WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Wednesday, July 19th, I fished with three of the eight grandchildren of Joe (and Dicque) Oliver. Joining their grandfather this morning were Ben, Beau, and Addie Pugh, as well as the kids’ mom (Joe’s daughter), Amber Pugh, and Joe’s son, Thomas Oliver, the kids’ uncle.
Each summer for many years now Joe has hosted these two sets of three grandkids, treating them to an outdoor, family-oriented experience before the new school year begins.
As everyone boarded the boat, talk immediately turned toward competing with the results of the kids’ cousins (Cullen, Presley, & Harper Oliver and their dad, Corey) after their 93-fish haul last week.
Here’s how the fishing went…
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Next available dates are July 31 & August 21 (AM)
PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Joe Oliver, Ben Pugh, Thomas Oliver, Addie, Amber, and Beau Pugh (in 2023).
PHOTO CAPTION: …and here’s that same crew of kiddos 5 years ago (in 2018) — that’s Addie, Ben, and Beau in the front row with their mom and Uncle Thomas behind! They haven’t missed a year in between.
WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir
WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday, 19 July 2023 (AM)
HOW WE FISHED:
In a word, the fishing this morning was just “flat”. We found fish in multiple locations, but, with the exception of a short, 25-minute window at mid-morning during which both the gamefish and bait got “frisky”, and during which we enjoyed our best catch rate, the fishing was just pretty tough.
When white bass are starting to feed, in the midst of feeding, and coming off of a feed, they will typically be suspended at least slightly up off the bottom, thus allowing them to be detected with sonar much more readily than when they are in “sulk mode” with bellies-to-bottom before and after feeding.
This morning, there were just far fewer fish to detect than in recent days. When I did see fish and got set up over them, we caught a few, typically right off the bat, but really didn’t see a bite strengthen by drawing in fish from the surrounding area by creating commotion as we caught fish and used the splasher.
Regardless, everyone did catch fish today using both the downrigging tactic and by way of “smoking” MAL Lures (MAL Heavies with white tails) vertically, and all enjoyed one another’s company while doing it.
Amber and Beau both learned to cast spinning gear today, and Joe and Thomas have officially become semi-pro downrigger operators!
This crew landed 44 fish this morning, including 43 white bass (all legal), and 1 freshwater drum in the five pound range.
TALLY: 44 fish caught and released.
See a tutorial on the Smoking Method here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE
Here is a tutorial on the Sawtooth Method: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3FMEQHOMQ
Find the entire family of MAL Lures here: https://whitebasstools.com/
OBSERVATIONS: This was the temperature profile on Stillhouse taken before sunrise on 19 July…
0 feet, 86.4F
5 feet, 87.2F
10 feet, 87.3F
15 feet, 87.3F
20 feet, 87.3F
25 feet, 87.0F
30 feet, 84.2F
35 feet, 75.6F
40 feet, 69.6F
45 feet, 67.4F
50 feet, 65.5F
55 feet, 62.2F
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 6:25A
End Time: 10:30A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 81F
Elevation: 15.17 feet low, 1 CFS flow
Water Surface Temp: 86.4F on the surface.
Wind Speed & Direction: SSW11-13 all morning
Sky Condition: 0% cloud cover
Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 3% illumination.
GT = 30
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
Area vic SH0032G – early downrigging only
Area vic SH0227G – smoking MALs
Area vic SH0213G – smoking MALs
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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