WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Thursday, June 29, I fished with first time guests Mr. Victor Poole and his 10-year-old grandson, Watson Milam, both from the Waco area.
This was a “Kids Fish, Too!” trip, and was therefore a maximum of 3.5 hours in length, and a good bit less expensive than a 4-plus hour adult trip. On these kids trips, only the kids fish, and any adults attending simply help me help the kids be successful.
Here is how the fishing went…
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PHOTO CAPTION: This 14.75″ white bass was taken by 10-year-old Watson Milam; it was one of 40 he landed “all by himself”.
PHOTO CAPTION: That’s Watson Milam and his grandfather, Victor Poole, who served as a very capable first mate today, helping me help Watson be successful.
WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir
WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday, 28 June 2023 (AM)
HOW WE FISHED:
We met up at 6:35 AM and I explained to Watson how to hold and use both a spinning outfit and a casting outfit, as I planned to use both in pursuit of white bass this morning.
We began downrigging with a single downrigger equipped with a 3-armed umbrella rig trailing three #12 Pet Spoons. We immediately got into fish just as the sun was clearing the horizon, and stayed in fish right through 9:15 AM when Watson’s interest began to wane.
On three occasions the concentration of fish we passed over while downrigging was sufficiently great that it led me to believe we could Spot-Lock on those fish and work MAL Heavy lures vertically through them.
This worked out well, as did the fact that the Garmin LiveScope really appealed to Watson, who expressed an interest in video games. Using a “smoking” retrieve through these fish which were in the lower fourth of the water column, we got them to concentrate beneath the boat using a splasher, and to chase Watson’s bait as he reeled quickly and smoothly on a consistent basis.
Watson caught a one-man limit of 25 white bass exceeding 10 inches by 8:37 AM, and landed another 15 legal fish by the time we changed tactics at 9:15 AM.
From 9:15 until 10:00 AM we pursued panfish up in shallow hydrilla using a pole with a float and bait suspended beneath. Watson picked up another 10 fish during this time, including bluegill sunfish, longear sunfish, and a single blacktail shiner.
At the 3.5 hour mark the heat was beginning to come on strong and we concluded this very successful children’s fishing trip with exactly 50 fish boated.
TALLY: 50 fish caught and released.
Find the entire family of MAL Lures here: https://whitebasstools.com/
OBSERVATIONS: Next to no schooling largemouth bass activity observed.
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 6:35A
End Time: 10:05A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 78F
Elevation: 13.96 feet low, 0 CFS flow (thus causing a slight 24 hour rise)
Water Surface Temp: 84.5F on the surface.
Wind Speed & Direction: Gusty at SSE9-13 all morning
Sky Condition: Light blue, cloudless skies all morning
Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 80% illumination.
GT = 45
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
Downrigging from 1397 thru SH0120C with stops atop concentrations of fish mixed in
Area vic 1397/1423 – Smoked for whites
Area SH0140G – Smoked for whites
Area 1412 – Smoked for whites
Areas 231 & 239 – sunfish
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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