This past Wednesday afternoon, December 21st, I fished with John and Elaine Wyckoff of Belton, and their three grandchildren, Dacia, Malia, and Gabriel Rodriguez.

 

From left: Maila, Gabriel, and Dacia Rodriguez of Belton were treated to a Christmas break fishing trip by their grandparents, John and Elaine Wyckoff, also of Belton.  The party of 5 put exactly 138 fish in the boat in right at 4 hours this past Wednesday afternoon.

When weather forced a cancellation of our Saturday, 03 December, trip John was minded to push the trip back to spring break, but added that he and Elaine would like to fish and not merely serve as chaperones. Hearing this, I suggested that we do a winter trip instead when the go-to technique is vertical jigging, which lends itself well to having multiple anglers fishing simultaneously.

We compared notes and I looked at the weather forecast and saw this day’s southerly winds between cold fronts and felt this would be an opportune time to catch fish and not expose the kids to extreme cold as we did it.

This hunch turned out to be correct as we were able to land at least a few fish at every single stop we made today, with some spots giving up 15, 20, 30, or more fish.

Today, all of the fish we encountered demanded the same presentation – – an easing tactic using small slabs equipped with stinger hooks. I have mentioned a number of times through the years how effective this stinger hook is. From mid-December through early March, 50% or greater of the fish caught on slabs are caught on the stinger hook in the mouth first, with the treble hooks simply latching on after-the-fact somewhere outside the mouth.

We caught a variety of species today including two short hybrid stripers, about six largemouth bass, about a dozen drum, with the balance being made up of white bass.

Although we did see birds on the water and in the air today, none of them were helpful in locating fish, which is pretty typical for afternoon fishing.

When all was said and done my crew of five had landed 138 fish in right at four hours’ time.

 

TALLY = 138 fish, all caught and released

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 1:00p

End Time:  5:10p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 61F

Water Surface Temp:  56.8F

Wind Speed & Direction:  S12, tapering to S4 in 30 minutes

Sky Conditions: 50% high, thin wispy white clouds on a fair sky

Water Level:  0.33 feet above full pool

GT =  50

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 192 – 15 fish by easing

**Area 327/1815 –  a few fish by easing

**Area 1827 –  a few fish by easing

**Area 1635/1820 – 15 fish by easing

**Area 1187/1285 – 38 fish by easing

**Area 1272-1802 – balance of the catch at this last area; all caught by easing

Bob Maindelle

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-LGrD-sm7Bo6tDPIv0z4jg

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/holdingtheline

This past Saturday morning I was joined once again by Temple fire chief Mitch Randles and his daughter, Sabrina. The two chose to celebrate Sabrina’s 21st birthday on the boat with me in pursuit of white bass.

 

From left: Sabrina Randles and her dad, City of Temple Fire Chief Mitch Randles, boated a total of 152 fish on Lake Belton under pre-frontal conditions this past Saturday while celebrating Sabrina’s 21st birthday.

As they often do when other species of fish are feeding heavily in one area, freshwater drum routinely moved into the areas we fished this morning and fell for our slabs.  Sabrina so routinely caught them that Mitch and I began calling her the “Drum Major”.

Chief Randles first came to this area after his family  lost just about everything they owned to the tornado that struck Joplin, Missouri a few years ago.

Sabrina and her parents went out to eat at the Back Porch restaurant in Temple the previous night on her actual birthday, where the family got to enjoy seeing the University of Mary Hardin Baylor football team win the championship for their division amidst a celebratory local crowd.

The weather forecast was constantly changing in regards to the wind direction and velocity this morning as the seasons most severe cold front headed for Texas and was due to come in around 7 PM.  I anticipated that I’d be looking at either prefrontal conditions, or a much less desirable set of conditions known as compressional warming of the atmosphere. As it turned out, we got to experience a bit of both.

Our first hour on the water was our slowest, as very murky skies and a southerly wind up over 15 mph put both fish and birds off their feed a little bit.

As the clouds thinned (but still remained 100% coverage), and as the wind slowly shifted west of south, the fishing began to improve.

For the next 2.75 hours on the water we simply spot hopped beneath active birds over a roughly half mile span of water. Over this time we put a total of 78 fish in the boat. As the bird activity settled and what fish we found on sonar prove quite stubborn, we left this area behind.

We transitioned to a slightly deeper, clearer, and more wind-exposed area about the same time some small breaks began to develop in the clouds allowing blue sky and some direct sun to show through. During our final 75 minutes on the water, we nearly doubled our catch. By noon, we had taken our fish count to our final total of 152 fish.

During this change of weather, the fish began to be less responsive to the easing tactic we had used all morning, and more responsive to a straightforward jigging approach.

Following the trip, skies continued to clear, allowing the afternoon temperatures to climb to 78F, but, the bottom fell out around 7pm as the season’s coldest cold front to date crashed into central Texas with 30+ mph dry, north winds which would blow right through Monday morning.  Sunday and Monday morning would see wake-up temperatures at 19-20F.
 

TALLY = 152 fish, all caught and released

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:15a

End Time:  12:00 noon

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 53F

Water Surface Temp:  59.6 to 60.2F

Wind Speed & Direction:  SSE12-14 with prefrontal, compressional warming

Sky Conditions: 100% greyed over with a few breaks in the clouds during our last hour on the water

Water Level:  0.33 feet above full pool

GT =  0

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic 1864, 1865, 1862 – easing with 3/8 oz. slabs; fish were reluctant to strike larger slabs;  I noted fish responding the best they have so far this season to “thumping”, often suspending in a horizontal band beneath the boat.

**Area 1863- snap jigging with 3/8 oz. slabs

 

Bob Maindelle

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-LGrD-sm7Bo6tDPIv0z4jg

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/holdingtheline

This past Friday morning I fished with U.S. Army veteran Troy Hensley and his three-year-old son, Trace.

 

Troy Hensley and his 3-year-old son put 52 fish in the boat before the novelty of the outdoors within the confines of a 20 foot boat wore off on little Trace.

Troy and I first got to know each other through our church — Memorial Baptist Church — in Killeen, shortly after Troy finished up his time in the Army as an infantryman with the 1st Cavalry Division.  Fast forward a few years and the two of now have the honor of co-leading a small group of 5 families each Monday evening together.  Troy is originally from Kentucky, and growing up he did some fishing from the shore, primarily for largemouth bass. So, to fish in deep, open water using primarily vertical tactics is something fairly new to Troy.

Our skies were completely greyed over and our starting temperature was right at 50°. Three hours later, the temperature had only risen to 52. At times a light drizzle fell, which, in combination with the 14 mph south southeast wind made it feel pretty raw out.

We did the best we could to keep little Trace engaged.  When Troy or I hooked a fish we would lower the rod and reel down to Trace’s level and let him turn the handle. When that novelty wore off, we let him look at and play with the handful of fish we kept in the live well for photos. After that, it was snack time; after that he operated my thumping stick, and, last but not least, he served as our “net man”.  As the net man, Trace stood between Troy and me with a shad net. As we unhooked our white bass we put them tail first into the net and let Trace release them back into the lake where they slid out easily headfirst. By the three-hour mark he had had all of the weather, waves, and fun a 3-year-old  can have and fell asleep on our way back in.

We ended up this short, three hour trip with 52 fish boated and some once-in-a-lifetime photos and video clips taken.

 

TALLY = 52 fish, all caught and released

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:15a

End Time:  10:15a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 53F

Water Surface Temp:  58.6F

Wind Speed & Direction:  SSE10-13

Sky Conditions: 100% grey overcast with light mist just before launching; damp and cool and damp the entire trip.

Water Level:  0.33 feet above full pool

GT =  0

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic 739-752 for the first 2 hours for white bass on slabs with an easing tactic

**Area vic 963-1187 for the last hour for white bass on slabs with an easing tactic

Bob Maindelle

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-LGrD-sm7Bo6tDPIv0z4jg

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/holdingthe

This past Thursday morning I fished with Lee Davis and Brian Srba on Belton Lake in pursuit of white bass.

From left: Lee Davis and Brian Srba, each with quality hybrid stripers.  We caught these fish on Hazy Eye Shad tandem rigs while a very large school of fish was beneath the boat in about 34 feet of water.  As we used the tandem rigs (with a slab as the lower offering and a Hazy Eye Shad fly as the upper offering), both fellows caught the hybrid on the fly.  Brian actually doubled up, with his second fish being a short white bass of about 7 inches.  Note the two drops of milt dripping from the anal fin on Brian’s fish (on right).

 

From left: Lee Davis and Brian Srba with handfuls of quality white bass, each over 13.25 inches, taken beneath actively feeding birds over a 3.25 hour span on Lake Belton this morning.

Lee, who serves at the Methodist Children’s Home in Waco, lives right near Lake Whitney.  Although he’s become confident in fishing live bait for the full-blooded stripers there, and catches white bass when they are “easy” (i.e. when schooling visibly on the surface), the day-in and day-out pursuit of this species with artificial baits has proven a challenge.  Our aim on this trip was to give Lee an overview of effective methods for finding and catching white bass when they are not so easy (which is about 95% of the time!).  Brian is a DPS State Trooper.  The two got to know one another when Lee trained one of Brian’s duck hunting dogs.

After two days of bright, post-frontal conditions, cloud cover arrived at the end of the day on Wednesday and, overnight, winds began to shift out of the SW, through W, and to the NW in advance of a mild, damp cold front which would move quickly through the area, barely impacting temperatures.

Cloudy, breezy conditions are the best of the best for cool season white bass fishing and this morning was no exception.  We enjoyed abundant bird activity for 3.25 of our 4.25 hours on the water.  All of the fish we caught were within a 1/2 mile radius, thus we spent a lot of time with lines in the water, not moving about searching out active fish.

The first fish we encountered were the shallowest we’d find this morning, thus I was able to introduce the use of bladebaits and the techniques necessary to use them effectively.  As the morning moved along, the fish moved out deeper, thus allowing me to explain how to use slabs in snap-jigging, easing, smoking, and tandem rigging.  Because the fish were so active for so long, all of these tactics produced, thus allowing Lee and Brian to gain useful experience with these tactics through repetition.

As the morning bite seemed to be drawing to a close (as evidenced by the tapering of bird activity), I suggested we take advantage of the opportunity to do a downrigging demo while we still had a shot at catching suspended fish (which were showing in abundance on sonar).  I demonstrated everything on our first set and the fish cooperated immediately.  I then talked Lee through setting up the downrigging by himself on our second set.  Once we worked out the kinks, he got his baits in the water and, again, the fish cooperated immediately.

By the time the helpful gull activity had just about ground to a halt, we’d amassed a catch of 119 fish, including several nice hybrid between 3.5 and 4.5 pounds.

TALLY = 119 fish, all caught and released

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:15a

End Time:  11:30a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 42F

Water Surface Temp:  58.6F

Wind Speed & Direction:  NNW12-15

Sky Conditions: 100% grey overcast with light mist just before launching; damp and raw the entire trip.

Water Level:  0.33 feet above full pool

GT =  20

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic 1733 through 1860; all vertical work with slabs, incl. easing and slow smoking with 3/8 oz single slabs and with Hazy Eye Shad tandem rig

Bob Maindelle

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-LGrD-sm7Bo6tDPIv0z4jg

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/holdingtheline

This past Monday morning I fished a multi-species trip using strictly artificial baits on Lake Belton with Sean Webber, his dad, Chris Webber, and Sean’s brother, Chad Webber.

 

From left: Sean, Chad, and Chris Webber teamed up to put an incredible 269 fish in the boat in just over 4 hours of fishing on Lake Belton.  An incoming dry cold front got the fish in an exceptional feeding mode today.  All fish were caught on slabs equipped with Hazy Eye Stinger Hooks on the line tie in addition to the standard treble hooks.

Sean is a U.S. Army mechanic assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division, and his dad and brother are both firemen with the San Diego Fire Dept., where Chris serves as a chief.

We were blessed this morning with the arrival of yet another dry cold front.  After a balmy, cloudy, windy, and humid day yesterday in which afternoon temps reached just over 70F, a dry cold front moved into Texas this morning shifting the winds through the west to the north and clearing and cooling the air.  As we launched, the ambient temperature was at 44F with a windchill of 39F with the 12-13mph winds.  Temps only climbed to the low 60’s by afternoon.

Evidently pushed by the increasing barometric pressure, the fish went on an exceptional feedings spree this morning which stayed strong right up until the winds let up and shifted more northerly, around 11:30a.

As with most off of my highly productive trips (150+ fish) over the years, this trip had the same several elements — active fish, minimal time spent looking for fish or moving around to find active fish, and a maximum amount of time spent catching.

Indeed, we only fished 3 different areas this morning, with 2.5 hours spent at our first location which yielded over 170 fish, and the remainder of our catch of 269 fish was split across the last two areas we fish.  Fishing was identical at all 3 areas in that we used an easing tactic with small slabs equipped with stinger hooks to keep the fish coming in the boat.  Over 30% of the fish were hooked primarily by the stinger hook.

On a number of occasions I was concerned that the winds were going to let up before we got in a full four hours on the water, but, each time the winds settled, they cranked back up again until finally, around 11:30, the winds shifted as far north as they would reach this day and then went slack as the entire front passed and began to leave the characteristic calm, clear conditions  behind.

For there efforts today the Webber men landed a total of exactly 269 fish including 2 short hybrid striper, 3 largemouth bass, about 14 drum, and the balance of white bass in the 1, 2, and 3 year classes.

I was surprised at how little bird action existed today.  There was only a 15 minutes period right after sunrise during which the birds fed in a way helpful to locating fish.  I suspect the rapid cooldown of the water near the surface last week pushed the bait down in the water column and the gamefish simply didn’t have to chase the shad all the way to the top to feed.

 

TALLY = 269 fish, all caught and released

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:15a

End Time:  11:45a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 44F

Water Surface Temp:  59.6 to 60.2F

Wind Speed & Direction:  WNW13 shifting and tapering to NNW4

Sky Conditions: Bright and clear with an incoming, dry coldfront

Water Level:  0.33 feet above full pool

GT =  35

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic 1860 – 2.5 hours. 170+ fish easing 3/8 oz. slabs

**Area 1187/1728 – easing 3/8 oz. slabs

**Area 1292/1727 – easing 3/8 oz. slabs

Bob Maindelle

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-LGrD-sm7Bo6tDPIv0z4jg

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/holdingtheline

This past Wednesday morning, November 30th, I fished a 1/2 day morning trip on Lake Belton with Dr. Jim Wood. Our focus was primarily on white bass with a few bonus hybrid striper thrown in for excitement.

 

 

Our best action this morning came in the first 2 hours, with fish activity slowly tapering down to nil by around 11am as the high winds of the morning plateaued and began to moderate by this time.  The time to be out there was when it was really blowing.

 

Jim has been a medical doctor for many years now and currently serves patients each week in both Harker Heights and out in Lampasas.  Wednesdays are his days off, and he chose to spend this one out with me.
A mild, dry cold front began moving into central Texas during the early morning hours. As we launched right at 7 AM, the winds were blowing 14 to 17 mph from the north northwest, with clear, cool, dry conditions prevailing. The ambient temperature was 51F and only rose to 58F by the time our trip concluded.  We watched two boats that launched at the same time we did turn around and head to the house after leaving the protection of the launch area and seeing the swell and waves that faced them.

Spurred on by the incoming, dry cold front, approximately 80 ring billed gulls were actively pursuing shad pushed to the surface by aggressively feeding gamefish for approximately two hours. We had a few options, given how aggressive and abundant the fish were. The first option was to throw a blade baits for numbers of smaller fish – – mainly white bass, and the other option was to throw a larger swim bait to select for hybrid stripers.  Jim leaned towards steady action and stuck with the bladebaits.

After the aggressive action under birds concluded, the fish moved out to slightly deeper water and grouped up heavily, thus making them vulnerable to a vertical jigging approach. For this work, we used Hazy Eye Shad tandem rigs anchored with ¾ oz. slabs.  We made two short hops on top of such congregated fish before the bite in this vicinity died altogether. At this point, our tally stood at 49 fish landed.

We changed locations right around 10 AM, heading to the same area where we encountered fish under birds yesterday between approximately 10 and 11 AM. Although the quantity of birds we encountered yesterday was not to be found, a few helpful Forsters terns were present, and they were feeding over top of actively feeding fish in about 32 feet of water over an area about 100 yards long. We spot hopped beneath these terns for another 75 minutes, and added exactly 30 additional fish to our count, thus wrapping up the morning at around 11:15 AM with 79 fish caught.

TALLY = 79 fish, all caught and released

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:00a

End Time:  11:15a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 47F

Water Surface Temp:  65.7F

Wind Speed & Direction:  NW14-17

Sky Conditions: Bright and clear with an incoming, dry coldfront

Water Level:  0.33 feet above full pool

GT = 40

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

MORNING:

**Area vic 1735-1858 during low light conditions before, during, and just after sunrise under birds

**Area 1859 – easing after the birds quit

**Area vic 1656 in late a.m. under ranging terns

 

Bob Maindelle

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-LGrD-sm7Bo6tDPIv0z4jg

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/holdingtheline

This past Monday morning, November 28th, I fished a multi-species trip on Belton Lake with US Army veteran Lee Walker. Lee took advantage of the Veterans’ Day special fishing trip I advertised on that holiday, and, because the weather conditions were just so-so on that date, we moved it to today, and we were glad we did!

 

 

Lee Walker braved the high winds with me this morning and cashed in on some fun fishing under gulls and terns for a full 2+ hours before the skies cleared and the winds went over 20mph, forcing us to fish more protected, but less productive, waters.

 

 

By the end of the trip, the winds were so high, we couldn’t take a clear photo in the rocking boat so we put the boat on the trailer and took the pictures at water’s edge before releasing our catch.

The NOAA weather forecast was a bit daunting to look at, with wind speeds ranging from 17 to 23 mph during the four hour window from 7 AM to 11 AM during which we would be fishing. However, because the winds were due to be from the south and west, I felt our chances of catching fish were very good and so we made a go of it. Lee and I had gone out on his boat previously during a sonar training session in which he got to learn the features of his Lowrance HDS-7 Gen3 unit.  He’s since upgraded to an HDS-9.

As we got going, the skies were heavily overcast, but brighter out to the west. Around 7:20, the first bird activity popped up in what would be a full two hour run of bird activity, allowing us to take advantage of fishing for fish active enough to chase bait all the way to the surface from out of 20 to 30 feet of water. We used a combination of presentations with both 3/8 ounce and ¾ ounce slabs. When the fish were more aggressive we fished the Hazy Eye Shad rig with a three-quarter ounce slab, and when the fish action was more subdued, we used a 3/8 oz. slab by itself a bit closer to the bottom.

By 9:15, the last of the cloud cover past with rapid clearing and brightening taking place from the south and west with a drastic, sudden increase in wind speed from 16 or 17 mph to up over 20 to 22 mph. The gull and fish activity took a noticeable downturn at this time and boat control became quite challenging. We relocated to a more protected area and continued to catch fish more slowly from out of the small, bottom hugging schools we found on topographic irregularities in 20 to 27 feet of water.

We wrapped up the trip at 11:10 with exactly 78 fish boated, including a mix of hybrid striped bass, white bass, freshwater drum, and largemouth bass.

TALLY = 78 fish, all caught and released

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:00a

End Time:  11:00a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 61F

Water Surface Temp:  67.1F

Wind Speed & Direction:  WSW16-17 at trip’s start, ramping up to WSW20-23 by around 9:15a

Sky Conditions: Light but complete grey cloud cover, changing suddenly to clear skies around 9:15, along with the wind velocity’s increase

Water Level:  0.33 feet above full pool

GT = 10

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic 1663, fancasting with blades and slabbing in 15-22′ during low light conditions before sunrise under birds

**Area 1001 to 1808 – smoking and easing under birds

**Area 1857, 1635, and 1667 – easing under birds

Bob Maindelle

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-LGrD-sm7Bo6tDPIv0z4jg

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/holdingtheline

 

This past Saturday morning, November 26th, I fished a multi-species trip on Belton Lake with Dave Hanlin, his 82-year-old father, Dick Hanlin, Gary Pretzsch, and his 11-year-old son, Griffin.

 

From left: David Hanlin, Dick Hanlin, Griffin Pretzsch, and Gary Pretzsch with a sampling of the better sized white bass we landed, in addition to numerous hybrid striper, largemouth, and freshwater drum — 186 fish in all.

Griffin landed our largest fish of the trip with this nice hybrid striper, although several of the drum we boated came very close to this size, too.

 
The same ideal conditions that provided two 140+ fish trips yesterday continued into the first half of this day. Although the northwest winds lightened a bit, the nice grey cloud cover persisted with winds that at least rippled the surface at the beginning of our trip, and then built to about 7 to 8 mph for the remainder of the morning.

We fished only two areas this morning, both under ample bird activity, and “spot – hopped” quite a bit at both of these areas in order to keep up with the birds/active fish.

Our go-to techniques were using a Hazy Eye Shad tandem rig, as well as a single, small, 3/8 oz. slab. We used the Hazy Eye Shad tandem rig when the fish were more aggressive, and switched over to the single slab whenever the fish became more lethargic.

The fishing was very simple, and very straightforward. My four anglers boated a total of 186 fish in exactly 4 hours.

Things had really begun to slow down in the final hour, but then a small storm cell began to move in from the west, and just as the outer band of sprinkles begin to ever so lightly dimple the surface, the fish went on another rampage, accompanied by a resurgence of the gull and tern activity. We quickly hopped on top of this action, and put our last few fish in the boat, wrapping up right at 10:45 AM and beating the rain by just minutes.

 

TALLY = 186 fish, all caught and released

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:00a

End Time:  11:00a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 52F

Water Surface Temp:  67.1F

Wind Speed & Direction:  WNW5-8 all morning

Sky Conditions: Heavy, grey cloud cover all day in conjunction with a slow moving cold front.

Water Level:  0.20 feet above full pool

GT = 50

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 1643- smoking with Hazy Eye Shad tandem rigs and easing with 3/8 oz. slabs for fish under birds

**Area 1654-1804 – smoking with Hazy Eye Shad tandem rigs and easing with 3/8 oz. slabs for fish under birds

**Area 1642- smoking with Hazy Eye Shad tandem rigs and easing with 3/8 oz. slabs for fish under birds

Bob Maindelle

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-LGrD-sm7Bo6tDPIv0z4jg

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/holdingtheline

This past Friday afternoon, November 25th, I fished with Mr. Mike McLaughlin, his son-in-law, Keith Duncan, and Keith’s 10-year-old son, Alex.  Mike’s wife presented him with a fishing gift certificate for Christmas, and today was the day he cashed it in.

Grandpa Mike landed the largest of our 151 fish this afternoon under ideal grey and breezy conditions.  This Belton hybrid striped bass struck the teaser fly on Mike’s Hazy Eye Shad tandem rig.

 

Keith Duncan and his son, Alex, hold another nice hybrid that fell for the Hazy Eye Shad rig.  Using this tandem rig, Alex landed 9 sets of doubles over the course of our 4 hour afternoon trip.
The very strong white bass bite fueled by an incoming cold front and the accompanying northwest winds and gray cloud cover allowed for a nearly identical afternoon trip following a spectacular morning trip in which we boated 143 fish.

In contrast with the morning bite in which we caught the vast majority of our fish at just two locations at which the fish “hunkered down” and allowed us to catch from just a handful of locations, this afternoon’s bite was quite different. This afternoon, we primarily followed birds which were on top of active fish pushing shad to the surface, and we spot–hopped based on where the birds indicated the fish were.

In all, I used the Spot Lock function on my Ulterra trolling motor to hover over approximately nine different areas in order to put together our catch. The go-to bait this afternoon was the Hazy Eye Shad tandem rig anchored with a three-quarter ounce silver slab. Depending on how thick the fish were, and where in the water column they were located, we would present the Hazy Eye Shad rig accordingly.

Young Alex led the way on catching doubles with a grand total of nine doubles.

All species, it seemed, were feeding up as this cold front slowly rolled in. We caught numerous drum, largemouth bass, hybrid striper, and, of course, plenty of white bass.

When all was said and done we had landed 151 fish this evening. The fish quit right at 5:10p, and at the same light level at which they began feeding this morning.

TALLY = 151 fish, all caught and released

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 1:00p

End Time:  5:10p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 61F

Water Surface Temp:  67.2F

Wind Speed & Direction:  NW10-12 all afternoon

Sky Conditions: Heavy, grey cloud cover all day in conjunction with a slow moving cold front.

Water Level:  0.20 feet above full pool

GT = 25

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 1137 – smallish whites on a deep breakline during brief pre-trip scouting

**Area 1188- smoking with Hazy Eye Shad tandem rigs for aggressively feeding white bass spread from the bottom to within 12′ of the surface, marked by gulls

**Area 1187 – smoking with Hazy Eye Shad tandem rigs for aggressively feeding white bass spread from the bottom to within 12′ of the surface, marked by gulls

**Area 1808- smoking with Hazy Eye Shad tandem rigs for aggressively feeding white bass spread from the bottom to within 12′ of the surface, marked by gulls

**Area 1728- smoking with Hazy Eye Shad tandem rigs for aggressively feeding white bass spread from the bottom to within 12′ of the surface, marked by gulls

**Area 1519- smoking with Hazy Eye Shad tandem rigs for aggressively feeding white bass spread from the bottom to within 12′ of the surface, marked by gulls

**Area 302- smoking with Hazy Eye Shad tandem rigs for aggressively feeding white bass spread from the bottom to within 12′ of the surface, marked by gulls

**Area 1574- casting blade baits horizontally for low-light fish in water under 14′

Bob Maindelle

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-LGrD-sm7Bo6tDPIv0z4jg

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/holdingtheline

This past Friday morning, November 25th, I fished with 3 generations of the Deuser family, including James (Jim) Deuser of Georgetown, Texas, and his son and grandson, Dan Deuser  and 15-year-old Jacob Deuser, both from San Antonio, Texas.

 

With raindrops still beaded on his shoulders from one of our three dousings of rain, Jim posed with this freshwater drum which, size-wise, looked more like a black drum from saltwater!!

All smiles!  From left: Dan, Jacob, and Jim with a sampling of the 143 fish we landed today, most of which were 11-12 inch white bass with a few larger ones like this thrown in for good measure.  The Hazy Eye Shad tandem rig accounted for numerous doubles as it often does this time of year as the water temperature begins to drop.

Dan landed our largest hybrid of the trip, also on a Hazy Eye Shad tandem rig, anchored with a 3/4 oz. silver slab with a chartreuse teaser fly hung just above it.

Jim and his wife retired from a career in retail sales with J.C. Penney’s, Dan is a veteran who served as an infantryman in the US Army, and who now works for a company that does electronic climate control in large, commercial properties; and  Jacob is a high school student currently learning to drive.

A very slow moving cold front, complete with heavy cloud cover and light rain began making its way into central Texas in the early morning hours this morning. The timing on our trip was quite fortunate, because as soon as the skies brightened sufficiently through the clouds for the gulls to see what was going on, they lead the way to aggressively feeding fish for the last three of our four hours on the water.

Once the feeding began, it only slowed down around 10:45, the same time at which we planned to wrap up anyway. During this peak time, we used single slabs, and slabs in combination with a teaser fly on a Hazy Eye Shad rig to catch singles and doubles nonstop.

During our first, slowest hour on the water, we were fan casting blade baits and covering ground horizontally in shallower water, and still catching a fish or two every few minutes.

Once the bite turned on, it developed in 30 to 33 feet of water with fish congregated very thickly in the last 4 feet of the water column closest to the bottom.

Despite a pretty miserable start in which we got downpoured on three times and then chilled by the north wind, all turned out well in the end. It’s funny how catching a few fish at the right time sure can warm you up.  My favorite memory of this trip, strangely enough, didn’t have to do with the quantity or quality of the fish we caught.  Rather, it was of Jacob, cold to the point of shivering occasionally, gulping down an ice-cold Dr. Pepper in a short break in the fishing as we traveled a short distance from one flock of feeding gulls to another.  A true Texan!

When all was said and done, the Deusers landed 143 fish!

TALLY = 143 fish, all caught and released

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:45a

End Time:  11:00a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 52F

Water Surface Temp:  67.2F

Wind Speed & Direction:  NW12 at trip’s start, increasing to NW14-15 in advance of several storm cells that passed over, then settling down to NW10-11 after the rainfall ended

Sky Conditions: Heavy, grey cloud cover all day in conjunction with a slow moving cold front.

Water Level:  0.20 feet above full pool

GT = 30

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic 1733 fancasting bladebaits in ~15′ for scattered, disinterested white bass

**Area 1855 – vertical jigging slowly with a single slab for white bass in a neutral mood in ~17″

**Area 1856 – smoking with Hazy Eye Shad tandem rigs for aggressively feeding white bass spread from the bottom to within 12′ of the surface, marked by gulls

**Area 748/1343 – smoking with Hazy Eye Shad tandem rigs for aggressively feeding white bass spread from the bottom to within 12′ of the surface, marked by gulls

**Area 1856/753 – smoking with Hazy Eye Shad tandem rigs for aggressively feeding white bass spread from the bottom to within 12′ of the surface, marked by gulls

Bob Maindelle

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-LGrD-sm7Bo6tDPIv0z4jg

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/holdingtheline