WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Monday morning I had the pleasure of fishing with a true Central Texas native, Dirk Miller, owner of Miller’s Smokehouse on Central Ave. in Belton. It was one of those win-win situations … I had a party which had to cancel last minute on Monday’s trip and so I posted a discounted trip on Facebook and, within the hour, Dirk let me know he’d like to go. He was already planning to try to kayak fish at Fayette (which would have been tough after the winds exceed the forecast by quite a bit).
Dirk is an avid multi-species angler, so, we had a lot to talk about. I really enjoyed our conversation about the trophy blue cat fishery over on Tawakoni.
At trip’s end, Dirk paid for the trip and then some, AND presented me with jalapeno and cheese stuffed summer sausage and a mess of beef-pork blend “snack sticks” (think Slim Jim, only way bigger and way better). Now, bear in mind, this was above and beyond that upon which we had dined on during our numerous snack breaks on the water! I texted my wife and told her to put our lunch plans on hold, as they had just changed for the better!!
We saved the best for last. This big ol’ channel cat took Dirk’s slab, came to net, and we called it a great day right then and there and headed for the boat ramp.
Despite the incoming cold front, the white bass really thumped our slabs this morning and fell for a variety of retrieves.
Oh yeah!!! I’ve received some good tips through the years. This ranks right at the top.
WHAT WE FISHED FOR: This was a multi-species trip focused on white bass. We also landed numerous drum and one chunky channel cat.
WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow
WHEN WE FISHED: Monday morning, November 26, 2018
HOW WE FISHED: We fished through the tail-end of a mild, dry cold front’s arrival this morning with winds 13-14 from the NNW the entire time, making for a wind-chill well below freezing. However, the moving water got the fish feeding well, allowing us to land fish consistently for the entire 4+ hours we fished. The fish were most aggressive in the first 90 minutes and actually chased a slab as we used a smoking tactic. After the skies brightened and mid-morning rolled around, the bite slowed and we had to downshift to snap-jigging, but the fish thumped us steadily and kept it busy enough to ward off the chill. We ended up with 77 fish including about a dozen drum, one channel cat, and the balance of white bass, mainly in the 1.5 and 2.5 year class.
OBSERVATIONS: We had a strong start and a strong end, with a slow hour in the middle. The fish really turned on in the last 90 minutes before the obscured sunrise; this action coincided with the appearance of many schools of small shad feeding on the surface all over the lake after the winds had been calm for about an hour.
TALLY: 77 fish, all caught and released
TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 7:00a
End Time: 11:30a
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 34F
Water Surface Temp: 56.6
Wind Speed & Direction: NNW13-14
Sky Conditions: Full, grey cloud cover all afternoon
Water Level: 10.78 feet high and falling by about 0.18 feet daily w/ 1,182 cfs flow, increasing to ~1530cfs around noon
GT = 55
#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area SH0070C – low light smoking
**Area SH0067C- 1701-SH0064C – snap-jigging
**Area vic 713 – snap-jigging
**Area SH0071C – snap-jigging
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@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle
Twitter: www/twitter.com/bobmaindelle