WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Wednesday, February 2nd, I fished with returning guest Gary Jones, from Temple, TX.
Gary is a retired banker and recently got his own Boston Whaler center console with the intention of fishing on Lake Belton, so, the purpose of his trips have been twofold — to catch fish, and to learn the approach to catching fish.
Each time I’ve taken Gary out, I’ve tried to introduce him to new concepts or new tactics, and this morning was no exception.
Here is how the fishing went …
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My next few openings will be on Feb. 7th, 8th, and 9th. Weekday mornings are always best.
PHOTO CAPTION: Gary Jones cashed in on pre-frontal fishing in the hours just before a major cold front arrived, landing 107 fish in just over 4 hours.
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday (AM), 02 February 2021
HOW WE FISHED:
There are times when winter white bass fishing can be hard to get excited about, but today was NOT one of those days. The pre-frontal weather scenario was a wonderful setup for a productive trip.
Add to this great weather scenario the fact that I was able to fish under similar (albeit not pre-frontal) conditions yesterday insofar as temperature, wind velocity, and cloud cover are concerned, and it was one of those situations where I was confident in knowing where the fish would be, and when they’d be there.
As a result, my 1-man party landed slightly more fish than my 2-man party did yesterday, and yesterday’s fishing wasn’t bad at all.
We found the fish to be most aggressive today in our first hour and our final hour. In our first hour, the wind had just shifted to the north and the skies were brightening due to the obscured sunrise, and in our last hour the wind velocity picked up, clouds thickened, and temperatures began to fall. During these two hours, the fish were aggressive enough to chase very willingly after our slowly smoked 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs (white color) whether we first encountered them on bottom or suspended.
During the middle portion of the trip, the fish were not as enthusiastic. This is when I introduced Gary to the tactic of “sniping” which involves the use of small soft plastics on jigheads presented to individual fish seen on Garmin LiveScope. I’d been keeping these rigs aboard since last Saturday’s trip, but had yet to use them. In speaking with fellow guide Jason Weisberg over on Richland-Chambers, he’s found this rig especially useful for suspended fish, so, we gave it a shot today when we found suspended fish.
Gary got a good taste of this tactic and, thanks to an abundance of suspended fish, had a chance to enjoy repetition and work on overcoming some of the shortfalls in his tactics which everyone encounters when trying something for the first time.
At the 4-hour mark we’d landed 76 fish. It was at this time that a noticeable uptick in the wind, a thickening of the clouds, and a drop in air temperature took place. Within minutes, a helpful flock of terns began to work over a patch of open water. As we drew near, I let Gary make the call as to what side-imaging signatures we decided to Spot-Lock atop of. He chose well, and we closed out our trip with a final 31 fish in about 25 minutes’ time for a final tally of 107 fish.
We caught 107 fish, including 6 freshwater drum, 3 largemouth bass, 2 short hybrid striped bass, and 96 white bass.
Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs and MAL Lures found here: https://whitebasstools.com/
TALLY: 107 fish caught and released
OBSERVATIONS: The impact of pre-frontal weather was readily observed today. The fish were aggressive, the birds were working, and the number of suspended fish, both active and neutral, was remarkable. Rain was to move in on the lead edge of a major winter storm beginning about an hour after our trip; temps are due to fall below freezing overnight, and stay below freezing until Saturday, thus creating an icing danger on Thursday, Friday, and into Saturday.
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 7:25A
End Time: 12:10P
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 52F
Elevation: 2.76 feet low, 0.04 rise in last 24 hours, 8 CFS flow
Water Surface Temp: 52.5F
Wind Speed & Direction: NW6 at sunrise, building steadily to NW11 by 11:30, then increasing quickly to NW14 just after 11:30
Sky Condition: Full grey cloud cover all morning, steadily thickening.
Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 2% illumination.
GT = 225
Wx SNAPSHOT: The pink and orange coloration below is frozen precipitation forecast for 03 Feb…
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
Area 1290 (40 fish), Area 355 (14 fish), Area B0053C (22 fish), Area B0112C/B0157C (31 fish)
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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