OLD ARMY BUDDIES – 160 FISH @ BELTON

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This past Thursday morning, December 2nd, I fished Lake Belton with returning guest Shawn Leverington.  Joining Shawn were two friends of his whom he got to know through their roles as activated U.S. Army Reservists.

Dave Huddleston is a nurse from Kansas, and Jose Gonzales, originally from Houston, works for Pepsi in Austin.  All three men are currently serving at Fort Hood, working to help get deploying troops administratively prepared for those deployments.

Here is how the fishing went …

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My next three openings will be on December 23rd, and January 4th and 5th.  Weekday mornings are always best.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:   Jose Gonzales, Dave Huddleston, and Shawn Leverington — all citizen soldiers now serving our country at Fort Hood as activated U.S. Army Reservists.

PHOTO CAPTION:  This is a white, 3/4 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab next to a 2.5″ threadfin shad regurgitated by one of the (smaller) white bass we landed late in the morning.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday (AM), 02 December 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

After yesterday’s very mild, dry “cold” front passed over (essentially just causing a wind shift), we had very light winds this morning.  There was just the slightest ripple on the water over the course of the first two hours.  Fortunately, we found fish under low-light conditions and they were in water deep enough to stay put and continue feeding even as the sun rose higher.

I told my three guests several times how I really hoped the fish we’d found would keep right on biting, as I felt it would be a very difficult task to go out and find excited fish under such low-wind and brightening conditions were the fish we were on to quit biting.

We were blessed to have that bite carry us through until about 9:15AM when the fish we were on tapered off, but, a more westerly WSW breeze began to develop and build to 6-7 mph.  We’d landed 63 fish by this time.  We caught them on MAL Heavy Lures when we first arrived and while they were hunting up off the bottom, then switched over to Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs once they settled back to bottom and slowed down.

Now I felt much more confident in going to look for fish.

We found fish at two additional distinct locations.  The first bunch was up in only 22 feet of water.  They went gangbusters for about 25 minutes and then shut down, allowing us 21 more fish, all on the Bladed Hazy Eye Slab (white, 3/8 oz.).

The last group of fish was the most aggressive of the day, allowing us to more than double our catch in the closing hour on the water.

When I first spotted this school with Humminbird side-imaging, there were 4-5 separate, small schools, each with 50-60 fish by the looks of it.  I used the i-Pilot Link function to place us in the “center of mass” of these groups.  As we fished and created commotion, this drew these several schools in right beneath the boat and “kept the pond stocked” for a good hour.

We caught these fish on MAL Heavy Lures when we first arrived and while they were hunting up off the bottom, then switched over to the 3/8 oz., white Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs once they settled back to bottom and slowed down.

Right around 11:10 things started to shut down, and after another 10 minutes had passed, the only movement showing on the Garmin LiveScope screens were our lures moving up and down.  We landed a final 86 fish at this location.

When all was said and done, we landed exactly 160 fish, including 9 freshwater drum, 5 juvenile hybrid stripers, and 146 white bass.

Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs and MAL Lures found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 160 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: 1) The 1-2 punch of using the MAL Heavy Lures upon arrival under birds or when fish are showing in a feeding posture up off bottom, followed by an “easing” tactic using Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs once the action slows and the fish return to bottom, has been a super-productive approach this week.  2) With this week’s weather barely impacted by yesterday’s “semi-front”, the fish have been feeding hard under such stable conditions.  There is currently no severe weather in the extended forecast.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:15A

End Time: 11:20A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  50F

Elevation: 1.9 feet low, 0.01 fall, 39 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 62.3F

Wind Speed & Direction:  SSW4 for first two hours, then going WSW6-7 thereafter

Sky Condition: 80% light, thin, white haze on blue skies all AM

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 5% illumination.

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic B0189C – 63 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 here

**Area 132 – 21 fish caught on the 3/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab.

**Area B0114G – 86 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.

 

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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