PULLED A RABBIT OUT OF THE HAT — 83 FISH IN CRAZY WEATHER

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This past Thursday afternoon I fished Lake Belton with returning guest Gary Hannemann, his son, Carl Hannemann of Waco, and Gary’s grandson (Carl’s nephew) 10-year-old Brayden Monhnke of China Spring.  This trip was originally planned for this past Saturday, but high winds and low temperatures put the wind chill factor in the high 20’s and low 30’s for much of that day, so we ran that trip today instead.

Thanks to rains that largely fell on top of us (but not so much in the watershed to our northwest), both Belton and Stillhouse rose over 2 feet in the 24 hours following the rain event.  Fortunately on Belton, nothing looks to be coming down the Leon from Lake Proctor, so I’m hopeful that the majority of the rising water has already come and that we won’t see yet another shutdown of the ramps.

 

Gary Hannemann and his grandson, Brayden Monhnke, age 10, with a nice Lake Belton largemouth taken on a slab as we encountered some brush beneath the boat while working for white bass.

 

Despite crazy water and weather conditions, the white bass fed this afternoon.  That’s Carl Hannemann on the left, Brayden Monhnke in the middle, and Gary Hannemann on the right — three generations enjoying Creation together today.

 

And the big fish award for the trip went to Brayden with a 4+ pound freshwater drum, nicknamed “gasper gou”.

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

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday,  January 3rd, 2019

HOW WE FISHED:   Today we snap-jigged for all we were worth.  Fortunately, Gary had already been fishing with me in the winter and understood the tactic, Carl caught on very quickly and was consistent, and Brayden did well when he put his mind to it.  We fished our white, 3/8 oz. slabs with Hazy Eye Stinger hooks in 31-34 feet of water at 4 distinct locations.  The bite was about the same at each in that we would catch the fish we parked on top of using the Spot Lock function, then, when the action slowed, we jogged one way or another to cover new ground, caught a few more, and then jogged again.  The fish were not willing to move to our commotion.

At one location, as I dropped my slab, several fish actually rose up off the bottom to meet it, indicating very aggressive fish.  We were able to use an “easing” tactic for these fish (and tried smoking, but it was too fast).  These were among the smallest fish we caught, however (but the fast action for about 20 white bass was enjoyable).

In all we landed 83 fish this afternoon including white bass, freshwater drum, short hybrid striped bass, 1 largemouth bass, and 3 crappie.

OBSERVATIONS:    I really feel like we pulled a rabbit out of the hat this afternoon.  With the massive amount of environmental change that took place due to rising water, the fact that the water is cold, and the fact that we were still under cold-front influenced conditions, to catch 83 fish was well beyond my expectations today.  No bird activity, and no life seen shallower than 25′.  All of our action came in 31-34′.

TALLY: 83 fish caught and released

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 1:00 p

End Time: 5:30 p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 41F

Water Surface Temp: 51.7F

Wind Speed & Direction: WInds blew at NNW13 all day with slightly higher gusts between 1:30 and 3:30pm.

Sky Conditions:  Leaden grey skies all day

Water Level: 7.5′ high with an overnite rise of 2.04 feet and no flow of water from the dam   

GT = 25

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow

Wx SNAPSHOT:    

 

 AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS FRIDAY: 

**Area vic B0126C with 3 short hops

**Area vic  2037 to 164 with 3 short hops

**Area B0127C

**Area vic B0116C

**Area vic 1659

 

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