WHO I FISHED WITH: This afternoon, Thursday, 28 March, I fished with Belton natives Terri Covington, her son, Dave Covington, and Dave’s son, 6-year-old Andy Covington, on the occasion of Andy’s sixth birthday. Terri planned this well ahead of time, desiring the event to coincide with the actual date of Andy’s birthday. I expressed some concern about taking a child so young at this point in the season when options are limited and the techniques are a bit technical, but, all worked out well in the end.
PHOTO CAPTION: Andy Covington, son of Dave Covington and grandson of Terri Covington, was treated to a birthday fishing trip. We landed 45 fish in just under 3 1/2 hours of fishing on Stillhouse.
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: 28 March 2019
HOW WE FISHED: I began our trip up shallow hoping for some sunfish to offer a bit of instant gratification, but, the heavy chop had muddied near-shore waters and sunfish just weren’t in the cards. We changed over quickly to covering water by flatline trolling and began to pick up single fish with some regularity. Next, a helpful handful of gulls showed some activity over a patch of open water, leading us to find white bass aggressively feeding on shad in about 22 feet of water, allowing all of us to catch a number of fish in short order primarily via a snap-jigging tactic. Although smoking a slab and lift-dropping a blade also produced, the snap-jigged slab with stinger produced best.
After this hour-long run was over, we picked up a few more fish in two separate locations via flatline trolling, and then called it a day around 7:45p given that Andy has school tomorrow. We all bet he sleeps well tonight!!
OBSERVATIONS: The action has definitely moved shallow thanks to the multi-day warming trend and high winds of the majority of this day.
TALLY: 45 fish caught and released
TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 4:15p
End Time: 7:45p
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 76F
Elevation: 0.11 feet high, with a 0.08 foot 24-hour rise
Water Surface Temp: 66.8F
Wind Speed & Direction: SSE17+ at trip’s start, tapering down to SSE13 by trip’s end
Sky Conditions: 40% white cloud cover at trip’s start, transitioning to 100% thin, grey cloud cover by trip’s end
GT = 55
#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area 729 thru 1967 – flatlining
**Area SH0106C – snap jigging
**Area 114 thru 703 – flatlining
**Area 116 thru 291 – flatlining
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