I had a very enjoyable mother/son trip this morning with Luanne and Jordan M. of Harker Heights. Jordan is home for the holidays and his dad arranged a trip for him and his mom…
Jordan’s 4.25 pound hybrid tipped the scales as our best fish of the morning. It fell to a White Willow spoon while holding suspended in a small school of fish 15 feet down.
As we got started this morning the light breeze had me very concerned. Simply put, Belton does not fish well under calm conditions. As dawn broke, there was at least a ripple on the water and fish began to feed in the upper 1/3 of the water column. Sonar revealed most hybrid were in “wolfpacks” of 4-10 fish each, moving after bait. This makes for a scenario where downriggers excel. We picked up our first two hybrid, both on Pet Spoons, right as the sun began to rise in the vicinity of Area 837 (BA:12RBG). The action was spotty at best with fish popping up here and there and never “hunkering down” in one area very long.
We next headed over to Area 971 (BA:14RBG) and found bottom-hugging white bass with a few short hybrid mixed in. We slabbed over top of these fish with 3/4 oz. TNT 180’s and boated 16 fish in an area perhaps only 30 feet in diameter. This action died after about 25 minutes.
We next headed to Area 966/967 (BA:30RBG,6T) and again found wolfpacks of hybrid patrolling in the upper 1/2 of the water column, so, again we downrigged with one Pet Spoon and one White Willow Spoon positioned in the fish. It was at this time that the best action of the day occurred as the wind briefly came up WNW8-9. We boated 14 fish here — all hybrid — including our largest of the day, shown above. This action died as the wind settled, and from this point on the action slowly tapered off to nothing.
We managed 3 more hybrid on swimbaits (1 fish) and slabs (2 fish) at Area 972 (BA:8RBG) and then headed back to Area 971 to finish up the day downrigging with the balls set just off bottom for a final 2 hybrid (short) and 1 white bass.
It would not be right to close this missive without mentioning the generosity of Luanne’s husband, Mike. He was kind enough to get up at 5:00am to cook eggs for his wife and son’s breakfast and then prepared them a peanut butter and jelly sack lunch. He even sent along a nice gift for me — a “man-wrapped” pair of needle-nosed pliers. That was all very considerate and that kind act did not go unnoticed by his wife. Way to go, Mike!! We need more husbands like that.
If you’re reading this and are perhaps contemplating a Christmas holiday fishing trip, please don’t delay in getting that on the books. The week between Christmas and New Year is typically booked solid 2-3 weeks in advance.
I’m at:
Bob Maindelle
Holding the Line Guide Service
254-368-7411
www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
Start Time: 6:30a
End Time: 11:00a
Air Temp: 46F at trip’s start.
Water Surface Temp: 63.9F.
Wind: Winds were NW5 at sunrise, tapering off to light and variable by 10:15am.
Skies: Skies were bluebird.