WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Monday morning I ran a multi-species trip on Stillhouse Hollow for a gentleman from the Round Rock area and his two sons, ages 7 & 9. Due to this fellow’s job with Homeland Security, he preferred not to be named, nor to show photos of himself or his family.
Folks often ask what I mean when I refer to white bass being in a certain “year class”. This simply refers to how long the fish have been in the reservoir since being spawned. Of the fish shown in this photo, the top fish is right at 13.5 inches and is a “three year” class fish, heading towards its fourth “birthday”. The fish in the middle is a “two year” class fish of about 11.25 inches in length. The smallest fish, a “one year” class fish is right at 9.75 inches. These sizes are fairly normal for our relatively infertile central Texas reservoirs. In more fertile waters (like those found in east Texas, like Tawakoni, Cedar Creek, Richland-Chambers, and others, growth rates are higher because food is more abundant.
WHAT WE FISHED FOR: This was a multi-species trip focused on sunfish and white bass
WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow
WHEN WE FISHED: Monday morning, 07 August 2018
HOW WE FISHED: We fished for the first hour and 15 minutes following sunrise up in shallow water for small white bass aggressively herding shad to the surface, thus making their whereabouts known. The boys had very limited prior fishing experience, so, learning to cast with spinning gear was our first prerequisite. After the first 10-15 minutes both boys were casting unaided and with enough distance and accuracy to land their own fish. The boys and their father landed 23 white bass. Once the sun’s angle increased, and with no cloud cover to reduce its intensity, the white bass action on top stopped around 7:45a. We hit two locations searching for sunfish and found fish at the second stop after finding no fish at our first stop (water was a bit turbid thanks to overnight winds blowing into this area). The boys landed 17 sunfish. Our last hour was spent in pursuit of larger, suspended white bass holding at around 34 feet deep. We accessed these fish with downriggers equipped with Pet Spoons on a pair of 3-armed umbrella rigs. The boys and their dad landed a total of 18 white bass in the 1 and 2 year class, and a single largemouth at this area.
OBSERVATIONS/NOTES:
TALLY: 59 fish, all caught and released
TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 6:30a
End Time: 10:40a
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 76F
Water Surface Temp: 84.4F
Wind Speed & Direction: Calm through 7:45am, then starting due south building to 12mph
Sky Conditions: ~10% cloud cover
Water Level: 7.48 feet low
GT = 0
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area 093 – small white bass caught from surface-feeding schools of fish on Cork Rigs.
**Area 420 – sunfish
**Area 1242-SH0047C – downrigging for white bass with one largemouth
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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