This past Saturday I helped 10-year-old Kyle Benson of China Spring, TX, celebrate his birthday along with his grandpa, William Dickson, and his step-dad, Kyle Jewell.
Largemouth, white bass, and freshwater drum were stacked in and around a 50 foot draw and readily struck our white Redneck Model 180 slabs with Hazy Eye Stinger Hooks attached. We landed 60 our our 100 fish fishing this shoal of fish with a vertical approach.
We got going right at 6:15am and, after the skies brightened a bit, found a collection of white bass “wolf packs” occupying a patch of water about 5 acres in size. These fish were holding together in groups of 6-10 fish per “pack” and were suspended at around 31 feet beneath the surface. This scenario is just right for downrigging and that is exactly how we approached this situation.
Running a pair of downrigger rods, each equipped with a 3-armed umbrella rig complete with a trio of Pet Spoons, we took singles and doubles for about a 90 minute span, taking our tally up to 31 fish. After the fish dispersed and the fishing slowed, we moved on.
Next, I searched for fish in a large, deep draw and, after a bit of sonar work, found enough white bass holding closely enough together that I felt a vertical tactic, aided by the consolidating influence of my thumper, would be effective. We put the boat into a hover over this bottom feature using the Minn Kota Ulterra’s Spot Lock feature, got the thumper going, and got 4 slabs working vertically. Before long, the colored sonar began to reveal fish coming in to the commotion we were creating. Once we caught the first “icebreaker” fish, it was game on. We sat in this one area for another 90 minutes and landed a total of 60 additional fish including mainly white bass with a few largemouth and drum sprinkled in. As this bite died right at 10am, our tally stood at 91 fish.
I suggested that we head shallow and finish up doing some simple, fun sunfishing with poles and slipfloats, mainly to give Kyle and son a way to catch fish without the aid of a boat. We moved to the back of a cover-filled cove and, in a matter of minutes put 9 more fish in the boat so as to make it a bona fide 100 fish day.
TALLY: 100 FISH, all caught and released
Wx Snapshot:
TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 6:15a
End Time: 10:45a
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 79F
Water Surface Temp: 84.1F
Wind Speed & Direction: SSW6-9
Sky Conditions: ~40% cloudy
Water Level: 0.06 feet high and slowly falling; 0 cfs release at dam
GT = 0
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area 789-790 – low light vertical tactics for white bass on breakline in 38′ — 2 fish
**Area 649 to 1506 – downrigging for singles and doubles – 29 fish
**Area 1952 – deep white bass action on slabs in 50 feet under open water – 60 fish
**Area 1948 – shallow sunfish on slip float – 9 fish
Bob Maindelle
Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service
254.368.7411 (call or text)
Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
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