WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Monday, 20 Dec. 2021, I fished with two young buddies — Kaden Howley and Will Bralley, both 12 years of age, accompanied by Kaden’s mom, Nancy.
The boys have grown up together, play soccer together, and attend the same church and school together. So, when Nancy got this trip as a Christmas present for Kaden, picking Will to come along was only natural.
Here is how the fishing went …
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My next few openings will be on Christmas morning, then on January 5th & 12th. Weekday mornings are always best.
PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Kaden Howley and Will Bralley with a sampling of their cold-weather catch from Lake Belton this morning. The boys landed 70 fish.
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
WHEN WE FISHED: Monday (AM), 20 December 2021
HOW WE FISHED:
Here we go again on that frontal system roller coaster! After record high temperatures on Thursday and Friday, a cold front hit us on Saturday dropping temperatures and a few drops of rain as the wind speed picked up beginning around 6A. Sunday had a continued N wind with clear conditions, and a mild disturbance began to push in from the SW on Sunday afternoon. This caused this morning’s conditions to be cloudy at first, then clearing as that system moved NE. I knew classic post-frontal conditions (calm, clear, cold, bright) were on the way, but the timing was uncertain.
The boys heeded my advice and bundled up and we got out after the fish starting around 7:40AM. We caught a handful of fish under birds right at sunrise, but these scattered fish didn’t stick around long. We caught a few fish here and a few fish there with some long pauses in between as I ran sonar methodically over an abundance of potential fish-holding areas.
Around 9:30A, we got our first break. After the grey clouds had completely cleared, we got the morning’s first real wind with velocity enough to do more than ripple the water. Finding our first solid concentration of fish corresponded with this event. Both boys were able to take multiple fish using an easing tactic with the 3/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs from out of 24 feet of water. I did two more “short hops” here once the fish at our initial stop dispersed. We now had 29 fish to show for our ~2.5+ hours of effort. It was now around 10AM.
I continued the hunt for fish with sonar, finding mainly small groups of 5-20 fish here and there, which we passed on. Finally, around 10:50A, I found a solid, well-grouped school of about 200 white bass in about 29 feet of water on side imaging. The wind was just right to allow us to “park” parallel to their location and lob casts beyond them, and work our MAL Heavy Lures (white blade, chartreuse tail) through them with a “sawtooth” tactic. Knowing that we had a number of factors working against us already, my gut told me to ride this bite out until it was completely through, as leaving fish to find more fish under this morning’s conditions seemed too great a gamble. Fish kept moving in and out of the area we were casting to, essentially restocking the pond for the boys.
The boys really did a good job of casting both far and accurately, and they meticulously worked their MAL Lures just right. They took our fish count from 29 fish to a final tally of 70 fish in just under 2 hours — not a frantic pace of catching, but a nice, steady flow of fish over the gunwale.
As 12:45 rolled around, the bite died hard as the winds went slack. We, literally, missed the approaching post-frontal scenario by the skin of our teeth. Seeing this, I rescheduled my crew on the calendar tomorrow for another day to avoid the tough day Tuesday will no doubt be.
When all was said and done, we landed exactly 70 fish, including 1 largemouth bass, 3 freshwater drum, 3 juvenile hybrid striped bass and 63 white bass.
Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs and MAL Lures found here: https://whitebasstools.com/
TALLY: 70 fish caught and released
OBSERVATIONS: Here was the temperature profile this morning:
0 feet 60.4
5 feet 61.2
10 feet 61.4
15 feet 61.4
20 feet 61.4
25 feet 61.4
30 feet 61.4
35 feet 61.4
40 feet 61.4
45 feet 61.4
50 feet 61.4
55 feet 61.4
60 feet 61.1
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 7:40
End Time: 12:45P
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 45F
Elevation: 2.18 feet low, 0.05 fall, 39 CFS flow
Water Surface Temp: 60.4F
Wind Speed & Direction: Light and variable until 9:30, the going ESE4-5
Sky Condition: Light rain and clouds moved NE as sunrise, leading to steady clearing and warming through the morning.
Moon Phase: Full moon at 100% illumination.
GT = 55
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
Area 153 – 5 fish on an eased Bladed Hazy Eye Slab (3/8 oz. white) under sparse birds
Area 029- 10 fish on an eased Bladed Hazy Eye Slab (3/8 oz. white)
Area 1656 – 14 fish on an eased Bladed Hazy Eye Slab (3/8 oz. white)
Area 1679 – 41 fish on MAL Heavy Lures worked with a sawtooth pattern (white blade/chartreuse tail)
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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