This evening, Friday, 18 Dec., I fished with Mr. Gabe Carreras and his 7-year-old son, Christian, of Round Rock, TX, and Gabe’s father-in-law, Chris, from Birmingham, AL.
From left: Christian and Gabe Carreras with a nice Lake Belton hybrid striped bass that came out of 22′ of water on a slab.
From left: Chris, Christian, and Gabe, each with one of the larger 13″ class white bass we boated this afternoon.
This trio fished with me earlier this year in early September when the topwater action on white bass and hybrid stripers was strong. So, today’s slower vertical jigging approach was a real change-up for everyone.
This trip was an early Christmas present from Gabe and his wife to Chris and Christian. The couple managed to keep this all a secret, however, on Wednesday when grandma and grandpa suggested the family catch a movie together this evening, Gabe had to do some quick thinking to maintain the element of surprise. He contacted me by email to see if we could bump the trip start time up a bit so the fishing trip AND the movie could both take place on Friday evening.
So, we planned on fishing from 1:00 to 5:00p. As I watched the weather forecast develop and planned my trips this week, I left Wednesday and Thursday alone due to light north winds and bright skies. I was eager to see today’s wind shift back to the south come in just in time for this trip.
There is an old fishermen’s rhyme that goes like this:
Winds from the west, fish bite best,
Winds from the east, fish bite least,
Winds from the south blow the hook in the fish’s mouth,
But winds from the north, the fisherman goes not forth!
Despite lingering post-frontal conditions, no sooner did the lake’s surface begin to ripple with the gentlest of southerly breezes than the fish turned on and stayed turned on all afternoon, which is a very good thing when you have a 7-year-ol on board!
Gabe had been keeping up with my blog/Facebook posts and seeing the handsome numbers of fish we’ve been putting in the boat, so, he shared this with Chris and Christian and the 3 wagered on our fish count. Christian bet 121, Chris bet 124, and Gabe, by default, would win if we exceeded that 124 fish wager.
As it turned out, we put exactly 140 fish over the gunwales today, including only white bass and hybrid stripers (and no largemouth, drum, nor catfish as we seen in the past few outings).
The methodical jigging stroke we’ve been using the past 3 weeks or so continued to produce today when used in conjunction both with a 3/8 oz. slab and a 3/4 oz. slab.
As the clock struck 4:45p, we brought the lines in, cranked up the Honda, and pointed the bow for the boatramp so as not to jeopardize the 6:45p start of “Alvin & the Chipmunks”
TALLY = 140 FISH, all caught and released
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TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 1:00p
End Time: 5;00p
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 54F
Water Surface Temp: 60F
Wind Speed & Direction: SSE5-6
Sky Conditions: Bluebird
Water Level: 6.2 feet above full pool with 0.25 feet of water released in the past 24 hours.
Other: GT= 5
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area 1659/1623 found with sonar
**Area 173/1573 found with sonar
**Area between 1664 & 1665 thanks to brief feeding display by 1 gull
**Area 415 found with sonar
**Area 1664 – returned here with limited time remaining after Area 415 played out.
Bob Maindelle
Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service
254.368.7411 (call or text)
Salado, TX
www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
www.Facebook.com/bobmaindelle