WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Tuesday, Dec. 29th, I fished with returning guests Max Lopez, and Joe and Dawson Adcock.
Joe and Max are both U.S. Army veterans, and both are members at Memorial Baptist Church in Killeen, where Max serves as the maintenance man. In his retirement, Joe began volunteering to help Max fix the church’s aging HVAC equipment, and that grew into a post-retirement occupational pursuit for Joe, with him starting to pursue licensure in that field via coursework this coming semester.
Dawson is a student in the Killeen Independent School District in which his mom, Danna, is an teacher. He plays soccer when he’s not at school, sleeping, or eating.
PHOTO CAPTION #1: From left: Dawson and Joe Adcock, and Max Lopez with a few of the very cooperative white bass we landed under ideal winter weather conditions.
PHOTO CAPTION #2: If you closed your eyes and listened as Dawson reeled this drum in, you’d have thought he was straining to outdo his personal best bench press record!!
WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake
WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday (PM), 29 December 2020
HOW WE FISHED:
Yes, what a difference a day makes. Yesterday, I had four anglers labor for 5.75 hours to wrangle 102 fish under foggy skies and an uncomfortably cool NE breeze. Today, it took three much less experienced anglers only 3.75 hours to boat 115 fish, the difference being the weather.
There really is no more influential factor on fish behavior in freshwater than local weather.
This morning was the perfect mix of diffuse light, grey cloud cover, wind, and balmy temperatures (continuing from the overnight hours), all in advance of a major change in weather approaching tomorrow.
For the middle two hours of this trip we had aggressive, suspended fish continuously moving on and off our Garmin LiveScope sonar screens, eager to chase an artificial lure moving at a steady clip. And, the lead up to that and the taper off from it afterwards were both still pretty decent.
We used 5/8 oz. white Hazy Eye Slabs with stinger hooks affixed to catch 100% of our fish this morning. When the fish were less aggressive, we used an easing tactic, and when they were more aggressive, we used a slow smoking tactic.
We wound up with 3 largemouth bass, 5 drum, and 107 white bass.
Hazy Eye Slabs and Stinger Hooks are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/
TALLY: 115 fish caught and released
OBSERVATIONS: No helpful bird activity today.
TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 8:00A
End Time: Noon
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 57F
Elevation: 1.20 low with a 0.01’ 24-hour fall and 34 CFS flow thru the dam
Water Surface Temp: 55.1F
Wind Speed & Direction: Hard S. wind all day, varying from 14 to 17 straight line, with higher gusts
Sky Condition: Grey cloud cover all morning, but without precipitation
Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 100% illumination (full moon is tomorrow)
GT = 0
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Areas 1362, B0011C, vic B0005G, 2052, and B0066G
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
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