DOWN TO THE WIRE – 42 FISH

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Wednesday, August 18th, I fished with first-time guests Roy, Julie, and Austin Gann (age 13), from Academy, Texas.
Roy and Julie run their own HVAC/plumbing business, and Julie also serves as a volunteer, leading the Academy FFA Booster Club. It was through that FFA Booster Club connection that I connected with the Ganns.
After donating to the FFA for a few years now, Julie thought they’d give coming out and fishing with me a try and see what these trips they’d been raffling off were like.
With Academy schools going back in session tomorrow, the Ganns got this trip in just under the wire. According to Roy, it served as good practice for getting up early tomorrow (and for the rest of the school year!).
PHOTO CAPTION: Although there were three or four times where we had at least three fish on the line at one time which would allow for a nice family photo, I was hesitant to stop fishing to take pictures since the fishing was tough and we didn’t want to let an opportunity slip by with a big school of fish under the boat. White bass taken from deep water in the summer don’t last long if not released promptly, so, instead of putting fish in the livewell and risking it, we went with multiple photos today in the interest of conservation.
PHOTO CAPTION: If Austin is as good a student in the classroom as he was on the water, he’ll do well this year in eighth grade. Whenever I observed something in Austin’s technique which I felt would cost him fish, I let him know, and he straightened it out quickly.
PHOTO CAPTION: MAL Heavy Lures with white blade ready for action this morning with rainy conditions called for throughout the day.
WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow
WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday (AM), 18 August 2021
HOW WE FISHED:
Our unstable weather continued this week with fluctuating wind and sky conditions and splotchy rain across Central Texas since last Saturday’s cold front pushed through. Unstable weather leads to tougher fishing, and that is what we experienced this morning.
There was next to no low-light downrigger bite this morning as the skies stayed heavily overcast until after 7:40. We landed only one fish on the ‘riggers.
Once the skies brightened a bit and the wind came up to about SSE9, a tentative bite began. From that point forward we worked MAL Heavy Lures with white blades vertically for a solid 3+ hours to piece together a catch, catching 5-6 fish here, another 7 or 8 there, and always the bite was best as soon as we began presenting to these fish. Without exception, the longer we stayed, the slower the bite got. If there was a “peak” this morning, it was a soft one, around 8:15 – 8:50 AM. During this time we witnessed the fastest rate of movement amongst the fish was observed on LiveScope, and, these fish generally were up higher in the water column and were the most prone to chase our presentations of all the fish we encountered. We fished only two general areas, but made multiple “short hops” at each one. We had to go to the fish, as the fish would not come to us.
I see a lot of fish come over the side of the boat each year on both Belton and Stillhouse. This morning, Roy landed a true 16.00″ white bass with excellent body condition. It was good to see that kind of quality, especially in the summer.
Although we really had to work today for our catch, Roy put things in perspective letting me know the that 42 fish we caught was, give or take, about 41 more than they usually catch on their own fishing excursions. I appreciated that.
No sooner did the Ganns clear the parking lot, then it started pouring rain as I was getting the boat prepped to trailer back home. Good timing! Thank you, Lord, for the rain, and for allowing us to get in a full morning of fishing, as well.
We landed 42 white bass.
MAL Lures are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/
TALLY: 42 fish caught and released
OBSERVATIONS: 1) No topwater activity observed this morning. 2) Not a single fish we caught regurgitated any shad prior to our last stop around 9:55AM; 2 out of every 3 fish at this area threw up young-of-the-year threadfins here.
TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 6:50A
End Time: 11:00A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 74F
Elevation: 0.40′ high, .03′ 24-hour fall, and a flow of 1cfs
Water Surface Temp: 84.2
Wind Speed & Direction: SSE7 at first light, increasing to SSE12 by trip’s end
Sky Condition: 100% thick grey clouds all morning
Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 81% illumination
GT = 0
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area 1569 through 1419 – multiple short hops using MAL Heavy in white blade/chart. tail
**Area 194 – multiple short hops using MAL Heavy in white blade/chart. tail
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