Month: November 2013

“Take Your Pick Day” on Belton, 39 Fish, 06 Nov. 2013

by Bob Maindelle
Today I fished with Bob W. of Killeen.

We
attempted once again to “time the front” this morning and didn’t hit it
as squarely on the head as last week, but the fishing was still solid
despite getting a bit wet around the edges while we caught them.




It was “take your pick day” — pick large lures for large fish, or …





…pick small lures for small fish.  Fish of all sizes were abundant and feeding hard during a short frontal window this morning.


In
the fall season, as the water cools with each passing cold front,
timing trips in conjunction with the fronts allows you to enjoy very
aggressive and productive, albeit short-lived, action.  The trick is
knowing what kind of front you are dealing with (the drier, the better)
and when the windshift is to occur (typically from at SE or SW
direction, through the west, and then on to the NW.  If you are on the
water during the windshift of a dry front, it’s a “gimme” — that was
the case twice last week when we boated 242 fish on Thursday and another
127 fish on Friday.



Once again today I timed the wind shift correctly,
but this front was a wet front, so the activity was a bit depressed, but
still much more productive than over the past several days of mild
weather between the fronts.



Today we took a few fish in the early morning drizzle
before the skies brightened (via down rigging), but, after the first of
two bands of rain passed and cleared out, the birds went to work for not
quite 2 hours.



During this time it was “take your pick” time,
meaning, if you picked a small bait, you’d catch many small fish, or, if
you picked a big bait, you’d catch fewer, larger fish.  TheTNT180 in 3/4 oz. did the trick for this light work.

I opted for the “bigger is better” plan and wound up
working a large Silver Kastmaster in the top 12-15 feet of water over a
25-30 foot bottom for very aggressive, legal-sized (18+ inch long)
hybrid striped bass.



By around 10:05 a third band of heavy rain,
accompanied by a wind shift further to the north and a significant (~17
degree) temperature drop came in.  The birds slowed right down and it
was all over for today.



TALLY = 37 FISH, all caught and released

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TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:25a
End Time: 10:05p

Air Temp: 70F at trip’s start; 53F at trip’s end. 

Water Surface Temp: 68.5F 

Wind:
Winds were calm at trip’s start.  By obscured sunrise a 13 mph W wind
was going, with a full swing thru NNW20-22+ by trip’s end as a cold
front hit.

Skies: 100% clouded with 2 rain bands passing over during our time on the water.

Notes: BA=30G; GT=N/A


Areas Fished with success:

** 1275
** 1280/1281/1282/213

** 1283/1275/837




Bob Maindelle

Holding the Line Guide Service

254-368-7411
www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Salado, Texas

Football Buddies — 127 Fish, Lake Belton, 01 Nov. 2013

by Bob Maindelle

 This morning I fished with college buddies Tony M. of Kansas and Chris B. from the Waco area.  Chris’ 5 year old son, Braden, also joined us.

And the winner of the big fish contest was … BRADEN!!



Big fish were in short supply today, but, with a 5 year old on board, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.  Lots of action on smaller fish kept him engaged.

I was a bit concerned about today’s trip as “post-frontal” days tend to bring bright, calm conditions and very tough fishing, however, instead of such conditions, we actually had winds returns from the SSW after blowing thru the W, then NW yesterday.  These SSW winds ramped up through 14mph in the morning, then turned westerly by midday, then NW by evening.

We caught fish consistently from minutes after launching at 7:45 right through 10:15 when the fishing shutdown pretty quickly and stayed locked down thereafter.
During the feed, we spent all of 25 minutes on our first two areas (vicinity Area 1137), then saw the distant “flashes” of topwater feeding fish throwing spray into the air as they pursued shad to the surface.  Since Area 1137 was giving up primarily small fish, we hoped for better size as we moved toward that topwater action.

Over the next two hours or so, we made only 3 short “hops” from the initial area where we spotted the topwater action, and stayed on top of abundant, aggressive, although smallish, white bass and hybrid striper.  We used spinning gear rigged with TNT 180 slabs in ¾ oz. white to do the job.

During this time of year when the variety of techniques and species is more limited than in the summer months, I focus on quantity over quality whenever younger children are on board.  This offers both instant gratification and consistent engagement over the majority of the trip.  Intersperse that with an occasional task, snack, livewell check, fish release, or boat relocation, and many kids can make 4+ hours.  Braden, at just 5 years old (and a young 5 at that) did extremely well, largely because he was enthused about being able to touch, hold, and release the fish that Tony and Chris were catching.  He also contributed to our tally, mainly reeling in fish that I had assisted him in hooking.

TALLY = 127 FISH, all caught and released

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 7:45a
End Time: 11:30p
Air Temp: 51F at trip’s start.
Water Surface Temp: 70.8F
Wind: Winds were SSW2 at sunrise, slowly tapering up to SSW14 by trip’s end.
Notes: BA=10G; GT=40

Areas Fished with success:
**  1137/499
**  1137
**  1275
**  1276
**  1277

Bob Maindelle
Holding the Line Guide Service
254-368-7411
www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
Salado, Texas