2-Day Delay Yields Another 100 Fish Outing

by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Friday morning, December 29th, I fished with John Shotwell, John’s 17-year-old son, Hunter, and John’s father-in-law, Bob Shea.  We were originally due to fish on Wednesday of this week, but a raw, windy, wet coldfront put windchill temperatures in the 20’s and air temperatures in the 30’s all day that day, so, we waited until conditions moderated a bit.  Although the air temperature was only 39F as we began our trip, the wind was much more manageable and the temperature did slowly climb.

IMG_4782

 

From left: John Shotwell, Hunter Shotwell, and Bob Sylvia each with white bass taken on vertical tactics using slabs on Lake Belton.  We had to move frequently and encountered a lot of lethargic, smaller fish today as the fishery bounced back from two chilly nights in a row.

 

WHAT WE FISHED FOR: This was a multi-species trip focused on white bass.

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED: Friday morning, 29 December, 2017

HOW WE FISHED:  We used slabs 100% of the time today, either via snap-jigging or with a slow smoking tactic.  We had to move around a good bit as we found the fish would initially express interest in our presentations and give chase, but would cool off quickly and, after a short while, flat refuse to strike.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES:   1) No helpful bird action today. 2) We had to gear down on the speed of our smoking retrieve to get bit consistently today.  3) When slow-smoking stopped working, we “mopped up” with snap-jigging.  4) We had a lot of smaller fish in the catch today.

TALLY: 100 FISH, all caught and released

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 8:00a

End Time:  12:15p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  39F

Water Surface Temp:  53.3F

Wind Speed & Direction:  E4-6

Sky Conditions: 100% grey clouds with a light fog

Water Level: 2.88 feet low

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:

29DEC17

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area  1177

**Area   2059

**Area   187

**Area  B0004C

**Area  B0020C

**Area B0016C

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

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www/twitter.com/bobmaindelle

Leave a Reply