One Last Stab at It! — 56 Fish, SKIFF Trip #28

This afternoon, December 30th, I fished with Bryetun Maxwell and his grandpa, Bob McCaughey, both of Killeen, TX.  This was the 28th SKIFF trip of the 2014 season.  SKIFF (Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun) trips are provided free of charge to families whose children are separated from a parent due to that parent’s military service, thanks to the Austin Fly Fishers and a network of supportive individuals from all over the U.S.  All it takes is a phone call from a parent to me at 254-368-7411 to reserve a date.

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Bryetun Maxwell and his PaPa Bob with a pair of white bass taken on slabs as a slow-moving cold front passed into the central Texas area today.

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Bryetun got quite a kick out of hooking two fish on one slab — one on the treble hook affixed to the bottom, and one on the single assist hook affixed to the line tie.

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Here’s what was going on beneath the boat as the arriving front stirred these several hundred fish into a feeding mode for over 3 hours.

Bryetun is an 8-year-old third grade student.  He is son of U.S. Air Force Technical Sergeant Jonathan Maxwell and Mrs. Mindy Maxwell.  TEC Sergeant Maxwell is currently deployed to Southwest Asia and is assigned to the 3rd Weather Squadron.  This is his 3rd wartime deployment.  Bryetun’s grandpa, PaPa Bob, joined us as a non-fishing chaperone.

Just before the Christmas holidays, Bryetun’s grandmother, Mary McCaughey, saw a recent newspaper article about the SKIFF program and approached me about taking her grandson out fishing.  When I saw how today’s cold front was due to arrive, I knew the fishing would be very good as long as Bryetun could tolerate the conditions.  To their credit, mom and grandpa saw to it that Bryetun was bundled up with 4 layers of clothing plus a lifejacket on top, a hat, gloves, and more.  All this helped Bryetun endure for about 3 1/2 hours of a planned 4 hour trip before the increasing cold, wind, windchill factor, and setting sun pushed him to his limit and he let me know his face and legs were just too cold to keep going.

Fortunately, the fish, although definitely slowing down due to the falling water temperatures, were actively feeding for the entire time we were on the water.  We made 3 stops this afternoon finding fish at each one and exposing Bryetun to several variations on the theme of vertical jigging.  The first two concentrations of fish we found with sonar, and the last was pointed out to us by actively working terns.   We wound up catching 55 white bass and a single freshwater drum on this chilly December day.

This was my last trip for 2014, as tomorrow’s post-frontal conditions will make for poor fishing.  This 28th SKIFF trip set our SKIFF Program record for the most SKIFF trips conducted in a year since the program’s inception in 2009, a testament to the long-term support of the Austin Fly Fishers for our men and women in uniform and their families.

 

TALLY = 56 FISH, all caught and released

 

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TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 1:30p

End Time:  4:45p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  45F

Water Surface Temp:  52.8 to 53.4F

Wind Speed & Direction:  NNE13

Sky Conditions:  Greyed over entire time.

Other: GT=0

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 074, slow-smoking for 28 fish

**Area  1197, easing for 20 fish

**Area  1517, slow-smoking for 8 fish

 

 

Bob Maindelle

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Salado, TX

www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Something’s Fishy at Deer Camp — 138 Fish, Stillhouse, 29 Dec. 2014

As they did around this time last holiday season, Mr. Joe Rader, his son, Joey, and his nephew, Ryan, joined me for an evening of white bass fishing on Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir.  Around this time of year Joe’s family sets up a week-long deer camp on the Montieth Ranch west of Salado, TX, doing some RV camping, hunting, and relaxing.  For the past two years, they’ve mixed in a little fishing, as well.

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Joey Rader with a 1.75 pound largemouth he reeled in from ~40 feet of water.  This fish was mixed in with a large school of white bass and took a 3/4 oz. slab worked along the bottom.  That’s cousin Ryan in the background.

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L. To R. : Ryan, Joe, and Joey with a trio of white bass between 13 & 14 inches.

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Ryan with one of the freshwater drum we took along bottom on slabs.

Joe only had yesterday and today available for fishing, and I wanted to choose the best half-day window I could.  Sunday was easily ruled out due to a cold, wet northeast wind which offers predictably poor fishing.  This morning was due to be clear, cold (27F with a heavy frost), and still — the clear and cold are no big deal, but windless conditions and white bass just do not go well together.  So, that left us with this afternoon.

As I looked at the forecast beginning last Friday, this afternoon looked like it would offer temps in the 50’s, light but increasing cloud cover, and at least a breeze from the S or SW around 7-10.  This forecast held true and we wound up with wonderful conditions and some pretty hot white bass action as a result.

Due to the bright, low-wind conditions, my first instinct was to start deep and work our way back shallow as the sun’s angle decreased towards dark.  We found our first fish in around 50 feet of water, our next stop was in 44 feet of water, then 40, then 33, and we finished up in 26 feet of water.  As they often do, toward sunset, even the shallowest fish we found in 26 feet of water began to rise up off the bottom and suspended or slowly moved about in a horizontal band of water from 14 to 20 feet deep.  Although a standard vertical jigging tactic worked all day, in this last 30 minutes it was necessary to get our baits in front of these suspended fish, which we successfully did by doing a “slow smoke” tactic, taking our slabs from bottom, upwards ~17 feet to within 9 feet of the surface and adequately covering this 6 foot band the white bass had moved up into.

Ryan, age 10, had a good bit of fishing experience under his belt already, and today added to his store of knowledge some sound lessons on properly fighting fish by limiting rod movement so as not to allow slack in the line at any point in the fight.  Joey, age 6, did great for about the first 2 1/2 hours, then was satisfied to sample the snacks, reel in fish either Joe or I had hooked, release unhooked fish, spectate, etc.  Both boys did infinitely better than they did just a year ago.

This was a great day to be on the water, and great conditions for kids — willing fish that cooperated from start to finish accompanied by bearable weather.  For our efforts we boated 138 fish including 2 largemouth bass, 3 freshwater drum, and 133 white bass.  I hope Deer Camp 2015 will be a little fishy, too!

TALLY = 138 FISH, all but 3 caught and released

 

GUIDE’S WEBSITE: http://holdingthelineguideservice.com/

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 1:30p

End Time: 5:45p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 53F

Water Surface Temp: 54.4F

Wind Speed & Direction: SSW7-9

Sky Conditions: 130% high, wispy clouds on a fair sky

Other: GT=25

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area  946 vertical jigging for 68 fish

**Area  948 vertical jigging for 40 fish

**Area  1451 vertical jigging for 10 fish

**Area  1309 slow smoking for 1 suspended fish

**Area  1516 slow smoking for 19 fish

Bob Maindelle
Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide
Belton Lake Fishing Guide
Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service
254.368.7411 (call or text)

Cold, With and Extended Chance of Cold — 63 Fish, Stillhouse, 27 Dec. 2014

I was just about to wrap up my morning fishing trip yesterday when my phone rang.  Mr. Fred Ellis of Killeen, TX, called and let me know he follows my weekly fishing column in the Killeen Daily Herald, and that he wanted to treat some relatives to a fishing trip.  I looked at my calendar for the next several days and suggested we go this morning.

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Jayden Smith led the pack today with this plump 14 7/8 inch white bass taken on a white slab.  Is his nose blue?

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James Frankowski of Kyle, TX, picked up our only 2 largemouth of the day.  This one struck James’ slab as it fell.

At 7:15am I welcomed aboard Mr. Kenneth King, 12-year-old Jayden Smith, and 13-year old James Frankowski.  Kenneth, a U.S. Army veteran, now works at the new Seton Hospital in Harker Heights, Jayden is a 7th Grade student at Patterson Middle School, and James, formerly of Killeen, now attends middle school in Kyle, TX.  Our target species this morning would be white bass on Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir.

I felt this morning was going to give us our best shot over the next several days as we had a dry cold front rolling in, and from here on out our water temperatures are only going to get colder.  Until the water gets to 50-52F or so, dry fronts create a bit of a positive stir as the wind velocity increases, peaks, and then plateaus as high pressure builds in.

As we got going, the air temperature was 53F and the water surface temperature was 55F.  By the time we came off the water, the ambient temperature had fallen to 45F, putting the wind chill feeling like a toasty 36F.

After getting away from the wind-beaten boat launch area, we did a “jigging class” to get everyone calibrated with what had to happen in order to be successful on today’s trip.  The colder the water gets, the more exacting your presentation must be.  I knew the gusting winds were only going to make things more difficult, so we really worked on precision right from the start today.

We enjoyed success at 5 areas this morning.  Unlike the past 3 weeks or so, birds were not all that helpful in locating fish this morning, only aiding us in getting on white bass at our first stop.  After that, we had to rely on experience and sonar.

Fishing was cookie-cutter at the 5 areas we found fish on this morning.  The fish were buckled down tight to bottom, not biting very aggressively, and required an extended “deadstick” pause in many cases, but, they were biting and we were catching, and that’s what counts.

The boys were real troopers — evidently their enthusiasm was an adequate substitute for warmth for a full 4 3/4 hours as we steadily caught fish and they got steadily chillier.

We finished up the day with 63 fish including 1 freshwater drum, 2 largemouth bass, and 60 white bass.  Jayden landed our largest white bass which taped in at 14 7/8 inches.  Thanks, Uncle Fred!!

TALLY = 63 FISH, all caught and released

 

GUIDE’S WEBSITE: http://holdingthelineguideservice.com/

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:15a

End Time: 12:00p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 53F (falling to 45F)

Water Surface Temp: 54-55F

Wind Speed & Direction: NNW15 gusting to 18

Sky Conditions: 100% grey clouds with occasional brief drizzle

Other: GT=0

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 1500/1496 vertical jigging in 22-26 feet for small packs of fish under gulls

**Area 978 vertical jigging in 24-26 feet for fish found on sonar

**Area 1278 vertical jigging in 26-30 feet for fish found on sonar

**Area 1515 vertical jigging in 25-26 feet for more heavily schooled fish found on sonar

**Area 1514 vertical jigging in 25-26 feet for more heavily schooled fish found on sonar

Bob Maindelle
Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide
Belton Lake Fishing Guide
Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service
254.368.7411 (call or text)

Grippos and Ale-8-One — 51 Fish, Stillhouse Hollow, SKIFF Trip #27 of 2014

This morning, December 26th, I fished with Alex Gibbs of Harker Heights, TX.  This was the 27th SKIFF trip of the 2014 season.  SKIFF (Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun) trips are provided free of charge to families whose children are separated from a parent due to that parent’s military service, thanks to the Austin Fly Fishers and a network of supportive individuals from all over the U.S.  All it takes is a phone call from a parent to me at 254-368-7411 to reserve a date.

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Alex Gibbs with a nice pair of Stillhouse white bass taken on Reef Runner Cicada bladebaits up shallow.

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Two of our 51 fish today were largemouth bass.  This one went for a Storm Wiggle Wart fished in ~13 feet of water.

Alex is an easy-going 16-year-old student in his junior year at Harker Heights High School, where he is a part of the swim team. Alex is also a Boy Scout who recently completed his Eagle Scout project and now is waiting for the paperwork to clear to receive that distinction.  He oversaw the revision of a playground at St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church in Killeen.

Alex is the son of U.S. Army Major Lex Gibbs and his wife, Mrs. Carrie Gibbs.  Major Gibbs, now involved in his fourth deployment, is serving as a regimental executive officer stationed in the Sinai Peninsula on what we be nearly a year-long deployment.  If having dad gone weren’t tough enough, Carrie just had her gall bladder removed on Monday and is now recovering at home.  She is thankful for her unselfish, caring son and daughter (Sara) willing to pick up the slack while dad’s gone and mom’s down for a while.

Alex didn’t have a lot of prior fishing experience, but, his athleticism and coordination picked up where experience may have run a bit short, and he did very well today.  We had what will probably be the highest water temperature for the remainder of the winter as we began today with surface temps at 54.5F.  A series of cold fronts are due in which will push our temps lower and lower until the traditional warmup in late February or early March.  Despite the warm water and grey skies, we lacked wind for the entire trip and the fish were a bit sluggish as a result.  We had a very slow start, boating only 5 fish in the first hour on downriggers targeting scattered fish.  As the sun brightened the skies through the still-grey clouds, the shallows began to produce fish and, using a combination of casting bladebaits horizontally and jigging slabs vertically, we were able to end on a strong note with 51 fish boated for our efforts.  Our catch today included 49 white bass and 2 largemouth bass.

As we got to talking, Alex shared he has a “standing order” for his Christmas wish list each year, including two very uniquely “Kentuckyan” items: Grippos Chips and Ale-8-One soda.  He is a huge fan of the University of Kentucky basketball team and has UK and the University of Louisville on his college prospects list.  It’s great to see kids that have their heads screwed on straight, who give credit to the Lord for seeing them through rough patches in life, and who are thinking ahead.

In closing, Lex and Carrie, you’ve raised a great young man.  If there are others in your unit whose spouses could use a break and whose kids would like to spend some time outdoors, I can be reached at 254.368.7411 or Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com.  We look forward to your return!

TALLY = 51 FISH, all caught and released

 

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TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:20a

End Time:  11:40a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  52F

Water Surface Temp:  54.5F

Wind Speed & Direction:  Light & Variable

Sky Conditions:  Greyed over entire time with very light mist falling on occasion.

Other: GT=0

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area  1310/1510 downrigging under birds for 2 fish

**Area  1512 downrigging for 3 fish

**Area 1351 flatline trolling for 2 fish

**Area 550/110 up shallow casting bladebaits for 19 fish

**Area 1502 vertical jigging for 25 fish

 

Bob Maindelle

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Salado, TX

www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

The Kid is Good! — 67 Fish, Stillhouse, 22 Dec. 2014

This morning I fished with 9-year-old Kaden Lehrman, targeting white bass on Stillhouse Hollow.  This trip was a birthday present from his mom, Michelle Mikeska, and his grandparents, Don and Monica Mikeska.  This was Kaden’s third time out with me.

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Kaden Lehrman with one of 3 white bass we landed today that taped between 14 and 15 inches.  We boated a total of 67 fish today, primarily on 3/8 oz. slabs.

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This is what was taking place 20 feet under the boat as the white bass turned on the afterburners and started a heavy feed on threadfin shad at mid-morning today. This shows approximately 40 fish in a very tight school patrolling within 3 feet of the bottom.

Kaden is a 4th grade student at Timber Ridge Elementary School in the Killeen Independent School District and he has a real passion for and knack for fishing.  Seeing this, his mom and grandparents have helped him develop his potential by sending him to week-long fishing summer camps over the past two summers.  The summer of 2013 was spent in freshwater, and the summer of 2014 was spent in saltwater out of Port Aransas.

Each time Kaden and I have fished together, I’ve tried to introduce him to new tactics — our first trip was spent fishing live shad for hybrid on Lake Belton in the spring; our second trip was spent primarily downrigging in the summer for white bass on Stillhouse, and today’s trip introduced the tactics of vertical jigging, easing, and fishing bladebaits for white bass on Stillhouse.

We had good wind, good weather, and cooperative fish and birds this morning.  We got on fish right away and stayed on them until right at 11am when the last birds stopped feeding and the fishing went downhill quickly.

We began the morning on a slow, methodical bite for white bass on slabs under gulls, then, as the skies brightened and the winds increased, we found more heavily concentrated white bass action beneath terns in shallower water.  We initially caught these active fish by working Reef Runner Cicadas horizontally, and as the fishes’ interest in chasing diminished, we switched over to slabbing with 3/8 oz. silver Redneck Fishn Jigs model 180 slabs.

I was very impressed with Kaden’s ability to focus and maintain consistency in his technique over the entire 4+ hour duration of the trip.  Most kids his age will become distracted after going for any length of time without catching a fish, or even when we get on a hot bite and success becomes routine, but Kaden stayed sharp the entire time, working his slab perfectly, setting the hook well, fighting his hooked fish very well, and minimizing the amount of downtime we experienced due to things like tangles, etc.  Look out Kevin VanDam!

By the time the bite died, we’d boated 67 fish, including 1 largemouth bass, 3 freshwater drum, and 63 white bass with our best 3 taping between 14.25 and 15.00 inches.

TALLY = 67 FISH, all caught and released

 

GUIDE’S WEBSITE: http://holdingthelineguideservice.com/

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:20a

End Time: 11:30a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 56F

Water Surface Temp: 56.2-57.0F

Wind Speed & Direction: SSW11-14

Sky Conditions: 70% clouds on a blue sky with direct sun shining through

Other: GT=15

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 1510 in 15-17 feet of water under “first light” conditions

**Area 1511/1512/977 vertical jigging for sluggish fish under birds in 23-25′.

**Area 1509 – best fishing of the trip; 90 minutes on shallow, aggressive fish in under 16 feet of water, starting with blade baits and transitioning to slabs.

Bob Maindelle
Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide
Belton Lake Fishing Guide
Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service
254.368.7411 (call or text)

They Picked the Wright Day! — 110 Fish, Stillhouse Hollow, 19 Dec. 2014

This morning I fished with father-and-son team Curtis and Josh Wright from the Austin area. We specifically pursued white bass on Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir. This was the Curtis’ 5th trip with me, and Josh’s 3rd.

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L to R: Curtis and Josh Wright with a sampling of the 110 fish we caught today immediately following the passage of a complex of showers that dropped 1/4″ of rain overnight and left moderate temperatures, grey skies, and a NE breeze in its wake.

Josh is a 15-year-old high school student now on winter break from the Austin Independent School District, and Curtis is part-owner of a small business in Austin focused on optimizing loan portfolio performance for those dealing with loan programs in banking, education, and more.

The whole concept of going on a guided trip with me this day started the day before when Curtis contacted me asking for a referral for some solid coastal angling this time of year. I referred him to Cajun Phil Broussard’s “Cajun Paradise Lodge” operation on Lake Calcasieu in Louisiana after my friend and fellow guide Bruce Shuler of Shuler Outdoors recommended it to me.
 
After considering the time, distance and expense of a trip to Louisiana, Curtis decided to “keep it local” and gun for white bass on Stillhouse Hollow instead.

We experienced a ¼” of rain overnight, but, as I prepared for our trip beginning around 5:15am, it was clear that the rain would be moving off to the east by trip time, and a really good weather situation would be developing. I saw this exact same set of circumstances develop most recently on the day of the big Fishing for Freedom tournament on Lake Belton – as soon as the rain passed but while the grey clouds were still present, the fishing just went off the charts.

As we got going this morning, we enjoyed helpful bird activity courtesy of both gulls and terns right up until around 10:30am. These birds showed the way to two distinct areas where white bass were actively feeding on bait. The first area was in 22-25 feet of water, and the second was in 40-44 feet of water. We put 24 fish in the boat by slabbing with white ¾ oz Redneck Fishn Jigs model 180 slabs at the first area we fished, and 35 more fish at the second area we fish under birds, taking our tally up to 59 fish. All of the fish on these first two areas were solid, average Stillhouse white bass, going right at 12-13.5 inches. As the last birds departed from this area, we were then on our own to find additional fish “the hard way”, via sonar.

There are a number of deep-water areas that seem to activate in the winter and on a north wind, so, I began to look over such areas. We were fortunate to find fish all over the very first area I checked, and we were able to add an additional 33 fish to our tally via vertical jigging, taking our total to 92 fish. As we worked over this area for about 45 minutes, we saw the fish slow down significantly in the last 15 minutes here. As we slabbed, we found it necessary to allow our slabs to hang motionless for ~4 seconds or so to draw strikes versus the shorter pause time we had been using up until this point. About 4 of 5 fish on this area were smallish fish.

With 92 fish now boated and the “beginning of the end” before us (indicated by the absence of birds and the slowdown of the fish activity), I hoped we had enough time in this feeding window to break the 100 fish mark.

I headed to another open-water area that often lights up on a north wind, and, although there were fish on it, they were very stubborn. We landed just 2 fish in about 10 minutes of effort. I backed off of these fish, and looked with sonar just a few yards in all directions, thinking if the school was well-dispersed enough that we could fool a few more fish into biting, even if it took multiple “short hops” to get our lures in front of the few still-active fish amongst a population of increasingly inactive fish. As it turned out, the very first “hop” we made, about 15 yards NW of our initial stop had enough willing fish on it to allow us to meet and then exceed our goal. Over the next 25 minutes we put a final 16 fish in the boat, taking our grand total for the day up to 110 fish, including 1 largemouth, 4 freshwater drum, and 105 white bass, including the single largest white bass of the trip taken early on by Curtis, which taped in at 14.25”.

All but one of our fish today was taken on slabs fished vertically.

TALLY = 110 FISH, all caught and released

 

GUIDE’S WEBSITE: http://holdingthelineguideservice.com/

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:20a

End Time: 12:30p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 48F

Water Surface Temp: 57.3F

Wind Speed & Direction: NE10-13

Sky Conditions: 100% heavy overcast following a ¼” overnight

Other: GT=0

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 978 downrigging for 9 fish under low-light conditions and gulls

**Area 1501 downrigging for 4 fish

**Area 052 through 1351 – flatline trolling to find fish and then working bladebaits horizontally to increase efficiency, 11 fish

Bob Maindelle
Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide
Belton Lake Fishing Guide
Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service
254.368.7411 (call or text)

Happy 8th Birthday, Natalie! — 24 Fish, Stillhouse Hollow, 18 Dec. 2014

This morning I went white bass fishing on Central Texas’ Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir with Mr. Norm Dobias and his granddaughter, Natalie Ansley, in celebration of Natalie’s 8th birthday.

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Happy 8th Birthday, Natalie!  You did great!

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Natalie Ansley and her PaPa Norm Dobias after a morning of fishing on Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir.

Norm, known to Natalie as PaPa, came along as a non-fishing chaperone, so all of my attention was devoted to making Natalie successful.  Natalie has 3 sisters with another sibling on the way in March.  She is homeschooled, very articulate, and very pleasant.  She also showed up ready to fish!  PaPa taught her how to cast a close-faced reel prior to our trip, and, from what I understand, she enjoyed that so much she spent half a day casting into a swimming pool.  Norm is retired from both the dry cleaning business and from making a living as an auctioneer.

We waited until the night before to make a call on going today because the weather forecast was pretty questionable — I liked the prospect of grey skies and moderate temperatures, but was concerned about the lack of wind.

As we got going, we were blessed to find a hungry flock of about 5 ring-billed seagulls feeding over some fairly active white bass holding fairly tight to bottom in 25-27 feet.  Without wind and under a light fog, I knew these fish would be difficult for a “rookie” to catch via vertical jigging, so, I went with a downrigging approach, using twin ‘riggers each equipped with one White Willow Spoon set only 8-10 feet behind the ‘rigger ball.

After that first flock of gulls dissipated, a second flock of gulls organized over top of another patch of feeding fish in 28-30 feet of water about 500 yards away.  We rigged up the exact same way as before and were able to add another 4 fish to our tally by running our ‘rigger balls ~3 feet off bottom.

By around 9:50, this second flock of gulls had dissipated, so we headed out to look for more bird action.  Once again we found it, this time in the form of a small flock of terns working over fairly shallow 12-15 foot water.  We put out crankbaits on both sides of the boat to flatline troll to try to find fish since the terns were covering a pretty expansive area.  Once we found fish willing to bite and/or a concentration of fish on sonar, we stopped and worked bladebaits near bottom to exploit what we’d found.  Our pre-trip casting review at the boat ramp came in handy here, as Natalie was capable of making straight 40+ foot casts effectively, and then effectively working her bait back to the boat, as well.  She hooked and landed a number of white bass without any assistance whatsoever.

By 10:55 the water turned glassy smooth, the birds had gone to roost, and the fishing died hard.  We called it a day with 24 fish caught on Miss Natalie’s big birthday fishing adventure.

 

TALLY = 24 FISH, all caught and released

 

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TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:10a

End Time:  10:55p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  49F

Water Surface Temp: 57.3F

Wind Speed & Direction:  Light and variable

Sky Conditions: 100% heavy overcast bordering on light fog

Other: GT=20

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area  978 downrigging for 9  fish under low-light conditions and gulls

**Area 1501 downrigging for 4 fish

**Area 052 through 1351 – flatline trolling to find fish and then working bladebaits horizontally to increase efficiency, 11 fish

Bob Maindelle

Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide

Belton Lake Fishing Guide

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Bass, Bait, and Bill — 60 Fish, Stillhouse Hollow, 16 Dec. 2014

This morning I fished with Bill Mielke of Kempner, TX, as we sought after white bass using artificial lures on Stillhouse Hollow Lake located between Austin and Waco.

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Bill came up with a bit of a surprise — a channel catfish on a jigging spoon from out of 24 feet of water.  The bait was abundant in this area, thus a lot of gamefish were here, too.  In one area the size of our boat, we pulled multiple white bass, freshwater drum, largemouth bass, and this catfish, all in about 30 minutes’ time.

Bill Mielke Trip Dec 2014

Bill turned the camera on me today after I hooked this nice 5.00 pound largemouth co-located with schooled white bass near a tad of submerged timber.

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A few of the nice white bass we took from a large, mobile school of hundreds of fish we found at late morning.

Bill is both former military and a former cop (Atlanta, Georgia area) who is now married and raising two kids while going back to college on the G.I. Bill.

Bill is originally from “up north” in Minnesota, but, despite having lived in the land of 10,000 lakes, he hadn’t been fishing since he was 16, so, he we long overdue.

We had pretty brisk conditions today in the wake of yesterday’s cold front passage, but the north winds had not yet begin to slack off, so, I knew we still had a very good chance of putting together a decent catch.  We got going right at sunrise (which could actually be seen today after a long run of grey, cloudy days) and got right into some bird action which would come and go for the better part of nearly 3 hours before fading out around 10:15am.

Fishing was pretty straightforward today — we “read” the birds, located the fish the birds were working over top of via sonar, then worked a slab vertically for as long as the fish were willing to cooperate.  We found average action at the first 3 locations we hit, then excellent action from 9:00 to 10:00am at the last location we fished.

At this last location, Area 1503, fish were not just in the last 2-3 feet of the water column, they were in the lower 1/2 of the water column in ~41 feet of water and there were a lot of fish — several hundred — and they were on the move.  I have never encountered fish in this particular location before, and I suspect they were just migrating through on their general upstream movement towards the Lampasas River for a possible spawning run in the spring (if we have rain and flow by then).  Anyway, we used a very slow version of the smoking technique to interest these fish and then vertically jigged near bottom after they got sluggish.

When the birds pulled off of these fish, the bite was just about done.  We ended up with exactly 60 fish today including, 1 channel cat, 1 largemouth, 2 freshwater drum, and 56 white bass.

TALLY = 60 FISH, all caught and released

 

GUIDE’S WEBSITE: http://holdingthelineguideservice.com/

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:20a

End Time: 11:15a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 42F

Water Surface Temp: 57.0F

Wind Speed & Direction: NNW11-12

Sky Conditions: Post frontal and clear

Other: GT=0

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 1310/1501 vertical jigging in ~21-24 feet of water

**Area 1511 vertical jigging in 24-26 feet of water

**Area 470/988 vertical jigging in 24-25 feet of water

**Area 1503

Bob Maindelle
Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide
Belton Lake Fishing Guide
Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service
254.368.7411 (call or text)

Heights Vet Lands Magnum White Bass on Stillhouse — 50 Fish, 15 Dec. 2014

This morning I went white bass fishing on Central Texas’ Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir with Jim Mobley and Elwood Harmon, long-time friends and neighbors from Harker Heights, TX.

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Elwood Harmon caught this magnum-sized 16.50 inch white bass on Stillhouse in 18-20 feet of water on a bladebait.  White bass of this quality are quite rare on our clear, infertile, limestone lakes of Central Texas.  Elwood earned a TPWD Big Fish award for landing this fish.

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Just minutes after Elwood boated his magnum white bass, Jim came up with a 14.75 inch white bass which, on most days, would take big fish honors on Stillhouse or Belton.

Jim grew up in this area and remembers walking the banks of the now-inundated Lampasas River before Stillhouse Hollow was impounded in 1969; he works for an accounting firm in Killeen.  Elwood is a Vietnam veteran who retired after 21 years of service in the U.S. Army, and went on to a second career in the car business.  He is originally from northeastern Maine (and still has that great “Down East” accent!).

As I watched the weather forecast develop beginning last Thursday, it called for a mild, dry cold front to push into the area overnight Sunday and into the daytime hours on Monday.  This typically bodes well for fishing at least until the water temperatures drop into the low 50’s or high 40’s, so, I gave Jim a call and we put the trip on the books.

The fishing lately has been bird-oriented in the early hours of my morning trips, followed by solid fishing in deeper water in late morning after the birds dissipate.

Right on cue, as Jim and Elwood were making their way down the boat ramp to meet me, the first flock of gulls began working over open water, so, we skipped a number of “formalites” and made a beeline for the birds.  I found fish under birds in three distinct locations this morning, however, at the first two, the fish were not nearly as cooperative as the number of birds and those birds’ activity level would indicate.  We actually had more birds working over us than during any single trip so far this season, yet had a pretty average start, putting just 13 fish in the boat by the time the first 90 minutes of the trip had gone by.  These fish came primarily on horizontally worked bladebaits, with a few more added by way of slabbing on bottom.  An attempt at downrigging drew no strikes.

The third flock of birds we encountered helped us out a whole lot more than the first two.  This time we had terns working the fish instead of gulls like we had at the first two areas, and, these fish were in shallower water (16-20 feet versus 24-27 feet).  We cast Cicadas directly into the increasing wind and worked them close to bottom all the way back to the boat, adding an additional 24 fish to our tally over the two hours we spent working for the fish in this manner.  The fish were definitely clustered together — with 3 of us casting, it was not uncommon for 2 or all 3 of us to hook up at the same time, nor was it uncommon for all of us to go without a strike for a spell between encountering such clusters.  Out of this area Elwood pulled a really healthy 16.5″ white bass (which will earn him a TPWD Big Fish Award), and just minutes later, Jim pulled a 14.75″ white bass — both exceptional fish for our relatively infertile limestone lakes here in Central Texas.  Most of our fish from this area went right at 12.75″.

Around 11:15, this activity dried up and we set out looking in deeper water for more heavily schooled white bass.  We looked over 2 areas that had been producing well on the murky southerly winds we had up until Saturday, but neither of these panned out.  We finally caught up with a moderately-sized school in about 32 feet of water and went to work vertically jigging for them.  No sooner did we let down than Jim and I both came up with fish, and the action continued for about 40 minutes, albeit for fairly small fish.

By around 12:15, this deepwater action had ground to a halt, all bird life was sleeping on the shore, and it was apparent the morning feed had run its course.  We ended up with exactly 50 fish for the morning.

 

TALLY = 50 FISH, all caught and released

 

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TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:15a

End Time:  12:20p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  61F

Water Surface Temp: 58.1F

Wind Speed & Direction:  W7 increasing to WNW12 by trip’s end

Sky Conditions: Cloudless fair skies.

Other: GT=0

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area  977 for 5  fish under low-light conditions and gulls

**Area 1312/1310 for 8 fish under gulls

**Area  1167/303 spot-hopping for 24 fish on bladebaits (best quality fish here)

**Area 981 vertically jigging for 13 fish (most small fish from a single school)

 

 

Bob Maindelle

Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide

Belton Lake Fishing Guide

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

What’s Sweet on Both Ends and Soft in the Middle? — 67 Fish, Stillhouse, 13 Dec. 2014

This morning I went white bass fishing on Central Texas’ Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir, nestled between Austin and Waco.  This was a father and son trip for Dr. Chad McCormick and his 9-year-old son, Timothy.

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L to R: Chad and Timothy McCormick put 67 fish in the boat today.  We had good fishing at both ends of the trip with a lull in the middle due to some near-windless conditions.

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Dad got the best of the bunch today with this white bass that went just a shade over 13.5″.

The McCormick family now lives in Belton after traveling the country as both Chad and his wife worked their way through medical school, residency, and more, stopping in Kansas and Pennsylvania to end up here in central Texas where he practices as an oncologist and she practices as a pediatric hospitalist.

The night before our adventure I contacted Chad in order to understand the experience level Timothy would bring to the trip.  I learned that he had never used spinning gear before and, knowing that would be vital to success today, I planned to do an on-shore lesson on casting before we launched so we could take advantage of all we found.

Once again today the low-light bite occurring right at sunrise with obscured sun was fairly strong, lasting right at about 50 minutes.  It also produced the most consistently large fish of the 3 areas we located fish at today. We landed 13 white bass during this low-light feed under sparse bird action.  All fish went 12 to 13.5 inches.  As this bite died, I tried downrigging two areas for scattered fish, but the bite died pretty hard and the lack of wind did not help things.

Once the low-light bite was over, things got pretty tough as the winds had not yet picked up and conditions actually grew a bit more dim under near foggy conditions.  Seeing this develop, I knew from experience our best bet was going to be fishing shallow in the more well-illuminated water under 15 feet deep.  We did so and were rewarded for the move.  We worked bladebaits in 11-15 feet of water and kept on throwing them horizontally until the fish were no longer interested.  We then expanded our reach by doing a bit of flatline trolling in the same general vicinity.  The two tactics added 20 fish to our tally.  Most of our fish taken on the bladebaits were smallish, while the crankbaits took considerably larger but fewer fish.

Just as we began trolling, the wind shifted very distinctly to the south and picked up 3-4 mph to around 9mph.  I let this wind work for about 20 minutes to begin moving the water, and we then headed out to deeper, more open water where the full impact of the wind could be felt.  As I checked the first area I felt might turn on under these conditions, we found white bass just swarming over the bottom in 27 feet of water.  These fish showed very distinctly on sonar as they came as much as 3-4 feet up off bottom to feed.  We hunkered down over these fish and proceeded to “wear ’em out” for about 45 minutes, putting an additional 34 fish in the boat in short order.  These fish were so active, we skipped the traditional vertical jigging approach and used an easing tactic a majority of the time to maximize our catch with 3/8 oz. white Redneck Fishn Jigs model 180’s.  The majority of these fish were smallish white bass.

By the time these fish lost interest, Chad and I observed that Timothy was just about to do the same.  He had long since consumed all snacks single-handedly, the fish were beginning to slow down, and I could see that his technique which has been pretty good for a 9 year old, was beginning to get a little sloppy.  Chad and I looked at one another knowingly and decided to call it a great day right then.

For our efforts today, we caught and released 66 white bass and 1 largemouth bass.

TALLY = 67 FISH, all caught and released

 

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TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:15a

End Time:  11:50a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  52F

Water Surface Temp:  57.4 to 58.3F

Wind Speed & Direction:  SE2-6 until 10:30a when the wind shifted suddenly and increased to S9

Sky Conditions: 100% grey skies with no direct sunlight.

Other: GT=50

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area  1501 for 13 fish under low-light conditions

**Area  1350 up shallow during a calm mid-morning period

**Area  1502/1197/1492  near channel fishing under better wind conditions at late morning

 

 

Bob Maindelle

Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide

Belton Lake Fishing Guide

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)