Winds finally gained a warming southerly component today after the cold north and east winds of the past few days, and that got the fish cranked back up. I had a trip scheduled for a gentleman on R&R from Iraq and his wife and 3 kids, but he requested to be rescheduled due to the cold and light rain, so I wound up fishing solo today.

Start Time: 8:08a

End Time: 1:15p


Air Temp: 38F at sunrise (obscured by fog), warming only to 46F due to heavy cloud cover.

Water Temp: 50-51F


Wind: Winds were ESE and light at 5-6 until around 11:45a, then slowly turned SSE and increased to ~9 for about 1 1/2 hours, then settled down to about 6-7 mph for the remainder of the day.

Skies: Skies were foggy until 10:45 when the fog cleared only to reveal heavy, low, gray clouds.

Due to the sparse fog, I cruised very slowly and both looked and listened for birds, and, around 8:30 encountered a flock of terns ~14 in number working over open water at Area 337. Sonar revealed bottom oriented and suspended fish here so I began working with the 1/4 oz. jigging spoon and had the best success targeting the bottom oriented fish. At this location, the fish were holding both at the lip of the hole as well as down on the slope going into the bottom of the hole, down to 45 feet. I boated 31 fish here including 19 whites, 1 largemouth, and 1 drum in about 2.25 hours. When things ground to a halt here, I continued looking for birds elsewhere.

I found scattered terns working between Areas 330 and 107 and so hung in that area to see if they would coalesce. In about 15 minutes after my arrival (~11:15) about 8 terns began to concentrate on one area and the game was on. Over the next 75 minutes I slabbed up 20 more white bass, with the best action coming off bottom-oriented fish, and, surprisingly, on the larger 3/4 oz. TNT 180 slab. Typically these sluggish cold water fish like things small, but, evidently, the shad these fish were consuming was on the larger side and so this bait appealed to them very well.

By 12:45 things were done for the day.

Overall comment: the fish are definitely orienting on the main channel right now, traveling generally, slowly upstream. Bottom oriented fish tend to be more prone to striking than are suspenders.

TALLY = 51 FISH, all caught and released

Bob Maindelle, Owner, Holding The Line Guide Service and Kids Fish, Too! Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide, Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Lake Georgetown Fishing Guide, Walter E. Long (Decker) Lake Fishing Guide. Offering Salado Fishing, Killeen Fishing and Ft. Hood Fishing