Bass on Top; Whites on Bottom — 106 Fish on SKIFF Trip #6

This past Monday morning I fished the sixth SKIFF (Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun) program trip of the 2017 season with returning guests Charley and Addison Elgin.

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We found willing white bass from the surface to the bottom this morning with largemouth bass pointing the way to them as they thrashed shad in the upper 4 feet of the water column.

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Charley really got good at sight casting accurately with both a lightweight grub on a jighead and with a heavier slab to cover distance.  He worked over the largemouth up high, while Addison worked the white bass down below.

 

These siblings joined me previously while their dad, US Army Specialist Sean Tinkelenberg, was deployed to Southwest Asia.  After being on the ground a few months at Fort Hood he was assigned to train cadets at Fort Knox, KY, this summer.

After some pretty turbulent weather over the weekend, the sun cleared from behind a low deck of clouds in the east right around 6:30 and, with calm wind conditions, topwater action by largemouth bass and white bass was easy to spot. This surface feeding behavior has just taken on the first bit of consistency in this summer season and we should see it continue in all but turbulent weather conditions.

We fished just one area this morning about 4 to 5 acres in size and caught largemouth bass in the upper 4 feet of the water column on both slabs and grubs, and we caught white bass throughout the water column down to as much as 68 feet deep on slabs using a smoking tactic.  It is clear that no thermocline has yet set up.

Because the kids came into this trip with prior experience under their belt, they were able to capitalize on all the potential the fish offered this morning. Charley and Addison wound up landing 106 fish this morning with very few fish hooked and missed. Honestly, most adult clients don’t demonstrate such a good hook-to- land ratio.

I told the kids’ mom I would have them back to the dock right at the 4-hour mark, around 10:15, and for better or for worse, the fish tapered off right around 9:50, so we were able to head in punctually without leaving the fish biting.

TALLY: 106 FISH, all caught and released

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:10a

End Time: 10:15a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 74F

Water Surface Temp: 83.9F

Wind Speed & Direction: ENE0-4

Sky Conditions: Low grey cloud bank in the east obscured sunrise, but once sun cleared that, ~30% cloud cover

Water Level: 0.25feet high and slowly rising; 0 cfs release at dam

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:

26JUN17

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area encompassed by 1259 through 1953 through 945 through1694 –  this ~ 5 acre area produced all of our fish this morning

Bob Maindelle

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

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