WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Monday morning, March 4th, I fished a special trip with my wife, Rebecca, my friend, Ronnie Trower, and two fine fellows from the TPWD’s Dundee Hatchery in Electra, TX, Cody Talley and Wesley Ide.
Our goal today was to capture large, egg-laden white bass, retain them during the trip, transfer them into a hatchery truck, and send them to the Dundee facility where they are to be used to spawn with male stripers to produce hybrid striped bass.
Here is how the fishing went…
PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Wes Ide, Cody Talley, and Ronnie Trower place Stillhouse Hollow female white bass into a specialized trailer for transportation back to the Dundee Hatchery near Wichita Falls to be used to produce Sunshine-strain hybrid striped bass.
PHOTO CAPTION: Despite clear instructions to catch only mature, female white bass, Ronnie Trower, a dyed-in-the-wool bass fisherman, just couldn’t resist putting a few green fish in the boat!!
Find the Bladed Hazy Eye Slab here: https://whitebasstools.com/
WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir
WHEN WE FISHED: Monday, 04 March. 2024 (AM)
HOW WE FISHED:
After a 145 fish trip on Saturday, I texted Cody over the weekend letting him know that Monday was still not going to be a ‘cake walk’. Every year about Spring Break time, the strong winter pattern which normally develops by mid-December begins to rapidly break down. I saw evidence of this on Saturday, and the high temperatures we saw over the weekend just ushered this shift in even more quickly.
In summary, the five of us worked white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs intensely using a slow-smoking tactic in conjunction with Garmin LiveScope for a full five hours. As the bite wound down during the noon hour, we had amassed a catch of 52 fish. This included 13 of the target fish we’d hoped for, as well as numerous quality largemouth bass, freshwater drum, small whites of both genders, and quality male white bass.
The change in behavior I see this time of year involves fish vacating deep water, suspending more and using the bottom less, and seeing the large winter season schools break up into very small groups of 4-12 fish instead of 25 to 60 fish as is the case over the winter.
Cody and Wes truly take pride in what they do, are willing to go the extra mile to do it, and the fishing public directly benefits from their year-round efforts dealing with both the routine, and the many curveballs nature throws their way (like drought, sudden temperature drops, golden algae blooms, and more).
TALLY: 52 fish caught, 39 fish released, and 13 fish sent to the Dundee Hatchery.
Here is a tutorial on the snap-jigging method … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGtrnAQ_T94&t=55s
Here is a tutorial on the slow-smoking tactic we used… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIPopSLUYoQ
OBSERVATIONS: Here was the water temperature measured in 5′ increments from the surface to the bottom in 50′ on the morning of 02 March…
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 7:15A
End Time: 1:00P
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 64F
Elevation: 16.84 feet low, 1 CFS flow
Water Surface Temp: 58.4F on the surface.
Wind Speed & Direction: Calm for the first hour, with winds going S9 thereafter
Sky Condition: Partial sun shining through 60-85% cloud cover.
Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 41% illumination.
GT = 20
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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