She’s a Natural! — 101 Fish with Babu and Macy

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Monday, 08 October, I fished Lake Belton with Steve Niemeier and his granddaughter, 10-year-old Macy Fowler of Temple.  Macy had the day off from school at Pirtle Elementary and spent the first half of it with her “Babu” (an African name for grandfather which Steve earned from his mission work on that continent).

 

Steve is one of my most frequent clients and has fished with me many years now, introducing his grandkids to the sport one at a time as they have come of age.  I enjoy having him aboard as he is a godly man, he always encourages the kids, and has a good attitude regardless of the weather and the attitude of the fish.

Along with 85 white bass, we landed 12 hybrid this morning, 5 of which were legal size.  2 blue cat and 2 largemouth rounded out our catch of 101.  Macy excelled at every technique we tried, and got the hang of casting with a spinning outfit in just 2 attempts.  She’s a natural!!

 

Nick-named “Snot Shark”, this blue cat fell for (and really slimed up) our 3-armed umbrella rig as we “mopped up” with downriggers in the final hour of the trip

 

WHAT WE FISHED FOR:  This was a multi-species trip focused on white bass.  We landed 85 white bass and also landed 12 hybrid, 2 blue cat, and 2 largemouth.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED:  Monday morning,  October 8, 2018

HOW WE FISHED:  Thanks to fairly quick brightening of the skies (albeit through 100% cloud cover), the fish cranked up early this morning, right around 7:30a.  We did a downrigger pass or two in the vicinity I anticipated fish would feed in and, as we caught fish and viewed sonar, the fish turned on, catching the attention of several fish-eating birds, which, in turn got my attention.

We had a solid bite for 3 straight hours this morning, alternating between working 3/8 oz. slabs vertically and, on occasion, casting them to surface-feeders busting shad in the swell pushed in the 12 mph wind.  A smoking tactic definitely got their attention.

As the bite wound down in the 4th and final hour of the trip, we “mopped up” by covering ground and presenting 3-armed umbrella rigs equipped with Pet Spoons via downriggers.  We caught 92 fish in our first 3 hours and 9 fish in the final hour.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES:

Thermocline observations taken on 08 Oct.:

0 feet 80.3°

5 feet 80.2°

10 feet 80.2°

15 feet 80.2°

20 feet 80.2°

25 feet 80.2°

30 feet 80.1°

35 feet 79.9°

40 feet 78.1°

45 feet 71.7°

50 feet 66.3°

55 feet 64.3°

TALLY: 101 fish, all caught and released

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:15 am

End Time: 11:15 am

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 74F

Water Surface Temp:   79.2F

Wind Speed & Direction: SE11-12 at first light and maintaining that velocity throughout the morning

Sky Conditions: Damp, grey, overcast skies all morning with just a bit of clearing and brightening in the last hour (10:15-11:15).

Water Level: 5.00 feet low and falling

GT = 40

Wx SNAPSHOT:  N/A

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 2049-1143-B0100C – vertical jigging and sight casting to aggressively feeding white bass with hybrid and largemouth mixed in

**Area 839-B0101C – mop up downrigging in last hour on a sharply declining bite

 

 

Bob Maindelle, Belton Lake Fishing Guide

Full-time, Professional Fishing Guide and Owner of Holding the Line Guide Service

Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingelleTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www/twitter.com/bobmaindelle

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