This morning, Friday, July 21st, I welcomed aboard 15-year-old Aaron Cherry of Nolanville who was participating in the “Fishing 101” program I offer through the Ft. Hood SKIESUnlimited program. We fished a multi-species trip on Stillhouse.
Aaron Cherry of Nolanville with one of 58 fish we landed this morning. Most fish came in the first 2.5 hours under breezier conditions than we would encounter for the remainder of the trip. No fish were caught in less than 35 feet of water.
Aaron has fish with me before so much of the learning curve I must take new youngster through was already behind us, allowing us to get right down to catching. We downrigged for just a few minutes just prior to sunrise, but quickly changed over to vertical jigging based on the number of fish we saw both suspending and along the bottom. We caught a mix of white bass, largemouth bass, and freshwater drum on white 3/4 oz. slabs.
Because we were fishing in deep water (38 feet) and because the water is about as hot as it is going to get all year, some of our fish experienced barotrauma. This allowed us to experiment with a new device I’d had recommended to me by Jim Hester, a local bass tournament angler, called the Flip Clip. This is essentially a weighted alligator clip made of lead which pulls fish to the bottom of the live well and helps the pressure in their swim bladder equilibrate so they can be released and swim back to or near bottom. I was please with the performance of the device and now have 3 sets of 3 clips onboard to help with the release of fish retained for client photos.
All told, Aaron and I landed 58 fish. Most of these came in the first 2.5 hours of the trip. The last 1.5 hours was very tough as it got hotter, brighter, and more windless.
SKIESUnlimited stands for Schools of Knowledge, Inspiration, Exploration, and Skills.
SKIESUnlimited offers dozens of activities for military and Department of Defense kids of all ages, ranging from gymnastics to piano lessons, from academic tutoring to various forms of dance, and more. Monetary credit for such courses is available for children whose military parents are deployed.
To participate in such courses, children must first be registered with Child and Youth Services.
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.
TALLY: 58 FISH, all caught and released
TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 6:25am
End Time: 10:25am
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 81F
Water Surface Temp: 86F
Wind Speed & Direction: SSW breeze under 4 mph the entire trip
Sky Conditions: No cloud cover.
Water Level: 0.19 feet high and slowly falling with only evaporative losses of ~0.02 feet per day; 0 cfs release at dam
GT = 0
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area vic 1239 downrigging briefly, then transitioning into smoking with slabs once solid sonar returns were seen.
**Area 1241-1968 (in trough) downrigging after the Area 1239 bite soured
**Area 1960, 1528, and 664-649 — all produced scant results after 9a on downriggers
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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