Wanna Bet?? — 136 Fish, Belton Lake Fishing Guide Report, 29 Nov. 2013

This morning I
fished
with Uncle-in-charge Rodd L. visiting the Belton, TX, area from Reno, Nevada, with his son, Nick.  Uncle Rodd also brought along four of his nephews who reside in Morgan’s Point, TX, — Kris, Josh, Merrill, and Orland E.

I thought I’d post this photo first to use as a name directory to the crowd that came aboard this morning. From L. to R.: Merrill, Josh, Nick, Rodd, Little O (Orland), and Kris — all with white bass landed in the fog.


Josh landed our largest hybrid, a 19 3/8″ beauty that went for a white slab.


And of course, you can’t mention one kid without mentioning the other (Nick)…


And the other (Kris)…


And the other (Merrill)…


And the other (Orland)…


And the biggest kid of them all (Uncle Todd)!!

Rodd is a professional engineer (P.E.) with background in both civil engineering and geology.  He makes the trip to Texas every so often to visit with his sister and brother-in-law, and their family.  The whole bunch was a fun bunch to be with — clean cut, good attitudes, articulate, and well-behaved.

Our conditions were tough as we launched at 7a — just below freezing, with a dense blanket of fog coming off the cooling water.   With a total of 7 of us aboard, the elbow room was going to be a bit limited, so, we did a “rehearsal run” after getting out away from the launch site, showing everyone how important it was to wait to drop their slabs only when the boat had come to a stop, and then stay in their “lane” to avoid tangled lines.  I made sure each person was vertically jigging just right before got underway. 

Evidently, before the trip, Uncle Rodd put together a pool — the ante was $3 per person:  $1 for first fish, $1 for biggest fish, and $1 for most fish, thus yielding a total pot of $18 up for grabs.

Nick scored early and often, boating the first fish of the day and staying in the lead with most fish caught for the entire trip, although Kris gave him a serious run for his money.  Josh opted for quality over quantity, and landed our single largest fish of the trip, a 19 3/8″ hybrid striped bass.  Every last fish we caught today came on a TNT180 slab, white color, in 3/4 oz.  We boated 14 legal (18+ inch) hybrid striped bass, and a mix of 122 white bass and “short hybrid.

Fishing was tough during the time we were fogged in — we had to find fish with sonar, and when we did, they were reluctant to strike and were glued to bottom.  This was strictly a vertical jigging affair. After the fog cleared, birds began to lift and feed, and the fish could be found feeding throughout the water column.  We did a good bit of “smoking” during this time to score well, especially on the hybrid, which seemed more apt to be suspended than did the bottom-dwelling white bass.

TALLY = 136 FISH, all caught and released

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TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:00a
End Time: 11:30a

Air Temp: 30F at trip’s start.

Water Surface Temp: 58.6F 

Wind:
Winds were SSE6-8, tapering to SSE3 after fog lifted.


Skies: 100% fogged in conditions until 9:45a when skies cleared to10% clouds on a fair sky.

Other Notes: GT=25


Areas Fished with success:

**  499/1137
**  1187

**  1296 (9T, 1 G)
**  843 (20T, 10G)
**  1177 (12T)



Bob Maindelle

Holding the Line Guide Service

254-368-7411
www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Salado, Texas