This past Saturday morning I was joined once again by Temple fire chief Mitch Randles and his daughter, Sabrina. The two chose to celebrate Sabrina’s 21st birthday on the boat with me in pursuit of white bass.
From left: Sabrina Randles and her dad, City of Temple Fire Chief Mitch Randles, boated a total of 152 fish on Lake Belton under pre-frontal conditions this past Saturday while celebrating Sabrina’s 21st birthday.
As they often do when other species of fish are feeding heavily in one area, freshwater drum routinely moved into the areas we fished this morning and fell for our slabs. Sabrina so routinely caught them that Mitch and I began calling her the “Drum Major”.
Chief Randles first came to this area after his family lost just about everything they owned to the tornado that struck Joplin, Missouri a few years ago.
Sabrina and her parents went out to eat at the Back Porch restaurant in Temple the previous night on her actual birthday, where the family got to enjoy seeing the University of Mary Hardin Baylor football team win the championship for their division amidst a celebratory local crowd.
The weather forecast was constantly changing in regards to the wind direction and velocity this morning as the seasons most severe cold front headed for Texas and was due to come in around 7 PM. I anticipated that I’d be looking at either prefrontal conditions, or a much less desirable set of conditions known as compressional warming of the atmosphere. As it turned out, we got to experience a bit of both.
Our first hour on the water was our slowest, as very murky skies and a southerly wind up over 15 mph put both fish and birds off their feed a little bit.
As the clouds thinned (but still remained 100% coverage), and as the wind slowly shifted west of south, the fishing began to improve.
For the next 2.75 hours on the water we simply spot hopped beneath active birds over a roughly half mile span of water. Over this time we put a total of 78 fish in the boat. As the bird activity settled and what fish we found on sonar prove quite stubborn, we left this area behind.
We transitioned to a slightly deeper, clearer, and more wind-exposed area about the same time some small breaks began to develop in the clouds allowing blue sky and some direct sun to show through. During our final 75 minutes on the water, we nearly doubled our catch. By noon, we had taken our fish count to our final total of 152 fish.
During this change of weather, the fish began to be less responsive to the easing tactic we had used all morning, and more responsive to a straightforward jigging approach.
Following the trip, skies continued to clear, allowing the afternoon temperatures to climb to 78F, but, the bottom fell out around 7pm as the season’s coldest cold front to date crashed into central Texas with 30+ mph dry, north winds which would blow right through Monday morning. Sunday and Monday morning would see wake-up temperatures at 19-20F.
TALLY = 152 fish, all caught and released
TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 7:15a
End Time: 12:00 noon
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 53F
Water Surface Temp: 59.6 to 60.2F
Wind Speed & Direction: SSE12-14 with prefrontal, compressional warming
Sky Conditions: 100% greyed over with a few breaks in the clouds during our last hour on the water
Water Level: 0.33 feet above full pool
GT = 0
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area vic 1864, 1865, 1862 – easing with 3/8 oz. slabs; fish were reluctant to strike larger slabs; I noted fish responding the best they have so far this season to “thumping”, often suspending in a horizontal band beneath the boat.
**Area 1863- snap jigging with 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
Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-LGrD-sm7Bo6tDPIv0z4jg
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/holdingtheline