The Girl is Gung-Ho – 32 Fish

CLIENTS: On the afternoon of Friday, February 13, I conducted the monthly white bass collection effort on Lake Belton in collaboration with Temple College. Joining in to help increase the sample size of fish collected was Mr. Jimmie McCormack of Harker Heights, Texas, and his adult daughter, Kristina. Jimmie is a U.S. Army veteran and an avid white bass angler who runs his own boat here on the reservoirs of Central Texas.

ABOUT THE WHITE BASS STUDY:
Through April of 2026, researchers will be measuring and weighing the white bass captured by my clients to establish a baseline of fish quality on both lakes. If you come out fishing with me to help collect these fish, you will get $70 deducted from your fee in exchange for allowing researchers to accompany your party on my boat ($245 vs. $315). We have designated one sampling day per lake, per month through April of 2026. We will still be catching and releasing all fish.

TODAY’S DATE: 13 February 2026 (PM)


NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING: 17, 19, 20 February 2026 (AM or PM)

PHOTO CAPTION: Kristina McCormack and her dad, Jimmie, enjoyed a balmy February afternoon on Lake Belton as we continued collecting white bass for the Belton/Stillhouse study conducted by Temple College.

PHOTO CAPTION: Something told me Kristina was a bit more gung-ho about fishing than the average young lady who steps aboard my boat…

FIND LURES HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/


WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton


SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

Before anyone arrived, I got out and sampled the water temperature from the surface down to 60 feet and what a stark contrast I discovered. The surface temperature was over 60° and the temperature near bottom was under 50°. There is a tremendous difference in the behavior of white bass at these extremes, so, I was not sure what we were in for today. As we got going, we actually did not have all that much difficulty finding fish, although the schools were neither easy to recognize due to how closely they were hugging the bottom, nor were the schools all that large.

To catch these fish, we found that snap-jigging created the necessary commotion to bring these fish in in addition to the commotion created by thumping, but, the fish were really not all that excited about a near motionless slab, so, when the snap-jigging brought these fish in, we changed over to slow-smoking and watched the Garmin LiveScope screen very closely to see if the fish were attempting to follow our baits. If they did, we continued the upwards motion unbroken until either the fish struck or turned away.

The white, 5/8 ounce Bladed Hazy Eye Slab has been a real champ this winter, and accounted for 100% of our fish this afternoon.

We moved frequently, shifting positions each time any fish activity at a given spot began to wane.

In this manner, we put together a 32 fish catch in right at four hours’ time. This catch included 28 white bass, one crappie, two largemouth bass, and one hybrid striped bass.

30-35′ was our best depth until just before sunset when we found more fish up in 22′.

RESULTS: 32 fish, all caught and released

TUTORIAL ON HOW TO SNAP-JIG A BLADED HAZY EYE SLAB:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGtrnAQ_T94

OBSERVATIONS:

-I have seen and heard of a lot of good anglers struggling right now. Fishing is tough — with a lot of fish suspended as the first stage of a slow spawning migration upcurrent.

-No helpful bird action.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE: Taken on Lake Belton around 1:15PM on 13 Feb. 2026…

(254) 368 7411 (call or text)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

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