking with the kids’ mom that her husband, US Army Specialist Sean Tinkelenberg, was deployed as a scout with the 3rd Cavalry Regiment to Afghanistan. I let her know that I could take both kids fishing, all expenses paid, via the SKIFF Program.

Jessica hesitated on setting a date because her husband’s return date was drawing near, but was uncertain.

As it turned out, specialist SPC Tinkelenberg returned to U.S. soil this past Wednesday just in time for Addison’s ninth birthday.

We continued on with our plans to take the kids out fishing Saturday, while Sean and Jessica used the morning to prepare for Addison’s birthday party to be held at the bowling alley on Fort Hood with a handful of Addison’s friends and, of course, her family.

Sean and Jessica were very, very appreciative for the opportunities opened to their children, and for the flexibility in scheduling to allow them to make the most of celebrating both Sean’s return after his nine month absence, along with Addison’s birthday celebration.

On the fishing side of things, we were able to land 67 fish, including 65 white bass, one largemouth bass, and one freshwater drum.

The water temperature hovered at the season’s low thus far – – right at 53.8 to 54.1°. This is still several degrees warmer than the average water temperature for this time of year, thanks to our very mild winter thus far.

All of the fish we took today were taken either using an “easing” tactic near the bottom, typically upon our arrival at an area, or using a “slow smoking” technique for fish that rose off the bottom while following hooked schoolmates after we had fished an area for some length of time.

“Homefront” spouses with a husband or wife away from home on military duty (not just deployments) are welcomed to call me at 254.368.7411 to arrange for free 4-hour outing for your children.  Homefront parents are always welcome to attend, but are equally welcome to take some downtime from their own children and leave them in my care for this time on the water.

TALLY = 67 FISH, all caught and released

Wx SNAPSHOT:

04FEB17

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:50a

End Time:  10:50a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 50F

Water Surface Temp:  53.8 to 54.1°F

Wind Speed & Direction:  E8

Sky Conditions: 100% grey

Water Level:  0.22 feet above full pool

GT =  0

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Areas vic 549 through 1048, 1891 to 1892, vic 1494, and 1893

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

YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-LGrD-sm7Bo6tDPIv0z4jg

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/holdingtheline/