WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Friday afternoon, Dec. 17th, I fished with returning guests Jason Locklin and his son, Morgan. Joining me for the first time on this trip was Ava Locklin (Morgan’s sister), as well as a friend of Jason’s — Brock Powell, and Brock’s daughter, Amelia.
Jason organized the trip, convinced whomever needed convincing that the kids would be okay missing a half-day of school right before the holiday break, and helped me help everyone else by taking fish off and untangling the occasional tangle.
I half-jokingly told the kids that any fish we caught would be icing on the cake after they got to leave school early to be on the water in shorts and t-shirt weather.
Jason is on the staff at Temple College, Brock is a homebuilder (Dusek and Powell Custom Builders), and the kids are all working their way through school with golf as their chosen avocation.
Here is how the fishing went …
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My next few openings will be on Christmas morning, then on January 4th, 5th & 11th. Weekday mornings are always best.
PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Amelia Powell, Jason, Morgan, and Ava Locklin, and Brock Powell. This crew landed 205 fish under textbook pre-frontal conditions this afternoon before another cold front would arrive ~6AM the following morning.
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
WHEN WE FISHED: Friday (PM), 17 December 2021
HOW WE FISHED:
If there was ever an illustration about how powerfully pre-frontal weather impacts fishing, today was it. After fishing M, T, and W and landing 65, 51, and 72 fish on those days, we hit the road running this morning landing 143 fish, and then topped the week off with this 205 fish trip this afternoon.
The fish were in a strong, feeding mood. Hence, they were just slightly up off bottom (and in some cases, suspended well off bottom) which makes them much easier to find on sonar.
We fished five areas with our results improving as we worked our way toward sunset.
Our first stop saw the fish tightest to bottom and the least aggressive we’d find (although still quite willing to follow and strike our Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs in white 3/8 oz.). We landed 16 fish there.
Our next two stops required the same tactic, but gave up 49 fish and 15 fish, respectively, as the feed began to build toward a late afternoon peak.
We made our third stop after spotting some bird action (way to be on the lookout, Morgan!!). We did three “short hops” in this vicinity while throwing MAL Heavy Lures (white blade, chartreuse tail) out horizontally and using a sawtooth tactic for the retrieve. These fish fed long and hard right up until sunset, which was obscured by cloud cover. We landed 108 fish here.
With the sun now set, we had a very limited amount of time before the bite would shut down. I took us to the nearest location which had both shallow water and clear water so what ambient light we still had would still be reaching close to the lake’s bottom. We found a few fish actually feeding on the surface as we idled in and I looked around. I equipped everyone with Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs, except Morgan, whom I perched on the front casting deck with an MAL Lure and instructions to sight-cast to any nearby boiling fish (which he executed well on).
We were 12 fish shy of a 200 fish trip when we rolled up on this area with the game clock ticking away. When the last fish came over the side, it was nearly dark and we’d tallied 205 fish.
For spotting helpful birds, maintaining solid technique from start to finish, for being able to receive coaching and adjust his tactics on the fly, and boating the most fish, it gave the unofficial MVP award to Morgan on this afternoon’s trip.
When all was said and done, we landed exactly 205 fish, including 1 largemouth bass, 5 freshwater drum, 6 juvenile hybrid striped bass and 194 white bass.
Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs and MAL Lures found here: https://whitebasstools.com/
TALLY: 205 fish caught and released
OBSERVATIONS: Despite the crazy week of weather, the influence of pre-frontal weather certainly helped us along today. Our best catching came when we could see heavily congregated white bass to the port or starboard, then cast to them so as to work our MAL Heavy Lures horizontally through them. Although the fish responded to a vertical slab, it was not with the enthusiasm with which they went after the MAL.
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 1:30P
End Time: 5:35P
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 74F
Elevation: 2.12 feet low, no elevation change, 39 CFS flow
Water Surface Temp: 62.6F
Wind Speed & Direction: S14 gusting 16 thru 2:45P, then tapering back down to S7 by sunset.
Sky Condition: Heavy grey cloud cover all morning; lighter grey cloud cover in the PM, but still with no direct sun coming through.
Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 97% illumination.
GT = 40
Wx SNAPSHOT: 2-day forecast showing the arrival of the next front ~6A Saturday
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
Area 1659 – 16 fish on an eased Bladed Hazy Eye Slab (3/8 oz. white), lots of small fish here
Area 192- 49 fish on an eased Bladed Hazy Eye Slab (3/8 oz. white), lots of small fish here
Area 1815 – 15 fish on an eased Bladed Hazy Eye Slab (3/8 oz. white)
Area B0171C – 108 fish on MAL Heavy Lures worked with a sawtooth pattern (white blade/chartreuse tail)
Area 1659 – 17 fish on an eased Bladed Hazy Eye Slab (3/8 oz. white), mostly small white bass
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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