During the afternoon of Friday, the 11th of December, I fished with MJ Linder and his adult son, Elliot, targeting white bass and hybrid stripers on Belton Lake.

Elliot landed our largest fish of the trip, a 6.50 pound flathead catfish (a.k.a. yellow catfish) which fell for a slab worked near bottom.

From left: MJ and Elliot pose with the largest four white bass we caught today.  Most of our catch consisted of a nearly 50/50 mix of average white bass and short hybrid, with most of the hybrid running right at 13 inches and having the more slender, striper-like body shape.

MJ runs his own business, Mobility Therapies, which is focused on offering outpatient physical therapy to people in their own homes.  MJ’s son, Elliot, age 20, is headed for his first enlistment in the U.S. Navy beginning in February of 2016 where, based on his very high Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) test scores, he now has the opportunity to enter into the Navy’s nuclear propulsion program.

After a 144 fish morning under birds and grey skies, this afternoon’s trip was a bit tougher.  The birds did not work all afternoon, and the skies were quite bright.  This all meant we’d be fishing for deeper, more reluctant fish, and that those fish would have to be searched out with sonar.

We found 3 solid concentrations of fish, with each giving up ~30 fish or so until the bite declined and we went looking elsewhere.  At each of these 3 locations we used a slow jigging stroke to tempt the fish with 3/4 oz. slabs.  The first area we fished (when fish were the most reluctant) saw fish sour on the 3/4 oz. bait after we’d landed about 20, but I still saw plenty of fish on the sonar, so, I downsized our baits to 3/8 oz. and that did the trick, turning the fish back on until the school dispersed.

The second area we fished was much like the first — on a gentle breakline, and the third area we fished, after initially being drawn by birds only to have the birds give up before we got to them, was more flat.  Once the fish here failed to respond any longer to a vertical tactic, we continued to catch fish by casting our slabs and working them horizontally along bottom.

With over 100 fish in the boat by 4:00pm, I asked if MJ and Elliot would like to roll the dice and look at a different area of the lake for bird action possibly leading to taking some better hybrid.  The gamble was okay with them, so, we set out looking, but, unfortunately, did not find any useful bird action this evening.  We still managed to find fish with sonar and fish so as to both catch fish and keep our eyes out for birds, but what we found was really no different size-wise or species-wise than we had found in the areas we’d left behind.

As sunset came and the bite died, we closed out our trip with exactly 129 fish boated.

 

FISHING OUTLOOK: 

Sunday sees a mild, fast moving cold front come through so I expect fishing will be off that day. (No fishing)

Monday sees a return to SW winds and should offer improving fishing.  (Booked)

Tuesday sees continued, stronger SW winds and continued warming, and  should offer good fishing.  (I have an AM opening this day 7:15 to 10:15; call if interested)

Wednesday will see another cold front come in so fishing will be off that day. (No fishing)

TALLY = 129 FISH, all caught and released

 

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TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 1:15p

End Time:  5:30p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 74F

Water Surface Temp:  62F

Wind Speed & Direction: S14-15, tapering to S12-13 in the last hour before sunset.

Sky Conditions:  Fair skies with 40% white clouds following the clearing of fog and grey skies in the morning.

Water Level: 6.54 feet above full pool with 0.32 feet of water released in the past 24 hours

Other: GT= 20

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 1623-565 – long easing strokes with slabs (reduced from 3/4 oz. to 3/8 oz. when bite got tough but fish were still abundant on sonar)

**Area 1658- long easing strokes with slabs

**Area (vic) 406- long easing strokes with slabs

**Area 1654- long easing strokes with slabs

 

 

Bob Maindelle

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Salado, TX

www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

This morning, Friday, the 11th of December, I fished with Don Mikeska and his grandson, Kaden Lehrman, targeting white bass and hybrid stripers on Belton Lake.

We used sonar to find fish under foggy conditions while the birds were unable to see and work.  After the fog cleared, the birds went to work and led us to additional fish.

 

Kaden landed two at a time at the peak of the bite when fish could be seen from surface to bottom.  One fish is hooked on the treble and the other is hooked on the stinger hook.

Don is a retired painter from Temple, TX, and his grandson, Kaden, happened to be staying with him and his wife, Monica, while mom is away visiting her sister in London, England, for a few days.

Well, while mom’s away, the boys will play!  We met at the boat ramp at around 7:00 and had lines in the water by 7:15 under quite a thick blanket of fog.

The bird action that has been so helpful in the morning was non-existent under these foggy conditions as the gulls and terns simply couldn’t see well enough to spot fish and bait near the surface.  So, for the first hour, we relied strictly upon sonar to find fish, and did well, boating nearly 50 fish in the first hour on the water.

By 8:15 the fog began to thin and by 8:30 it was gone, leaving grey skies, a stiff breeze, and great fishing conditions, especially given the unseasonably warm 61-62F surface temperatures more commonly found in mid-November than mid-December.

As the fog lifted the birds began to work and kept working for about 70 minutes.  When the birds quit, we had another 20 minutes of fishing and then the fish shut down hard.  By this time Don and Kaden had worked to put 144 fish (literally, a “gross” of fish) in the boat.  Given the increasing wind and decreasing fish activity, they decided to call it a great day while they were ahead, and we wrapped it up a bit early.

Kaden when to a “fishing summer camp” for youth up in Massachusetts this past summer where he got to experience mackeral fishing, striped bass fishing, and lobstering.  It was neat to hear him recount the tales from that experience in between fish caught this morning.

Our catch consisted of mainly white bass and short hybrid stripers.  Kaden boated 3 legal hybrid, as well as a number of 2-3 pound freshwater drum, and a single largemouth bass just for good measure.

Once again the silver/white Redneck Fish’n’ Jigs Model 180 slab did the trick for us in the 3/4 oz. size.

FISHING OUTLOOK: 

Saturday morning is due to be excessively windy, but the afternoon should offer solid (albeit wet!) pre-frontal fishing. (Booked)

Sunday sees a mild, fast moving cold front come through so I expect fishing will be off that day. (No fishing)

Monday sees a return to southerly winds and should offer good fishing.  (Booked)

Tuesday sees continued southerly winds and should offer good fishing.  (I have an AM opening this day 7:15 to 10:15; call if interested)

Wednesday wil see another cold front come in so fishing will be off that day. (No fishing)

TALLY = 144 FISH, all caught and released

 

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TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:00a

End Time:  10:15a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 50F

Water Surface Temp:  61-62F

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE9 at dawn, increasing to S16 by trip’s end

Sky Conditions:  Thick fog, accompanied by 100% grey skies.  Fog lifted around 8:15, leaving better visibility but still-grey sky conditions

Water Level: 6.90 feet above full pool with 0.15 feet of water released in the past 24 hours

Other: GT= 30

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 024 – low light slabbing after finding schooled fish on sonar (no bird action)

**Area  024 through 794 with fish and birds constantly on the move over this great span in an hour’s time

 

 

Bob Maindelle

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Salado, TX

www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com