WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Saturday morning, March 9th, I fished with U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel David Bowers, Robert Smith (a friend of David’s mom), and David’s two kids, Kayden (age 6) and Keira (age 4).
David is a battalion commander at Ft. Hood, and Robert is retired from the glass industry in the Cincinnati area and now serves at Raptors, Inc. which cares for injured birds of prey and educates the public about these birds.
Strangely enough and evidently in an aerial display of appreciation for Robert’s efforts, we were treated to a rare sighting of a pair of bald eagles flying slowly from SW to NE directly overhead around 9:15 am!!
PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Robert Smith, Kayden, Keira, and David Bowen with a sampling of the white bass we landed today on vertical tactics used in deep water.
WHAT WE FISHED FOR: This trip was a multi-species fishing trip focused on white bass.
WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir
WHEN WE FISHED: Saturday morning, 09 March
HOW WE FISHED: This trip was nearly a carbon copy of the past two trips on Stillhouse this past Wednesday and Friday in that the still-cold water has the fish still fairly deep and fairly sluggish. We therefore vertically jigged using the “old faithful” snap-jigging method to take the lion’s share of our catch this morning from fish on bottom in 45-50 feet of water. The fishing was steady right up until 9:50a, at which time a narrow band of showers moving from west to east dropped about 10 minutes worth of rain on us. This rain was the lead edge of a mild cold front. Immediately after its passage the fishing got tough as the skies cleared and the air got cooler and drier. After a lull in the wind which had been blowing from the SW, about 20 minutes after the rain ended, the winds began to rapidly ramp up to NW18. As the winds increased, the bite bounced back and allowed us to enjoy a bit of slow smoking in 36-42 feet of water for fish that were just a bit more perky than those we’d encountered earlier.
OBSERVATIONS: Once again, birds were helpful in finding fish, but the fish under them tended to be well-spread and not very aggressive. The primary fish these gulls were feeding on were stunned sunfish, and there was much more flying and looking by these birds than there was diving and eating.
TALLY: 50 fish caught and released
TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 7:00am
End Time: 11:30am
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 68F
Elevation: 0.27 feet high, with a 0.03 foot drop over the last 24 hours
Water Surface Temp: 55.6
Wind Speed & Direction: Winds were SSW7-8 until the mild cold front’s passage at 9:50, then shifting NW and building quickly to 18 mph
Sky Conditions: Light grey skies with 90% coverage and little direct sun showing through until the mild cold front’s passage at 9:50, then clearing quickly to cloudless with noticeably less humidity
GT = 20
#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area vic 350/339 (low light bite under most helpful bird action of the AM)
**Area SH0094C
**Area vic 1537/SH0024C
**Area vic 1317
Bob Maindelle
Full-time, Professional Fishing Guide and Owner of Holding the Line Guide Service
Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide
254.368.7411 (call or text)
Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle
Twitter: www/twitter.com/bobmaindelle