This past Saturday afternoon I fished with Mrs. Marcia Kuenast and Mrs. Tracie Byrd.

 

From left: Tracie Byrd with a 2-year class fish, and Marcia Kuenast with a 14 1/8″ 3-year class fish

 

As the action reach a peak just past the halfway point of our 4-hour trip, fish aggressively chased their hooked schoolmates 2/3’s of the way from the bottom toward the surface.  Here, Marcia landed two fish on the same lure, one on the treble hook and one on the Hazy Eye stinger hook affixed to the line tie.

Marcia contacted me back in December initially hoping to arrange a trip for her and her brother who would be visiting from Minnesota.  Unfortunately, he had to undergo surgery and his physician did not clear him for air travel in time for this visit.  So, Marcia invited Tracie who cares for Marcia’s horse in their shared interest in dressage.

Tracie and her husband, Tom, fished Belton Lake with me last spring towards the end of the strong hybrid bite that typically occurs in conjunction with the annual threadfin shad spawn.

Marcia’s prior fishing experience came mainly in fishing for panfish with her dad in small, natural lakes in Minnesota, as well as during some canoeing trips to the Boundary Waters up that way.

I let both ladies know that afternoon trips often start slow and end better, as the low-light sunset period kicks in and motivates fish to feed.  Marcia asked about the results of the morning trip, and I let her know that the Martinez party managed to land 116 fish.  I followed that up by letting here know that afternoons typically produce about 70% of the morning’s catch, all other things being equal.  (That would amount to 81 fish if the statistics held true this afternoon).

After demonstrating the tactics we would employ, and then practicing them at dockside, we headed out to hunt for fish.  We immediately found a flock of actively feeding terns dipping shad from above a school of feeding white bass in 47 feet of water.

What we experienced at this first stop was nearly identical to what we found during the morning trip, and what we would continue to find the remainder of this afternoon.  Fish would initially be found on bottom, then, as we hooked and reeled several fish in, the school would being to rise upward in the water column to just shy of halfway off bottom.  This would put the fish out of reach for the normal “easing” tactic I typically employ, thus requiring that we use a slow smoking tactic to get our baits in front of as many fish as possible.

The fishing peaked from 4:00 to 5:00p, but we caught fish steadily from start to finish.  We definitely beat the odds today as Marcia and Tracie put together a catch of 117 fish.  Our success was aided by the WNW wind that continued to blow steadily at 11-13 instead of slacking off around 3pm as it was forecast to do.

 

TALLY = 117 FISH, all caught and released

 

Wx SNAPSHOT:

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 1:50p

End Time:  5:50p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 56F

Water Surface Temp:  55.1F

Wind Speed & Direction:  WNW11-13

Sky Conditions: Cloudless, fair sky

Water Level:  0.67 feet above full pool

GT =  0

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Areas 1692/980, 549, 1058/986, vic 763

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/

This past Saturday morning I fished with Mr. Nieves Martinez and the eldest two of his six children, 17-year-old Alanis, and 13-year-old Angie.

From left: Angie, Nieves, and Alanis Martinez.  For the record, it was only during the few seconds that it took to take this photo that any of us ever saw other than Alanis’ eyes from behind her blue facemask!  All of these fish went 13-14.25 inches.

Angie landed the largest fish of the trip, taking this older largemouth bass from right off the edge of the Lampasas River channel in over 30 feet of water.  She reminded her dad frequently that she landed the largest fish of the trip.

Mrs. Martinez gave Nieves a Fathers’ Day fishing gift certificate last year and he chose to cash it in this cool, breezy last weekend in January.

When it came to cold hardiness, Alanis and Angie were truly “polar” opposites.  Alanis had her balaclava on, hands retracted up into her sleeves, her shoulders shrugged, and hot coffee going and, despite all of that, stayed cold the entire time. Angie, on the other hand, wore a hoodie with a jacket over it, but left her jacket unzipped, could care less when her hood blew down, and never really gave the cold a second thought.  Nieves fell somewhere in between.

The girls’ prior fishing experience came primarily using push-button type reels on stock ponds catching bass and sunfish.  Nieves had some experience fishing for white bass, but most all of that came while fishing flowing water for spawning fish in the spring.  So, this would be a new experience for all aboard.

Given the cold water and today’s sky conditions, we found the fish to be pretty lethargic.  We located lots of fish at just about every area we searched, but had to focus on staying consistent with our presentations in order to get results.

Regardless of depth (we began in 26 feet of water and ended up in 42 feet) we found the fish behavior to be the same.  The fish would first appear on sonar tightly bunched on bottom.  Once we began hooking fish and reeling them in, the school would slowly lift upwards and spread from the bottom upwards to the lower half of the water column (i.e. rise to ~13 feet in 26 feet of water, or rise to ~22 feet in 44 feet of water).  Since these fish were too high for us to reach with a traditional jigging tactic, we used a very slow version of smoking to get our baits consistently in front of the more active suspended fish.

Nieves really took a liking to snap-jigging, so he covered our fish near bottom while the girls and I covered those up off bottom.  By the time 10am rolled around, our thin cloud cover had completely dissipated, the wind slacked up, and the fish throttled way back.  We motored to what would be our final area to fish right about this time with exactly 90 fish landed.  I let everyone know that, given the fishes’ decreasing activity level, we’d all have to focus on technique in order to break the 100 fish mark.  Everyone buckled down and, by 10:50, fish number 116 came over the side.  When Nieves polled the girls, Alanis said she was ready for a warm car, Angie was good either way, and I could tell Nieves could have stayed out there with me jigging all day if he could have.  Nevertheless, being a good dad, he decided to call it day while the experience was still positive for everyone, so, we headed for the dock.

TALLY = 116 FISH, all caught and released

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:00a

End Time:  11:00a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 35F

Water Surface Temp:  55.1F

Wind Speed & Direction:  WNW12

Sky Conditions: 70% thin grey clouds on a fair sky

Water Level:  0.67 feet above full pool

GT =  0

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Areas 1056/1048, 948, 106, 1886, 036

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/

 

This past Friday morning, January 27th, I welcomed aboard 3 generations of Hensley’s — all named Troy.

 

 

From left: Troy Hensley Sr., Troy “Trace” Hensley III, and Troy Hensley Jr. all pitched in for a 106 fish morning on Stillhouse, primarily under bird action using slabs equipped with stinger hooks.

Troy Hensley Sr. flew down from Richmond, KY, the night before the trip to spend some time with his son, U.S. Army vet Troy Hensley Jr., and grandson, 3-year-old Troy “Trace” Hensley III, partly in celebration of Troy Jr.’s 35th birthday.

After some initial dockside instruction, we headed out and immediately spotted active birds working over top of fish as they forced shad and the occasional sunfish to the surface.  This bird action would take place right up until around 9:45a when it finally tapered to nil.

Each flock of birds we worked around ( a total of 7) would go strong for about 25 minutes and then move on.  We enjoyed strong fishing while the birds fed, and then continued to catch less aggressive and less abundant fish after the birds moved on.

We began our trip in just 26 feet of water, moving progressively deeper with each relocation, ending up in 55 feet of water.  Because the fish tended to pull up off the bottom in strong numbers today, an easing tactic was insufficient to cover the band of water these fish held in.  Therefore, we used a very S-L-O-W smoking tactic to get our slabs in front of all the fish holding beneath the boat, regardless of depth.  This tactic served us very well.

Despite his young age, little Trace stayed engaged the entire trip, thanks to a proactive approach by his dad who thought ahead to bring snacks and who constantly engaged the boy in doing what the big boys were doing.  Troy Jr. encouraged Trace to “help” him reel in fish, to push them off the gunnel and back into the water once I’d unhooked them, to throw Doritos out to the seagulls, and so on, so he didn’t get bored or cranky.  As we made our final run back into the courtesy dock, Trace crashed and fell sound asleep from his big morning on the water.

We landed a total of 106 fish this morning, including over a dozen largemouth, all of which tended to be holding high up in the water column as high as, or higher than, the shallowest white bass in the vicinity.  All fish were taken on either a 3/8 or 3/4 oz. white Redneck Fish’n’ Jigs Model 180 with a Hazy Eye Stinger Hook attached.

TALLY = 106 FISH, all caught and released

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:00a

End Time:  11:00a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 33F

Water Surface Temp:  55.2F

Wind Speed & Direction:  NNE6

Sky Conditions: 90% thin grey clouds on a fair sky

Water Level:  0.67 feet above full pool

GT =  10

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Areas 798, 1886, 1887, 1518/1189/1705, 1888, 338, and 1889

 

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/

 

This past Monday morning, 16 January (and Martin Luther King Jr. Day), I welcomed aboard 13-year-old Charley Elgin.  His mom, Jessica, arrange for this fishing trip through the Ft. Hood SKIES Program as Charley enjoyed a holiday off from school.

 

Nearly 20% of our catch this morning consisted of legal (14+ inch long) largemouth bass. Charley found this one in 36′ hanging with a school of white bass.

 

This screen shot was taken off the DownScan portion of StructureScan on my Lowrance unit.  There where multiple large schools of fish on bottom and just above the bottom in 65+ feet of water — the deepest I’ve ever encountered gamefish on Belton or Stillhouse in 25 years of angling on these reservoirs.

 

Charley, a middle school student at Audie Murphy Middle School on Fort Hood, is a sharp young man.  His interests lie in robotics and his role as percussionist in his school band. He caught on to the jigging techniques I  showed him quickly, and then stuck with it, remaining consistent in his presentation from start to finish.  Charley had a bit of prior fishing experience and was enthusiastic in telling me about his fishing adventures with his grandpa in northern California where they hung worms under bobbers and caught bass together.

Building on this foundation, I went over the spinning equipment we’d be using, and the vertical jigging tactics which are most effective this time of year.  We then headed out to catch fish.

The previous two days were damp, cool and foggy.  This all cleared out as an overnight band of rain passed through allowing some clearing and cooling by the time we got on the water.

There was a noticeable film of green algae on the surface, and there was abundant shad feeding activity just about everywhere on the surface from first light through sunrise.  Birds were scattered as they chased after shad, but were generally not over top of fish in the first third of the morning.

I noted that one cove was particularly full of shad, so I covered it with sonar and liked what I saw.  Charlie and I boated 12 fish in our first 25 minutes on the water, half of which were largemouth bass, and all of which came out of just 20′ of water — the shallowest I’ve encountered white bass since mid-November.

As the skies brightened and the winds stayed calm, I opted to head for deep water.  We fished 3 deepwater areas at 36 feet, 38 feet, and finishing up at over 65 feet.  This is the deepest I’ve ever found white bass on either Belton or Stillhouse in 24 years of fishing and keeping notes.  And there wasn’t just an isolated school in this deep water — there were hundreds of fish in multiple large schools and they were feeding hard.  In the past I’ve referred to wintertime “mega-schools” — such was what we ferreted out this morning.

We caught as many fish from this final stop in deep water as we had at our previous 3 stops over the first 3 hours.  Matching the small forage was the key.  I tried upsizing out baits to get them near bottom more quickly, but wound up switching back to the diminutive 3/8 oz. slab because that is what the fish wanted.

Military and DoD personnel interested in scheduling a fishing trip through the Ft. Hood SKIES program may contact that office at 254.287.4592.  Deployed soldiers are credited “Deployment Benefits” which may be used to pay for activities like the “Fishing 101” adventure Charley enjoyed this week.

For our efforts this morning, we landed 61 fish, including 2 drum, 12 largemouth bass, and 47 white bass.

 

TALLY = 61 FISH, all caught and released

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:00a

End Time:  11:00a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 53F

Water Surface Temp:  55.6F

Wind Speed & Direction:  W2-4

Sky Conditions: 5% cloud cover on a fair sky

Water Level:  0.78 feet above full pool

GT =  0

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic 1685 – shallow first light fishing in 20′ for a 50/50 mix of 12 largemouth/white bass

**Area 1883 – moderate white bass action under birds (gulls, terns, cormorants, pelicans) in 36′

**Area vic 988 – moderate white bass action in 38′

**Area vic 232-1450 – deep white bass (65-67 feet) under flock of ~20 terns; small forage imitation was key

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/

This morning, Thursday, January 12th, I fished with a party of 5 friends from Salado.  Chuck Eddy was the trip coordinator, accompanied by his wife, Tracey.  Their friends, Dallas and Melissa Everett and Leon Carroll, rounded out the group.

 

We all had a good laugh when Dallas and Tracey landed these two fish just seconds apart and we observed that Dallas’ white bass would have proven but a tasty snack for Tracey’s bruiser largemouth. 

This was my excellent crew this morning.  From left: Leon Carroll, Tracey and Chuck Eddy, and Melissa and Dallas Everett.  This bunch of keeper white bass was captured (along with many smaller fish) less than an hour into our 4-hour trip.

Tracey Eddy anchored the stringer today with this solid, deepwater largemouth — our largest of 249 fish.

Chuck is an insurance adjuster, Tracey is a family therapist, Dallas is retired from construction work, Melissa is a homemaker, and Leon retired from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

I was really looking forward to this trip, as the weather was about as close to perfect as you could hope for in January — we had grey skies, a breeze with a southerly component, and we were in day 5 of a warming trend which actually brought the water temperature up a few degrees after the 3-4 degree drop following the last arctic cold front that came through.

Despite the fact that all 5 of my anglers had previous fishing experience, they all listened well and followed my guidance on presentation very closely.  Sometimes those with previous experience tend not to listen and do what they have become accustomed to in the past, but, not this crew — and they were rewarded for their attention to detail.

Over the 4.25 hours on the water this morning, we caught and released a grand total of 249 fish.  When the fish were less aggressive, we used an easing tactic with Redneck Fish’n Jigs slabs equipped with Hazy Eye Stinger hooks to pull these fish off bottom and provoke a strike.  When the fish were more aggressive, we used a slow smoking tactic to target fish that were dispersed through the water column from bottom to within 14 feet of the surface.  All of our fishing took place in between 26 and 38 feet of water.

It was clear right off the bat that there was going to be some good-natured competition and “ribbing” going on this morning.  When it came down to “boys versus girls”, I believe we tied in the quantity category, and that Tracey saw to it that the girls took the quality category hands down.

 

TALLY = 249 FISH, all caught and released

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:00a

End Time:  11:15a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 68F

Water Surface Temp:  55.7F

Wind Speed & Direction:  SSW8, increasing and shifting to S14

Sky Conditions: 90% grey cloud cover

Water Level:  0.27 feet above full pool

GT =  65

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic 995 – slow fishing from 7-8a with 3/8 oz. slabs using an easing tactic in 26-27′

**Area vic 1705 – fast fishing under birds using slow smoking tactic in 35′

**Area vic 1533 – fast fishing under birds using slow smoking tactic in 38′

 

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/

This past Wednesday morning, January 11th, I fished Lake Belton with Mr. Sam Simon and Mr. Sam Berry. We were in pursuit of white bass.

 

From left: Sam Berry and Sam Simon worked up a catch of 146 fish, primarily consisting of white bass, under very windy conditions on Lake Belton this morning.  The 3/8 oz. or 3/4 oz. white Redneck Fish’n Jigs Slab equipped with a Hazy Eye Stinger did the trick for every last one of these fish we found in 26-37 feet of water.

Sam S. is retired military with a love for vintage automobiles.  Sam B. is an auto restoration expert with a business in Belton who takes care of all of Sam S.’s vehicles.

Ironically, this trip was scheduled for yesterday and I postponed it specifically because yesterday’s morning winds velocities were beyond what I felt comfortable fishing in. As it turned out, yesterday’s winds were actually manageable, and this morning’s winds turned out to cause us a bit of a headache … more on that later.

With winds blowing over 16 mph prior to sunrise, and due to increase, I had to be careful in choosing an area that we could both fish successfully at, and return from should the winds get very strong.

I looked over three typically productive areas for this time of year, and found nothing. The fourth area I searched over with sonar held a lot of fish.

We spent a full two hours fishing this general vicinity after spending about an hour eliminating unproductive water before we got here. At the first place I Spot Locked on top of, we boated exactly 50 fish including white bass in the one, two, and three year classes. When the catching got a little weak, I moved us perhaps 10 boat lengths into slightly shallower water and we landed another 75 fish from this vicinity.

Three hours into our four hour trip, we had landed 125 fish. Although the fish were still biting, they were definitely slowing down in this area, and since this second area we had stopped at was producing primarily small fish, I suggested we spend the remainder of our time looking over other areas in hopes of finding a few larger fish.

We looked at two more areas, and found fish at both of them, although the size distribution was not any greater than at the area we had left. By the time all was said and done we had boated exactly 146 fish. Both Sams were amazed at how many fish were primarily hooked on the Hazy Eye stinger hook. Sam had read my blog and caught my article this past Sunday in the Killeen Daily Herald where I shared the efficacy of the Hazy Eye stinger hook with my readers, but just did not believe it until he saw it for himself.

Now here is where the headache came in. When we came out of the tributary we were fishing in, and got a glimpse of the main lake, it was clear that the crossing was going to be dicey, if even possible. We made some headway directly into the waves which was the only direction I was even comfortable going in given how much spray we would take on going at any angle. After progressing just a short distance, I decided to turn us around and make alternate, safer arrangements. We made an unscheduled stop at Temple Lake Park taking advantage of the protection from the wind there.  I tied my boat up, called a good friend, Rodney Tyroch, and he shuttled me over to the boat ramp where I had parked. I returned with my tow vehicle to Temple Lake Park and made arrangements to get my two clients safely home from there.

Yes, this was a hassle, but it was the only prudent alternative.
Thank you Sam and Sam for your patience with the wind, and thank you, Rodney, for helping me out.

TALLY = 146 FISH, all caught and released

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:50am

End Time:  11:00am

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 58F

Water Surface Temp:  53.7 to 54.1F

Wind Speed & Direction:  SSW16 at trip’s start, cranking up to SSW26+ by trip’s end

Sky Conditions: 40% white cloud cover on blue sky

Water Level:  0.64 feet above full pool

GT =  0

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic 816 – 50 fish with 3/8 oz. slabs using an easing tactic

**Area vic 788 – 75 fish with 3/8 oz. slabs using an easing tactic

**Area 1667/1872 – 6 fish with 3/4 oz. slabs using an easing tactic

**Area vic 788 – 15 fish with 3/4 oz. slabs using an easing tactic

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/

This past Tuesday I fished with Ray Johnson of Harker Heights on what would be his tenth outing with me since 2012 when he first came aboard.

 

The movement of largemouth to deep wintering areas continues.  Today, nearly 25% of our catch consisted of largemouth.  Ray Johnson holds the largest of our take today — a 5.50 pound largemouth that came from off bottom in 46 feet of water on a 3/4 oz. white slab equipped with a Hazy Eye Stinger hook.

 

In addition to the nice largemouth, Ray also put several nice white bass in the boat.  That white bass in the foreground is 14 5/8 inches.

Ray is a retired U.S. Navy flight surgeon who went on to be a pediatrician and as far as a fishing client, he’s always got some great “war stories” to tell.

After battling back from a tough year medically in 2016 which included a heart attack, Ray got a hold of me and let me know that his doctor, and, more importantly, his wife Linda, had cleared him for fishing.  So, fishing we went!

I could tell when Ray emailed me this past Sunday that he was eager to go, so, with a trip already on the books for Monday and bad weather coming in Wednesday, I suggested we head out on Stillhouse on Tuesday morning.

I prefer Stillhouse from January through late March as the hybrid bite on Belton gets as weak as it will be all year during this time.  So, if we are going to primarily catch white bass, the average white bass on Stillhouse is much larger for its age, and the catch numbers usually run about the same.  Stillhouse gives a little better quality and the same quantity, plus a shot at some nice, deep water largemouth.

Such was the case this week.  After boating a number of largemouth Monday, including a 6.00 pounder, today’s total catch of 51 fish included 12 largemouth, the largest two of which measured 3.00 and 5.50 pounds on a certified scale.

That’s nearly 25% of our catch for a species we weren’t even targeting.  This speaks to the abundance of black bass moving deep now (we never fished in under 30 feet, and caught the deepest largemouth out of 59 feet of water).

The action this morning was a bit more reserved than I experienced the day before.  Although we found ample fish, including one school beneath actively feeding gulls, they just seemed more reluctant to pull up off bottom and grab our presentations.

Fishing, regardless of species, was straightforward.  We went vertical with both 3/8 oz. and 3/4 oz. slab equipped with Hazy Eye Stinger hooks and adapted our presentations to the disposition of the fish.  I immediately noticed several years back when I began using a stinger hook how as the water temperature fell, hookups on the stinger hook rose, but I continue to be amazed at the very high percentage of largemouth hooked primarily on the stinger.  Over the past two trips, of the 27 largemouth landed, 26 were hooked primarily with the stinger.

When all was said and done this morning, we’d boated exactly 51 fish.

 

TALLY = 51 FISH, all caught and released

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:15am

End Time:  12:15pm

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 47F

Water Surface Temp:  57.1F

Wind Speed & Direction:  WSW4-5, slowly increasing and shifting through W to WNW12

Sky Conditions: 10% thin white cloud cover on blue sky

Water Level:  0.26 feet above full pool

GT =  0

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 1496/1500 –  white bass action on a breakline with 3/8 oz. slabs using an easing tactic

**Area 103  –  limited white bass action on a breakline with 3/8 oz. slabs using an easing tactic for smallish fish

**Area 1881-  white bass action on a deep flat with 3/4 oz. slabs using an easing tactic and snap jigging

**Area 1034 –   white bass action on a breakline with 3/8 oz. slabs using an easing tactic

**Area 1704/339 –   white bass action on a breakline with 3/8 oz. slabs using an easing tactic

**Area 074 – best action of the day in terms of numbers came around 10:45-11:15 as winds peaked and shifted through W to WNW; fish were on upper lip of breakline

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/

This past Monday morning, January 2nd, I fished a white bass trip on Stillhouse Hollow with brothers-in-law Clayton Bell and Gaines Smith, both from the Florence, Texas, area.  Clayton has followed me on Facebook for over a year, saw a pattern of consistent success, and decided to give it a try.

 

Gaines Smith of Florence landed this nice 6.00 pound Stillhouse largemouth bass on a 3/8 oz. slab from out of 32′.  We landed a total of 15 largemouth.  Every single one was primarily hooked on the Hazy Eye Stinger affixed to the line tie end of the lure.  The percentage of largemouth in my deepwater catch is definitely on the rise with the water cooling from the high 50’s.

 

Look at that grin!!  Clayton and I were like kids on Christmas Day waiting for this fish to show itself.  We knew instantly that it was large, but the species remained a mystery for a while as Clayton worked the rod trying to get this channel cat to the surface.  It went 4.50 pounds on a certified scale.

Clayton is an artist who works with stone (specifically, slate) and makes fountains and other creations with it.  Gaines is a carpenter by trade and, given his years of experience in construction, often serves as superintendent of commercial construction projects. The two married sisters and now live on the same piece of family land between Salado and Georgetown.

An overnight storm cell passed from west to east between 3:30am and 7:00am.  The last few drops of rain fell as I prepped the boat for our 7:15am start.  There was a distinct break in the clouds where the grey storm cell ended and the clearing skies behind it began.

Our weather for the trip was good, with a consistent westerly breeze rippling the water in the absence of any cloud cover.

We got right down to business showing Clayton and Gaines the various vertical tactics it would take to put fish in the boat this morning, and then we got out there after fish.

The fish were pretty cooperative this morning, thus allowing us to catch fish at each of the four places we stopped and searched with sonar.

Area 142 produced our first fish early in the morning.  My attention was drawn to this area by some gulls and loons working actively over this 30 foot deep area.  As was the case all morning, the 3/8 oz. jigging spoon (slab) with a Hazy Eye Stinger hook did the trick..

Three other areas, each progressively deeper as the sun climbed higher, would produce on the same easing presentation.

Aside from catching several dozen white bass that easily surpassed 13 inches, and a few more that surpassed 14 inches, we also landed two other notable fish.

First, Gaines landed a 6.00 pound largemouth (one of about 15 largemouth over the course of the trip).  This came on the small, 3/8 oz. white slab with (you might have guessed it by now) the fish caught right in the center of the upper lip with the Hazy Eye Stinger hook.  The treble hook was located outside the mouth.  I’ve mentioned many times now since I began using stinger hooks several winters ago that for some reason 1) nearly all winter largemouth are hooked on that stinger, and 2) the percentage of white bass and hybrid caught on the stinger increases as the water temperature decreases.

The second noteworthy fish was a 4.50 pound channel cat landed by Clayton.  This fish was caught right around 11am from near bottom after we had been working over a school of smaller white bass in 46 feet of water for a while.  I suspect that the commotion caused by these hooked fish, and the feces and regurgitated shad they produced acted like chum to bring this catfish in for a look.

We finished up this morning’s trip with exactly 131 fish caught and released.

TALLY = 131 FISH, all caught and released

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:15am

End Time:  11:25am

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 53F

Water Surface Temp:  57.1F

Wind Speed & Direction:  WSW9-12

Sky Conditions: 10% thin white cloud cover on blue sky following overnight storm cell passing W to E

Water Level:  0.26 feet above full pool

GT =  10

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic 142 –  white bass action on a breakline with 3/8 oz. slabs using an easing tactic

**Area 103/549 –  white bass action on a breakline with 3/8 oz. slabs using an easing tactic

**Area 092-  white bass action on a breakline with 3/8 oz. slabs using an easing tactic

**Area 724 –   white bass action on a breakline with 3/8 oz. slabs using an easing tactic

 

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/

This past Sunday afternoon, New Year’s Day 2017, I fished with Mr. Dave Frignoca, his fiancé, Stephanie Page, and Stephanie’s dad, Robert Page. Robert retired a few years ago from the energy business in Houston and moved to the Morgan’s point area on Belton Lake. Dave and Stephanie are both located in Austin and will wed in March.

 

HYBRID ATTACK!!  From left: Rob Page, Stephanie Page, and Dave Frignoca each with keeper hybrid landed within 10 seconds of one another as a frenzied school passed beneath the boat.
As I approached the boat ramp coming downhill around 12:45pm, I really did not like what I saw. The lake was glassy calm and although the skies were fair, there was only about 20% white cloud coverage. Although these conditions were not post frontal, they still looked tough.

As my crew arrived I very openly expressed my concerns about our conditions and let everyone know they would have to work for our fish today. My standard reaction to calm and clear conditions is to fish deep. And we did just that – – starting off in exactly 50 feet of water. Our first hour was a bit slow. We fished two deep areas on a breakline and picked up about 20 fish including primarily white bass with a few short hybrid striped bass, a few largemouth, and a few drum in the mix.  Just about the time the fish at our second stop were about to wind down, I pointed out a ripple on the water to our east headed our way, and explained that this looked like the breeze that was forecast for the last three hours of this afternoon.

That breeze did develop into a sufficient blow to energize the fish within about 20 minutes of that breeze starting. This breeze blew from just south of east at around 7 to 8 mph. Over the next 90 minutes we put an additional 70 fish in the boat. Our catch rate definitely increased as the wind became sustained.

Now at the 90 fish mark, and at around 3:45, I broke a basic rule of fishing which is “don’t leave fish to find fish” and suggested we could leave these deep, smaller fish and pursue larger white bass and hybrid striper in shallower water as the light level began to decrease as sunset approached.

As we made our way to some shallower water that produced around this time last evening, I spotted some bird activity that was unmistakably driven by fish feeding beneath. This is the first helpful bird action I’d seen on Belton since earlier last week.

We idled our way into about three dozen gulls feeding over top of white bass in the two and three year class mixed with mature hybrid stripers from 18 up to 22 inches.

Seeing that most of this fish feeding action was in the upper half of the water column, we used larger three-quarter ounce slabs and a slow smoking retrieve to close the deal on these fish. Over the next 90 minutes, we added 24 fish to our tally, all of which were larger than the average fish we were boating back in the deep water.

At one time, all three of my guests had a keeper hybrid on the line. I actually netted Dave’s hybrid and Stephanie’s hybrid in the same net at the same time, hung the net on the side of the boat, then spun around and leadered Rob’s fish into the boat. This was a great ending to an already productive trip.

We closed our trip at 5:37pm with exactly 114 fish in the boat.

TALLY = 114 FISH, all caught and released

Wx SNAPSHOT:

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 1:15pm

End Time:  5:37pm

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 69F

Water Surface Temp:  58.7F

Wind Speed & Direction:  Calm at trip’s start, tapering up to SE7-8 by around 2p

Sky Conditions: 20% white cloud cover on a fair sky

Water Level:  0.60 feet above full pool

GT =  30

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic 1023 –  white bass action on a breakline with 3/8 oz. slabs using an easing tactic

**Area vic 1269 –  white bass action on a breakline with 3/8 oz. slabs using an easing tactic

**Area vic 682 –  white bass action on a breakline with 3/8 oz. slabs using an easing tactic

**Area 1879 through 712 – white bass and hybrid under birds in upper half of water column

 

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/

This past Saturday evening, New Year’s Eve, I fished with father and son team Lain Gay and his 14-year-old son, Garrett, from Kingwood, Texas, up northeast of Houston.  We fished a multi-species trip on Lake Belton focused primarily on white bass.

 

Garrett Gay of Kingwood, TX, with an exceptional 15.5 inch Lake Belton white bass.  This fish eclipsed the 15.00″ threshold which qualifies Garrett for a “Big Fish” award, the first step in pursuing Texas “Elite Angler” status.  This fish came on a white slab equipped with a Hazy Eye Stinger hook.

From left: Garrett and Lain Gay amassed a catch of 131 fish in 4+ hours on the water this past New Year’s Eve.

Lain grew up in Buda, TX, and now makes his living selling dental implants in the Houston area.   He found me doing a Google search while here in central Texas visiting his parents for the holidays.

The trip divided pretty evenly into two parts. The first part, under brighter and windier conditions, we conducted toward the main basin where we jigged for heavily schooled, but typically smallish, white bass in 40 to 46 feet of water. For this deep work we used 3/8 oz. Redneck Fish’n Jigs Model 180 slabs in white equipped with Hazy Eye Stinger hooks. We fished these rigs with an “easing” tactic since the fish were very tightly holding to the bottom.

In 2.25 hours of effort we had already landed exactly 80 fish when I proposed to the fellows that we violate one of my most basic rules of fishing which is “never leave fish to find fish”, all in hopes of catching a few larger whites and possibly some hybrid striper.

The second part of our trip consisted of an effort to put some larger fish in the boat. For this, we headed up into one of Belton’s tributaries to seek out more fertile and slightly more turbid water.

We spent about 35 minutes looking for our first fish in this area, but once we got onto a few fish courtesy of sonar, I figured out what the fish were doing and was able to stay on them right up until the last fish hit at dark at about 5:40 PM.

Whereas the majority of the fish we caught in deeper, more clear water were one year old fish, the majority of the fish we caught in the more turbid, shallow water were two-year-old fish with a few three-year class fish thrown in. Once again, there was no helpful bird action to speak of, save for a few frisky terns that dove down on the water within 50 yards of us for only a few moments.

In retrospect, we were glad we made the move, as the largest white bass of the trip, captured by Garrett, came as a result of this move. That fish measured 15.5 inches which eclipses the threshold length to qualify for a TPWD “Big Fish Award”.  Once an angler captures a certain number of “Big Fish”, that angler then qualifies for Texas “Elite Angler” status.

By the time all was said and done, we had landed exactly 131 fish. The last fish came right at dark, at 5:40 PM.

TALLY = 131 FISH, all caught and released

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 1:00pm

End Time:  5:40pm

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 68F

Water Surface Temp:  58.7F

Wind Speed & Direction:  SSW9-12

Sky Conditions: 40% white cloud cover on a fair sky

Water Level:  0.57 feet above full pool

GT =  50

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 1875 –  white bass action on a breakline with 3/8 oz. slabs using an easing tactic

**Area 1876 –  white bass action on a breakline with 3/8 oz. slabs using an easing tactic

**Area 1392 –  white bass action on a breakline with 3/8 oz. slabs using an easing tactic

**Area 1877-1864 – white bass action on mid-depth hump on 3/4 oz. slabs using snap jigging

**Area 1878 – white bass action on mid-depth hump on 3/4 oz. slabs using snap jigging

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/