WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Tuesday, March 8th, I fished with Dayton Collingsworth of Hewitt, TX, accompanied by his 18-year-old daughter, Grace, and his 11-year-old son, Michael.
The kids are on their public school spring break (which felt more like winter break!) this week, so their dad took some time off to spend with them.
Dayton received the fishing trip in a prize drawing over the holidays as an employee of Kiella Builders in Temple, where he serves on staff as an (Aggie) architect. Brooke Kiella put the whole holiday celebration together and was great to work with in that regard.
Here is how the fishing went …
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My next few openings will be on March 30th and April 4th thru 7th. Weekday mornings are always best.
PHOTO CAPTION: 18-year-old Grace Collingsworth of Hewitt, TX, landed this 6.75-pound largemouth plump with eggs while casting for white bass while on Spring Break with her dad and brother. This fish took an MAL Heavy Lure with silver blade and chartreuse tail.
PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Dayton, Grace, and Michael Collingsworth on the kids’ Spring Break 2022 part of which was spent white bass fishing on Stillhouse Hollow for pre-spawn fish.
WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow
WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday (AM), 08 March 2021
HOW WE FISHED:
After making a number of observations on fish behavior and location while on the water yesterday after the passage of a stiff cold front in the early morning hours on Monday, I was able to refine my approach today (Tuesday) and tried to be at the right places at the right times to make the most of the fishery in this still-cold water.
White bass are definitely moving upstream gathering (or “staging”) for the right combination of conditions to head to their spawning grounds, but cold water and lack of flow certainly aren’t helping things along.
This morning I relied heavily on side-imaging to find fish in small, nomadic groups, then worked to position cross-wind of them to allow my crew to cast to them as I kept tabs on their presence and numbers by continuing to observe side-imaging from our Spot-Locked position.
Although we did well on the MAL Dense Lures yesterday, they were actually a bit too heavy for the shallower waters we were fishing, so, this morning I re-rigged with MAL Heavy Lures which are just a tad lighter. This was a great way for me to gauge the “effective range” of the MAL Dense, which I would set at water no shallower than 16-18 feet when used horizontally. It will be effective to 40+ feet on the other end of the spectrum.
As was the case yesterday, the catching was strong through about 10A, then sharply tapered off. Deep fish essentially ignored us after we left the shallow bite alone around this 10A timeframe.
The “sawtooth” retrieve was the ticket today as the fish are still very closely relating to bottom.
We caught 58 white bass and 2 largemouth bass this morning, 100% of which came on MAL Heavy with silver blade and chartreuse tail
Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs and MAL Lures are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/
TALLY: 60 fish caught and released
OBSERVATIONS: 10A seems to be quitting time since the last cold front passed early Mon. AM. Both fish and bird activity sharply dropped off after this point in time both yesterday and today.
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 7:15A
End Time: 11:45A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 41F
Elevation: 3.12 feet low, 0.02′ fall in last 24 hours, 1 CFS flow
Water Surface Temp: 53.6F
Wind Speed & Direction: N8-10 all morning
Sky Condition: 100% grey cloud cover all morning
Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 32% illumination.
GT = 0
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
Areas SH0074G, SH0075G, SH0076G
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
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