WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Wednesday, Dec. 28th, I fished with John Wilson and his college-aged son, Jared.
John oversees the operation of Baylor Scott & White’s pharmacy operations, and Jared is in his first year at Oklahoma University in Oklahoma City.
John first learned of my guide service through his Bible study class at a local Church of Christ fellowship, led by a long-time client of mine, Mr. MJ Linder.
My next weekday openings are on 4, 5, 9, 10, 11, and 12 Jan. My next weekend opening is Sat., 07 January 2023.
Here is how the fishing went …
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PHOTO CAPTION: From left: John and Jared Wilson spent some father-and-son time in search of white bass while Jared was on Christmas break from Oklahoma University in Oklahoma City, OK.
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday, 28 December 2022 (AM)
HOW WE FISHED:
Once again we faced pretty tough conditions this morning with cold water, yet another total lack of bird activity (third consecutive trip), and a lull in weather between fronts.
Wherever we encountered white bass, they were broken into small groups of up to 30 fish or so, with several yards between these small groups. Due to the cold water, these fish would not move to us despite the commotion we created, hence, we had to move frequently.
We again noted that we’d catch just a few fish, usually in the first few minutes following our arrival, and we would then experience a sharp decline in interest. Again, the solution here was to move frequently.
I experimented with all three sizes of Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs (3/8, 5/8, and 3/4 ounce). While the white bass did not refuse any of these slabs, the 3/8 oz. wound up producing best, but also took a lot of time to reach bottom when we fished in over 34′ or so.
The slow-smoking tactic worked best for fish which were primarily bottom-dwelling today. We did find that dead-sticking with jigheads and soft plastics worked well for suspended fish IF they were not moving parallel to the bottom. As usual, the Garmin LiveScope was a tremendous aid in knowing when and where to present our baits, especially concerning suspended fish.
We had 41 fish in the boat by the time the standard 4-hours had passed. With John and Jared’s permission we stayed an extra hour shooting for the 50 fish mark and finally eclipsed that just after 1P.
Our tally of 50 fish consisted of 1 largemouth bass, 5 freshwater drum, and 44 white bass, of which 4 were short.
TALLY: 50 fish caught and released
Find Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs with Stinger Hook here: https://whitebasstools.com/
OBSERVATIONS: 1) No helpful bird activity for 3rd consecutive trip. 2) On 21 Dec. the temperature profile to 55′ was a constant 58.2F; temperature is now 52.6F down to that same depth.
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 8A
End Time: 1P
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 41F
Elevation: 13.36 feet low, 0.01′ fall in last 24 hours, 24 CFS flow.
Water Surface Temp: 51.6F on the surface
Wind Speed & Direction: S7 at trip’s start, steadily ramping up to S18 by trip’s end with occasional higher gusts.
Sky Condition: High, thin white cloud cover at 60% on a light blue sky.
Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 33% illumination.
GT = 0
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
Area 1815 – 3 fish
Area 150 – 12 fish
Area vic 714 – 7 fish
Area 2062 – 11 fish
Area 1943 (2 hops) – 9 fish
Area 1126 – 8 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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