WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Wednesday, December 1st, I fished Lake Belton with Dr. Jack Greene and his son, Harrison, both of whom came in for a Thanksgiving visit from Lexington, KY, to visit family. Attending, but not fishing, was Jack’s dad, John, who coordinated the trip.
John is a retired physician, Jack is a working physician, and Harrison is working as part of a small business doing concrete slab leveling.
Harrison shared that most of his Kentucky-based fishing was done on private ponds for largemouth and crappie, and in small streams for smallmouth bass.
Here is how the fishing went …
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My next three openings will be on 22 & 23 December, and January 4th. Weekday mornings are always best.
PHOTO CAPTION: Dr. Jack Greene and his son, Harrison, landed 200 fish on Lake Belton using a combination of Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs for bottom-oriented fish, and MAL Heavy Lures for more active, suspended fish.
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday (AM), 01 December 2021
HOW WE FISHED:
Although it was hardly noticeable, a very mild cold front pushed through Central Texas today around noon. Beginning around 10AM, a wind shift to the west began in advance of the front’s arrival.
Fishing had already been excellent thanks to a low-light bite that continued well into the 9 o’clock hour, producing 114 fish by 9:30. Just a handful of birds working over a large patch of water just after sunrise was our clue to get us to the right place at the right time.
As we found very aggressive fish feeding throughout the lower half of the water column, we used MAL Heavy Lures (white blade, chartreuse tail) to catch them as long as they showed on sonar off bottom. Once the action sank to the bottom, we immediately switched over to slabs and kept right on catching at a high, steady rate.
I stayed as long as I could on this area because the winds had gone slack prior to the west wind starting, and the skies were bright, so, I was concerned about finding additional active fish if the fish we were on gave up. I just count it a blessing that these fish kept right on biting until those west winds kicked in. At that point, the fish we were on had fed for right at 2 solid hours and tapered off.
I searched two other locations. We picked up just two fish at the first, then, as the west wind started to come on strong, we found a “pile” of fish in about 27 feet of water that would put us right at the 200 fish mark by giving up 84 fish in our final hour or so on the water.
As is often the case, these late morning fish tended to flare up aggressively, then settle back down much more quickly than in the first three hours following sunrise. This was the case with these fish — we worked ’em with MAL Heavy Lures for 6-7 minutes catching suspended fish like crazy, then, over a 2-3 minute span, all of the action settled to bottom and we once again transitioned to the Bladed Hazy Eye Slab and kept right on catching them.
At 11:20, we’d landed 189 fish. I told Jack and Harrison we’d give it until 11:30 or 200 fish, whichever came first. Harrison brought fish #200 onboard with about 90 seconds to spare!
When all was said and done, we landed exactly 200 fish, including 8 freshwater drum, 6 juvenile hybrid stripers, and 186 white bass.
Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs and MAL Lures found here: https://whitebasstools.com/
TALLY: 200 fish caught and released
OBSERVATIONS: 1) For the second morning in a row, fish fed for an unusually long time at just one location — 2 full hours — from 7:30A to 9:30A. 2) As was the case yesterday, if the fish were suspended, the MAL Heavy Lure was the ticket; once they settled on bottom, we immediately changed to the 3/8 oz. slab. 3) I noted that Jack’s wearing of polarized glasses significantly hindered his ability to use the Garmin LiveScope.
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 7:15A
End Time: 11:30A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 50F
Elevation: 1.9 feet low, 0.01 fall, 39 CFS flow
Water Surface Temp: 63.2F
Wind Speed & Direction: S3-5 for first two hours, then going nearly slack, then picking W7 in advance of the approaching, mild cold front, increasing to W11 by trip’s end.
Sky Condition: 30% white cloud cover on blue skies all AM
Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 11% illumination.
GT = 45
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area vic 0335 – 114 fish caught on MAL Heavy with white blade, chartreuse tail when fish were suspended, then on the 3/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab once the action settled to bottom.
**Area 737 – 2 fish caught on the 3/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab.
**Area vic 560 – 84 fish caught on MAL Heavy with white blade, chartreuse tail when fish were suspended, then on the 3/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab once the action settled to bottom. One short hop.
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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