Keith and Toni’s 25th Anniversary — 58 Fish @ Belton

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Monday morning I fished with Keith and Toni Ragsdale who drove up to Belton Lake from the Georgetown area. Keith works as an anesthesiologist as the same hospital where Toni works as a speech therapist.

Last Christmas, Toni’s parents presented the pair with a fishing gift certificate.  On the occasion of their 25th wedding anniversary they decided to redeem the certificate.  Keith was quick to point out (as if fishing for white bass was not romantic or something!) that the two dates (fishing and anniversary) just happen to coincide and that the couple was going to have dinner together and then leave on a family trip to Disney next week.

 

 

 

Each year as the water gets colder and colder heading toward mid-February, our catch of largemouth bass increases.  We landed a number of 4-pound class fish today without targeting them.  As usual, the stinger hook prevented loss of these fish during a head-shake at the surface.

 

Keith took this chunky largemouth from out of 36 feet of water.  Immediate release following a photo prevents complications with barotrauma.

 

Hybrid, smallmouth buffalo, drum, and largemouth aside, we still caught a mess of our target species — the white bass.

 

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

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday morning,  December 17, 2018

HOW WE FISHED:    The fishing was pretty slow through about 8:45, then picked up for a while as the wind began to shift from WNW to SW, then again back to W.  Once the winds went westerly, they also lightened up and killed the bite we were on.  We moved to an area more wind-impacted and arrived just as some bird action by about 15 terns was getting underway.  We remained in that vicinity until noon making a steady catch of multiple species including white bass, hybrid striped bass, largemouth bass, freshwater drum, and one smallmouth buffalofish.  Snap-jigging was the way to go for these fairly lethargic fish.  There were only one or two occasions all morning where schoolmates chased hooked fish toward the surface as they were being reeled in; we never took a single fish on a smoking or easing tactic.

OBSERVATIONS:     Although it did not last long, nor was it all that intense, today we experienced the first episode of bird activity leading to fish in quite some time.  What we witnessed involved 100% terns.

TALLY: 58 fish, all caught and released

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:00a

End Time: Noon

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 46F

Water Surface Temp: 53.6F

Wind Speed & Direction: WNW12 at trip’s start, shifting suddenly to SW4 around 9:10, then shifting again back to W4 for the remainder of the trip.  As I was departing, parts of the lake were going glassy calm.

Sky Conditions:  100% light grey cloud cover

Water Level:  2.66′ high with an overnite fall of 0.24;  and a flow of 2,364 cfs

GT = 0

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow

Wx SNAPSHOT:   N/A

 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area  V1614

**Area  B0119C – snap-jigging

**Area  B0120C – snap-jigging

**Area  B0118C – 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

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