Last night I called up my fishing buddy, Ka’ni, to see if his mom was okay with us doing a cold-weather morning fishing trip today. She was, so, we did!! And did well!

Ka’ni kept right up with me today landing his fair share of our take of 47 fish, all of which came on slabs worked with a variety of techniques.

We both dressed for the weather and, despite a starting temperature of 41F with a windchill, we stayed pretty comfortable and were able to work our lures effectively.

This morning we fished 5 areas and found fish at 4 of them.

We started the morning in shallower water (15-17 feet) at Area 720 (BA:10T) and picked up only 2 fish here. We saw much more on sonar, but had to cover a lot of territory to do it. I think the fish are just beginning to move into this area as the large schools normally here by now are not yet here. It could be due to lack of current.

Next, we headed to Area 992 and found fish just off the lip of the break on the S. facing slope but still holding to the bottom (not suspended as they usually are). We found these fish in 22-25 feet of water, hovered over them for over an hour steadily pulling nice, healthy 11 and 12 inch white bass in using 3/4 oz. TNT 180 slabs. We landed a total of 28 fish here including 27 white bass and 1 largemouth bass.

We next headed to the Area 987/8/9 triangle and zero’ed, finding nothing on sonar.

We next headed to Area 990/916 and found a school of bottom-hugging whites out away from the hump on the flat “apron” that surrounds it in 36 feet of water. We jigged for these fish and boated a total of 8 white bass and 1 largemouth here before the school moved on.

We ended up our day at Area 873, on the N. end of the hump where it breaks from 35 feet into 40+ foot water. As we idled in on this area looking with sonar we found suspended fish in the lower 1/3 of the water column acting much as the fish I found at Area 990/991 on Thursday did. I set Ka’ni up with a rod rigged for smoking and I stuck with a slab for jigging bottom, and we both did equally well, boating 9 fish in about 20 minutes.

As we approached the noon hour, the temperature, under heavily clouded skies, had only risen to 49F. We had a chilly ride in to try to meet mom’s curfew, and, along the way passed some action at Area 74 (BA:5T).

TALLY = 47 FISH, all caught and released.

Start Time: 7:30a

End Time: 12:00noon

Air Temp: 41F at trip’s start.

Water Surface Temp: ~54.7F

Wind: Winds were NE11 tapering down to NE6 .

Skies: Skies were greyed over the entire morning.

As the water temperatures continue to drop with each passing cold front, I try to stay on top of fish and bait movement and location so that when I have clients on board I am both confident in getting them to the fish, and don’t waste their time searching for fish.

My largest white bass on Stillhouse today measured 13.25 inches and the largest of 3 largemouth I boated went 16 1/8 inches.

Instead, I take regular “scouting” trips, typically short in duration, to check areas I suspect should hold fish. I sweep these areas with sonar, catch a few fish to confirm their presence, size, and activity level and then quickly move on to the next area, in essence creating a “milk run” of areas to hit.

Today was such a day…

I started off in shallow water along the topo line running from Area 720 to Area 984 to Area 985. I picked up 11 white bass here. All were very pale and very sluggish, and each struck a slab held nearly still and very close to the bottom. I was almost as if these fish cooled down too fast and were suffering the consequences.

After that I headed to Area 984 and slabbed for 3 much perkier white bass and a solo largemouth.

Next, I made a short stop at Area 987/8/9 (BA: 14T) and picked up 9 white bass after idling around for a good bit trying to figure out where the fish were hiding. These fish like a jigging approach with an extra pause thrown in.

Finally, I fished in the vicinity of Area 990/991 and found fish both suspended in the lower 1/3 of the water column, as well as on the bottom. These fish acted strangely, as they would respond occasionally to a horizontal retrieve, but not to a smoking tactic. So, in order to keep the fish coming over the side I either jigged or cast and allowed the lure to sink on an appropriate countdown to the depth the fish were suspended at. I boated 29 more fish here including 2 additional largemouth bass.

TALLY = 63 FISH, all caught and released.

Start Time: 7:30a

End Time: 12:30p

Air Temp: 41F at trip’s start.

Water Surface Temp: ~54.6F

Wind: Winds were SSE7 the entire trip.

Skies: Skies were greyed over the entire trip.

The following blog entry appears in the form of a report to those who support the S.K.I.F.F. program …

Victoria with a nice hybrid striped bass taken in 19 feet of water on a TNT180 slab spoon.

TJ took this nice hybrid from off the bottom while in 26 feet of water.

Taijanie got her biggest fish during the final 30 minutes of our trip while “smoking” her slab amongst suspended fish.

The S.K.I.F.F. (Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun) Program exists to take the children of deployed or deceased soldiers on fishing trips at no charge to the soldiers’ families as a way of showing our support for our troops and providing a respite for their spouses. The following is a note to SKIFF supporters about this most recent outing…

Saturday, 03 Dec. 2011

Dear Austin Fly Fishers and Friends of SKIFF,

This morning I fished with Victoria, the seventh grade daughter of Staff Sergeant Stephan and Mrs. Charlene Rogers, and Taijanie (7th grade) and TJ (5th grade), the children of Sergeant First Class and Mrs. Tedrick Holmes. SSG Rogers and SFC Holmes serve in the same unit in Afghanistan — the 303rd Military Intelligence Battalion where Stephan is a supply sergeant and Tedrick is what the Army calls a “cable dog” — he oversees the running of wire to allow for phone and computer communication.

We got off to a humorous start as I met the kids at water’s edge on Belton Lake. Victoria exclaimed, “This is NOT the kind of boat I thought we were going to be on!” Naturally, I asked what kind of boat she expected. She replied, “A nice boat that’s big and has a bathroom!”.

The day was a bit messy and dreary with a pre-frontal rain and wind hitting us the entire time, but, I told the kids I was really proud of them for getting out of bed and making the trip despite the bad weather. I assured them it would be worth their while and proceeded to explain to them how the fish respond positively to the last warm weather before a cold front.

Although I’ve been fishing the main lake at Belton lately, that’s been mostly via “chasing birds”, but today’s wind and clouds on the main lake prevented that, so, we went looking in the tributaries.

We landed fish at four distinct locations today. First, we found fish in about 19 feet of water at Area 437. The kids were unfamiliar with spinning equipment so we did some OJT to get them acquainted … showing them how to hold the rod, how to retrieve the bait, how to prevent the wind from pulling unwanted line off the spool, and more. Soon the kids were catching fish very consistently on their own — mainly white bass ranging from 8 to 13 inches. We boated 24 fish here before the action waned.

Next we headed to fish a stretch of bottom between Areas 968 and 983 in about 26 feet of water. Some suspicious gull activity tipped us off to the presence of these fish. By now the kids were entirely through the learning curve and so all I did was unhook fish and pick out the occasional tangle. This was our most productive area and we stayed on it for over 90 minutes, pulling an additional 53 fish by both “smoking” and jigging (a technique that TJ was particularly fond of).

When things got quiet we moved to Area 691. As we moved, I suggested the kids refresh a little by dipping into their snacks. Now, I won’t go into a lot of detail here, but, let me tell you, you just haven’t snacked until you’ve snacked on half-dissolved Sugar Babies from a rain-soaked cardboard box and chased those down with a healthy gulp of damp “Funyuns”. Yes, sir!!

Well, we arrived at Area 691 and found fish here, but they were both suspended and stubborn. We spent 20 minutes or so working them over but only boated 4 here. By now it was about time to head back in so the kids bundled up and we started heading back. As we did, we encountered a flock of about 12 gulls feeding aggressively near Area 211. I had Victoria call her mom to see if we could have an extra 30 minutes, because I could tell there would be active fish under the birds given how they were behaving. Permission was granted, and I maneuvered us into position over a solid school of fish holding tight to the bottom in 22 feet of water. We put 32 more fish in the boat in these last 30 minutes, taking our tally to 113 fish.

By 11:45 things were tapering off for good and we made the run in to meet Mrs. Rogers at the ramp.

The kids were really excited about the whole experience, and I was gratified that even after slugging it out in the elements for 4 hours, they were ready for more when that last flock of gulls was sighted.

Thank you very much for being the “cogs in the wheel” that turn to make such experiences a reality for the kids of our deployed servicemen and women.

Sincerely,

Bob Maindelle

Start Time: 7:15a

End Time: 11:45a

Air Temp: 60F at trip’s start.

Water Surface Temp: 59F.

Wind: Winds were SSE11-13.

Skies: Skies were 100% heavily clouded and grey.

As the water cools, fish move. Keeping up with these movements by fishing regularly is a key to success in this transition time. Generally, white bass and hybrid stripers will slowly make their way up to pre-spawn staging areas for the winter, following bait as they go. This year there is very little current and the water temperature is high for this time of year. Taking regular trips, even if they are short in duration, allows me to keep my finger on the pulse of the fish migration.

When you see this kind of action on sonar, you really don’t even need to fish to confirm the presence of gamefish. I can mentally note that fish are here and then continue to “cover ground” by looking at other areas so when customers are aboard we go to the fish with confidence.

Today I hit a number of areas quickly:

Area 977 gave up 10 white bass.

Area 978 gave up 5 white bass.

Area 74 was “congested” with whites, allowing 25 fish in a very short 20 minutes on site.

Area 980 gave up 15 fish.

Area 981 yielded 4 whites.

Area 982 gave up 2 whites.

Area 942 gave up 2 whites.

And I ended up at sunset at Area 724 boating 2 whites there.

TALLY = 65 FISH, all caught and released.

Start Time: 4:30p

End Time: 6:30p

Air Temp: 52F at trip’s start.

Water Surface Temp: ~59.3F

Wind: Winds were SE5 the entire trip.

Skies: Skies were greyed over the entire trip.

Got to be honest — I expected better today. We had a forecast for cloud cover and winds S7 and got cloud cover and winds SE5-6 — if you’ve fished long enough you know that east wind is a spoiler.

Leonard landed our only keeper hybrid of the day on a smoked slab from out of 35 feet of water. A white TNT 180 did the trick.

Payton landed this one on a TNT 180 as well, only he was working it horizontally through fish that were aggressively pushing shad to the surface (albeit very briefly).

Today I was accompanied by fishing buddies Leonard N. and Payton D. of Killeen. Leonard is ex-Army, Payton is ex-Navy, and they’re both ex-Postal Service.

We didn’t get “skunked” or anything — in fact the 40 fish we boated most folks would be happy to catch, but, the fish just were kind of in a funk. They fed a little and slowed down and then fed a little more and moved off, and then fed lightly and then settled, and so it went. We never got set up over a strong bite all morning and had to piece our trip together with a variety of techniques.

The best fishing we found happened between Area 300 and Area 976 along the long, south facing breakline here. We found plenty of bait in the upper 2/3 of the water column, and most of the gamefish pushing the bait about were short hybrid. We downrigged, we cast slabs when the fish were breaking, we smoked, and we jigged. Jigging didn’t pan out today — casting to subsurface fish and smoking fish that were nearer to bottom did the best for us today.

TALLY = 40 Fish, all caught and released

HOLIDAY TIP Time to drop a hint to your “honey” for a fishing gift certificate for Christmas. These are a WIN-WIN-WIN. You get a fishing trip, your spouse doesn’t have to wonder what to get you or if you’ll like it, and I get to meet a new customer or catch up with a current client!!

I’m at:

Bob Maindelle

Holding the Line Guide Service

Austin Area Fishing Guide

254-368-7411

www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Start Time: 6:45a

End Time: 12:05p

Air Temp: 41F at trip’s start.

Water Surface Temp: 60.2F.

Wind: Winds were SSE5-6.

Skies: Skies were nearly 100% clouded over with brief occasional breaks of sun.