Curious to hear from those of you who fish regularly enough to compare changes in weather from one day to the next what your take is on how, if at all, you anticipate the NE winds, low pressure, reduced air temperature, and cloud cover from Tropical Storm Nicholas will impact your white bass fishing over the next 2-4 days.

I've included a copy of my results today from the Hill Country (Stillhouse Hollow) which, of course is a deep, clear lake...



WHO I FISHED WITH: After a lengthy break from fishing our local waters, I returned to Texas Saturday, and guided my party of three this morning on Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir.
I’d spent a week vacationing with my wife in Oregon last week, and, due to bright, calm conditions forecast for the entire week prior to that, I only conducted sonar training at that time, so, I’d not actually wet a line on Stillhouse since Aug. 26th.

This morning, I fished with a trio of returning guests. Shawn Leverington, a U.S. Army officer working out of North Fort Hood booked the trip while his dad, John Leverington, a soon-to-retire missionary, would be in Texas for a visit. Shawn also invited his friend, Jerry Saikley, who works with military contractors on West Fort Hood, along for the trip.




PHOTO CAPTION: From left, John and Shawn Leverington, and Jerry Saikley with white bass they took on the MAL Heavy with white blade using a sawtooth tactic.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday (AM), 13 September 2021

HOW WE FISHED:
Generally speaking, the fishing is just so-so right now, and will likely continue to be that way until cooler fall weather arrives and the water temperature begins to trend downward. The bite today, as it had been for most of the latter half of August, was a late morning bite, with nearly all of our action coming in the last 2+ hours.

Although we found fish in the first two hours, these fish were moving slowly if at all, they were tight to the bottom, and they were very reluctant to chase. After a 7:15 a.m. start, we’d only landed 2 fish and missed a third by 9:00 a.m.

The window of time from 9:15 a.m. through 10:35 a.m. produced best for us this morning. During this time the fish became much more active, rising 3-5 feet off bottom to patrol aggressively for shad. The fish responded to both vertical and horizontal presentations. The horizontal fishing was accomplished using a “sawtooth method” which I describe in detail here:

SAWTOOTH METHOD LINK: Sawtooth Method

A big key to the sawtooth method is knowing which side of the boat the greatest number of active fish are on, and about how far from the boat they are located. This is all gauged via very well-tuned side-imaging sonar (I’m using my H’bird Solix 15 for this task).

The go-to bait for the sawtooth fishing this morning was the MAL Heavy with white blade and chartreuse tail.

Between 10:45 and 11:45 we saw a slow taper from post-peak to nil, and wrapped up at 11:45.

After landing his fair share of the fish, and as we fished our last area of the morning, John hooked up with three fish in quick succession. He “lamented” at that point, “Man, my wrist is really sore,” to which I replied, “Well, I’ll take that as a compliment.”

We landed 66 white bass.

MAL Lures are found here: MAL Lures

TALLY: 66 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: The major weather-maker right now and for the next 3 days will be Tropical Storm Nicholas which is now in the Gulf between the Tex/Mex border and may strengthen to a Cat. 1 hurricane overnight.

Start Time: 7:15A
End Time: 11:45A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 73F
Elevation: 0.18′ low, .03′ 24-hour fall, and a flow of 1cfs
Water Surface Temp: 81.7
Wind Speed & Direction: ESE6-11 all morning thanks to counter-clockwise rotation off of Tropical Storm Nicholas which is in the Gulf between the Tex/Mex border.
Sky Condition: 100% light grey cover at trip’s start, alternating from 20-80% thereafter as bands of clouds off of Tropical Storm Nicholas passed overhead.
Moon Phase: First quarter at 46% illumination.
GT = 0

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area 251-SH0066G – 23 of our first 25 fish landed here, starting around 9:15.
**Area 828 – 25 white bass here, mostly via sawtooth method
198/SH0057C – final 16 fish landed here from 10:40 to 11:45 (at a slower catch rate than previous two areas as the bite tapered off).

There will be nay sayers from the couch and beyond with reference to this topic. I am not a guide , however , have always reacted to weather changes. Cloudy days are premium with or without wind. High pressure has been easier to find and catch fish as they relate to trees and can be pulled from them. Low pressure , the fish scatter and lay on the bottom therefore are harder to find and harder to catch. Keep in mind that I am referring to drastic pressure changes not a few bars. I prefer to fish when BP is 29.95 to 30.1 and not below 29.7 . As far as wind direction , some of the biggest stripes taken have been with a 20 mph north wind. The easterly wind with major pressure drops are tuff .
My home lake is PK but venture to Bporte and Graham as well. I refuse to fish weekends unless from our cabin in Skycamp.

Since, as a working man most of my life, I could only fish on Saturdays, holidays, and vacations, I ignored the Solunar Tables and atmospheric pressure. While white bass fishing, I have caught fish with very few exceptions. I am an eternal optimist and don't want to know if there is a reason not to fish.

Good point Dennis.
I have experienced many days that I thought it would be a bad day to fish and it was good. Also many days I thought it would be good and not so much.
Point is, it always a good day to be out and experience fishing.

Cedar Creek and Lake Tawakoni are proven exceptions to large pressure swings. Yes somewhere fish are being caught during and after said swings , that is the specifics Bob is asking. Are the fish in the same spots, taken with the same technique and so on !

gborg: I'm not the one to answer those questions because I never take notice of the pressure swings or solunar tables when I go fishing. Maybe someone out there who is vigilant is considering those things can share their observations.