I’ve Got This, Dad — 81 Fish, Stillhouse

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning I fished with Troy Hensley of Killeen, TX, and his son, Trace, who just recently turned four.  Troy is a US Army combat veteran originally from Kentucky, who served in Iraq with the 1st Cavalry Division, and a faithful member of Memorial Baptist Church in Killeen where he volunteers in the nursery and small group ministries.

 

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Troy Hensley Jr. and his 4-year-old son, Troy Hensley III (nicknamed Trace) braved the elements this morning and cashed in on some solid fishing under cold, westerly breezes.

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Little Trace reeled this schoolie largemouth bass in ‘all by himself’.  Trace is getting to that age where his mind wants to do things by himself but his body isn’t quite there yet.  He often let Troy know, “I’ve got this, Dad.” as he struggled to keep up with the big guys.

 

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

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday morning, 11 December, 2017

HOW WE FISHED: Thanks to a slow, steady drop in water temperature, the fish are more reliably grouping up in deep water and in large schools now.  They had begun to do this weeks ago, but the weather moderated and warmed and the trend slowed down.  We found groups of active fish willing to chase our 3/8 oz. slabs while we employed a smoking tactic, and, for less enthusiastic schools and toward the end of the morning bite, we found that an easing tactic or snap-jigging tactic was more effective.  For a brief spell we found some fish that had moved up in to water under 20 feet in depth, but they did not bite well, nor for very long, on the bladebaits we threw their way.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES:   1) I saw the first sub-60 water surface temperature reading of the fall this morning after a series of mornings with lows in the mid- to high-30’s, followed by a low of 40 this morning.

TALLY: 81 FISH, all caught and released

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:15a

End Time:  11:30a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  40F

Water Surface Temp:  58.9F

Wind Speed & Direction:  W9-10

Sky Conditions:  High, thin cloud cover at 20%, slowly increasing to 30% by trip’s end

Water Level: 3.04 feet low

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:

11DEC17

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area  SH002C – pre-sunrise fish well-spread on a deep, 38′ flat within yards of the river channel

**Area SH001C – solid fishing for over an hour on heavily grouped, bottom-oriented white bass right on the channel break

**Area vic 091 – shallow bladebait work for 3 whites and 2 blacks

**Area 101- solid fishing for over an hour on heavily grouped, bottom-oriented white bass right on the channel break

**Area SH001C – fishing tapered to nil as we revisited this area, but not before giving up another 20 fish

 

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

Hearty Army Boys from Fort Hood — 23 Fish, Lake Belton

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning I fished with two brothers from Fort Hood, Zach and Jeremiah Schaeffer.  Zach is 13 and Jeremiah is 10.  Their mom, Kayla, signed them up for this fishing trip through the Fort Hood SKIESUnlimited Program.  I was impressed with the way they hung with me in the cold, especially as we sped from one area to another creating a wind chill well down in the 20’s.

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From left: Zach and Jeremiah Schaeffer with a few of the hard-earned white bass we had to work for in this morning’s tough, cold conditions.

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

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Saturday morning, 09 December, 2017

HOW WE FISHED:  Simply put, the fishing was tough today.  A mild, reinforcing cold front moved in overnight on top of the already cold conditions we’ve had since this past Tuesday.  The fish were glued to the bottom and our presentations just had to nearly knock them in the head to get a reflex bite as they were not much interested in feeding.  There was next to no bird activity this morning.  All of the fish we put in the boat (2 largemouth, 3 drum, 3 short hybrid, and 15 white bass) came on slab presented with an easing tactic.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES:   1) Due to an extended cold spell, the water surface temperature, which was a over 64F on Monday, had dropped to 61.5 this morning.  Fish were very, very tight to the bottom. 2) When we found a school of fish worth jigging for, all of the fish we were to catch from that school came in the first few minutes spent over those fish; the longer we stayed over them, the more our results tailed out to nothing.

TALLY: 23 FISH, all caught and released

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:00a

End Time:  11:00a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  32F

Water Surface Temp:  61.5F

Wind Speed & Direction:  NW10-13

Sky Conditions:  Bright blue, clear skies

Water Level: 2.73 feet low

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:

09DEC17

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area  vic 561

**Area  vic 2055

**Area B2063 through B2064

**Area  vic 211

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

A Pair of Old Salts — 87 Fish, Belton

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Monday morning I fished with U.S. Navy retirees Captain Ray Johnson and Chief Petty Officer Mac McElroy, both of Harker Heights, TX.  This would be the last balmy day before the most recent wet cold front pushed into central Texas.

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Retired U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer Mack McElroy of Harker Heights with a nice Belton Lake hybrid striper we took under birds before the most recent cold front moved in.  Note Mack is wearing shorts in December.  Mack retired from the Navy after serving in the Seabees.

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Long-time client retired U.S. Navy Captain Ray Johnson of Harker Heights with our first hybrid of the morning.  Ray served as a flight surgeon and pediatrician for nearly 30 years beginning at age 18.

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

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday morning, 04 December, 2017

HOW WE FISHED: Conditions were favorable this morning with a manageable SSE wind and light grey cloud cover all morning.  We fished under birds in shallower, more turbid water in one of Belton’s tributaries for the first two hours, then moved to deeper, clearer water to enjoy another 90+ minutes of action, also under birds.  We put all of our “tributary fish”, most of which were white bass, in the boat using smoked slabs.  Because the clear water fish we fished for during the second half of the trip were scattered and moving, we used slabs, but found ourselves spot-hopping frequently to keep rods bent.  As the bite slowed, I experimented with downrigging for the suspended hybrids I still saw at 20-25 feet deep using bucktails with soft plastic trailers.  Our short experiment quickly accounted for one keeper hybrid, but, my clients showed a preference for action and numbers, so, we went back to slabbing as the situation allowed.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES:   1) Much like the bite last Tuesday, although fish were active enough and abundant enough to draw birds, they were not “over the top” aggressive, thus, we had to “spot hop” frequently to keep up with active fish using artificials.

TALLY: 87 FISH, all caught and released

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:10a

End Time:  11:30a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  70F

Water Surface Temp:  63.7F

Wind Speed & Direction:  SSE11-15

Sky Conditions:  Light grey skies

Water Level: 2.72 feet low

GT = 10

Wx SNAPSHOT:

04DEC17

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area  2036 thru 1342 – spot hopping under birds throughout this area through 8:35a

**Area 840 through 497 until 10a – smoking slabs for a mixed bag of white bass and hybrid striper

**Area  1142 through 347 through 1009 until 11a – – smoking slabs for a mixed bag of white bass and hybrid striper; one downrigged hybrid on a jig and trailer

 

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

GREY SKIES, SOUTH WIND, & 255 FISH – Lake Belton

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Saturday  I fished a full day trip (from just before sunrise to just after sunset, with an off-the-water lunch break in the middle).  In the morning, Mr. Jim Downing, Mr. Coby Whiteside, Mr. Chad Parsons, and Chad’s 16-year-old son, Chase Parsons made up my 4-man crew.  In the afternoon, Jim and Coby continued on with me, and we were joined by Jim’s 7-year-old son, Noah, and Coby’s 10-year-old daughter Aubree.

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ABOVE: Coby Whiteside and his 10-year-old daughter, Aubree, with one of the hybrid we landed near trip’s end with live shad.

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ABOVE: Jim Downing and his 7-year-old son, Noah, with a hybrid striper they battled together near sunset.

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ABOVE: Fish number 100, 101, 102, and 103 held by (from left) Coby Whiteside, Chase Parsons, Chad Parsons, and Jim Downing.  This foursome put 182 in the boat during the morning half of today’s full day trip.

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

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Saturday morning, 02 December 2017

HOW WE FISHED:

AM Portion: We had really “fishy” conditions this morning with a mild SSE breeze at around 6-9mph and at least some thin, grey cloud cover for the entire trip, save a about 45 minutes right at the 1:45pm start of our afternoon trip.  Helpful bird activity led the way to an abundance of caught fish from around 7:35am until 11:15am.  We fished two distinct locations with the first yielding primarily white bass and the second yielding a mix of white bass and hybrid striped bass. Every last fish we caught was caught on a 3/4 oz. white Redneck Fish’n’ Jigs slab Model 180 with my Hazy Eye Stinger hook attached used with a smoking tactic.  Most of the fish we encountered were in the lower 1/3 of the water column. We finished the morning trip with 182 fish landed.

PM Portion: In contrast with the morning, not a single bird (and there are hundreds now residing on Lake Belton) was helpful in finding fish this afternoon.  We found fish exclusively using sonar and in 5 distinct locations.  Each location but the last produced primarily white bass, which worked out well to provide steady action for my two younger guests.  Again, we smoked with white slabs.  Around 4:30pm, and with about an hour’s worth of fishing light left, I gave Jim and Coby the option of continuing on in pursuit of white bass, or intentionally pursuing hybrid striped bass using live shad.  Since the kids’ wrists had about given out anyway, they gave the thumbs up for a hybrid hunt.  We put out a full compliment of 6 downlines with two set at 20′, two set at 25′, and two set at 37′.  The 25′ rods were our best producers.  In our final 50 minutes we were able to pick up five keeper (18″ or greater) hybrid, thus putting our afternoon tally at 73 fish landed, and our grand total for the day at 255 fish landed.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES:   1) For the first time this fall, the Hazy Eye Stinger hook accounted for more hooked fish than the treble hook; I expect this ratio will continue to increase as the water continues to cool.  When under active birds, the hybrid were much more likely to suspend and move horizontally whereas the white bass stayed glued to bottom.  The movement and feeding of the hybrid was the primary factor for the presence of birds.

TALLY: 255 FISH, all caught and released

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:  7:00a

End Time:  5:45p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  53F

Water Surface Temp:  64F

Wind Speed & Direction:  SSE6-9 all day

Sky Conditions:  Light grey cloud cover for all but the period from 1:45 through 2:30pm

Water Level: 2.66 feet low

GT = 20

Wx SNAPSHOT:

02DEC17

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS (MORNING):

**Area  2035 through 1339 under birds for white bass (122 fish by 9:15am) on smoked slabs

**Area 2059 white bass by smoking slabs

**Area 836 through 1304 – mid-morning bird action for mixed white bass & hybrid stripers

**Area 1294 through 344 – late-morning bird action for mixed white bass and hybrid stripers

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS (EVENING):

**Area 1297 – lethargic white bass (9 fish)

**Area  1338 through 297 – lethargic white bass (24 fish)

**Area 2052/2061/2062 – lethargic white bass (10 fish)

**Area 2060 – moderately active white bass (25 fish)

**Area vic 1294/344 – hybrid stripers on live shad at sunset (5 fish)

 

 

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

SKIFF Trip #25 – Rachel & Aaron Cherry Land 50

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Tuesday morning I fished with Rachel and Aaron Cherry of Nolanville on the 25th SKIFF program trip of the 2017 season.  SKIFF, which stands for Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun, exists to provide fishing trips at no charge to the children of military men and women separated from their kids due to their military duty.  The Cherry kids’ dad is currently serving in South Korea.

 

RACHEL CHERRY

ABOVE: Rachel Cherry with our largest fish of the trip, a nice 19″ hybrid striped bass.

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ABOVE:  Aaron Cherry with a nice freshwater drum (nicknamed “gaspergou”) we caught on the same slabs we were using for white bass and hybrid stripers.

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

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday morning, 28 November 2017

HOW WE FISHED:  This fishing trip divided evenly into two distinct halves.  The first half was spent in the more shallow, turbid waters of one of Belton Lake’s tributaries fishing for white bass under birds.  The second half was spent in deeper, clearer water nearer the dam fishing for white bass and hybrid stripers, also under birds.  All of our fish were caught on slabs fished via a smoking tactic.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES:   1)  When under active birds, the hybrid were much more likely to suspend and move horizontally whereas the white bass stayed glued to bottom.  The movement and feeding of the hybrid was the primary factor for the presence of birds.

TALLY: 50 FISH, all caught and released

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:  7:00a

End Time:  11:00a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  53F

Water Surface Temp:  63.7F

Wind Speed & Direction:  S11-13 for the entire trip

Sky Conditions:  30% broken white cloud cover

Water Level: 2.62 feet low

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:

28NOV17

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS (MORNING):

**Area  2058-708 under birds (primarily terns) over several acres — fish were in tight, distinct “clumps” and were pretty stubborn

**Area 836-1142 under birds (primarily gulls) over several acres — whites were on bottom; hybrid suspended; fish were not as tough as at 2058-708, but were still not overly aggressive.

 

 

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