I fished a half day "Kids Fish, Too!" trip with returning guests Mike and Chloe Blackwell. This trip we added big brother Luke to the mix and had a great time on the water.

The Blackwell's are preparing to leave home and career behind to serve the Lord as missionaries in Thailand very soon. It's good to know there are still folks out there who act in faith!!

As for the fishing, we got off to a slow start with slack wind, but, once the wind got going and we positioned ourselves to take advantage of it, we caught fish consistently the remainder of the morning.

The Blackwell's with our biggest catch of the morning, Chloe's 2.75 pound largemouth bass.

...and a healthy bunch of pre-spawn white bass to round out today's catch of 28 fish.

Start Time: 7:00a
End Time: 11:30a
Air Temp: 46F at trip's start
Water Surface Temp: 56F
Wind: Winds started light from the WNW and then increased to around 10 from the NNW, then slowly tapered off to calm by 5pm, beginning around 11am.
Skies: Skies were clear and bright all day.
Environmental Note: Peaches began blooming today.

As our trip began, we looked in mid-depths for schooled fish on bottom hoping to get a few quick fish in the boat by way of vertical jigging, but, with slack winds, that just wasn't happening. We gave Area 598 a try and raised about 5 fish, but they were nothing more than curious, and we never did hook a fish here.

We moved on Area 116 and established a trolling circuit here. We ran 4 lines, the inner 2 with Bombers and the outer 2 with Rip Shads and the combination worked well. We caught fish equally well on all rods and had boated 25 fish by 10am including 6 largemouth bass with the largest going 2.75 pounds, 1 crappie, and 18 white bass of all sizes, up to 13 inches.

With about an hour left to go, we "voted" on whether to keep doing what we were doing or try drifting some large live baits in order to try to connect with some larger bass. Everyone voted to go for the big ones, so, we moved to Area 536 and rigged up with both large shiners and Black Saltys and went to work.

We boated 3 fish over the final hour (with action beginning to die to to the bright and calming conditions) including one keeper largemouth, one short largemouth, and a white bass that went ~12 inches.

I fished both morning and afternoon today. This morning's trip was an instructional trip for Armando O. of Ft. Hood. Armando recently bought a bass boat and has begun fishing in bass tournaments without success. His goals were to learn not only some reliable bass fishing techniques, but also about boat control, sonar use and interpretation, and fish location. Unfortunately, his daughter had a playground incident and we didn't fish as long as I'd like to have, but, we'd boated 10 fish before he had to go, including 3 largemouth and 7 white bass. We picked up 4 fish at Area 79 by jigging, and another 6 fish at Area 597 over 60+ feet of water by sniping. He got a thorough introduction to sonar use, jigging with slabs, shallow water spinnerbait techniques, Carolina rig rigging and use, and boat control instruction, as well as some instruction on fish location - particularly deep structure considerations.

In the afternoon, I fished solo through and after a mild cold front's approach which brought 100% cloud cover and strong 22mph winds during its passage, tapering to 12mph thereafter. I experienced the first consistent success of the season by way of flatline trolling today following that front at and N. of Area 116. The white Rip Shad outperformed the chartreuse Rapala here by 3-4 to 1 on a 2 lure spread.

Start Time: 6:45a
End Time: 6:30p
Air Temp: 46F at trip's start
Water Surface Temp: 56-58F
Wind: Winds started light and variable, then blew ~10-11 sustained from the N (during which we caught all of our fish in the morning) then died until around 3p. A mild front quickly blew in and settled with winds gusting to NW at 22, then dying back to N at 12.
Skies: Skies were clear and bright up until 3p, then clouded over 100% with the front and then stayed cloudy.
Environmental Note: Blackberries began leafing out today.

TALLY = 18 fish, all caught and released

I fished a S.K.I.F.F. trip with two young ladies from Harker Heights High School today.

ASHLEY'S BASS TOOK BIG-FISH HONORS TODAY

DANIELLE AND ASHLEY DOUBLE-TEAMED 36 SPAWN-LADEN WHITE BASS TODAY

S.K.I.F.F. stands for Soldiers' Kids Involved in Fishing Fun. The program exists to get the kids of deployed soldiers out on the water (at no charge to the family) while dad or mom is deployed. This program is made possible by funding from the Austin Fly Fishers. The following is my traditional post-trip note to the Austin Fly Fishers:

Dear Ron and all the Austin Fly Fishers,

Earlier today I ran the first S.K.I.F.F. trip of 2010. We have had unusually cold weather this winter season, and the water temperatures dropped into the mid-40's. When that happened, the fishing slowed to a crawl. We then got a 1-2 punch when flooding rains put 9+ feet of dirty water on top of an already difficult situation. I postponed numerous trips in February, but, the fishing is beginning to bounce back now. This weekend's forecast was ideal -- balmy, cloudy, and with a south wind. I'd done well earlier in the week and so arranged for a SKIFF trip today.

Today, I fished with two young ladies, both 14 years of age, which, incidentally were the oldest kids I've taken on any SKIFF trip thus far. Ashley Pearce and Danielle Tomaka are both freshmen at Harker Heights High School. They became friends after being assigned to the same algebra class. Ashley is the daughter of Lieutenant Colonel Jeff Pearce. Jeff is currently deployed to Camp Cropper with the 89th Military Police Brigade in Iraq. Danielle Tomaka is the daughter of Lieutenant Colonel Paul Tomaka. Paul is currently deployed to Camp Victory with the Third Armored Corps in Iraq.

Since the day was forecast to be 100% overcast, I scheduled our start time for well after sunrise so as to allow the conditions to brighten a bit before we headed out. I met the girls at dockside at 7:45am, went over the safety essentials and some fishing basics (as Danielle had never fished before and Ashley hadn't fished in a long time). We then launched out to hunt fish. Thankfully, we connected at the very first place I searched -- a short breakline falling from 21 feet to 29 feet of water over a hard limestone bottom. The sonar lit up with bottom-hugging fish as we passed over. I cut the engine, moved back in with the trolling motor and we went to work.

At first the fish were a bit reluctant, but, by the time we'd all boated one fish, there was enough commotion created by the hooked fish, and enough regurgitated fish chow in the water to really get the fish fired up. After catching 8 fish via vertical jigging, we actually experienced about a 30 minute block of time where the fish were so aggressive they would chase a rapidly moving lure. Over this time, we boated an additional 16 fish. After this flurry ended, the bite slowly began to taper off until finally coming to an end around 10:45am. By this time we'd already boated 38 fish including 36 white bass, 1 crappie, and 1 largemouth. Every last fish came on 3/8 oz. TNT 180 slabs fished on 10 pound line on spinning gear.

Although we looked over a number of places and tested several of those by jigging, we did not catch any fish in the remaining hour of the trip.

I look forward to visiting with you all on the evening of the 25th and sharing more about SKIFF with you.

Sincerely,

Bob Maindelle

CONDITIONS TODAY:

Start Time: 7:45a
End Time: 12:05p
Air Temp: 51F at trip's start
Water Surface Temp: 53-54F
Wind: Winds were steady from the SE at 12 all day.
Skies: Skies were leaden grey and heavy the entire trip.

Near-perfect conditions today coupled with several previous days of warming saw the fish go on a feeding binge lasting nearly nine hours today. This was my first day on the water with the new Lowrance HDS-10 with downlooking Structure Scan. This technology far surpassed my expectations ... more about that as the season progresses.

This is a split screen image showing white bass on a deep breakline as shown on sonar (right) and as shown on downlooking Structure Scan (left). The imagery is much clearer and allows you to avoid misinterpretation of the less clear tradtional sonar images.

This image shows suspended white bass beneath a school of suspended shad. The detail is so clear you can tell with way the fish are oriented!! The large end of the white targets are heads, the tapered ends of the white targets are tails. Awesome stuff, Lowrance!!

Start Time: 7:15a
End Time: 6:40p
Air Temp: 51F at trip's start
Water Surface Temp: 52-54F
Wind: Winds started light and variable from the E, then very suddenly shifted SSW at 13 and stayed there all day.
Skies: Skies were fair and partly cloudy all day.
Environmental Note: Spotted the first migrating Sandhill Cranes headed north today.

I fished all day today with two goals to accomplish: 1) get comfortable with the new sonar gear and 2) find reliable concentrations of fish. By day's end both goals were met.

I found fish at 3 locations today, and all three groups of fish behaved a bit differently.

The first group of fish I encountered was on a deep breakline, and was bottom-hugging. These fish never went into overdrive, but stayed biting steadily for nearly 3 hours. The fish never go active enough to pursue a moving lure, but steadily struck at a jigged slab, a deadstick slab, and an eased slab. Rarely would a fish from this bunch follow a hooked schoolmate off bottom, and rarely did a fish appear more than 3-4 feet from the bottom. I landed 77 fish at this location by 11:45am when another boat got much too close for comfort (not to mention courtesy) and I left these fish biting instead of revealing a hot location to a potlicker. Of these fish, 4 were crappie, 5 were largemouth, and the balance were white bass. This was at Area 596.

The next group of fish I found within a quarter mile of the first, but these fish were suspended off the S. side of the channel over 40-60 feet, and were found holding generally at 30-40 feet with scattered bait doing the same. These fish were very lethargic and would only respond to a sniping approach with ice jigs. Even at that, only 1 in 3 or 4 would make a move on the bait. I stayed here for right at 3 hours and boated 67 fish, of which 4 were largemouth, 4 were crappie, and the balance were white bass. This was in the vicinity of Area 597 over to Area 594.

The final group of fish I found came in 25-26 feet of water and were bottom-hugging. These fish were in a smaller school, but the most aggressive of the three. These fish aggressively struck a jigged spoon or a smoked spoon, and hooked fish were always pursued by schoolmates. The action here (which I'm sure I came in at the tail end of) lasted only about 30 minutes, dying right around 5:50p. I landed 16 fish here, all of which were white bass. This was between Areas 035 and 536.

TALLY = 160 FISH, all caught and released

Fished by myself today despite the poor condtions (cold, wet, NE wind with rain threatening) just to stay in touch with natures changes as we slowly turn the corner headed for Spring.

Start Time: 7:15a
End Time: 11:15am
Air Temp: 49F at trip's start.
Water Surface Temp: ~50.5F following direct sun's radiant heating on Sat. and early Sun.
Wind: Winds were slack at trip's start, but soon after (obscured) sunrise began to blow from the NE with occasional light drizzle.
Skies: Skies were 100% greyed over.

I focused today on finding big collections of baitfish hopefully to return to later in the week once conditions improve, knowing any fishing done today was going to be slow. I did find a significant bunch of bait extending for quite some distance from Area 399 to Area 035, and occuring at 25 to 35 feet throughout this expanse.

This was the only place I wet a line today other than a quick trolling run off Area 555. I picked up 8 keeper whites and 1 small, pale largemouth. Six of the whites came off bottom, but were not congregated in a school there (Area 161). Two other whites and the largemouth responded to a sniping tactic from among the suspended bait in the vicinity of Area 399.

I've been surprised at the lack of fish in the Area 54 Complex, as well as a lack of fish thus far around Area 116.

I think were getting very close to that magic point where that cold-blooded metabolism kicks in and can't be held back, but we're not there yet. It's a prime time to be out as frequently as possible under good weather conditions, as when things crank up I've got a feeling they're going to do it in a big way this Spring. We'll see!!

TALLY = 9 FISH, all caught and released

Well, we took it on the chin today. Over the past 10 days I'd corresponded with Tom S. of Michigan who was due into Georgetown on a business trip. I'd let him know the fishing had been tough, but was picking up and would be weather dependent. Within 10 hours prior to our launch time Wunderground.com (a typically very reliable weather source) predicted light SW winds at 4mph around sunrise with 100% cloudy skies, and with winds coming through the west, then turning NW by early afternoon. I was really enthused by that forecast, as SW to W winds and cloud cover are a great combination. Then it happened ... not 20 minutes after we launched, as we were still searching with sonar over the first area we were going to fish, the NW wind cranked up to 15, then 20, then gusted higher, and the skies immediately cleared. I got that sinking feeling that some of you will identify with.

BEING THE SWELL GUY HE IS, UPON RETURNING TO MICHIGAN, TOM RUBBED SALT IN THE WOUND BY SENDING THIS ALONG THE WEEKEND AFTER OUR TRIP!!

Start Time: 7:30a
End Time: 12:15pm
Air Temp: 47F at trip's start.
Water Surface Temp: ~49F
Wind: Winds began out of the NNW at 15 mph and quickly ramped up to 20 with stronger gusts, then gradually increased to 25+ by trip's end
Skies: Skies cleared with the arrival of a dry cold front beginning around 7:45am.

We fished all over Stillhouse and, in 5 hours of effort, managed only 2 fish -- a small crappie and a small white bass. The crappie came off of Area 140 in 26 feet on bottom, and the white bass came off of Area 116 in 14 feet on bottom. We encountered no schools, no active, bottom-oriented fish, just nothing, save a few scattered suspended fish at Area 598. Tom got one to follow his ice jig, and strike, but we missed that one.

The water temperature fell during the early-week cold snap that brought 3+ inches of snow accumulation, and then bounced back to where it was, around 49 F, with 2 days of clear, calm, sunny conditions immediately afterwards.

Fishing is just plain tough right now with unseasonably cold water, and nothing short of ideal weather conditions seems to perk these fish up. Today we zigged when the weather zagged and we came up short. I don't mind fishing solo in conditions like this, but just hated that I had a client on board when things went sour.

TALLY = 2 FISH, both caught and released

Today I welcomed repeat clients Jim and Shena S. aboard. Jim and Shena are a neat father/daughter pair that just love one another and enjoy spending time out in the Creation with one another. We got an opportunity to fish together back in the Fall, and then missed a trip in December due to illness, so, it was good to be reunited today.

Jim holds a nice 3 lbs. largemouth we found mixed in with a school of bottom-hugging white bass

Shena held her jigging technique together very well and was very consistent the entire 9 hour trip and was rewarded with a good catch of white bass

If I may brag a bit -- I HAVE GREAT CLIENTS!! -- this was a homemade batch of shortbread cookies made just for me. Thanks, Shena!

Start Time: 7:15a
End Time: 4:15pp
Air Temp: 54F at trip's start
Water Surface Temp: 49.9F
Wind: Winds puffed from the SE at 4-7 all through the morning, then picked up to a sustained 10+ from 12:30pm on
Skies: Skies were leaden grey and heavy the entire trip with a cool mist falling through 11:30am.

I was very optimistic as we met and launched out in the morning, as I'd just come off of an 88 fish day yesterday, and the weather forecast was calling for more of the same kind of weather we experienced then. Upon arriving in advance of the trip, however, I realized this was not to be. The wind was nearly slack before sunrise and the skies were very heavy with mist falling. Once the wind did begin to move, it just puffed lightly and with an easterly component to it. The bottom line is that we struggled all morning in shallow water and deep, in clear water and stained, uplake and downlake. By 11:20am, we'd boated only 3 fish and had missed one other (a crappie and a white bass at Area 314, and another white bass off Area 100). But, knowing that winter fishing even under good conditions, can consist of brief flurries of activity, I had asked Jim and Shena to pack a lunch so that if we didn't do well in the morning we could press on into the afternoon.

We broke for a shore lunch, and over that time, the skies brightened, the winds warmed, and the breeze got some velocity and direction to it. By 12:30 we were back out after fish with a renewed sense of optimism.

I went back to basics and focused on wind impacted areas first, and, the first such area we hit literally lit up with both bait and gamefish, both suspended, over about a 32 foot bottom. These fish were holding off a breakline, so, I motored over the breakline hoping more active fish relating to bottom would be there, but, we found none. So, we returned to the suspended congregation of fish and began to work them over with a "sniping" approach. I landed one fish this way after the three of us had been refused by perhaps a dozen or more other fish previous to my hooking that one -- but, the lid was cracked! We hung in this area, and, as it continued to warm and the wind continued to build, the fish slowly eased into a feed. At this area, Area 536 (BA: 3L, 3HG, 2T) we rode out the entire bell curve of the feed here from ramp up, to a brief peak, to the tailing off, and were rewarded with a total of 27 fish coming off this area in about an hour and fifteen minutes' time.

It was now mid-afternoon, we'd just seen a good bite develop and then shut down, but, I had good people on board, who were enthusiastic, friendly, and eager to learn, so, we went and checked out 3 more areas with sonar just in case that wind was stirring up other fish as it impacted bottom features. We picked up two quick fish -- a white and a crappie -- at Area 537, but never saw a school of fish nor bait.

Finally, we revisited Area 595 (BA:3L, 2HG) and found active, albeit stubborn, fish here in 17 to 24 feet of water on top of and down the face of the breakline. I say these fish were stubborn as 1) they refused to come more than 4-6 inches off of bottom, 2) despite a great number of fish being present here, we only had 2 or 3 instances where schoolmates would chase a hooked fish for ANY distance off bottom, 3) the fish would not respond to an "easing" tactic, and 4) we often had to hold our baits still for extended periods to provoke a response. Regardless, we added 22 fish to the tally here including 2 largemouth, both caught by Jim, a drum, and 19 white bass, all of which were solid, healthy, fish right at 11.75 to 13 inches. Once this bite died, I knew we'd seen the best of it and we called it a good day by day's end.

TALLY = 52 Fish, all caught and released

***For a complete listing of gear and lures used, please go to the "About" tab, and click on the "About Your Guide" page on the drop-down menu.

Following this morning's half-day uncle/nephew trip, I took a break around mid-day and then returned with the lessons of the morning learned in order to try to ferret out some more fish-holding locations for trips to come and to continue to try to "get smart" on this post-flood, cold water situation we're faced with right now.

This was the first largemouth I've found mixed in with white bass since before the recent flooding and drop in water temperatures.

Start Time: 2:30p
End Time: 4:35p
Air Temp: 54F at trip's start
Water Surface Temp: 48.9F
Wind: Winds were moderate from due S. at ~15-17 the entire trip
Skies: Skies were leaden grey and heavy the entire trip.

With limited time available to me this afternoon, I ran a lot of sonar and only quickly fished to test areas that looked promising. I focused on shallower, wind-impacted areas and found only one additional location that was really loaded down with fish. Of course, in cold water, and with a lengthy morning feed that occurred through mid-morning, it was asking for a lot to find multiple aggressive schools of white literally just hours later.

Nonetheless, in the vicinity of Area 149 in 26-27 feet of water, the classic "escalloped" bottom signature given off by bottom-hugging white bass was seen, and bait was in the area. With the wind coming in here strong, this was really looking good. As I let my slab down and got my depth adjusted, I immediately felt a thud. As I reeled in this hooked fish, the bottom sonar signal began to waver, indicating additional fish. I hustled my slab back down and caught another, then another. Soon, probably due to defecated or regurgitated chum now getting in the water on the tight confines of this spot, fish began to appear from bottom, upwards to 3-4 feet off bottom. I realized there were A LOT more fish here than I first suspected. I the span of 70 minutes, I boated exactly 45 fish including 44 whites and a nice largemouth bass. This bass was the first black bass that I've caught mixed in with whites since the flooding and cold temperatures in place for nearly a month now. By about 4:20 these fish began to settle down and then shut down completely. This was by far the most aggressive action I've encountered since even before the flooding -- actually, since the temps. dropped out of the 50s. I hope we're on the lead edge of a turnaround, but there is cold and rain forecast for the early part of the week ahead, so, time will only tell. Today was a good day -- and I thank God for that.

TALLY = 45 Fish, all caught and released

***For a complete listing of gear and lures used, please go to the "About" tab, and click on the "About Your Guide" page on the drop-down menu.

Fished a half day uncle/nephew trip with Justin W. of Colorado and his nephew, Jake W., of Salado. Justin is a commercial pilot and flies C-140's in the Air Guard. Jake is a 4th Grader at Salado ISD who is, for a short time longer, without his dad, Jason, who is currently deployed to Iraq as a reservist in Army Aviation.

Justin (L) and Jake (R) with four fistfuls of vertically jigged white bass taken out of 48 degree water on what was the best trip I've had to date since the flooding.

Start Time: 7:15a
End Time: 12:20p
Air Temp: 47F at trip's start
Water Surface Temp: 48.9F
Wind: Winds were moderate from due S. at ~12-14 the entire trip
Skies: Skies were leaden grey and heavy the entire trip.

After Wednesday's failed experiment on Belton, I decided we'd put this trip together on Stillhouse, and that turned out to be a good decision. The water level on Stillhouse is now at about 3 feet above full pool and the water has cleared up pretty well. I did note that any significant wind now immediately stirs silt up on the impacted shoreline leading to localized stained water, but, the lake as a whole is in pretty good shape once again.

We did some searching with sonar around (obscured) sunrise, and found some bait and some fish tight to bottom in 25-27 feet of water near Area 314. I chose TNT180's in 3/8 oz. to start the fellows off with -- a bit heavier than I really like for cold water, but, it allowed them to get the feel of the jigging rhythm and know where their baits were in relation to bottom at all times. Once we got situated and they got the hang of jigging, things began to happen for us. The first fish over the side was a small crappie. No sooner had we caught that fish, than 4 gulls came and began to patrol and act hesistant to leave an area within 200 yards of us. I felt as though fish were in there, but just not cranked up yet, so, despite the slow action, we hung with it.

By around 8:30, we still had birds present, but had only put 2 more fish (both white bass) in the boat. It was getting steadily brighter, and the wind was very steady. I decided to move us in a bit closer to shore where the effects of this wind would be impacting on the bottom by moving silt and, as a result, the rest of the food chain. As I moved in on Area 595 (BA: 1O, 4HG, 6L, 3T) the sonar began to reveal fish laying belly to the bottom here from 25 feet right up to 16 feet. I oriented the nose of the boat into the wind, put a buoy out well upwind to orient onto, and we went to work on these fish for about 2 hours straight. The action never got frenzied (remember, the temperature is still in the 40's), but it was steady, the bites were solid, and the fish cooperated for a much longer spell than they typically do in cold water. Eventually, around 10:40, things ground to a halt. We'd put 41 fish in the boat by this time.

I was encouraged that we'd found fish in water as shallow as 16 feet, and so, in order to cover a lot of water quickly looking for a few remaining active fish, we set up with a slow, flatline troll in 4 different areas (Areas 116, 352, the 114-336-319-343 circuit, and Area 999), but that failed to produce even a single fish. By around noon, we knew we'd seen the best of it and decided to hit just one last area on our way back the the ramp.

We stopped and looked over Area 145/148 with sonar and found suspended bait and a few gamefish mixed in at around 20 feet over a 35 foot bottom. I'd hoped to give Justin a shot at "sniping" a fish during this trip, as he's done a bit of ice fishing, and this technique is much like that method of angling. We spotted a lone fish on sonar, and so I demonstrated the "sniping" technique to Justin and landed the fish I had targeted. Justin was now pumped to get one of his own! As we hovered in place, a single, suspended white bass appeared on sonar and, despite the wind, we were able to hang with it and keep it on sonar as Justin got his lure situated correctly. We watched together as the fish's sonar signal merged with the lure's sonar signal and Justin's rod tip went down. He responded with a good hookset and we landed that one last fish via "sniping" -- a pretty cool, high-tech end to a very good cold-weather season trip.

We ended the day sharing an outdoor lunch at one of the park sites on the shores of Stillhouse and then parted ways. For our efforts today, we boated a total of 43 fish. This was the best trip I've had up to this point since January 27th, which was before the flooding rains of 29-30 January.

I was really impressed with 9 year old Jake. Winter fishing in such cold water doesn't offer a great variety of tactics. He stayed with the vertical jigging regimen for the vast majority of the trip and did much better than most kids his age would have under such conditions despite cool, damp winds and red, cold hands. He was a trooper!

TALLY = 43 Fish, all caught and released

***For a complete listing of gear and lures used, please go to the "About" tab, and click on the "About Your Guide" page on the drop-down menu.

Tough day today!! After a glimmer of hope provided by a catch of 30 whites this past Saturday on Stillhouse, I thought I'd give Belton a try to see if things were improving there, too. Granted, today's weather was less than ideal, but, I spent 4 plus hours, accompanied by a fishing buddy (who, based on these terrible results shall remain nameless so as not to tarnish his credentials!!) out there with only 2 fish to show for all that effort. Bottom line -- Belton is just tough right now -- the water is high and not coming down all that quickly, yet the gates are open wide and there is a lot of water movement through the reservoir.

Start Time: 7:15a
End Time: 11:30a
Air Temp: 31F at trip's start
Water Surface Temp: 47.8F
Wind: Winds were light from the NW at 5-7
Skies: Skies were fair the entire trip

This trip was taken in advance of two paid trips forthcoming this Friday and Saturday in an attempt to nail down which lake was going to provide me with the best shot at putting my clients on fish. Well, that objective was accomplished!!

Upon launching today I was encouraged to once again see a multitude of birds working, but, as we watched these birds closely, it was clear that they were feeding on small schools of threadfin that were feeding on the surface in the low-light period before and after sunrise. These birds were lightly sipping, not aggressively diving, thus indicating the bait they were feeding on was not pushed to the surface by gamefish.

We fished and ran sonar over a number of areas and wound up catching both fish we landed (a smallish white bass and a short hybrid) both in the vicinity of Area 500 after I spotted two loons working in that area. Both fish responded to a sniping approach. I should note that we both had significant numbers of fish refuse that very same technique both before and after these fish were caught.

TALLY = 2 FISH, both caught and released

***For a complete listing of gear and lures used, please go to the "About" tab, and click on the "About Your Guide" page on the drop-down menu.