WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, April 15th, I fished with new clients Jonathan Blauvelt and his fiancee, Gloria Rodriguez. The two met at a Starbucks while Jonathan was on active duty and Gloria was grading papers while she was teaching in the public school system. They are due to be married at the Cadet Chapel at West Point, NY, in July of this year.
Jonathan is a Class of 2005 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and is thereby part of the “Long Grey Line”. He served as a commissioned officer in the Signal Corps. Gloria is from McAllen, TX, graduated from the University of Texas – Rio Grande Valley, and currently works for the Nolanville Economic Development Corporation.
PHOTO CAPTION: Jonathan Blauvelt and Gloria Rodriguez, each with a pair of white bass from among the 104 we caught on the first day of decent fishing weather we’ve enjoyed in about a week’s time.
WHAT WE FISHED FOR: This was a multispecies trip focused on white bass.
WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow
WHEN WE FISHED: 15 April 2019, AM
HOW WE FISHED: We finally got a day’s worth of weather I could get excited about and, evidently, the fish were excited about it, as well. The overnight lows did not drop down as low as were forecast (only dropped to 55F), and a southerly breeze was already moving the water before sunrise.
We enjoyed consistent action on white bass willing to take paddletail grubs on 1/4 oz. jigheads from 7:00am through 8:35am. These fish were feeding on shad on a flat in under 12 feet of water, although there was very little surface action to give away their presence after the sun rose. We landed 41 white bass during this low-light feed.
We had a bit of a lull from 8:45 to 9:30 as the sun continued to rise and brighten the cloudless sky, and before the wind built up enough to create wave action.
By 9:30 enough wind had worked on the water long enough to help the open water bite develop. I checked 4 areas before finding fish at a fifth area. The action built nicely after we fooled the first 2 or 3 fish into biting, and we stayed on these fish at this one spot without short-hopping a single time all the way until 11:15. We relied heavily on the Garmin LiveScope technology to keep our baits in front of the fish regardless of the depth the fish were using. Most of the action took place in the lower 1/3 of the water column as we sat in 32 feet of water. We landed 63 white bass here, all on 3/8 oz. Hazy Eye Slab/Stinger combinations in white color.
OBSERVATIONS: No gulls seen. Working ospreys helped identify general fish holding areas, but not as precisely as gulls would have.
TALLY: 104 fish caught and released
TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 6:45a
End Time: 11:15a
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 55F
Elevation: 0.49′ above full pool with a 0.05′ 24-hour drop
Water Surface Temp: ~63.9F
Wind Speed & Direction: SSW3 at trip’s start, building to SSW14 by trip’s end
Sky Conditions: No cloud cover.
GT = 0
#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area vic 1697 – low-light, shallow bite from 7 – 8:35 for 41 fish on paddletail grub/jighead
**Area vic SH0005C – open water bite in 32′ for 63 fish on 3/8 oz. slab
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