WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Monday, Dec. 13th, I fished with returning guest Gary Jones of Temple, TX.
Gary just recently took delivery on a 19′ Boston Whaler and has been a real student of chasing white bass with a sonar-intensive approach both before and after the boat arrived as he’s accompanied me multiple times on Lake Belton in 2021.
Here is how the fishing went …
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My next few openings will be on January 4th, 6th & 10th. Weekday mornings are always best.
PHOTO CAPTION: Gary Jones of Temple, TX, with a pair of white bass from this morning’s trip on Lake Belton. We experienced the strongest action in our first and last hour with slow fishing in between. We used MAL Heavy Lures for active fish, and Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs when they slowed down.
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
WHEN WE FISHED: Monday (AM), 13 December 2021
HOW WE FISHED:
Our last cold front ripped through this past Saturday with cold, clear post-frontal conditions on Sunday with our season’s first frost. This morning was chilly, at 41F before sunrise, but the south wind returned, bringing grey cloud cover and a light breeze. The bite tends to really drop off sharply in the calm, cold, clear conditions following a front (like Sunday’s conditions), then begins to build back getting a bit better with each day of any warming trend we get before the next front arrives. Today was the first of what is forecast to be about a 5-day warming trend.
We launched before sunrise and got right on fish thanks to some helpful bird action. The first few fish we landed we took by sight-casting to white bass driving bait to the surface; we used MAL Heavy Lures for this effort and counted them down to about a 4-count.
After these fish settled and the birds got more dispersed (although still active), we went vertical with our MAL Heavy Lures and worked them with the assistance of Garmin LiveScope. We ended up with 15 fish in our first hour — not a super result given that the birds were working continuously during this time.
We moved on and found another patch of birds but suspected they were only attracted by the cormorants we watched fly off as we approached. We continued to the area and, surprisingly, sonar revealed white bass in the area in schools of 20-40 fish each in about 21 feet of water. We spent about 40 minutes here casting MAL Heavy Lures using a sawtooth method and picked up another 7 fish — again, not as many as I would expect given how many fish were in the area.
We then hit about a 75 minute lull from 9:10 to 10:40. We found a few fish, but, they were loathe to chase even a slowly-eased slab. Things changed around 10:45 when we found fish in 28 feet of water which were more cooperative. I wish I could put my finger on what took place that accounted for the mood change in the fish, but I can’t. We used 3/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs with both an easing tactic and a slow-smoking tactic to land another 19 fish before the fish lost interest.
Our last stop was our single best producer, giving up 24 fish from out of 22 feet of water. Again, we used 3/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs with both an easing tactic and a slow-smoking tactic to catch these fish.
Gary and I agreed that, from a learning perspective, today’s need to really search for fish was more helpful to him than if we’d gone straight out to one or two spots and just sat there catching fish after fish. The real challenge is in finding fish, not in catching them.
When all was said and done, we landed exactly 65 fish, including 8 freshwater drum, 1 largemouth bass, 5 juvenile hybrid striped bass, and 51 white bass.
Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs and MAL Lures found here: https://whitebasstools.com/
TALLY: 65 fish caught and released
OBSERVATIONS: Fish are still unusually shallow for this time of year. I’ve not caught a fish in over 35 feet of water since the beginning of November. Next cold front is due in late Friday/early Saturday, 17/18 Dec.
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 7:20A
End Time: 12:10P
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 41F
Elevation: 2.07 feet low, .02 fall, 39 CFS flow
Water Surface Temp: 59.8F
Wind Speed & Direction: SE4 at trip’s start, building slowly to SE8 by trip’s end
Sky Condition: The sun rose over a bank of grey clouds in the east, shone for about a hour, then was obscured by grey clouds the remainder of the morning.
Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 73% illumination.
GT = 225
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
FISHING:
**Area vic 0363 – 15 fish by sight-casting and counting down the MAL Heavy Lure to fish boiling under birds while the action lasted, then going vertical with the same bait (white blade/chartreuse tail)used in conjunction with Garmin LiveScope
**Area 747/608 – 7 fish working MAL Heavy Lures with a horizontal sawtooth method
**Area B0116G – 19 fish working 3/8 oz., white Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs with both an easing and slow-smoking tactic
**Area vic 1579 – 24 fish working 3/8 oz., white Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs with both an easing and slow-smoking tactic for the first 18 fish, then taking the balance on the 3/4 oz. version to give Gary experience with the rod these heavier baits are tied onto.
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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