3 Men, 4 Hours, 269 Fish — Lake Belton, 12 Dec. 2016

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.

 

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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

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