Miller & Sons — July White Bass Fishing on Stillhouse – 35 Fish

WHO I FISHED WITH:   This past Monday morning, July 2nd, I fished with Mr. Mike Miller of Harker Heights and his two adult sons, Jordan and Luke.  The trip was a Fathers’ Day gift to Mike from his wife, Luanne.  Of the three, Jordan fishes the most regularly and owns his own boat.  I had initially planned to take the threesome to Lake Belton for a mixed bag of white bass and hybrid stripers, but, after mulling things over, the fellows let me know they preferred to stay close to their campground at Union Grove Park and fish on Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir, instead.  Mike, who is more of a salt water angler, didn’t really fish that much but enjoyed the time on the water with his boys.

 

Jordan Miller with a pair of white bass caught early on in the trip on Pet Spoons downrigged around 31 feet deep over a deeper bottom.

Luke Miller with a 3-year-old fish landed later in our trip as the winds picked up to just barely white-capping, around 12-13 mph.

 

WHAT WE FISHED FOR:  This was a multi-species trip in which we caught white bass.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday morning, 02 July 2018

HOW WE FISHED: Although we attempted on a number of occasions to tempt somewhat-congregated schools of white bass/largemouth bass into biting on topwater presentations and on vertical presentations, the only tactic that produced on this fairly clear morning with low wind speeds was downrigging.  We successfully downrigged at 4 distinct locations and looked over 3 other locations which did not produce fish.  The 3-armed umbrella rig was the go-to bait this morning, decked out with small Pet Spoons.  The fishing was slow but steady, aside from the initial “low light” bite right before and during sunrise which gave up a disproportionate number of fish over a 25-30 minutes span.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES: Very little in the way of topwater action once again despite adequate sighting conditions.

TALLY: 34 FISH, ALL CAUGHT AND RELEASED

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:10a

End Time: 10:20a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  77F

Water Surface Temp:   83.6F

Wind Speed & Direction: S10 at trip’s start increasing to S15 by trip’s end

Sky Conditions: Under 20% white cloud cover on a blue sky.

Water Level:  5.86 feet low

GT = 35

Wx SNAPSHOT:   

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area SH0040C to SH0031C  – white bass on downriggers

**Area 660 to 1241 – white bass on downriggers

**Area vic 1704 – white bass on downriggers

**Area SH0039C to SH0018C – white bass on downriggers

 

Bob Maindelle, Central Texas Fishing Guide

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingelleTheLineGuideService.com

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