PRE-FRONTAL WX CAPS OFF A CRAZY WEEK – 143 FISH

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This past Friday morning, Dec. 17th, I fished with returning guest Gary Hannemann of McGregor, TX, accompanied by the new pastor of his church, J.T. Miller.

Gary is now retired, and J.T. and his wife recently relocated from the Chicago area to lead a local Lutheran congregation.

When one of my clients became ill and unable to make his booked date, Gary saw my posting about a last-minute opening on Facebook and this trip came to fruition.

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

My next few openings will be on Christmas morning, then on January 4th, 5th & 11th.  Weekday mornings are always best.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left: J.T. Miller and Gary Hannemann of McGregor with a few of the 143 fish they landed.  Note the sky condition on this pre-frontal weather setup.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Friday (AM), 17 December 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

The unseasonably warm, humid weather continued today with a morning low of 68F and abundant grey cloud cover.

The big thing we had working for us today was an approaching cold front to our NW which was due to come in around 6AM the morning after this trip.  This gave us a full day of southwesterly winds and cloud cover to work with.

The disposition of the fish was noticeably improved over what I’d seen the past three trips this week.  Even though we got going a bit early, and even though the cloud cover was thick, we immediately drew the attention of white bass which were tight to the bottom at the very first stop we made.

We fished a handful of areas in our first 70-90 minutes and encountered moderately interested fish which would turn off fairly quickly to the eased slabs we were presenting.

As the skies brightened (though still 100% cloud-covered) and the wind picked up, the bite solidified.  Between 8:45 and 10:20, we landed 105 fish working MAL Heavy Lures horizontally for heavily congregated white bass in 20-25 feet of water.

It seemed when we could find large schools and present to them horizontally, we did better than sitting atop them on Spot-Lock and presenting slabs vertically.  Vertically worked MAL Lures did not interest fish this morning.  Not all areas lent themselves to the use of MAL Lures either due to snaggy bottoms, or fish schools which were too small and/or moving quickly.

When all was said and done, we landed exactly 143 fish, including 6 juvenile hybrid striped bass and 137 white bass.

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

TALLY: 143 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: 7:30A

End Time: 11:45A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  68F

Elevation: 2.12 feet low, no elevation change, 39 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 62.6F

Wind Speed & Direction:  S10 before sunrise tapering up to S16 gusting 18 by 1P, 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 = 25

Wx SNAPSHOT:  2-day forecast showing the arrival of the next front ~6A Saturday

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area vic 1921 – 13 fish on an eased Bladed Hazy Eye Slab (3/8 oz. white)

Area vic B0186C – 4 fish on an eased Bladed Hazy Eye Slab (3/8 oz. white)

Area B0183C – 8 fish on an eased Bladed Hazy Eye Slab (3/8 oz. white)

Area 0169 – 92 fish on MAL Heavy Lures worked with a sawtooth pattern (white blade/chartreuse tail)

Area 164 – 13 fish on MAL Heavy Lures worked with a sawtooth pattern (white blade/chartreuse tail)

Area 0142 – 10 fish on an eased Bladed Hazy Eye Slab (3/8 oz. white), all 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

#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

ON A WEATHER ROLLERCOASTER — 72 FISH @ BELTON

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This morning, Wednesday, Dec. 15th, I fished with first-time guests, Chris and Easton Lampi, a father-and-son team from the north Austin area.

Chris is in the construction business and does a lot of work for Temple ISD.  So, when the Temple Education Foundation held a fundraiser and a trip I had donated came up for bid, Chris jumped on it.

He waited until Easton was home from college for the holidays to invite him along, and, today was the day.

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

My next few openings will be on January 4th, 5th & 11th.  Weekday mornings are always best.

 

 

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  Father and son team Chris and Easton Lampi worked to put together a catch of 72 fish.  The most aggressive fish were taken using MAL Heavy Lures cast horizontally and worked back using a sawtooth tactic.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday (AM), 15 December 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

Although the unseasonably warm weather and water is nice, the roller coaster of weather we’ve experienced of late hasn’t done the fishing any favors.

We had a fair morning this morning.  It seemed the fish were really on or they were really off.  We stopped at at least a dozen or more areas after seeing sonar loaded up with fish, only to get a lukewarm reception once we got baits down to those same fish.  Numerous time we marked fish, Spot-Locked on them, tracked the fall of our lures down to the fish on Garmin LiveScope, then watched 2, 3, or 4 fish from out of the dozens nearby express initial interest allowing 1, 2, or 3 to be caught before the entire bunch just turned off.

We “nickeled and dimed” for about 35 fish this way before finding our first somewhat energetic school of white bass.  We spotted these fish heavily grouped out to the portside of the boat using side-imaging, Spot-Locked to the side of them, and cast into these fish holding tight to bottom in ~22 feet of water.  This was around 10:30 and it was the first time we took more than a half-dozen fish from one area.

This same scenario played out three more times in two separate locations, allowing us to make up for some lost time as the atmosphere warmed, the clouds thinned, the light level increased, and the southerly winds increased.

Although the Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs and the MAL Heavy Lures accounted for roughly equal number of fish, the slab took all of those tough fish when the conditions were off, whereas the MAL took fish very efficiently once they were in a cooperative mood.

When all was said and done, we landed exactly 72 fish, including 2 juvenile hybrid striped bass and 70 white bass.

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

TALLY: 72 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:  Wild swings in our weather day after day have made the fishing tough.  Sat: cold front, Sun: post-frontal calm, Mon: cold and returning south wind, Tues: mild with heavy extended fog, today: hard S. winds and near 70F before sunrise. Next cold front is due in late Friday/early Saturday, 17/18 Dec.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:30A

End Time: 12:45P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  68F

Elevation: 2.11 feet low, .01 fall, 39 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 62F

Wind Speed & Direction:  S10 before sunrise tapering up to S16 gusting 20 by trip’s end.

Sky Condition: Heavy grey cloud cover all morning.

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 88% illumination.

GT = 60

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Although we caught a few fish at multiple locations this morning, the only three location which produced well were Area vic 993 (mid-morning on slabs) and Area 0169 and Area B0171 which produced fish on the MAL Heavy when these fish showed on side imaging and began to feed.

 

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

FRUSTRATING FOG — 51 FISH @ BELTON

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This morning, Tuesday, Dec. 14th, I fished with first-time guests Mark and Tyler Jermstad.

Mark is an office supply salesman nearing retirement in the Georgetown area, and Tyler operates a State Farm insurance agency on West Adams in the Belton-Temple area.

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

My next few openings will be on January 4th, 6th & 10th.  Weekday mornings are always best.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  Father and son team Mark and Tyler Jermstad with a few of the white bass we really had to work for today after facing unforecast fog for the first 3 hours of our morning.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday (AM), 14 December 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

First, let me say if you have identified a meteorologist who consistently predicts local fog, I’d pay good money for his contact info!!

Our efforts were hindered by an unexpected, unforecast fog this morning which lingered for a full 3+ hours.  As I launched the boat, the fog was barely fog at all and visibility was fair, but, after sunrise, the fog began to form up about 100 feet off the lake’s surface, and then got lower and more dense as time went on.

I have never done well in foggy conditions and typically postpone trips if I see fog forecast, but, we didn’t have that luxury today.

We struggled the entire time the fog persisted, catching 15 fish at our first stop before the fog got dense, then just picked up a single, or at most two, fish here and there until right around 10AM when the fog began to thin and a slight ripple from the SE formed.

Most of our fish were taken today on the MAL Heavy Lure worked with a sawtooth pattern horizontally before and after the fog, and on the Bladed Hazy Eye Slab (3/8 oz. white) when the fishing was tough.

I made a call around 10AM to extend the trip (with my clients’ permission) so that we could take advantage of the improving conditions once the fog was gone and the wind began to blow.  We only had 18 fish in the boat at this point in time.  We wound up fishing for 6 hours to put together the 51 fish catch we ended up with.

When all was said and done, we landed exactly 51 fish, including 2 juvenile hybrid striped bass and 49 white bass.

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

TALLY: 51 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:  Fish are still unusually shallow for this time of year. We consistently caught fish in under 14 feet of water today.  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: 7:30A

End Time: 1:30P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  59F

Elevation: 2.10 feet low, .03 fall, 39 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 60.4F

Wind Speed & Direction:  Calm at trip’s start and until just after 10AM, building slowly thereafter to SE6 by trip’s end

Sky Condition: A troublesome fog through 10A, then minimal brightening thereafter. Occasional sprinkles/light rain.

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 81% illumination.

GT = 40

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

FISHING:

**Area B0123C – 15 fish on MAL Heavy Lures (white blade/chartreuse tail) worked with a sawtooth tactic before the fog set in; ~22 feet of water.

**Area 0152 – minor activity here under fog cover. Took a few fish on the Bladed Hazy Eye Slab and had other interested fish which followed but did not strike.

**Area 0169 – the shallowest fish I’ve caught on Belton since the spring shad spawn.  We worked MAL Heavy Lures (white blade/chartreuse tail) with a sawtooth tactic in 4-12 feet of water and caught 19 legal fish doing it during what was the single best window of the morning, from ~10:15 to 11:0)A

**Area B0170C to B0114C – 10 more fish taken from moving schools of fish in ~20-23′.  We worked MAL Heavy Lures (white blade/chartreuse tail) with a sawtooth tactic.  By now the brief feed had peaked and was falling off.

**Area 1624 – this was the last area we enjoyed success at before the fish shut down.  We landed 3 white bass here on Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs from out of ~27′ and really had to work for these.  We experienced a lot of fish following but not striking here.

 

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

CYCLING THROUGH THE FRONTS — 65 FISH @ BELTON

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 …

______________

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

#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

A RUSH RIGHT AT CLOSING TIME – 76 FISH @ BELTON

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This past Thursday afternoon, Dec. 9th, I fished with returning guests Brad Phillips and Kelly Hankins

The men are friends and long-time partners in their home inspection business here in Central Texas.

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

My next few openings will be on January 4th, 6th & 10th.  Weekday mornings are always best.

 

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Kelly Hankins and Brad Phillips took 76 fish during their 3-hour trip this past Thursday.  The third hour produced the best fishing, giving up 36 of those 76 fish.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday (PM), 09 December 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

As I welcomed Brad and Kelly aboard at 1:30PM, they let me know we’d need to be back at the dock by 4:30PM so the two could make it on time to Kelly’s daughter’s high school band Christmas concert.

I got a little concerned because the fourth hour of my afternoon trips is often the most productive.

As it turned out, our clouds were diminishing and our wind was failing by the end of our third hour, leading me to believe that fourth hour may not have been all that great this evening, after all.

As we got going, the first two hours were a bit slow.  We found fish, but, 18 of our first 20 fish were all small, so, with my clients’ permission, we left those fish to sample the fishing elsewhere.  The fishing remained a bit slow — too slow, I felt, for the faster-moving MAL Lure to work its magic, so, we worked vertically with Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs used with and easing tactic when fish were on bottom, and with a slow-smoking tactic when they appeared up off bottom suspended.  The slabs kept the fish coming in the boat at a steady clip.

By 3:30PM, we’d landed 40 fish with some better sized fish included.

Around 3:30PM, as I was idling over a prospective area, I began to see fish well out to our side on the side-imaging of my Solix 15.  Since I could see these fish were tightly grouped together and in water less than 27 feet deep, I decided to Spot-Lock out away from them instead of parking on top of them.

When these white bass get together in large numbers and are seen just slightly of off bottom instead of belly-to-bottom, they are often ready to eat.  As we began working MAL Heavy Lures (white blade, chartreuse tail) with a sawtooth method for these fish, Brad and Kelly began hooking up to the tune of multiple consecutive hook-ups on a regular basis.

As they hooked and landed fish, the number of fish moving in to join the fish already present.  At the peak of the activity, I estimated 800-900 fish showing on just the left side-imaging screen of my Solix.  This action built, peaked, and then declined as our winds began to go slack and the high, thin cloud cover we’d enjoyed began to clear off.  During this 1-hour span, Brad and Kelly would nearly double their catch, taking our tally from 40 fish up to 76 fish.  At 4:20 we pulled in lines, and at 4:30 we pulled up next to the courtesy dock for what would be my last trip of the week.

When all was said and done, we landed exactly 76 fish.

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

TALLY: 75 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: Thick cloud cover made things pretty tough, especially in our first hour.  The temperature profile looked like this:

0 feet 63.5
5 feet 63.1
10 feet 63.1
15 feet 62.9
20 feet 62.9
25 feet 62.9
30 feet 62.9
35 feet 62.9
40 feet 62.9
45 feet 62.9
50 feet 62.8
55 feet 62.6
60 feet 62.4

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 1:30P

End Time: 4:30P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  76F

Elevation: 2.01 feet low, .02 fall, 39 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 63.5F

Wind Speed & Direction:  SSW14 at trip’s start, slowly tapering to SSW10 by 4:30, then falling off sharply and going calm thereafter.

Sky Condition: High, thin white cloud cover on a blue sky through 4:30, then clearing quickly

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 33% illumination.

GT = 50

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

FISHING:

**Area 0409 – 10 fish on Bladed Hazy Eye Slab with easing/smoking tactic; mostly small fish

**Area 1815 – 10 fish on Bladed Hazy Eye Slab with easing/smoking tactic; mostly small fish

**Area B0112C – 17 fish on Bladed Hazy Eye Slab with easing/smoking tactic

**Area 692 – 3 fish on Bladed Hazy Eye Slab with easing/smoking tactic

**Area 709 – 36 fish on MAL Heavy in white blade/chartreuse tail with sawtooth retrieve

 

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

DOING SOME REAL FISHING — 75 FISH @ BELTON

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This past Thursday morning, Dec. 9th, I fished with first-time guests Nathan Hillyer and his 8-year-old son, Felix.

Nathan, a software developer from Minnesota now living in Pflugerville, texted me several weeks ago, saying, “Hello, Mr. Maindelle, my name is Nathan Hillyer. I’d like to book an AM trip Thursday, December 9th for a multi-species fishing trip with my 8-year-old son, Felix. It’ll be his first time doing some real fishing (we’ve caught panfish with worms a couple times).”

Felix had never been on a boat before, nor caught gamefish, so, this morning would be a morning of many firsts.

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

My next few openings will be on December 14th, and January 4th, 6th & 10th.  Weekday mornings are always best.

 

PHOTO CAPTION: Nathan Hillyer and his 8-year-old son, Felix, used a variety of tactics to boat 75 fish on Lake Belton this morning.  This was Felix’s first time on a boat and to fish for anything larger than sunfish.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday (AM), 09 December 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

The fish were a little “fin”-icky this morning.  One of the variables which created some drag was the thick, grey cloud cover we had right around sunrise which continued well into the morning.  I’ve theorized that this prevents the sudden brightening of the skies which would normally occur on a cloudless day, thus, that “trigger” of changing light levels is not there on such days as this.  When cloud cover is heavy, the white bass bite always seems to ease into a late start.

We went nearly an hour looking for our first cooperative school of fish, finally finding multiple schools on a slow tapering slope in 18-24 feet of water.  Those shallowest fish did not stay put directly under the boat very long, but side imaging revealed they were not too far away after they moved from beneath us.

We started fishing MAL Heavy Lures (white blade, chartreuse tail) vertically, then transitioned to casting to them horizontally, working the same lures with a sawtooth retrieve.  It was during this effort that Felix learned to cast a spinning rod, and did very well at it.

We made our initial stop and two more “short hops” in this vicinity for a total of 34 fish in about 70 minutes’ time before the fishing slowed to a crawl, despite slightly brighter conditions and a slightly greater south-westerly wind velocity.

It was about 9:45AM now and we would go for about another hour looking largely unsuccessfully for our next bunch of willing fish.  During this time I found fish in various locations, but, although they showed to be moving on Garmin LiveScope, they were extremely tight to the bottom and would not respond to the MAL Lure, nor a more slowly worked slab.  We picked up only 6 more fish from across multiple areas during this lull.

Finally, around 11AM, we found a group of feeding fish after being “tipped off” by a portion of that school appearing in a feeding posture, chasing bait at mid-depth in about 30 feet of water, as seen on down imaging and traditional sonar.

Over the next 45 minutes we saw the bite develop, peak, then taper to nil.  We used  white, 3/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs with a slow-smoking tactic to tempt these fish which were as much as 20+ feet off bottom.

We nearly doubled our catch in these closing minutes of the trip, adding a final 35 fish to our tally.

When all was said and done, we landed exactly 75 fish, including 1 largemouth bass, 6 juvenile hybrid striped bass, 1 freshwater drum, and 67 white bass.

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

TALLY: 75 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: Thick cloud cover made things pretty tough, especially in our first hour.  The temperature profile looked like this:

0 feet 63.5
5 feet 63.1
10 feet 63.1
15 feet 62.9
20 feet 62.9
25 feet 62.9
30 feet 62.9
35 feet 62.9
40 feet 62.9
45 feet 62.9
50 feet 62.8
55 feet 62.6
60 feet 62.4

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:25A

End Time: 11:45A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  62F

Elevation: 2.01 feet low, .02 fall, 39 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 63.5F

Wind Speed & Direction:  SSW10 at trip’s start, increasing sharply to SSW14 around 9:30

Sky Condition: Thick 100% grey cloud cover all morning

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 33% illumination.

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

FISHING:

**Area 1864/029- 34 fish caught on MAL Heavy Lure with white blade, chartreuse tail using a vertical smoking tactic and a horizontal sawtooth retrieve

**Area B0022C – full-on 45-minute feed from 11 to 11:45.  35 fish on 3/8 oz., white Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

 

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

THAT JET ROARING IN MY LEFT EAR — 140 FISH @ BELTON

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This morning I welcomed aboard my brother, Andy Maindelle, who lives in North Austin.  Although there was no way we could have planned this far ahead to hit some frontally-influenced fishing on the head, it worked out in more ways than one.

First, my “safety cutoff” for forecast straight-line wind speed is 18 mph, so, if I’d had paying clients on the books, I would have called them to postpone.  Since we Maindelle boys are a good bit more risk-tolerant than most, we went forward with our plans.  Secondly, the weather, aside from the wind speed, was ideal so far as fish activity was concerned, as we hit the water just minutes after the passage of the front’s wet lead edge and had the entire lake to ourselves at a time when the fish were feeding heavily and the birds were pointing the way to those feeding fish.

I commented (actually, yelled) to Andy at about an hour into the trip, with the NNW wind howling at ~25, “This wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t for the jet engine roaring in my left ear!”.    The boat was on Spot-Lock, pointed north, and we were facing out the starboard side casting in open water.

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

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

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  My brother, Andy Maindelle, with a few of the white bass we took early on in the morning using MAL Heavy Lures horizontally with a “sawtooth” retrieve while fish and birds were the most active they would be all morning, just after the cold front’s wet, leading edge passed over Central Texas.

 

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday (AM), 06 December 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

Although the wind limited us to less open segments of the lake, because of this limitation, I searched areas more thoroughly than I otherwise would, knowing I had limited options if I couldn’t get these areas to produce.

Because the cold front’s arrival corresponded with sunrise, we got to fish the entire “window” during which the wind speed ramped up after the wet lead edge passed us by.  During this time the fish were feeding aggressively, as were the birds, thus making the fish-finding puzzle quick and easy to solve.

We threw MAL Heavy Lures (white blade, chartreuse tail) and used a horizontal “sawtooth” retrieve to keep our lures near bottom where sonar revealed most fish were holding, yet still cover lots of ground to intersect these moving fish patrolling after shad.  Our first three areas fished were fished this way.

Around 9A, the winds peaked and began to scale back, and the skies began to break and brighten with the first blue of the day showing through.  Simultaneously, the birds quit and the fishing got instantly tougher.  From this point on we relied on white Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs.  Andy used the 3/4 oz. and I used the 3/8 oz. with identical results.

By the time 10:30 rolled around, we’d amassed a catch of 114 fish (our goal for the morning was 100).  Since we’d reached our goal, since the fish were still biting, and since Sol de Jalisco had not yet switched over to their lunch menu, we kept on fishing, however, the focus was now on simply confirming the presence of, and size of, fish at multiple locations (scouting) so I’d know were to focus later this week.

To do this, we looked for fish on sonar, Spot-Locked on them, worked to catch 5 as quickly as we could, then packed up and moved on to do the same thing elsewhere.  This revealed an additional five areas where fish were holding and biting — invaluable information in this crazy season of frontal activity.

When all was said and done, we landed exactly 140 fish, including 1 largemouth bass, 3 juvenile hybrid striped bass, 5 freshwater drum, and 131 white bass.

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

TALLY: 140 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:30A

End Time: Noon

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  66F, falling into the mid-50’s by mid-morning, then warming back to 58F by trip’s end.

Elevation: 1.96 feet low, no rise or fall, 39 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 64F

Wind Speed & Direction:  NNW24 at trip’s start, scaling back to NNW18 by trip’s end

Sky Condition: “Squinting” light through a 100% grey cloud cover all morning

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 7% illumination.

GT = N/A

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

FISHING:

**Area 165 – 15 fish caught on MAL Heavy Lure with white blade, chartreuse tail using horizontal sawtooth retrieve (bird assistance)

**Area 527 – 9 fish caught on MAL Heavy Lure with white blade, chartreuse tail using horizontal sawtooth retrieve (bird assistance)

**Area 1822 – 39 fish caught on MAL Heavy Lure with white blade, chartreuse tail using horizontal sawtooth retrieve (bird assistance); 2 short hops

**Area B0001G – 12 fish caught on Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs, white, 3/8 and 3/4 oz., using easing tactic (bird assistance)

**Area B0108G – 39 fish caught on Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs, white, 3/8 and 3/4 oz., using easing tactic (bird assistance)

SCOUTING:

**Area 2032 – 5 fish caught on Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs, white, 3/4 oz. only, using easing tactic; moved after catching 5 to sample additional areas

**Area 1673/406 – 5 fish caught on Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs, white, 3/4 oz. only, using easing tactic; moved after catching 5 to sample additional areas (bird assistance)

**Area 1678 – 5 fish caught on Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs, white, 3/4 oz. only, using easing tactic; moved after catching 5 to sample additional areas

**Area vic 1666 – 6 fish caught on Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs, white, 3/4 oz. only, using easing tactic; moved after catching 6 to sample additional areas

**Area 1077 – 5 fish caught on Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs, white, 3/4 oz. only, using easing tactic

 

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

WATCH YOUR BEAD! WATCH YOUR BEAD! — 272 FISH @ BELTON

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This past Saturday morning, December 4th, I fished with long-time client Stiles Parker, accompanied by his wife, Sarah, and the couple’s niece and nephew, Cassie and Derek Chasteen, the children of Sarah’s sister and her husband.

The Parkers live near Austin where Stiles is a salesman in the construction industry and Sarah works in the social media industry.

The morning was a bit of a “kid swap”; since Stiles and Sarah have two little ones under the age of 2, they “traded” for Cassie and Derek, leaving their own kiddos with extended family to get a break from diapers and drool for a few hours.

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

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

PHOTO CAPTION: My crew of 4 landed an incredible 272 fish on Saturday, Dec. 4th with made-to-order weather – grey skies and southerly winds toward the end of an extended warming trend.  From left: Sarah Parker, Cassie & Derek Chasteen, and Stiles Parker worked MAL Heavy Lures all morning for aggressive fish under ideal conditions.

 

PHOTO CAPTION: Uncle Stiles to the rescue!  This 7.75 pound blue cat was just a bit too heavy to hold at arm’s length for Cassie after she wore both herself and the fish out battling it to the boat.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Saturday (AM), 04 December 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

What a memorable outing this was!  Everyone arrived on time and had previewed the pre-trip video link I’d sent them so they all were familiar with how to work the MAL Lure.  Since use of the slab had been becoming more and more prevalent this week, I deomonstrated the technique for that lure at dockside before we launched, as well.

The weather was as close to perfect as it comes, with thin grey cloud cover and a SW breeze.

We essentially drove from the dock straight to a large school of white bass with zero searching with sonar required — I literally came off plane, got sonar adjusted, and found fish instantly.  So, we got an early start on the catching, and that catching never waned for 4 full hours.  As we approached 11:15AM, the fish were still biting but Cassie was ready the head for lunch, and the fish were definitely slowing down.

Only one time all morning, and then only just briefly, did we set aside the MAL Heavy Lures to use Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs instead.  The fish stayed actively feeding all morning such that even if they were not seen chasing bait up in the water column, they would still launch off bottom to overtake and strike our MAL Lures moving at a moderately fast clip toward the surface.

One of the things that takes many anglers some getting used to when using the MAL Lures is not reeling the fish in too far.  To prevent this, I use an Aquateko InvisaSwivel, which serves the dual purpose of preventing line twist on spinning gear and serving as a stop to keep the fish at least the leader’s length away from the rod tip.  Still, I try to coach my clients to leave another 2 feet of line between the InvisaSwivel and the rod tip.  My reminder phrase for this is “Watch your bead!” (because the InvisaSwivel resembles an elongated, clear plastic bead, and because “Watch your InvisaSwivel” is too many syllables for me to say repeatedly!

I kidded with my crew that instead of reminding everyone about this, I’d thought of just making a recording of myself saying “Watch your bead!” and then having my Smart Phone play that every 15 seconds or so!

We enjoyed the assistance of fish-eating birds helping us locate fish at two of the four areas we fished.  Thus far, no misleading loon-related chasing by these birds has become an issue.

When all was said and done, we landed exactly 272 fish, including 1 largemouth bass, 6 juvenile hybrid striped bass, 7 freshwater drum, 1 blue catfish, and 257 white bass.

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

TALLY: 272 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: 1) With stable weather topped off with a late-week warming trend and perfect white bass weather this morning, the fish went into overdrive and fed aggressively enough that the slower presentation of a slab was nearly uncalled for today.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:15A

End Time: 11:25A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  66F

Elevation: 1.94 feet low, 0.01 fall, 39 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 62.5F

Wind Speed & Direction:  SSW4-7 all morning

Sky Condition: “Squinting” light through a 100% grey cloud cover all morning

Moon Phase: New moon at 0% illumination.

GT = 145

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 0335- 68 fish caught on MAL Heavy Lure with white blade, chartreuse tail

**Area B0115G – 35 fish caught on MAL Heavy Lure with white blade, chartreuse tail (bird assistance)

**Area 574 – 18 fish caught on MAL Heavy Lure with white blade, chartreuse tail

**Area vic 029 – 151 fish caught on MAL Heavy with white blade, chartreuse tail; one short hop made to keep up with birds

 

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

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 …

______________

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

#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

PRE-FRONTAL FEEDING FRENZY – 200 FISH @ BELTON

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This morning, Wednesday, December 1st, I fished Lake Belton with Dr. Jack Greene and his son, Harrison, both of whom came in for a Thanksgiving visit from Lexington, KY, to visit family.  Attending, but not fishing, was Jack’s dad, John, who coordinated the trip.

John is a retired physician, Jack is a working physician, and Harrison is working as part of a small business doing concrete slab leveling.

Harrison shared that most of his Kentucky-based fishing was done on private ponds for largemouth and crappie, and in small streams for smallmouth bass.

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

My next three openings will be on 22 & 23  December, and January 4th.  Weekday mornings are always best.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  Dr. Jack Greene and his son, Harrison, landed 200 fish on Lake Belton using a combination of Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs for bottom-oriented fish, and MAL Heavy Lures for more active, suspended fish.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday (AM), 01 December 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

Although it was hardly noticeable, a very mild cold front pushed through Central Texas today around noon.  Beginning around 10AM, a wind shift to the west began in advance of the front’s arrival.

Fishing had already been excellent thanks to a low-light bite that continued well into the 9 o’clock hour, producing 114 fish by 9:30.  Just a handful of birds working over a large patch of water just after sunrise was our clue to get us to the right place at the right time.

As we found very aggressive fish feeding throughout the lower half of the water column, we used MAL Heavy Lures (white blade, chartreuse tail) to catch them as long as they showed on sonar off bottom.  Once the action sank to the bottom, we immediately switched over to slabs and kept right on catching at a high, steady rate.

I stayed as long as I could on this area because the winds had gone slack prior to the west wind starting, and the skies were bright, so, I was concerned about finding additional active fish if the fish we were on gave up.  I just count it a blessing that these fish kept right on biting until those west winds kicked in.  At that point, the fish we were on had fed for right at 2 solid hours and tapered off.

I searched two other locations.  We picked up just two fish at the first, then, as the west wind started to come on strong, we found a “pile” of fish in about 27 feet of water that would put us right at the 200 fish mark by giving up 84 fish in our final hour or so on the water.

As is often the case, these late morning fish tended to flare up aggressively, then settle back down much more quickly than in the first three hours following sunrise.  This was the case with these fish — we worked ’em with MAL Heavy Lures for 6-7 minutes catching suspended fish like crazy, then, over a 2-3 minute span, all of the action settled to bottom and we once again transitioned to the Bladed Hazy Eye Slab and kept right on catching them.

At 11:20, we’d landed 189 fish.  I told Jack and Harrison we’d give it until 11:30 or 200 fish, whichever came first.  Harrison brought fish #200 onboard with about 90 seconds to spare!

When all was said and done, we landed exactly 200 fish, including 8 freshwater drum, 6 juvenile hybrid stripers, and 186 white bass.

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

TALLY: 200 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: 1) For the second morning in a row, fish fed for an unusually long time at just one location — 2 full hours — from 7:30A to 9:30A. 2) As was the case yesterday, if the fish were suspended, the MAL Heavy Lure was the ticket; once they settled on bottom, we immediately changed to the 3/8 oz. slab. 3) I noted that Jack’s wearing of polarized glasses significantly hindered his ability to use the Garmin LiveScope.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:15A

End Time: 11:30A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  50F

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

Water Surface Temp: 63.2F

Wind Speed & Direction:  S3-5 for first two hours, then going nearly slack, then picking W7 in advance of the approaching, mild cold front, increasing to W11 by trip’s end.

Sky Condition: 30% white cloud cover on blue skies all AM

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 11% illumination.

GT = 45

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic 0335 – 114 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.

**Area 737 – 2 fish caught on the 3/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab.

**Area vic 560 – 84 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.

 

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