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