WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Saturday I fished with Mr. Matt Laakso and his adult son, Mitch, both from the north Austin area. Matt did a sonar training with me soon after getting his own boat which is now about 3 months old. After experiencing the sonar training, he decided to come fishing with me, as well.
From left: Father and son Matt and Mitch Laakso with a sampling of the white bass we caught on what turned out to be an extremely windy morning as a dry cold front moved into the area.
Matt took our largest fish of the trip, a nice 20″ hybrid, just before the waves began to whitecap as straight-line windspeed reached 13mph.
WHAT WE FISHED FOR: This was a multi-species trip focused on white bass.
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
WHEN WE FISHED: Saturday morning, 18 November 2017
HOW WE FISHED: There were quite a few predictions as to the timing of the dry cold front’s arrival this morning, based on various meterological models. We experienced near-calm conditions with a solid “pre-frontal” bite for nearly two full hours, the first hour of which took place under helpful gull activity. Once the wind began to increase and shift through the west toward the north, the bite moderated. We had 87 fish landed through 10:20, then worked another hour and twenty minutes to reach and exceed the 100 fish mark. All of our fishing was done vertically using 3/8 oz. slabs before the heavy winds began around 10:30. Once the winds peaked, we bumped up to 3/4 oz. slabs in order to maintain good contact with bottom and to effect good line control. Before the front hit we used a smoking tactic; after the front began racing in, we used an easing tactic.
OBSERVATIONS/NOTES: 1) Boat traffic this morning was unusually light due, in part, to “the weatherman’s” prediction of high winds this morning. 2) I noted that as the wind ramped up rapidly from 9:45 to 10:30, the bite went soft, but, once it reached peak velocity, the fish turned on again.
TALLY: 114 FISH, all caught and released
TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 6:45a
End Time: 11:45a
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 70F
Water Surface Temp: 68.3F
Wind Speed & Direction: SSW under 5mph for first 90 minutes; wind shifted to W, then WNW, then NNW by 9:45 all around 9mph; wind began to ramp up quickly and steadily to NNW18 by 10:30 and was blowing NNW20 with higher gusts by trip’s end at 11:45.
Sky Conditions: 10% cloud cover
Water Level: 2.36 feet low
GT = 10
Wx SNAPSHOT: N/A
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area 2035 thru 592 — fastest fishing of the morning under birds in low light conditions, smoking with 3/8 oz. slab with Hazy Eye Stinger Hook
**Area 593 – smoking with 3/8 oz. slab with Hazy Eye Stinger Hook
**Area 1747/1552 – smoking & easing with 3/4 oz. slab with Hazy Eye Stinger Hook
**Area 2052- smoking & easing with 3/4 oz. slab with Hazy Eye Stinger Hook
**Area vic 2041 – easing only with 3/4 oz. slab with Hazy Eye Stinger Hook
Bob Maindelle, Central Texas Fishing Guide
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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