I fished a half-day morning trip today with Danny M. and Tim L. of Georgetown. We caught a mixed bag today allowing for both quantity and quality.

DANNY M. WITH A NICE 4.75# BLACK BASS TAKEN AROUND 8:30AM

THAT’S ME WITH A SWEET 15.25″, 1.75# STILLHOUSE WHITE BASS TAKEN ON A TNT 180 3/8oz. SLAB

Start Time: 6:45a


End Time: 12:45p

Air Temp: 62F at trip’s start.


Water Surface Temp: ~67.4F

Wind: Winds were 15mph+ at sunrise, steadily increasing to ~22 with gusts higher, all from the SSW.

Skies: Skies were fair the entire trip with just enough high thin clouds to take the edge off the sun’s intensity but not darken the sky to the point where topwater activity could be expected.

When Danny and I first spoke he mentioned that most of his experience centered around the pursuit of largemouth bass, but that he wasn’t stuck on fishing for just that particular species, so, we targeted whites early (when they are most accomodating) and largemouth later in the morning (when they are still quite active) and were able to enjoy the best of both worlds.

We began up shallow waiting for the rising sun to clear the cloud bank in the east before searching for the white bass. At Area 777 we boated our first fish on a jigworm — a short black of ~13″.

At sunrise, we continued our trip well east of Area 55 and stayed there for 2 hours and 45 minutes catching fish consistently. The “normal curve” of activity played out today with the action ramping up, peaking, and falling flat over this span of time. We all used the TNT 180 in 3/8 oz. and caught 66 fish here including 7 largemouth bass, 1 drum, 1 crappie, and 57 white bass of all sizes ranging from 6 inches up to 15.25 inches, with most going right at 11.75, and all looking healthy — none had concave bellies nor looked in poor condition. We caught fish primarily with a standard jigging approach with occasional opportunities for smoking the slab, usually in conjunction with another hooked fish being reeled in.

When the action here died, I set up with a downrigger to keep a lure in the water while I idled looking at sonar. Only Area 107 showed any promise, but did not produce. By around 10a we left the white bass in pursuit of largemouth.

We hit a number of points including Areas 420, 421, 422, and 426 and caught fish at each one. These fish ranged from 12 to 16 inches, with one 3+ pound fish lost at boatside. These fish came on a variety of soft plastics, all in darker hues. These fish all came pretty much one at a time, and we had to work for each one. The wind made both boat control and line control a bit tough, and the fish were in a neutral mode. We saw very few fish of any sort chasing bait, very little bird activity, etc. In all, we boated a total of 7 largemouth while fishing the soft plastics specifically pursuing them.

By 12:45 things were getting pretty slow and we called it a very good day.

TALLY = 73 FISH, all caught and released

Bob Maindelle, Owner, Holding The Line Guide Service and Kids Fish, Too! Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide, Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Lake Georgetown Fishing Guide, Walter E. Long (Decker) Lake Fishing Guide. Offering Salado Fishing, Killeen Fishing and Ft. Hood Fishing

I fished today with Ben W. of Taylor, TX, and his brother-in-law, Jeff, who is on active duty with the Air Force in San Antonio.

Ben contacted me about 3 weeks ago and was very anxious to learn about largemouth bass fishing with artificial lures. Up to this point he’d struggled to put all the pieces together and had mainly dead bait fished with closed-face equipment.

BEN W. CAUGHT HIS FIRST LARGEMOUTH EVER ON THIS “LEARN TO FISH FOR LARGEMOUTH” TRIP

Start Time: 6:45a


End Time: 1:15p

Air Temp: 51F at trip’s start.


Water Surface Temp: ~65.1F

Wind: Winds were variable in speed from NW to NNW at 2-7 the entire trip.

Skies: Skies were clear blue all day.

Our agreed upon objective for this trip was to give Ben some skills in both fish location and lure presentation so he could take these skills and do better than ever before on his home lake (Granger).

With this in mind I started off by completely explaining the concept of sonar and sonar interpretation. We combined this with terrain association so he could draw parallels between what he saw on the shore and what he saw on sonar.

We next sought out white bass so he could observe these fish on sonar responding to slabs directly beneath the boat. While on these fish, Ben learned to cast a spinning rod and to work a slab spoon effectively with that rod. We hung around Areas 103 and 108, as well at Area 418 and found very sluggish fish, as you’d expect with high pressure nearly completely built in and the winds calming down. Regardless, we were able to pick up 8 average white bass – enough for Ben to get the hang of keeping the lure on sonar and working it effectively both in front of bottom-hugging fish and suspended fish.

Next, we took up the task of largemouth bass fishing. We started with a very basic jigworm setup and hit a number of points including Areas 420, 421, 422, 246 to 423, and Areas 424 to 425. Every single one of this areas produced fish for us.

At first the jigging technique I instructed Ben in was awkward, but, as I gave him additional pointers to help him refine his technique, he got more fluid and natural in his presentation, and began catching fish, including the first largemouth bass of his life, followed by several more. Jeff, a bit more experienced with spinning gear, did very well.

By trip’s end, with only Ben and Jeff fishing, the two put 17 largemouth in the boat and had several more missed strikes and hooked fish get off at boatside when their jumps and headshakes went uncontrolled, including, unfortunately, the largest fish we raised all day — one I estimated at around 4 pounds … at least we got to see it!! Most fish were smallish, but the sheer number of them gave ample opportunity for someone new to this to feel the strike, to set the hook, to play the fish, etc.

Ben was excited at the end of the trip to put these new lessons learned to work for him, and I was excited for him. An enthusiastic learner is a real motivator for me, and Ben was just that … eager and appreciative.

TALLY = 25 FISH, all caught and released

Bob Maindelle, Owner, Holding The Line Guide Service and Kids Fish, Too! Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide, Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Lake Georgetown Fishing Guide, Walter E. Long (Decker) Lake Fishing Guide. Offering Salado Fishing, Killeen Fishing and Ft. Hood Fishing

I fished today with returning guests Jason and Melissa G., and their friends, Dian R. and Mike H., all from the Dallas area. Weather was a big concern on this trip as the rain and thunderstorms that moved in around 5am the day before didn’t break up and move out until around 10am today. For this reason, we did a “split trip” meaning we fished what remained of the morning bite after it was safe to get on the water, and then met again in the evening right at 6p, and fished the evening bite leaving the bright, windless mid-day hours alone.

Dian, Jason, Melissa and Mike with a sample of their morning catch. 149 fish were caught this day.

Start Time: 10:00a and again at 6:00p


End Time: 1:30p and again at dark at 8:10p

Air Temp: 61F at trip’s start (AM); 74F at trip’s start (PM).


Water Surface Temp: ~66F (AM); 70.5F (PM)

Wind: Winds were NE at 3-4 after the storms cleared but went flat calm by 11:30; afternoon winds were just puffing from the SE.

Skies: Skies were 100% in the morning, with afternoon clearing.

Environmental Note: We experienced 2.75 inches of rainfall from 5a on 17 April through 10a on 18 April.

When all was said and done today, we wound up taking fish from three general areas.

In the morning we found fish at between Area 143 and 54 in 24 to 25 feet of water, and again at Area 314 in 26-30 feet of water. At both areas we found fish both on bottom and suspended. The suspended fish were found from 12′ deep to the bottom. Just about any retrieve we tried took fish when they were spread through the water column including jigging, a lift-drop retrieve, and a smoking retrieve. Occasional, brief surface activity could be seen, but only 2-3 fish or so would be involved. Once the wind died and the sun brightened through the clouds, this bite was over.

In the evening we returned to between Area 143 and 54 right around 6:20 and did well there for about 30 minutes, then things went quiet. By this time the sun was getting low and some occasional, brief topwater feeding, again only involving several fish at a time, broke out, as did some feeding by terns. This was enough to signal to us where the fish were, and we were able to get on top of them and stay on them until dark, at and around Area 419. Dian and I caught fish consistently using a vertical presentation, and Jayson, Mike and Melissa used a sub-surface retrieve to target the topwater action.

Today’s catch consisted of mainly white bass right around the 11 3/4 inch mark, with 3 crappie, 3 drum, and a dozen or more largemouth on both sides of the legal 14″ mark.

TALLY = 149 FISH, all caught and released

Bob Maindelle, Owner, Holding The Line Guide Service and Kids Fish, Too! Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide, Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Lake Georgetown Fishing Guide, Walter E. Long (Decker) Lake Fishing Guide. Offering Salado Fishing, Killeen Fishing and Ft. Hood Fishing

Fished a half-day morning trip with my little buddy Jaylen today. The threadfin shad spawn has begun making for some good shallow water action.

SOME EARLY SHALLOW ACTION TODAY DRIVEN BY THREADFIN SPAWNING ACTIVITY

JAYLEN KEPT RIGHT UP WITH ME TODAY HELP BOAT A TEAM TOTAL OF 103 FISH

Start Time: 7:00a


End Time: 1:00p


Air Temp: 59F at trip’s start.


Water Surface Temp: ~64F

Wind: Winds were SE at 7-9 at sunrise (obscured) and increased to SE at 13-16 by trip’s end.

Skies: Skies were 100% overcast the entire trip.

Environmental Note: We witnessed abundant threadfin shad spawning in the shallows today.

I was a bit concerned about today’s adventure given an easterly component to the wind, but the rising water temperature trumped all and put the threadfin shad to the shoreline spawning.

We looked closely for the right kind of bird activity to point the way to fish, and several accommodating blue herons, egrets, and ospreys helped us out. After unsuccessfully flatline trolling a bit, we witnessed this bird activity at Area 426 and acted on it. From 7:30 to 10:00a we stayed on the fish, all in less than 9 feet of water, and many within feet of the shoreline. We encountered a mix of black bass and white bass in about a 2 to 5 ratio. Of the blacks we caught, half were legal. I used a bladebait and Jaylen used a Bomber, and we did well on both. By the time the action here died down, we’d boated 49 fish including the two largemouth shown above.

After this I poked around in deep water but found little. By ll:30a, I gave Area 418 and vicinity a try with the slab and came up with 3 short crappie and moved on.

Finally, Area 108 showed some signs of life tight to the bottom as I motored over with sonar on. I looped back after buoying the best of what I saw and had very active white bass respond to our smoking retrieves in 25-27 feet of water. Over the next 90 minutes the two of us put an additional 51 fish in the boat. These were all white bass and all right at the 11 to 11 1/2 inch mark. These fish were spawned out and very healthy with plump bellies. When the action died to the point where the fish would no longer respond to a smoking retrieve, we left them alone and headed for lunch.

TALLY = 103 FISH, all caught and released

Bob Maindelle, Owner, Holding The Line Guide Service and Kids Fish, Too! Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide, Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Lake Georgetown Fishing Guide, Walter E. Long (Decker) Lake Fishing Guide. Offering Salado Fishing, Killeen Fishing and Ft. Hood Fishing

Fished a 1/2 day evening “Kids Fish, Too!” trip with Jaylen G. of Killeen this evening. Jaylen is a very bright, studious, articulate 4th Grader and he can work a mean slab spoon, too!!

JAYLEN WITH THE BEST TWO WHITES OF THE 79 WE CAUGHT.

Start Time: 5:00p


End Time: 8:10p


Air Temp: 69F at trip’s start.


Water Surface Temp: ~63F

Wind: Winds were tapering off from the WNW at about 14 mph down to 3 past sunset.

Skies: Skies were fair with scattered high clouds.

Environmental Note: Saw the first 2 flocks of cowbirds for the season traveling the lake this evening, and this coincided with the first observation I’ve made of sustained topwater white bass feeding.

Fishing was easy tonight … we went to two locations and caught fish at both of them without much fanfare at all.

Our first stop came to the SE of Area 410 around 5:15 after watching sonar and not fishing several areas due to a lack of fish, bait, or both. The wind was blowing into this breakline and bottom-hugging fish were present on the feature. A straight-forward slabbing technique netted us 8 white bass and a short largemouth over a 70 minute span.

We left here after that light action tapered off, and I searched a good 3/8 of a mile of river channel without seeing much at all on sonar.

By 7:00p I wanted to be up shallower, and so headed over and checked out Area 418 and downwind to the SE of it by ~50 yards. As I motored in, sonar just lit up with fish littering the bottom and I knew this was going to be good. I encouraged Jaylen to really concentrate on doing all the basics right so we didn’t start catching fish and then break our momentum with a tangle, a lure caught in clothing, etc., etc. He really did very well and nearly matched me fish for fish. We caught exactly 70 fish from this general area in an hour’s time. We started in 20 feet with straight vertical jigging, then drifted back into 16 feet, still catching them vertical jigging, and adding a lift-drop technique with a slab to Jaylen’s repertoire. I then put on a blade bait while he was doing well on the lift-dropped slab. When Jaylen wanted to experiment with a bladebait, I went with topwater and caught the first topwater whites of the year from Stillhouse (#2 Polished Chicken Rig). Once sunset was past and it got dark, the only active fish were the ones just 7-8 feet down from the surface. I used a subsurface bladebait to milk the final 5 fish out of the area. By 8:10p, that was all she wrote.

TALLY = 79 FISH, all caught and released

Bob Maindelle, Owner, Holding The Line Guide Service and Kids Fish, Too! Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide, Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Lake Georgetown Fishing Guide, Walter E. Long (Decker) Lake Fishing Guide. Offering Salado Fishing, Killeen Fishing and Ft. Hood Fishing

Fished a 1/2 day morning “Kids Fish, Too!” trip with grandpa Keith L. of Georgetown, TX, and his 8 and 9 year old grandsons, Andrew B. and Luke B. of Copley, Ohio. The boys were down visiting during their Spring Break. On this day, we enjoyed near 70 degree temps at sunrise, and the boys were glad to point out that it was snowing back home!!

ANDREW, GRANDPA KEITH, AND LUKE ON THE BOYS’ SPRING BREAK TRIP FROM COPLEY, OHIO

Start Time: 7:15a


End Time: 11:45a


Air Temp: 69F at trip’s start warming to 84F in the afternoon.


Water Surface Temp: ~63F

Wind: Winds were just right — from the SW at about 12 mph.

Skies: Skies were overcast and grey.

I had a good feeling about this morning’s trip as it was balmy overnight, it was warm and humid at the start of the trip, and a front was due in later in the day with winds due to be taking a NW turn and getting pretty hard.

The boys were enthusiastic and attentive which I was pleased to see. With the water temps still in the low 60’s, we’re still on a pretty technically demanding slab bite, but the boys were able to catch on very quickly to the instruction I was giving them about keeping their slabs where the fish were.

We launched out and I kept a sharp eye out for birds. We immediately saw 2 osprey working and observed each catch a fish. Suspecting small, schooled white bass near the surface, I went to investigate, but found the birds were picking off large gizzard shad.

We settled in and fished an 80 yard swath extending to the NNW of Area 143. I originally got on this area based on some definite but scant sonar returns showing fish in and around this feature. As we began working our slabs, the action began, then increased, then peaked, then fell, then went flat, all over a 2 hour span. It is great to have kids on board and ride that entire morning-feed bell curve like that. We put 43 fish in the boat during the feed and then things quieted down. During the feed we caught fish with both a standard jigging approach and via smoking for doubles and triples at the peak of the bite when fish were chasing hooked schoolmates. We also caught fish using a lift-drop retrieve on cast spoons. Occasionally, a single white bass or at most 2-3 fish were seen chasing single shad on the surface.

We combed the area with downriggers after the bite died and added 2 more fish to our tally on White Willow Spoons and then left this area altogether after subsequent passes failed to produce.

Our count stood at 45 fish and it was now about 10:30a. I told the boys I thought we could get to 50 if they were up for it. They gave me the thumbs up and so we then pursued 5 additional fish with crankbaits. We locked onto 2 largemouth and a crappie at Area 888 to Area 405, and lost a real nice largemouth here, too. It’s now 11:10 and we need 2 more fish.

We head down to Area 110, and no sooner get our baits in the water than Luke comes up with #49, a white bass, with plenty of other fish showing on sonar. Two more passes yield nothing and the school is gone.

We turn parallel to shore and head to the NE of Area 110 — the starboard rod begins to dig in to bottom, then the port side rod does the same — Andrew thinks he’s got one on so we all look but see it’s just the crank rubbing bottom. Then it happened — Luke’s rod loaded and the fish was on. He’d caught the last 3 fish and decided to give the honors to his big brother. Andrew didn’t take the privilege lightly and did a fine job bringing #50 to net — yet another foot-long white bass going right at 3/4 pounds.

50 fish on the nose and home we went!!

TALLY = 50 FISH, all caught and released

Bob Maindelle, Owner, Holding The Line Guide Service and Kids Fish, Too! Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide, Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Lake Georgetown Fishing Guide, Walter E. Long (Decker) Lake Fishing Guide. Offering Salado Fishing, Killeen Fishing and Ft. Hood Fishing

Fished a 1/2 day evening “Kids Fish, Too!” trip with Dr. Kenton Z. and his children, Gillian and Tor of Pittsburg, PA. The kids were down visiting during their Spring Break. On this day, we enjoyed near 80 degree temps at trip’s start, but with it, endured a wicked NW wind that really cramped our style a bit.

KENTON AND THE KIDS, GILLIAN AND TOR, TROOPERS ALL!!

A WIND-DRIVEN 5,000 ACRE BRUSHFIRE ON FT. HOOD COULD BE SEEN FROM THE LAKE OVER THE ENTIRETY OF OUR TRIP.

Start Time: 3:45p


End Time: 7:45a


Air Temp: 83F at trip’s start.


Water Surface Temp: ~61-64F

Wind: Winds cranked up to near 30mph for the first 90 minutes of the trip, then tapered off to less than 14 by trip’s end, all from the WNW.

Skies: Skies were clear and bright.

As we began our trip, I got to know the family a bit and learned that Gillian, age 13, had never caught a fish before, and that Tor, age 11, had only reeled in a fish someone else had hooked. I promised the kids that by trip’s end they’d both be catching fish independently, and they really seemed enthused at that prospect.

Based on the length and intensity of the morning bite (fairly strong bite, ending around 9:30a) I was hopeful we’d see a moderate pre-sunset bite this evening, and that is what we experienced. I had hoped to fill in the ‘meantime’ with some deepwater fishing in the relatively lower light conditions found there, but the very strong winds denied us access to that.

So, we sampled some mid-depth areas and struck out, and headed to the shallower waters of Area 412 by 5:30p, about an hour before I’d normally try there. We were modestly rewarded here with 8 fish … but those fish were the first these kids had ever caught on their own and they were super excited about it. Once Tor caught his first fish and realized how important correct lure presentation was, he asked me to double-check his presentation every time he dropped his slab!!

As the 6:30-7:00p timeframe came, birds began to coalesce in our vicinity, but they never grouped up tightly nor fed heavily — nor did the fish. We hopped over to Area 389 and found more fish during this time right on bottom with just a few getting active enough for a short span of time to allow us to enjoy a second spurt of activity resulting in 13 more fish coming aboard — all average white bass. We also lost 3 right at boatside — but that’s how it goes with new anglers going through the learning curve.

By 7:30 the fishing here had all but shut down and the birds had departed. We headed back towards the dock looking for birds as we went but found none.

So, the count for the day stood at 21 fish by the time the trip was through, but for two brand new fisherman in some tough, frontal, windy conditions, that was pretty darn good. Great job kids!!

TALLY = 21 FISH, all caught and released

Bob Maindelle, Owner, Holding The Line Guide Service and Kids Fish, Too! Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide, Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Lake Georgetown Fishing Guide, Walter E. Long (Decker) Lake Fishing Guide. Offering Salado Fishing, Killeen Fishing and Ft. Hood Fishing

Fished a 1/2 day evening trip with Tim S. and his fishing buddies, Steve, Jay, and Shawn. The four were taking part in a trade show at the Expo Center and made a little time to fish after getting set up.

Start Time: 2:30p


End Time: 7:55p


Air Temp: 72F at trip’s start.


Water Surface Temp: ~62-63F

Wind: Winds were variable from 5 to 12 from the SW.

Skies: Skies were fair.

I had a good feeling about today’s trip due to the hard, cold wind that had blown all day on Monday, dropping Monday’s sunrise temperature to 41F, and allowing for an overnight freeze into this morning. That, coupled with calm winds this morning added up to a 36 hour period of unfavorable feeding conditions followed by increasing temperatures, the presence of wind, and a wind direction of SSW right in time for this trip.

We began our trip vertical jigging in 24-30 feet of water at Area 417 along the breakline here. We immediately got onto fish, putting 7 white bass in the boat in no time. These fish were not tightly grouped up (scattered) and were in a neutral mode. I felt we could be doing better given the conditions so we moved.

I headed to Areas 346 through Area 301 and ran sonar over all areas in between these two areas and saw very little on sonar. I ran a downrigger to test the waters as I graphed the area, came up empty, and we soon left.

We next headed to Area 150. I found solid sonar returns showing fish holding very tightly to the bottom here. As soon as our slabs went down we started pulling fish. These were all white bass in a mix of sizes from 7 to 13 inches with a single largemouth thrown in for good measure. We caught 38 fish here hovering over a 35 foot swath of bottom.

Once this dried up, we again located fish on sonar, this time at Area 187. We encountered nearly identical results here … a size mix of white bass feeding moderately and steadily, tight to the bottom. We managed two crappie here as well, bringing our catch at this location up to 20 fish, and a total of 65 for the trip thus far. It was now 6:30p and the light level was beginning to wane a bit.

Accordingly, the bite began to soften, so we headed for brighter conditions and found ample fish under plentiful but undecided and scattered birds in both Areas 389 and 412. These fish were all 24-27 feet deep and were much more apt to be grouped together and to pursue a hooked schoolmate off the bottom, thus lending themselves to being caught in doubles and triples. When all was said and done, we’d put an additional 37 fish in the boat off of these areas including a better size distribution of white bass and a single average keeper black bass. This brought our trip total to 102 fish caught.

It is interesting to note that despite regular catches of hybrid up to this point, we did not land a single hybrid (legal or short) in this entire trip.

TALLY = 102 FISH, all caught and released

Bob Maindelle, Owner, Holding The Line Guide Service and Kids Fish, Too! Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide, Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Lake Georgetown Fishing Guide, Walter E. Long (Decker) Lake Fishing Guide. Offering Salado Fishing, Killeen Fishing and Ft. Hood Fishing

Fished a 1/2 day “Kids Fish, Too!” trip this evening on Stillhouse with Steve K. of Killeen. Steve comes from a single parent home and mom wanted him to have some “guy time”. Now, Steve is only 4 years old, and so his attention span is pretty short, so we fished in a way to cater to that fact — and I brought Rebecca as a second set of eyes, ears, and hands.

STEVIE K. WITH A NICE STILLHOUSE SPRINGTIME LARGEMOUTH

Start Time: 5:00p


End Time: 7:50pa


Air Temp: 79F at trip’s start.


Water Surface Temp: ~62F

Wind: Winds were moderate at 12-15 from SSW at trip’s start and gradually tapered off to 3-4 mph by trip’s end.

Skies: Skies were fair.

I started us out looking for some easy deepwater jigging over white bass, and found some at Area 410, but each time we caught a fish out of the fairly thick school there, we drifted off as we tried to show Steve the fish, take pictures, answer all his questions, etc. So, it was entertaining and educational for Steve, but we weren’t fishing very effectively — sometimes that okay, though. We kept a livebait rod rigged and down in this area.

We put 2 largemouth (on livebait) and 7 whites (on slab) in the boat off of this area before the school dissipated. We then searched downlake from here but didn’t find much going on. Around 6:50p we spotted a flock of terns working over a fair expanse of water with some occasionally indicating definite fish activity over Area 411. We got right on these birds (the first evening bird activity I’ve seen since January) and did real well. With all 3 of us jigging, we quickly put 26 fish in the boat in less than 40 minutes, all on TNT 180 slabs (3/8 oz.).

As sunset approached, these active fish began to move up in the water column and were still very active and catchable, but trying to explain to a 4 year old how to catch a suspended fish was just not in the cards. We left these fish biting and headed for one last stop in shallow water to check for some topwater, but found none.

TALLY = 35 FISH, all caught and released

Bob Maindelle, Owner, Holding The Line Guide Service and Kids Fish, Too! Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide, Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Lake Georgetown Fishing Guide, Walter E. Long (Decker) Lake Fishing Guide. Offering Salado Fishing, Killeen Fishing and Ft. Hood Fishing

Fished a 1/2 day “Kids Fish, Too!” trip this morning on Stillhouse with Jaylen G. of Killeen. Jaylen’s mom is being hospitalized and he needed a little time to decompress so we went out fishing.

JAYLEN WITH A SOLID FISH TAKEN ON CRANKBAIT

Start Time: 7:15a


End Time: 10:00a


Air Temp: 53F at trip’s start, and warming to only 62 in the afternoon.


Water Surface Temp: ~60F

Wind: Winds were light from the SSW until around 8:20, then shifted WNW and quickly ramped up to 35+ with higher gusts making boat control impossible.

Skies: Skies were clear blue.

The winds were barely blowing from the SSW at sunrise. We headed out to scout for birds but didn’t see much, so we then scouted with sonar.

We encountered good sonar returns tight to bottom in 21-24 feet of water at Area 108 and fished that area thoroughly fearing a light, short bite given the bright conditions.

The winds quickly ramped up from near calm to 20, then 25, then 30, then 35, until we simply could not control the boat well enough to fish any longer. By this time we’d boated 14 white bass and a fair largemouth all on TNT 180’s in 3/8 oz., and all via a standard jigging approach right on bottom.

At this point,Jaylen (who only weighs about 75 pounds) wisely decided to take cover from the wind behind the console while I packed it up and headed for shelter.

This suddenly felt more like an evacuation than a trip back to the boat ramp! The wind just kept getting stronger and stronger, and by now there was a dusty appearance to the sky that actually began to block sunlight because of all of the particulate matter the wind was carrying with it.

Well, we made it to the leeward shore and played around a little with some flatline trolling resulting in a single largemouth (albeit the best fish of the trip) off of Area 115 and a single crappie of about 11 inches from off the shoreline at Area 336.

We called it quits at that time around 10 am. When I arrived home, the NOAA radio reported 45 mph straightline winds with gusts over 50. That’s Spring fishing!!

TALLY = 16 FISH, all caught and released

Bob Maindelle, Owner, Holding The Line Guide Service and Kids Fish, Too! Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide, Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Lake Georgetown Fishing Guide, Walter E. Long (Decker) Lake Fishing Guide. Offering Salado Fishing, Killeen Fishing and Ft. Hood Fishing