WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning I fished with Mr. Steve Niemeier, his daughter, Emily Haberer, and Emily’s daughter, 3 1/2 year old, Zoey Haberer. This was a “Kids Fish, Too!” trip just for Zoey. This was Zoey’s first fishing trip and her first time on a boat. Zoey is among the youngest anglers I’ve ever taken out, as I normally start around age 5, but, I knew Steve was already familiar with all of the tactics we’d be using and that he and Emily would work to help me make Zoey successful, so I was at ease with taking on the challenge. Within just a few minutes of having Zoey on board, she had landed the first fish of her life, a small longear sunfish, thus earning a “First Fish Award” from Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
This was 3 1/2-year-old Zoey’s largest fish caught on her very first fishing trip ever! This 16″ largemouth was lurking down in ~36′ of water over a deeper bottom gorging on young of the year shad about 1.25″ long. It struck one of the 3 Pet Spoons on one of our two umbrella rigs presented by way of downriggers. The fish leapt from the water twice on its way to the boat, but the hook held fast and Zoey brought it to net like a pro.
This was the fish that got the ball rolling this morning. This 3.25″ longear sunfish struck just minutes after Zoey came aboard. It got her engaged and earned her a TPWD First Fish Award.
WHAT WE FISHED FOR: This was a multi-species trip focused on sunfish & white bass.
WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir
WHEN WE FISHED: Monday morning, 10 September 2018
HOW WE FISHED: This morning, in order to build in “transitions” necessary to keep a 3 1/2-year-old engaged, we fished using two very different tactics and used these both in a number of different areas. With kids this young, even in the midst of the most successful fishing, they can lose interest pretty quickly, so, sometimes just a quick boatride elsewhere to continue doing the exact same thing is all they need to re-energize
OBSERVATIONS/NOTES: Thanks to cooler, cloudy, rainy weather, our surface temperature dropped from 85.0F on Saturday down to 82.4F before dawn this morning.
TALLY: 37 fish, all caught and released
TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 7:00 am
End Time: 10:30 am
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 72F
Water Surface Temp: 85.0F
Wind Speed & Direction: Winds were light SSW at sunrise under 4mph, then swung more and more westerly as the morning went by, ending up at WSW8 by trip’s end.
Sky Conditions: 100% grey cloud cover.
Water Level: 8.04 feet low and rising slowly thanks to steady rains region-wide over the past several days.
GT = 40
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area SH0055C – 20 sunfish
**Area 1707 – sightcasting for topwater largemouth under birds
**Area 1246-1241 – downrigging for white bass & largemouth under birds; balls set 30-36′ deep
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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