GOOD JOB, JACK! ATTA-BOY, ROY! — 161 FISH @ BELTON

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, December 28th, 2019, I fished with three generations of the Oliver family who drove in from Marble Falls, TX, for a 7:35AM launch time to do some serious white bass fishing under ideal conditions.

Grandpa Jack Oliver had two of his sons, Isaac and Eli, and his daughter Emily’s two boys, Jack (age 9) and Roy (age 6), all joining him for today’s productive, albeit slightly damp, fishing trip.  Jack and Roy Martin are in visiting from Kalispell, Montana.

This trip came together kind of “last minute” when I posted on Facebook that I had a late cancellation yesterday afternoon.  Jack hopped right on the opportunity (literally, about 2.5 minutes after I posted the opening!) and it turned out to be a win-win.   I was a bit concerned about having a 6 year old out at this time of year when your presentation needs to be spot-on and there is not much variety for me to offer, but, that turned out to be a non-issue, both boys did very well.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  Back row, from left: Grandpa Jack Oliver, Isaac Oliver, Eli Oliver.  Front row, from left: Roy Martin and Jack Martin

PHOTO CAPTION: Jack Martin took “big fish” honors this morning with this 4.75 pound Lake Belton largemouth bass with fell for a 3/8 oz. Hazy Eye Slab with stinger hook affixed and in the white color.

WHEN WE FISHED:  Saturday, 28 December 2019, AM

HOW WE FISHED:   If I could custom-order weather for white bass fishing in the winter season, this morning’s weather is what I would order.  We had warm temperatures overnight, warm, humid conditions this morning with grey cloud cover and just a touch of precipitation from time to time — barely a mist.  The winds were from the SW around 10-12 and, perhaps most important, we had a cold front coming in, which would hit around 2:45P.  Every single place we checked had at least a few fish present, and a few places had hundreds of fish present and actively feeding up off bottom where they were easily detected with sonar.

Every single one of the 161 fish we landed was caught from off bottom as we used a slow, steady “easing” tactic to tempt these fish in the 55.2F water.  Our deepest area fished was 28′, and we caught our earliest fish (while sky conditions were dimmest) in only 17′.

All fish were landed on the 3/8 oz. Hazy Eye Slab with stinger hook affixed and in the white color.  My standard setup for these includes a roughly 24″ Sufix fluorocarbon leader and 20 pound Sufix 832 braided line.

Jack’s in-laws were due in to Marble Falls for a steak cookout at 1PM, so he gave me a “back to the dock” time of 11AM to catch our fish.  We hit 100 fish at 10:05AM, then added icing to the cake for the next 35 minutes, putting a final 61 fish in the boat during that short time span.

 

TALLY: 161 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:  No bird activity this morning.  I found fish as shallow as 8′ deep in the 55.3F water.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:    7:45A

End Time:  12:40A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  48F

Elevation: 2.98′ low, 0.00′ 24-hour change, 34 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp:   55.3F

Wind Speed & Direction: Calm and foggy conditions which were very localized.  The entire area was not foggy, only the lake’s surface due to the temperature disparity between the cold air and the warmer water.

Sky Conditions: Sun obscured all morning by fog through around 9:30A, then slowly clearing to mostly cloudy with white cloud cover, followed by heavier coverage of grey clouds

GT = 45

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow

Wx SNAPSHOT:   

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area B0013C to B0002G – 3 short hops

**Area vic B0112C

**Area vic  171/1024

**Area vic  B0066C

 

Bob Maindelle

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

SNOWBIRDING BY HORSEBACK – 100 FISH @ BELTON

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, December 27th, 2019, I fished with Jerimy Fox of Wyoming.  He and his wife are now retired (she from the U.S. Air Force, and he from teaching high school science) and, with the flexibility to escape winter’s wind and cold, chose to do just that by setting up camp, along with their 3 horses, at the Parrie Haynes Equestrian Center here in Central Texas (I believe Jerimy calls this a horse-hotel).  They’ll spend the next few months there awaiting the spring thaw, thus avoiding high winds, extended bouts of sub-zero temperatures, snow drifts of over 7-feet, and the incessant snow-plowing that goes along with that.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:   Jerimy Fox with a pair of nice Belton Lake white bass.  We fished bladebaits shallow and slabs deep today for a 100 fish outing.

WHEN WE FISHED:  Friday, 27 December 2019, AM

HOW WE FISHED:   About a week ago Jerimy phoned me, let me know he’d be in the area for about 4 months and that his schedule was flexible, so, if I saw some ideal conditions develop, I could just give him a call and he’d be ready to go.  After putting together a string of five consecutive 100+ fish days, and after seeing the forecast for today, I was confident I could put Jerimy on 100 fish, and so I called him and let him know that.

We fished today and we did, indeed, catch exactly 100 fish.  However, we had to put in more effort than I anticipated, and I stayed a bit longer than usual to make it happen.  As often happens the weather that was forecast was not the weather we actually experienced.  The first two hours of the trip were bright and calm without the fog of the past several days and without the wind that I was really counting on blowing early on.

We vertical jigged for all the deep fish we found today and, after learning a lesson from yesterday about spooking shallow fish, we did a bit of successful horizontal casting with bladebaits, as well.

Toward the end of the trip, even as conditions were improving (grey cloud cover with wind), the bite remained tough.  For the first time this season I gave snap-jigging a try after the fish refused to get excited about the easing tactic we were otherwise relying upon.  When fish showed tight to bottom on sonar after we caught a few via easing, a good mop-up tactic for the few catchable fish remaining was the snap-jigging.  This also seemed to add more “bonus” drum and largemouth to the tally.

 

TALLY: 100 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:  No bird activity this morning.  I found fish as shallow as 8′ deep in the 55.3F water.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:    7:45A

End Time:  12:40A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  48F

Elevation: 2.98′ low, 0.00′ 24-hour change, 34 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp:   55.3F

Wind Speed & Direction: Calm and foggy conditions which were very localized.  The entire area was not foggy, only the lake’s surface due to the temperature disparity between the cold air and the warmer water.

Sky Conditions: Sun obscured all morning by fog through around 9:30A, then slowly clearing to mostly cloudy with white cloud cover, followed by heavier coverage of grey clouds

GT = 45

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow

Wx SNAPSHOT:    N/A

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic  826 (2 hops)

**Area vic  788 through 172 (3 hops with blades)

**Area vic  B0003G through 1679 (3 hops)

**Area vic  B0005G

**Area vic  B0003G (fished it a second time with 2 hops)

 

 

 

Bob Maindelle

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

ILLINOIS EXCAVATOR REALLY DIGS TEXAS FISHING — 118 FISH @ BELTON

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, December 26th, 2019, I fished with Troy Hensley Jr. of Killeen and Frank Cattani.  Troy is a U.S. Army veteran turned stay-at-home dad of 3 (and soon to be 4!!) and Central Texas College student, and Frank and a partner operate a heavy equipment business focused on excavation up in Illinois.  Back in the 70’s, Frank did a stint in the U.S. Army Reserves, as well.

Frank and Troy’s mom drove down for a visit from their home in Illinois.  Frank did well adapting to the tactics necessary to put fish in the boat this time of year.  Although he has his own small lake to fish up in Illinois, the primary species in it are cover-loving fish like sunfish and bass, so fishing for open-water pelagics species without bait was a bit new to him.  Frank caught the first hybrid striped bass of his life on this morning’s trip.

PHOTO CAPTION:   Troy Hensley Jr. and Frank Cattani loaded up on the white bass this morning.  Their catch of 118 fish included white bass, hybrid striped bass, largemouth bass, and freshwater drum.

WHEN WE FISHED:  Thursday, 26 December 2019, AM

HOW WE FISHED:  For the fifth consecutive trip we had calm, foggy conditions with bright light conditions within the fog thanks to the fog being localized and just hovering over the lake’s surface, thus allowing the sun to illuminate it from above.

A trend has emerged during these calm, foggy mornings.  It seems the fish are biting well under the cover of fog, then slack off after the fog clears as the calm conditions remain and as the skies become clear and bright.  A late morning increase in action then takes place as either light cloud cover and/or a light breeze develops.

I’ve also found fish, albeit most of them smallish, up very shallow.   I suspect this is because the water temperature has actually risen slightly over the past week thanks to balmy conditions for late December.  We caught fish as shallow as 8′ deep this morning, and had multiple schools of fish under the boat in 13-18 feet of water.  These fish typically either spooked or moved on quickly on their own, as we rarely caught more than a handful of fish from these shallow congregations before sonar went blank.

The deeper the fish were this morning, the longer they stayed put and kept biting.  All of our fish came on the good old 3/8 oz. Hazy Eye Shad in white color with stinger hook attached.  A consistent, slow easing tactic caught fish very efficiently.

 

TALLY: 118 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:  No bird activity this morning.  I found fish as shallow as 8′ deep in the 55.3F water.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:    7:45A

End Time:  12:40A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  48F

Elevation: 2.98′ low, 0.00′ 24-hour change, 34 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp:   55.3F

Wind Speed & Direction: Calm and foggy conditions which were very localized.  The entire area was not foggy, only the lake’s surface due to the temperature disparity between the cold air and the warmer water.

Sky Conditions: Sun obscured all morning by fog through around 9:30A, then slowly clearing to mostly cloudy with white cloud cover, followed by heavier coverage of grey clouds

GT = 0

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow

Wx SNAPSHOT:    N/A

 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic 1671 with 2 short hops

**Area vic  826

**Area vic 788

**Area vic  681

**Area vic  B0004G

**Area vic  1882/B0009C/B0003G

**Area vic 1624

 

 

Bob Maindelle

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

WHO’S YO MOMMA?!? — 135 FISH W/ THE GLADDENS

WHO I FISHED WITH: Yesterday morning, Christmas Eve 2019, I fished for a second time inside the space of a week with the Gladden family of Harker Heights, including Kelvin Gladden Sr., his wife, Angela, and their boys Kelvin Jr. and Tevin.  Kelvin is a retired U.S. Army veteran, Angela works for the Children, Youth, and Student Services (CYS) organization on Fort Hood, Kelvin Jr. works for Walmart in Harker Heights, and Tevin is now entering his final semester in college up in Anchorage, Alaska, where he’ll graduate in May with a degree in computer science.

Even though our conditions this morning were similar to our conditions last Saturday during the Gladden’s first holiday trip with me, we managed a 35% increase in our catch as everyone was more experienced and paid much closer attention to their technique today.  The Gladdens amassed a catch of 135 fish.

Belton Lake Fishing Guide Largemouth Bass

PHOTO CAPTION:   This is the fish that led to the title for this log entry.  Angela’s younger son, Tevin, started off the fishing trip fast and furious, landing 8 fish at our first location and within the first 20 minutes or so while the rest of the family had only managed 1 or 2 fish each during that same time.  Tevin thought it necessary to taunt the rest of the family by reminding them of his personal total, all of which consisted of average-sized white bass.  When Angela set the hook on this 4-pounder, her rod bowed deeply and I scrambled for the net.  We landed the largemouth bass, took it out of the net, and I put a clamp on it for Angela to hold for a photo.  She took a deep breath, let it out, looked squarely at Tevin and said, “Who’s yo’ momma?”   Everyone laughed out loud and I told them right then and there that was going to be the title for this summary of our trip! 

PHOTO CAPTION:   Lake Belton gave up some plump wintertime white bass today.  A slow, vertical presentation with small, shad-imitating slabs was the ticket to success once fish were located.

WHEN WE FISHED:  Tuesday, 24 December 2019, AM

HOW WE FISHED:  Once again we had calm, foggy conditions with the same, bright light conditions within the fog thanks to the fog being localized and just hovering over the lake’s surface, thus allowing the sun to illuminate it from above.

From their trip on Saturday, everyone knew going into this morning’s trip how critical correctly executing the vertical jigging tactics we employed was.  A consistent jigging speed, consistent contact with the bottom, and intentionally slow movements were all necessary from start to finish this morning.

We caught fish best under the darker conditions caused by the fog.  Once the fog cleared, the fish activity slowed as we were then left with clear, calm conditions.  We move around a good bit, finding small clusters of fish willing to bite.  Not until a significant breeze finally kicked in around 11:30 did the fish get back into a strong feed.  This lasted right about an hour and then tapered off.  We landed 44 fish under fog cover, another 35 fish during the last hour with wind blowing, and the other 56 fish came more slowly in the calm, bright conditions between the fog and wind.  We wound up fishing 8 different areas, and did a few “short hops” at several of those 8 areas.

TALLY: 135 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:  No bird activity this morning.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:    7:45A

End Time:  12:35A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  34F

Elevation: 2.97′ low, 0.02′ 24-hour change, 34 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp:   53.7F

Wind Speed & Direction: Calm and foggy conditions which were very localized.  The entire area was not foggy, only the lake’s surface due to the temperature disparity between the cold air and the warmer water.

Sky Conditions: Sun obscured all morning by fog through around 9:40A, then slowly clearing to calm and bright, followed by the arrival of a light SE breeze around 11A

GT = 15

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow

Wx SNAPSHOT:    

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic  B0113C

**Area vic 1671

**Area vic  B0002G

**Area vic  172 to B0172C

**Area vic  380 (sparse)

**Area vic  B0071C (sparse)

**Area vic  1882 (sparse)

**Area vic  B0003G

 

 

Bob Maindelle

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

9 SHORT YEARS LATER — 218 FISH @ BELTON

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Monday, Dec. 23rd, I fished with the Einboden clan — brothers Josh, Kris, Merrill, and Orlan, and Kris’ wife, Maddie.  Way back on the 28th of June 2010, these same boys came out with me for a trip on Stillhouse when their dad, Allen, worked in Temple.  The family is having a holiday reunion here in Central Texas which began when the Idaho contingent of Einboden’s flew in to Austin at 4:35 this morning.  They chose to spend part of their reunion together on Lake Belton in pursuit of white bass.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:   From left:  That’s Orland, Maddie, Kris, Merrill, and Josh today on Belton.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

PHOTO CAPTION:   From left:  Here are the same boys — Josh, Kris, Merrill, and Orland back in June of 2010.

WHEN WE FISHED:  Monday, 23 December 2019, AM

HOW WE FISHED:  Once again we had calm, foggy conditions, but very different from the calm, foggy conditions of this past Saturday.  Today, only the lake was fogged over.  My drive over to Belton was clear as a bell, but, thanks to the temperature disparity between the ambient air and the lake’s surface, along with a lack of wind, the lake was fogged over heavily.  Despite this, the conditions were still bright (not dim, dark, and gloomy), because the sun was unobscured by clouds and was brightening the sky above the thin layer of clouds over the lake.  This was evidently all the difference the fish required, as the results today were “night and day” different than Saturday’s grey, dark fog.

With 5 anglers aboard, I wanted to do as much as I could to get everyone “in sync” with the vertical jigging tactic of “easing” before we encountered fish so that 1) everyone’s potential to hook and land fish was maximized, 2) common mistakes could be avoided, and 3) we could proactively avoid time-consuming tangles.  So, I gave a thorough demonstration of what to do right at dockside with everyone looking on, and then went over what not to do, as well.  I emphasized the importance of the slow, steady motion essential to success with this tactic.

We got on and stayed on fish from our first drop right on through around 11:45 and as the weather went from foggy and calm, to clear and calm, to clear with a light SE breeze.  The fish action stayed consistent throughout.  We worked five distinct areas and found fish arrayed pretty much in the same manner at each — in a feeding posture just up off bottom but not moving or chasing very much (thanks to 53F water).  As I employed the thumper, fish did draw up off bottom up higher in the water column toward the boat, but we did not fish for them given perfectly catchable fish carpeting the bottom.

Every one of the 218 fish we landed was caught on a 3/8 oz. Hazy Eye Slab with a stinger hook attached using the easing tactic.

TALLY: 218 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:  No bird activity this morning.  Once again (3rd consecutive trip) over 30% of our catch was made up of 2 and 3 year class fish (~half today).

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:    7:45A

End Time:  Noon

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  33F

Elevation: 2.95′ low, 0.01′ 24-hour change, 34 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp:   53.4F

Wind Speed & Direction: Calm and foggy conditions which were very localized.  The entire area was not foggy, only the lake’s surface due to the temperature disparity between the cold air and the warmer water.

Sky Conditions: Sun obscured all morning by fog through around 9:40A, then slowly clearing to calm and bright, followed by the arrival of a light SE breeze around 11A

GT = 0

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow

Wx SNAPSHOT:    

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic 1671

**Area vic B0172C

**Area vic 171/172

**Area vic 380/B0066C

**Area vic B0071C

 

Bob Maindelle

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

HE RECOMMENDED MOOSE’S TOOTH … 100 FISH @ BELTON

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Saturday morning, 21 Dec., I fished with the Gladden family of Harker Heights.  Mr. Kelvin Gladden Sr. coordinated the trip for his wife, Angela, and his sons, Kelvin Jr. and Tevin.  Kelvin Sr. had this event in mind since the summer months before his son Tevin headed back to college in Anchorge, Alaska.

I was looking forwarding to getting the inside scoop on Anchorage from Tevin because my wife and I plan to take my mom to Alaska and base our travels out of Anchorage sometime next year.  When I asked Tevin about what was not to be missed in the area, the one thing he mentioned which I had yet to research was Moose’s Tooth Pizza.  Well, that is now officially on the list now!

As for fishing, we had pretty tough conditions with calm, foggy conditions, followed by cloudy but still calm conditions thereafter.  Nonetheless, the Gladden’s persisted and wrapped up our morning with exactly 100 fish landed, including white bass, largemouth bass, hybrid striped bass, and freshwater drum.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:   From left: Tevin, Kelvin Sr., Angela, and Kelvin Jr. each with a sampling of the white bass we (really!) worked for today.  The clear skies you see in the background of the photo did not appear until after noon.

WHEN WE FISHED:   Saturday, 21 December 2019, AM

HOW WE FISHED:  As is typically the case on foggy and/or calm mornings, this morning’s fishing was very tough.  We did a lot of looking, caught a few fish here and a few fish there, and, over a span of nearly 6 hours, put together a catch of exactly 100 fish.  When the fog finally lifted and the lightest of NW breezes began to ripple the water, the action did pick up, but we never got into a flurry where we had multiple rods bent over any appreciable span of time.

The key this morning was “low and slow”.  We used small, 3/8 oz. slabs fished with an “easing” tactic very slowly near bottom to provoke these fairly lethargic fish.  Most all of the fish hit our slabs on the rise this morning, and we witnessed very few suspended fish and very few schoolmates which followed hooked schoolmates up toward the boat.

The lion’s share of our catch consisted of white bass with fish from 0 to 3 years in the mix.  We landed a number of largemouth, drum, and hybrid striped bass, as well.

TALLY: 100 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:  No bird activity this morning.  Once again (2nd consecutive trip) 30% of our catch was made up of 2 and 3 year class fish.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:    7:45A

End Time:  1:30P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  48F

Elevation:2.94′ low, 0.01′ 24-hour change, 34 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp:   53.7F

Wind Speed & Direction: Light and variable breeze with fog, followed by cloud cover with a light northerly breeze beginning around 10A.

Sky Conditions: Sun obscured all morning by fog, then clouds, followed by clearing skies after noon time.

GT = 45

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow

Wx SNAPSHOT:    

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic 1827

**Area vic 826 to 1659

**Area vic B0172C to 691

**Area B0001G

**Area vic 1659

**Area vic 1882

 

Bob Maindelle

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

THIS JUST IN FROM TURKEY … 100 FISH @ BELTON

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Thursday, 19 Dec., I fished with Mr. John Leverington and his son, Shawn Leverington.  John recently returned to the United States from Turkey, where he serves as a counselor to aid workers ministering in southwest Asia.

Shawn is a U.S. Army Reservist working full-time at Fort Hood as commander of the Warrior Transition Unit there.  The WTU’s stated mission is to provide command and control, primary care and case management for soldiers in transition to establish conditions for healing and to promote the timely return to the force or transition to continue serving the nation as a veteran in their community.

Before heading away from Central Texas to visit family in the Chicago area, this father-and-son pair spent some time together with me on Lake Belton in pursuit of white bass.

PHOTO CAPTION:   From left: John and Shawn Leverington.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:   This was the sole hybrid striped  bass we encountered this morning while working artificials for white bass on Lake Belton.

PHOTO CAPTION:   Yep, that’s 23 degrees Fahrenheit showing just before dawn this morning at lake level as I was backing down the boat ramp.  I’m thankful to whoever invented the balaclava!!

WHEN WE FISHED:   Thursday, 19 December 2019, AM

HOW WE FISHED: As the winds went, so went this fishing this morning.  We started out with near-calm conditions and fish that were quite lethargic.  As the wind’s velocity increased, so did the fishes’ activity level.  By the time our first hour on the water had gone by, our fish count was still in single digits.  As the wind peaked around 10 mph toward trip’s end, we put a final 22 fish in the boat in under 20 minutes just before the fish turned off from their morning feed.

Early on, while the fishing was slow, we relied on the thumper to pull in suspended white bass which we “sniped” using slowly presented lure in conjunction with Garmin LiveScope.  As the winds increased and as a bit of high, thin, white cloud cover began to build, the fishing off bottom turned on well and a more traditional “easing” tactic and even a slow version of smoking came in handy.

On significant, positive change today was that perhaps 30% of our catch was made up of 2 and 3 year class fish which is an improvement over the 1:6 or greater legal to short ratio that Belton has been offering up since the fall cool-down began in October.

We landed at least a dozen largemouth mixed in with our white bass, as well as a handful of drum, and 1 hybrid striped bass, which just barely 18 inches.

 

TALLY: 100 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:  No bird activity this morning.  30% of our catch was made up of 2 and 3 year class fish.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:    7:30A

End Time:  Noon

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  24F

Elevation:2.94′ low, 0.02′ 24-hour change, 34 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp:   53.8F

Wind Speed & Direction: Light WSW through 9A, then increasing and shifting to SSW8-11 thereafter

Sky Conditions:  High blue skies through 10A, then high, thin white clouds developing thereafter

GT = 0

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow

Wx SNAPSHOT:    

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic 488

**Area vic B0188C

**Area vic 826

**Area vic 1659

**Area vic 1827

**Area vic B0122C

 

Bob Maindelle

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

HAPPY 10TH BIRTHDAY, JET!! — 75 FISH @ BELTON

WHO I FISHED WITH:  Yesterday evening, Saturday, December 14th, I fished with 10-year-old Jet Black of Temple, and his 9-year-old buddy, Karson Gallion.  Accompanying the boys as non-fishing chaperones were Jet’s parents, Dave and Mandi Black.

We’d had this trip all planned out to coincide with the Saturday closest to Jet’s actual birthday, but, last Saturday afternoon’s weather looked like a disaster waiting to happen with cloudless skies and a totally calm wind forecast.  As it turned out, the weatherman got that right, and we did well to bump the trip to this weekend where we enjoyed a consistent 8-9 mph SE breeze the entire trip.

A third young man was supposed to join us, but, he fell victim to the flu, so come trip time it was down to Jet and Karson.  Mandi explained during the trip that Karson is one of a set of quadruplets, and the only boy of the four — so, I gathered Karson was really looking forward to some “guy time”!!

PHOTO CAPTION:   From left: Dave Black, Jet Black, Mandi Black, and Karson Gallion with a few of the white bass the boys took in an afternoon of fishing on Lake Belton.

WHEN WE FISHED:   Saturday, 14 December 2019, PM

HOW WE FISHED:  I was a bit concerned going into this afternoon’s trip about the boys hanging in there the entire time.  As good as fishing can be this time of year, it is also very limited when it comes to variety.  I’ve fished with kids long enough to know that even on a day when we’re knocking them dead, kids can get bored with success if that success comes via just one method.

The boys did well today on a day where technique was very important because the fish were not all that enthusiastic thanks to post-frontal conditions.

Once we got through the learning curve on using the easing tactic, the boys caught fish at each place we located them.  To their credit, there is a lot of steps to get the hang of including correct amount of slack in the line, lift speed, drop speed, hook-setting method, not reeling a hooked fish in too far, etc., and this is all in addition to the fundamentals of spinning reel use: proper grip, use of the bail, handle turn speed, etc.

We landed 45 fish at our first location, spent a while looking for a solid second location to fish, then fished a second location at which we “short hopped” a few times, moving gradually shallower with each hop as the light dimmed with sunset’s approach.  We added exactly 30 more fish to our tally at this location.  It was here where Jet had a “big one that got away” encounter with a largemouth bass that I’d estimate at ~3 pounds.  This fish hit high up in the water column and was still very green when it got to the surface just seconds later.  Jet was reeling madly, so, I had him slow down as the fish took drag and dove deeper.  As I prepared the net, the fish simply got off the hook.

Dave and Mandi were super-supportive and helped the boys every way they could to be successful.  They tried to reiterate and reinforce my guidance to the boys, helped keep them focused, and laid on the praise when the boys got firing on all 8 cylinders by executing the technique well and consistently hooking and landing fish.

 

TALLY: 75 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:  No bird activity this afternoon.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:    1:45P

End Time:  5:30P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  66F

Elevation:2.85′ low, no 24-hour change, 34 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp:   58.6F

Wind Speed & Direction: SE8 and steady the entire afternoon

Sky Conditions:  High blue skies in the wake of a mild cold front’s passage yesterday

GT = 40

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow

Wx SNAPSHOT:    

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

** Between 1291 and B0103C

** vic 1882-B0188C

 

 

Bob Maindelle

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

NETWORKING WITH OSCAR – 34 FISH @ STILLHOUSE

WHO I FISHED WITH:  Yesterday morning, Saturday, December 14th, I fished with returning guest Oscar Leal, accompanied by two first time guests, Terek Brown, and Alton Hill.  Prior to the trip Terek and Alton did not know one another, but were both friends of Oscar’s.

Terek, himself a gymnast, runs Journey Gymnastics in Georgetown, Texas, and Alton works with Oscar in Austin’s tech industry.

On Oscar’s previous trips, all taken this fall, we’d focused on the high numbers of smaller fish prevalent on Lake Belton.  This morning, by request, we fished Stillhouse in pursuit of larger white bass.  I wanted to be very upfront with Oscar, and therefore let him know that we would not see the kind of numbers I have been racking up on Belton.  He was okay with that, and so we went forward with our plans to venture onto the 6,400 or so acres of Stillhouse Hollow, an impoundment of the Lampasas River.

 

Stillhouse largemouth bass

PHOTO CAPTION #1:  Terek Brown with a 4.75 pound largemouth bass taken on the tried-and-true 3/8 oz. white Hazy Eye Slab with stinger hook.  As with nearly all largemouth caught on this lure in the winter months, this fish was caught on the stinger hook.

 

central Texas white bass run 2020

PHOTO CAPTION #2:  From left, that is Terek Brown, Oscar Leal, and Alton Hill with a mix of 2 and 3 year class fish we took on slabs under less-than-desirable weather conditions.

WHEN WE FISHED:   Saturday, 14 December 2019, AM

HOW WE FISHED: The weatherman’s forecast was hard to get excited about.  We were to experience the near-calm winds and bright skies consistent with post-frontal weather, after a very mild, brief, dry cold front moved through the day before with northerly winds.  We were fortunate to lock onto some pre-sunrise bird activity in two locations.  The fish in these locations stayed active through around 10:15, after which the already tough bite died hard.

As we relied on sonar to show us exactly where heavier concentrations of fish were holding in the vicinity in which the birds were working, I noted that what fish were present were organized into small groups of perhaps 5 to 20 fish each and that these wolfpacks were really holding tightly to bottom.  We also noted that our best success came immediately after Spot-Locking on fish and dropping down on them.  The fish would immediately and positively respond to the novelty of the lures, but then would quickly sour despite remaining in the vicinity and being seen clearly on sonar.

We used an easing tactic successfully.  I experimented with snap-jigging and did not see the fish express interest in that.

We wound up catching all of our fish in just two locations, both in 30-33 feet of water.

TALLY: 34 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:  Birds worked tentatively in two distinct locations that I observed, doing a lot more flying than feeding, but occasionally feeding on sunfish and shad crippled or killed by the white bass and largemouth bass feeding near bottom.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:    7:15A

End Time:  11:30A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  41F

Elevation: 3.08 feet low, 0.01′ 24-hour fall, 1 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp:   56.5F

Wind Speed & Direction: Calm at sunrise through 9:30A, then starting SE6-8 suddenly, staying at SE6-7 for the remainder of the trip

Sky Conditions:  High blue skies in the wake of a mild cold front’s passage yesterday

GT = 10

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow

Wx SNAPSHOT:    

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Birds working just before sunrise until shortly thereafter at 1960/1496

**Area vic SH0137C to SH0138C to SH0139C with light bird action leading the way

 

 

Bob Maindelle

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

BEAT BOX AND VIDEO GAMES WITH GRANDPA — 108 FISH @ BELTON

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This morning, Saturday, December 7th, I fished with returning guests Jim Deuser of Georgetown, his son, Dan, and Dan’s son, Jake, both from down near San Antonio.  Jake is in his senior year of high school and just became an Eagle Scout which involves significant project coordination.  Jake’s project involved providing a soothing texture wall for autistic students at a local school for kids with autism.

We were originally planning to go hybrid fishing back during the peak window in late April, but foul weather put an end to those plans.

 

PHOTO CAPTION #1:  Three generations of Deuser men — from left:  Jim, Dan, and Jake.  We were blessed with yet another 100+ fish outing with white bass comprising the majority of our catch.

 

PHOTO CAPTION #2:  Quality freshwater drum like this one hoisted by Jake are becoming commonplace on Lake Belton thanks to the burgeoning zebra mussel population offering this species a bumper crop of food.

WHEN WE FISHED:   Saturday, 07 December 2019, AM

HOW WE FISHED: As good as winter time fishing is, it can also be very one-dimensional.  Although other methods will certainly take freshwater pelagics, for consistency on white bass, it is hard to beat the simplicity and efficiency of working a slab vertically.  That is exactly what we did this morning to the tune of 108 fish in right at 4 hours’ time. We used an “easing tactic” to land fish after fish, at first guided by hungry gulls pointing the way, and then by finding fish with sonar.

After everyone had the fundamentals of easing down, I “layered” in the Garmin Livescope and I think that really made the trip for Jim and Dan.  Competitive by nature, they stood side-by-side, both staring into the same Garmin monitor (GPSMAP 1242sxv Touch) and chided one another when the other guy missed a fish that aggressively pursued a slab up off bottom.

Dan likened my fish-attracting thumper device to a “beat box”; it served its purpose today in keeping fish under the boat.

We swapped back and forth with the 3/8 oz. and 3/4 oz. Hazy Eye Slabs using the heavier version if I saw suspended hybrid, and using the lighter version if we had mainly bottom-dwelling white bass beneath us.

I told the fellows in my “pre-trip briefing” that our first three hours would be where we needed to do all of our catching as the N. wind was due to run out around 10AM.  Indeed, we hit the 100 fish mark at 10:28, then added only 8 more fish to the count in the 40 minutes that followed, eventually calling it a good day and heading to lunch by 11:10.

 

TALLY: 108 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:  Birds worked continuously from sunrise through 9:20AM and then the vast majority of them roosted.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:    7:00A

End Time:  11:10A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  43F

Elevation: 2.76 feet low, 0.01′ 24-hour fall, 34 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp:   58.1F

Wind Speed & Direction: NNW8 at sunrise through 10A, then tapering down over the next hour to calm

Sky Conditions:  High blue skies in the wake of a mild cold front’s passage.

GT =0

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow

Wx SNAPSHOT:    

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Birds from Area B0197C through 2053 until ~9:30

**Area vic B0201C

**Area between 150 and 1552 – deeper, suspended fish

 

 

Bob Maindelle

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