WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning I fished with a crew of 4 fellows from various walks of life. John Anderson, the one who organized the trip, retired from environmental compliance work for the McLane Company. Next was James Mills who took John’s position when he retired. Then there was Durwin Speidel, who managed the environmental, health, and safety program for Schlumberger before retiring. Steve Sanders, a retired Killeen banker, rounded our crew.
Although all four men had fished before, none had fished the way we did today, using an electronics-intensive approach for deepwater white bass.
PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Steve Sanders, James Mills, John Anderson, and Durwin Speidel, each with a white bass taken in over 40 feet of water using tailspinners in conjunction with LiveScope technology by Garmin.
WHAT WE FISHED FOR: White bass
WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir
WHEN WE FISHED: 20 May 2019, AM
HOW WE FISHED: Once again, thanks to very dark skies through 8:40, the fishing, all of which is taking place in deep water, did not turn on until around 9:00 AM. I theorize that the deep water is not well illuminated during the earlier morning hours, thus leading to a late-morning bite for going on 2 weeks now. At 40-50 feet, with thick cloud cover obscuring the sun, and with flood water making the lake murky, it has got to be quite dark at such depths.
We found active fish at two separate locations this morning at which we landed the majority of our 53 fish. Even though we did enjoy success, the action today was relatively subdued. The fish did not move about along the bottom with the frequency and intensity I saw last week. When we did raise interested fish, not nearly as many chased their hooked schoolmates upwards, and the schools of fish we encountered moved off with only minor interest in the commotion we created with our lures, the thumper, and hooked fish being played back to the boat.
Tailspinners performed well, and, thanks to this crew following my suggestions to a “T” for minimizing lost fish, we had very few fish hooked which did not make it aboard to be included in our tally.
OBSERVATIONS: After fishing these lakes for 27 years, I suppose I have developed a “sixth sense” for what kind of activity level the fish will likely display, based on water and weather conditions. That sense told me today’s results would be diminished. When I try to pin down what gave me that feeling, I believe the gusty wind conditions that existed prior to sunrise, and the very dark cloud cover combined to keep me from getting excited about our prospects once the sun rose this morning. Gusty pre-dawn winds never seem to bode well, and, on morning trips, anytime the sun’s intensity is insufficient to cause me to squint due to very heavy cloudiness, I feel our chances of doing real well are reduced. This “gut feeling” turned out right on this morning. Yes, we caught fish, but the bite was soft as compared to last week’s results with very little other than the current weather having changed over the weekend.
TALLY: 53 fish caught and released – including 69 white bass and 1 freshwater drum
TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 6:45a
End Time: 11:15a
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 76F
Elevation: 8.14 feet high with a 0.02′ 24-hour drop and a 914 cfs flow from the dam.
Water Surface Temp: 80.1F
Wind Speed & Direction: S12-14 and gusty
Sky Conditions: Grey skies all morning with varying light levels changing with cloud thickness. A light, spitting rain through 9AM.
GT = 65
#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area SH0116C
**Area SH0117C
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
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Twitter: www/twitter.com/bobmaindelle