Day: December 3, 2018

WINDS FROM THE WEST … FISH BITE BEST — 127 FISH @ BELTON

by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Saturday morning I fished with a great bunch of fellows, three of whom work together as civilians on West Fort Hood.  Jerry Saikley coordinated the trip and was patient enough to wait through a few weeks being “on hold” as we contended with the recent flooding issues after his original date was scratched due to the high water closing Belton’s ramps.

Joining Jerry were Jason Woods, Jeff Burns, and Mark Lockhart.  We caught a real break and had a stiff westerly breeze blow all morning, beginning around 7:50.  As the old saying goes, “Winds from the west, fish bite best.”  This morning was no exception.  Although the bird activity I thought we might encounter fell short of what it could be this time of year, anytime the fish feed a full 4+ hours is a good day in my book.

During this trip Jerry eclipsed his personal best fish which previously was a ~7 pound largemouth bass.  He landed a 14-pound class yellow cat, followed by a 14-pound class smallmouth buffalo — both on a light spinning rig intended for white bass.

 

Everything was biting on this morning’s west wind.  Jerry Saikley took this “personal best” flathead (yellow) cat which we fished over a school of white bass.

From left: Jeff Burns, Jerry Saikley, Mark Lockhart, and Jason Woods

 

White bass have begun to orient on bottom in non-current induced areas away from the river channel.  Jason caught two at a time on the same lure using a slab with one of my Hazy Eye Stinger hooks attached.
 
A bumper crop of drum is present on Lake Belton, possibly a positive side-effect of the zebra mussel invasion.
And for his final act, Jerry landed a second “personal best” in the same trip — a smallmouth buffalo which fell for his slab down in about 40 feet of water.

WHAT WE FISHED FOR:  This was a multi-species trip focused on white bass.  We also landed drum, yellow cat, smallmouth buffalo, hybrid striped bass, and largemouth bass.

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED: Saturday morning,  December 01, 2018

HOW WE FISHED:     Due to a technical issue with an on-board battery which I had to swap out, we got off to a slightly delayed start, but, with the skies bright and the winds calm, not much was going on anyway.  It wasn’t until the west wind kicked in around 7:50 that things began to happen for us.  At that time, fish began to feed, and, by 8:30, we encountered the one and only instance of birds leading the way to fish of the entire morning.  We enjoyed a “steady pick” of fish using both a snap-jigging tactic (roughly 90% of the time), with an occasional departure to using the smoking tactic when I observed more active, aggressive fish in the area, based on sonar observations.

OBSERVATIONS:   Received credible reports of suspended fish found in more current-influenced segments of the lake.

TALLY: 127 fish, all caught and released

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:30a

End Time: Noon

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  55F

Water Surface Temp:  58.1F

Wind Speed & Direction:  W10 beginning at 7:50, building to W16 by trip’s end

Sky Conditions:  100% grey cloud cover

Water Level: 3.3 feet high and falling by about 0.57 feet daily w/  ~3,700 cfs flow from dam

GT = 15

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow

Wx SNAPSHOT:   

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area  353 to B0107C – snap-jigging

**Area B0109C to B0110C to 738  – snap-jigging with some smoking at times with some bird activity (~15 minutes max)

**Area  099 to B0107C – snap-jigging

**Area B0022C  – 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