WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Tuesday afternoon, November 23rd, I fished a “Kids Fish, Too!” package trip with cousins Bella Jaimes and Isabel Matthews, chaperoned by Isabel’s dad, Derek Matthews, and the girls’ granddad, John Matthews, a U.S. Army Vietnam veteran.
This entire crew fished with me once before, five years ago. At that time we mixed in some sunfishing and downrigging with the more technical use of slabs for the sake of variety, given the girls young age at that time.
Here is how the fishing went …
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My next three openings will be on 22, 23, and 30 December. Weekday mornings are always best.
PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Isabel Matthews and Bella Jaimes now (November 2021)
PHOTO CAPTION: Front, from left: Isabel Matthews and Bella Jaimes then (October 2016) with Derek (left) and John Matthews in the background.
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday (PM), 23 November 2021
HOW WE FISHED:
Thanks to a steady southerly wind and light cloud cover, we had a pretty solid bite all afternoon and even enjoy two distinct bouts of bird activity at two separate locations in our final 90 minutes.
All of the fishing this afternoon was vertical using the MAL Heavy Lure with white blade and chartreuse tail in conjunction with Garmin LiveScope. The girls fished side by side and so the commotion each created with their retrieve compounded the attraction to the fish.
Some of the common mistakes folks make in using the MAL Lure, like reeling fish in too far, altering their retrieve speed when a pursuing fish is spotted on LiveScope, or retrieving too fast or too slow, were quickly overcome by the girls when I pointed these things out, and, by the mid-point of the trip the girls were both catching fish consistently without any further coaching.
All of our fish came from 20-30 feet of water. White bass deeper than 30′ have been a rare thing in the past two weeks or so.
When all was said and done, we landed 75 fish.
Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs and MAL Lures found here: https://whitebasstools.com/
TALLY: 75 fish caught and released
OBSERVATIONS: 1)The fish quit right as the sun set below the horizon.
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 2:05P
End Time: 5:35P
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 68F
Elevation: 1.77 feet low, 0.02 fall, 39 CFS flow
Water Surface Temp: 64.3F
Wind Speed & Direction: S12 at trip’s start, tapering down to S9 by sunset
Sky Condition: A thin white haze over a blue sky all afternoon.
Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 85% illumination.
GT = 75
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area 0152 – 15 fish caught on MAL Heavy with white blade, chartreuse tail used vertically
**Area 1024 – 40 fish caught on MAL Heavy with white blade, chartreuse tail used vertically
**Area 692 – 8 fish caught on MAL Heavy with white blade, chartreuse tail used vertically
**Area 691/788 – 4 fish caught on MAL Heavy with white blade, chartreuse tail used vertically
**Area B0061C- 8 fish caught on MAL Heavy with white blade, chartreuse tail used vertically
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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