WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Wednesday, 22 Dec. 2021, I fished with returning guests — the father and son team of Charles and David Stichler.
Although catching fish was desirable, the pair’s goal was to observe the approach I was taking to finding and presenting to cool-water fish. For this reason, I focused on fish in deeper water which were more densely congregated and therefore lent themselves to being caught with use of a vertical slabbing tactic since the men had already experienced the use of horizontal work with the MAL Lures back in the summer on Stillhouse.
Here is how the fishing went …
______________
My next few openings will be on Christmas morning, then on January 5th & 12th. Weekday mornings are always best.
PHOTO CAPTION: Charles Stichler with a 5.5 pound Lake Belton hybrid striped bass taken from 32 feet of water working an MAL Heavy Lure (white blade, chartreuse tail) with a sawtooth retrieve.
PHOTO CAPTION: From left: David and Charles Stichler with some of the results of their efforts at learning to work a slab other than by traditional snap-jigging. The white, 3/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab accounted all of the fish not taken on the MAL Heavy Lures.
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
WHEN WE FISHED: Monday (AM), 20 December 2021
HOW WE FISHED:
After laying off a day to avoid yesterday’s post-frontal calm, clear, cold conditions, complete with fog following sunrise, we experienced one of those “lull between the fronts” kind of days where the fish were pretty non-committal.
Although there was a good bit of bird activity, much of it was a result of gulls just feeding on shad near the surface where our unusually warm conditions had them positioned and feeding there; most were not being chased to the surface by gamefish.
After observing multiple groups of birds which we passed on, we finally did find two small flocks which helped get us in the vicinity of fish, allowing us to close the deal with sonar.
As it turned out, of the several areas we fished, the best two were the ones the birds led us to. The other fish we found with sonar alone were quite stubborn.
We played it two ways with the fish we found near bird action. Option 1 was to use Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs (white, 3/8 oz.) vertically with a slow “smoking” retrieve if/when fish were seen on Garmin LiveScope in good quantities directly beneath the boat. Otherwise, Option 2 was to idle into the wind until we spotted sizeable congregations of white bass on side imaging, then stop to cast MAL Heavy Lures (white blade, chartreuse tail) out over them and work the lures back through them with a “sawtooth” retrieve.
Given the fishes’ lackadaisical attitude, the MAL Heavy Lures did best, as they allowed us to cover much more water and screen out the few aggressive fish amongst a population which was generally disinterested – just as downriggers do in the summer months.
When all was said and done, we landed exactly 46 fish, including 1 largemouth bass, 2 freshwater drum, 2 legal hybrid striped bass, 3 juvenile hybrid striped bass, and 38 white bass.
Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs and MAL Lures found here: https://whitebasstools.com/
TALLY: 46 fish caught and released
OBSERVATIONS: 1) Today was the winter solstice, with daytime and night being right at 12 hours each. From now until 22 June the days will get increasingly longer. 2) We found ourselves in a “lull between the fronts”. I anticipate each day leading up to the next cold front will be a bit better thanks to a net warmup with the unseasonably warm weather we are now having, which is due to continue through at least Sunday, 26 Dec.
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 7:30A
End Time: 11:30A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 45F
Elevation: 2.21 feet low, 0.02 fall, 79 CFS flow
Water Surface Temp: 60.4F
Wind Speed & Direction: Light SSE wind at ~4-6 all morning.
Sky Condition: Cloudless, hazy white sky.
Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 90% illumination.
GT = 25
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
Area B0026C – 11 fish on an eased Bladed Hazy Eye Slab (3/8 oz. white)
Area B0180C – 32 fish on MAL Heavy Lures worked with a sawtooth pattern (white blade/chartreuse tail)
Area 1659 – 11 fish on an eased Bladed Hazy Eye Slab (3/8 oz. white)
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
#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide #BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing #bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport #fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday #Fitec #mepps