November | 2023 | Fishing Report

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

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CALL A DOCTOR – THESE MEN WERE BITTEN BY FISH! — 162 FISH @ LAKE BELTON

November 25th, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: On Friday morning, November 24, I fished with a pair of fathers and sons.

Paul Bednarz coordinated this trip. He’s an orthopedic surgeon, and was joined by his son, Tyler, a junior at Texas A&M, studying petrochemical engineering. Paul invited Mr. Burt Gohlke and his son, Cooper; the two of them are farmers, focused on wheat and corn production out near Crawford, Texas.

Tyler and Cooper got to know each other in high school and have remained friends sense.

Here is how the fishing went…

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Here’s an up-to-date calendar so you can check availability: https://holdingthelineguideservice.com/available-dates.php

Next available dates are Nov. 27 – 30

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: The dad — Paul Bednarz and Burt Gohlke, and their sons — Tyler Bednarz and Cooper Gohlke, all with a sampling of the 162 fish catch they made on Lake Belton this Thanksgiving weekend.

Find the Bladed Hazy Eye Slab here: https://whitebasstools.com/

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: 24 Nov. 2023 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED:

The morning started off chilly at 39° with clear skies and just the slightest bit of fog hovering over the water. We met up at 7:10 AM, had lines in the water by 7:25 AM and immediately got onto fish. The fish never really let up until about 10:15 AM and stayed biting, albeit a good bit more sluggishly, right on through 11:05 AM.

We enjoyed some welcome bird activity to help indicate at least the general area where fish were feeding. Then, well-tuned side-imaging was the most helpful in zeroing in on the “spot on the spot“.

Our fishing this morning consisted of smoking with 5/8 ounce, white Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs exclusively. There really was no need to do anything beyond this very simple and effective technique, as the fish responded very, very well to this presentation.

We hit a total of 6 areas today. Seeing that the fish were very aggressive and heavily schooled in the areas we found them, I moved as soon as the fish showed any sign of letting up, even though any of those six areas would have gone on to continue producing fish at a slower rate had we stuck with them.

I feel that by moving as soon as the fish showed an indication of slacking off, we put more fish in the boat today by cashing in on that enthusiasm fish first show when slabs first start falling among them. White bass tend to get very competitive and aggressive as a result of the novelty of the lures in their presence. Some days that enthusiasm persists, other days it can erode in under a minute.

My crew of four landed 162 fish this morning, including 4 largemouth bass, 1 blue, catfish, 1 freshwater drum, 1 just-legal hybrid striped bass, and 155 white bass. Our legal to sub-legal ratio was about 70:30 this morning.

Here is a tutorial on the smoking tactic we used… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIPopSLUYoQ

TALLY: 162 fish caught and released.

OBSERVATIONS: The water temperature profile measured on 20 Nov., was:

0 feet, 65.9F
5 feet, 65.6F
10 feet, 65.6F
15 feet, 65.6F
20 feet, 65.6F
25 feet, 65.5F
30 feet, 65.5F
35 feet, 65.5F
40 feet, 65.5F
45 feet, 65.5F
50 feet, 65.5F
55 feet, 65.3F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:10A

End Time: 11:15A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 39F

Elevation: 15.21 feet low, 47 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 62.9F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: SE3-4 all morning

Sky Condition: 30% white cloud cover on a blue sky with wispy fog at trip’s start, clearing to cloudless within the first hour

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 90% illumination.

GT = 105

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Areas:

098 – 44 fish smoking Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

714 -11 fish smoking Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

083 – 26 fish smoking Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

B0050C – 19 fish smoking Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

2038 – 10 fish smoking Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

B0058G – 53 fish smoking 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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

THESE THANKSGIVING BIRDS WEREN’T TURKEYS — 130 FISH @ LAKE BELTON

November 24th, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: On Thanksgiving morning I was joined by returning guest James Wilson, owner of Belton Air Conditioning (https://www.beltonac.com/).

James brought his son, Brody, age 13, and, upon finding out that his other 2 kids opted to sleep in, James also invited along fellow Lake Belton fishing guide Brian Worley who focuses on catfish (https://www.facebook.com/BSCatfishing/).

The lake was next to deserted, thus making for a very enjoyable holiday outing.

Here’s how the fishing went…

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Here’s an up-to-date calendar so you can check availability: https://holdingthelineguideservice.com/available-dates.php

Next available dates are Nov. 27 – 30

PHOTO CAPTION: James Wilson took the trip’s largest fish today — his first hybrid ever caught. It fell for an MAL Heavy with chartreuse tail in about 25 feet of water using a sawtooth method. It weighed exactly 5.25 pounds on a certified scale.

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Brody Crawford, James Wilson, and Brian Worley with a few of the 130 fish they landed as we used birds to guide our way to fish, and both Hazy Eye Slabs and MAL Lures to seal the deal.

PHOTO CAPTION: White bass weren’t the only things thumping our lures! We also landed largemouth bass, freshwater drum, hybrid stripers, and this blue catfish.

Find the Bladed Hazy Eye Slab here: https://whitebasstools.com/

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Thanksgiving Day (AM), 23 Nov. 2023

HOW WE FISHED:

We got going right at 7:10 AM, and after waiting just a few minutes for bird activity to coalesce, we spent our next few hours using fish-eating gulls as a shortcut to our fish catching.

I’ve found that this time of year the birds primarily chase small groups of hyperactive whites and hybrids, so chasing them can be a bit frustrating. Rather than chasing them, simply using their presence as an indicator to point the way to the general area where fish are located, then using sonar to identify the location of larger groups of more sedentary fish can help put a lot more fish in the boat than just frenetically chasing after and casting right beneath diving birds.

Such was our approach this morning up until about 10:20 when the birds finally laid down and the fishing began to slow.

Although 100% of our fish were taken on artificials, we split the catch about 90% Hazy Eye Slab use and 10% MAL Lure usage. We used the MALs during that time when the birds were most aggressive and vocal, and when we had more fish out to the sides of our boat than beneath it. During that time, we used the sawtooth method to catch our fish.

Otherwise, the Bladed Hazy Eye Slab really got the nod today. We were using the white, 5/8 ounce version with a straight smoking tactic and one variation of it. When fish were tight to the bottom, we found that lifting and dropping the lure a time or two for just about 6 or 7 inches would create enough commotion to bring fish over to investigate, then, employing a standard smoking tactic by reeling the lure straight up off the bottom would often provoke those fish to chase and bite.

When all was said and done, my crew of three landed exactly 130 fish. This included 4 hybrid striped bass of which 1 was legal, 2 freshwater drum, 2 largemouth bass, 1 blue catfish, and 120 white bass of which approximately 90% were of legal size. We fished right up until the fish quit, which was around 11:20 AM.

Here is a tutorial on the smoking tactic we used… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIPopSLUYoQ

TALLY: 130 fish caught and released.

OBSERVATIONS: The water temperature profile measured on 20 Nov., was:

0 feet, 65.9F
5 feet, 65.6F
10 feet, 65.6F
15 feet, 65.6F
20 feet, 65.6F
25 feet, 65.5F
30 feet, 65.5F
35 feet, 65.5F
40 feet, 65.5F
45 feet, 65.5F
50 feet, 65.5F
55 feet, 65.3F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:10A

End Time: 11:20A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 39F

Elevation: 15.21 feet low, 47 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 63.5F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: S6-9 all morning

Sky Condition: Light grey and fully clouded

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 82% illumination.

GT = 105

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Areas:

B0171G – 32 fish smoking Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

1012 (2 hops) – 19 fish smoking Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

1743 – 19 fish smoking Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

346 – 24 fish smoking Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs & sawtoothing MAL Lures

682 – 21 fish smoking Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

B0102C – 9 fish smoking 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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

THERE’S A WHOLE LOTTA SHAKIN’ GOIN’ ON! — 67 FISH @ LAKE BELTON

November 22nd, 2023November 22nd, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: Yesterday morning, Tuesday, November 21, I fished with a lively boatload of boys as we faced some pretty crazy weather conditions.

Mr. Don Bousquet, owner of the Ragin’ Cajun boat storage business just uphill from Temple Lake Park on Lake Belton, put this trip together for cousins Cam Miller of Mandeville, Louisiana, and Hudson and Townes Slimp of Salado, TX. The boys were chaperoned by Mr. Guy Slimp, and Mr. Larry Miller who aided me, but did not fish.

Here is how the fishing went…
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Here’s an up-to-date calendar so you can check availability: https://holdingthelineguideservice.com/available-dates.php

Next available dates are Nov. 27 – 30

PHOTO CAPTION: Front, from left: Hudson and Townes Slimp and Cam Miller, with Larry Miller and Guy Slimp in the back. The boys put together a 67 fish catch under the toughest wind conditions we could have and still be able to fish.

Find the Bladed Hazy Eye Slab here: https://whitebasstools.com/

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday (AM), 21 November 2023

HOW WE FISHED:

A hard cold front moved through yesterday turning our winds northerly overnight and increasing wind velocity substantially. Whether or not the trip was going to make was up in the air right to the last minute because the wind forecast varied with each successive weather update.

We met up at 7:10 AM, and hit the most open areas first before the still increasing wind velocity forced us off of those exposed areas. Birds helped point the way to fish this morning. Indeed, there was more fish and bird activity present than we could get to, unfortunately.

After leaving open water to escape the increasing wind, I found water up in the tributaries to be significantly turbid thanks to heavy, overnight wave action. This further reduced our selection of fishing options.

We wound up finding and catching fish at four distinct areas. Each scenario was the same… we used white, 5/8 ounce, Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs to catch primarily bottom-oriented white bass using a smoking tactic as these fish chased those slabs up off the bottom, overtook them, and bit.

The assistance which Garmin LiveScope typically provides while executing rhe smoking tactic was diminished a bit this morning, due to heavy wave action and gusting winds pushing the boar both up and down, and back and forth, and preventing a nice, steady hover. We got shaked, rattled, and rolled!!!

When all was said and done, the boys landed 67 fish including 1 hybrid striped bass, 1 freshwater drum, 2 largemouth bass, and 63 white bass. Just four of the white bass were short.

Here is a tutorial on the smoking tactic we used… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIPopSLUYoQ

TALLY: 67 fish caught and released.

OBSERVATIONS: The water temperature profile measured on 20 Nov., was:

0 feet, 65.9F
5 feet, 65.6F
10 feet, 65.6F
15 feet, 65.6F
20 feet, 65.6F
25 feet, 65.5F
30 feet, 65.5F
35 feet, 65.5F
40 feet, 65.5F
45 feet, 65.5F
50 feet, 65.5F
55 feet, 65.3F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:10A

End Time: 11:30A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 53F

Elevation: 15.29 feet low, 47 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 64.7F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: NNW15 at trip’s start, ramping up to NW22 with higher gusts by mid-morning

Sky Condition: Light grey and fully clouded

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 62% illumination.

GT = 105

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Areas:

vic 0908 (3 hops) – 35 fish smoking Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

B0013C – 7 fish smoking Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

305 – 20 fish smoking Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

B0064G – 7 fish smoking 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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

THESE TWO DIDN’T “MONK”-EY AROUND! — 60 FISH @ LAKE BELTON

November 21st, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This afternoon, Monday, November 20, I fished with first-time guests, father-and son team Sam and Nick Listi from right here in Central Texas.

If the name Listi sounds familiar, it’s probably because Sam has served as the Belton City Manager for over 20 years. Sam treated Nick to this fishing trip during his Thanksgiving visit down from St. Paul, Minnesota, where Nick serves in a Catholic brotherhood (the Franciscan Order) devoted to prayer, celibacy, and caring for the poor. Nick’s work is focused on helping refugees from Burma.

Here is how the fishing went…

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Here’s an up-to-date calendar so you can check availability: https://holdingthelineguideservice.com/available-dates.php

Next available dates are Nov. 23 (Thanksgiving morning), 27, and 28

PHOTO CAPTION: As fall transitions to winter, largemouth bass begin to show up more commonly in my bycatch as I target white bass. This largemouth came on a 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab as Nick and his dad, Sam, were successfully “smoking” the bait for white bass. It went 4.33 pounds.

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Nick Listi and his dad, Sam Listi, on their Thanksgiving 2023 Father & Son fishing trip.

Find the Bladed Hazy Eye Slab here: https://whitebasstools.com/

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday (PM), 20 November 2023

HOW WE FISHED:

Although we had sufficiently high winds to produce a good bite all afternoon, we still did not get the northerly wind shift that was originally forecast to take place during daylight hours today.

Hence, fishing this afternoon was much like the fishing was this morning wherein we located large groups of white bass tightly school together in water ranging from 27 to 35 feet, and then worked Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs using a smoking tactic to goad these fish into chasing those lures upward, all aided by Garmin LiveScope.

Although the LiveScope is not absolutely necessary, it definitely puts more fish in the boat, because it shows, in real time, when fish are chasing a slab. This allows the angler to continue with their retrieve instead of stopping it while the fish is in hot pursuit.

Using this tactic, Sam and Nick put a total of 60 fish in the boat, including 58 white bass and two largemouth bass.

Nick shared that this trip served as a personal best both in terms of highest number of fish caught in a trip, and by breaking his personal largemouth bass record twice — first, with a 3.00 pound largemouth, followed by a 4.33 pound largemouth on back-to-back drops with the slab!

Here is a tutorial on the smoking tactic we used… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIPopSLUYoQ

TALLY: 60 fish caught and released.

OBSERVATIONS: The water temperature profile measured on 20 Nov., was:

0 feet, 65.9F
5 feet, 65.6F
10 feet, 65.6F
15 feet, 65.6F
20 feet, 65.6F
25 feet, 65.5F
30 feet, 65.5F
35 feet, 65.5F
40 feet, 65.5F
45 feet, 65.5F
50 feet, 65.5F
55 feet, 65.3F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 1:15P

End Time: 5:45P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 73F

Elevation: 15.29 feet low, 47 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 65.9F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: W10 at trip’s start, increasing to W13-14 by trip’s end

Sky Condition: Variable white cloud cover with breaks of sun all afternoon

Moon Phase: First quarter moon at 50% illumination.

GT = 45

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Areas:

0066G – 6 fish smoking Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

2041 – 24 fish smoking Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

B0242G – 10 fish smoking Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

2041 (second stop) – 10 fish smoking Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

0403 – 4 fish smoking Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

0412 – 6 fish smoking 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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

WHAT IN VITRO FERTILIZATION AND LIVESCOPE HAVE IN COMMON — 77 FISH

November 20th, 2023November 20th, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Monday, November 20, I fished with returning father-and-son team Dustin and Lucas Marsh from the Bryan, Texas, area. This trip was in celebration of Lucas’ 10th birthday.

Dustin is an Aggie who runs a large animal veterinary practice focused on dairy cows. One of his specialties is in vitro fertilization wherein an egg is removed from a cow, fertilized with bull semen, and is then implanted into another cow to produce a desirable offspring. As Dustin showed me a video of the procedure (which relies on sonogram technology), we remarked how similar the interpretation of the image was to interpretation of Garmin LiveScope imaging.

We really weren’t sure what to expect this morning as the forecasters were really all over the map on how an incoming front was going to approach central Texas.

Here is how the fishing went…

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Here’s an up-to-date calendar so you can check availability: https://holdingthelineguideservice.com/available-dates.php

Next available dates are Nov. 23 (Thanksgiving morning), 27, and 28

PHOTO CAPTION: That’s a “Double Triple”!! — 6 fish landed simultaneously using a pair of 3-armed umbrella rigs behind downriggers.

Find the Bladed Hazy Eye Slab here: https://whitebasstools.com/

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday, 20 November 2023

HOW WE FISHED:

As we launched this morning, there was a thin gray layer of cloud cover with just the lightest bit of fog hovering over the water, and a light southwesterly breeze at under 3 mph. We enjoyed about two hours’ worth of moderate action under these low-light conditions, but it then brightened up and went calm before a wind shift to the west, which would begin ushering in a cold front.

We had landed 36 fish up to that point on white, 5/8 ounce, Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs, using a smoking tactic, but as that SW wind calmed, the fish turned off.

I could see small, splintered groups of fish here, there, and everywhere, so, we went with a downrigging approach until the wind returned and things improved. Downrigging actually yielded our single largest fish today which was a just-legal hybrid striped bass taken as one of six fish that came aboard simultaneously when both Dustin and Lucas landed a pair of triples on their three-armed umbrella rigs equipped with Pet Spoons.

After the wind began again, now due west, it puffed on and off through the end of our trip at 11:45 AM. By this time, my crew had amassed a 77 fish catch, including 2 hybrid striped bass, 1 largemouth bass, 1 freshwater drum, and the balance of 74 white bass, with only four of them being short.

Although there was some light bird activity this morning, most of it was taking place over top of cormorants working bait, although some white bass were also in the area. This involved only eight or 10 gulls.

Here is a tutorial on the smoking tactic we used… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIPopSLUYoQ

TALLY: 77 fish caught and released.

OBSERVATIONS: The water temperature profile measured on 20 Nov., was:

0 feet, 65.9F
5 feet, 65.6F
10 feet, 65.6F
15 feet, 65.6F
20 feet, 65.6F
25 feet, 65.5F
30 feet, 65.5F
35 feet, 65.5F
40 feet, 65.5F
45 feet, 65.5F
50 feet, 65.5F
55 feet, 65.3F

60 feet, 64.5F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:10A

End Time: 11:45A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 64F

Elevation: 15.29 feet low, 47 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 65.9F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: Light SW, then calm, then due W & increasing from 0 to 10

Sky Condition: 100% light grey cloud cover for 2 hours, then variable white cloud cover with breaks of sun thereafter

Moon Phase: First quarter moon at 50% illumination.

GT = 45

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Areas:

vic 098 – 6 fish smoking Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

vic 1482 – 10 fish smoking Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

B0075C – 6 fish smoking Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

1552 – 14 fish smoking Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

1151 thru 151 – 17 fish smoking Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs & downrigging

1385 – 2 fish smoking Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

717 – 11 fish smoking Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

682 – 9 fish smoking Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

1390 – 2 fish smoking 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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

ALL BOYS, ALL MORNING — 130 FISH @ LAKE BELTON

November 18th, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Saturday, November 18, I fished with the three sons of Kyle Simank – Barrett Simank, age 11, Ryder Simank, age 9, and Ryland Winston, age 10.

I originally got to know Kyle through one of my clients in Georgetown — Mr. Dwight Stone. Dwight, Kyle, and I all share an interest in firearms, and Kyle owns Guns Plus in Georgetown, where I take all of my guns whenever gunsmithing is required.

Kyle and his dad, Stephen, have both fished with me before, but, this morning, Kyle stepped back and just helped me help the kids be successful on this “Kids Fish, Too!” trip.

Here is how the fishing went…

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Here’s an up-to-date calendar so you can check availability: https://holdingthelineguideservice.com/available-dates.php

Next available dates are Nov. 23 (Thanksgiving morning), 27, and 28

PHOTO CAPTION: From front left: Ryland Winston, Barrett Simank, and Ryder Simank, with the boys’ dad, Kyle Simank in the back. These boys landed 130 fish in 3.5 hours this morning.

Find the Bladed Hazy Eye Slab here: https://whitebasstools.com/

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Saturday, 18 November 2023

HOW WE FISHED:

We had great weather conditions this morning. Northerly winds continued to blow following the passage of a mild, dry cold front which came in right around sunset last night. Hence, this morning‘s light was the first well-lighted conditions the fish experienced following the cold front’s passage.

In addition, we had nice, light gray skies. The temperature was 59F when we got started and only rose to 64F by the time we wrapped up 3.5 hours later. This was a “Kids Fish, Too!“ trip, hence, only the kids did the fishing. As such, we were truly blessed to have consistent action from start to finish this morning – – a full 3.5 hours of catching.

The fishing started a bit slow around 7:25, then built to a peak, complete with bird activity, which included about 60 ring-billed gulls, then, right at 9:35 AM, the fish let up on their heavy feed, and we rode the downward slope of that bell-shaped feeding curve until it plateaued at next to zero activity by about 10:40 AM.

We fished a total of just four areas this morning, all in 27-30′.

Using white, 5/8 ounce, Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs, these three boys landed a total of 130 fish which included 2 hybrid striped bass, 5 freshwater drum, 1 largemouth bass, and 122 white bass. Of those 122 white bass, only 7 fish were short.

The boys were very willing to listen to coaching if that meant they would be successful. The technique I coached them on was the smoking tactic involving retrieving the Hazy Eye Slabs upwards from the bottom. The details of how that is accomplished are covered in this video…

Here is a tutorial on the smoking tactic we used… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIPopSLUYoQ

I don’t really enjoy having other anglers fish nearby, but, on weekends, that is often unavoidable. One thing it does is gives me an opportunity to see what other tactics produce or fail to produce. As I observed things this morning, it was abundantly clear that the fruits of working a slab with a snap-jigging tactic (much more appropriate for the late winter) paled in comparison to the results of smoking a slab in this still-warm mid-60 degree water.

TALLY: 130 fish caught and released.

OBSERVATIONS: ~60 birds helped us stay on the fish this morning from 8:00 thru 9:35. The water temperature profile measured on 15 Nov., was:

0 feet, 64.9F
5 feet, 65.6F
10 feet, 66.0F
15 feet, 66.0F
20 feet, 65.9F
25 feet, 65.6F
30 feet, 65.6F
35 feet, 65.6F
40 feet, 65.5F
45 feet, 65.5F
50 feet, 65.5F
55 feet, 64.5F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:10A

End Time: 10:40A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 59F

Elevation: 15.24 feet low, 47 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 64.9F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: NNW9-10 all morning

Sky Condition: 100% light grey cloud cover all morning

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 28% illumination.

GT = N/A

Wx SNAPSHOT: N/A

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Areas:

098 – 6 fish smoking Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

1152 (4 hops) – 103 fish smoking Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

953 – 9 fish smoking Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

B0107G – 12 fish smoking 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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

FIRST FISH @ AGE 64!!!! — 77 FISH @ LAKE BELTON

November 16th, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This afternoon, Thursday, November 16, I fished with returning guests Oscar Leal and Dwight Stone. Joining them was first-time guest Antonio Johnson, a U.S. Army veteran and military retiree.

Antonio, at age 64, had never fished before in his life. Well, this afternoon, he made up for some lost time!!

The three men got to know one another through their church in Georgetown, TX.

We originally scheduled this trip for this morning, but I saw two things in the forecast which made me very reluctant to go then. First, the north wind died overnight resulting in a period of calm which extended well into this morning. Secondly, I saw the ambient air temperature was to dip below the dewpoint. When this happens in calm conditions, fog forms.

As it turned out, both calm and fog did develop, and the decision to postpone panned out well. The afternoon was warmer, breezier, and still had some cloud cover with a returning south wind — still not a great forecast, but a far sight better than the morning.

Here’s how the fishing went…

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Here’s an up-to-date calendar so you can check availability: https://holdingthelineguideservice.com/available-dates.php

Next available dates are Nov. 23 (Thanksgiving morning), 27, and 28

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Dwight Stone, Oscar Leal, and Antonio Johnson with a few of the 77 fish they landed, including the first fish of Antonio’s life!!

Find the Bladed Hazy Eye Slab here: https://whitebasstools.com/

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday, 16 November 2023

HOW WE FISHED:

We got started a little later than planned this afternoon thanks to some “directional challenges“ so we wound up with a net of about 3 1/2 hours to pursue fish this afternoon.

While Dwight and I awaited the arrival of Oscar and Antonio, we did a little scouting and we found some fish, but also found them difficult to get to chase our baits. We picked up one fish, then headed in to get Oscar and Antonio, then begin our trip with all four of us now aboard.

What I found today was much in keeping with what I often find in lulls of weather between fronts, which is fish that are present, and get excited briefly, but which lose enthusiasm quickly — thus remaining visible on sonar, but typically chasing only half-heartedly after a lure.

We ran into this all afternoon at each of the 5 areas we fished.

Unfortunately, the winds did not increase beyond what was forecast, so we dealt with light winds, and completely clouded skies all afternoon. This meant that the fish shut down right at sunset instead of a few minutes after sunset as they would if the direct rays of the sun were still shining at that time.

My three guests put together a 77 fish catch, which included 1 short hybrid striped bass, 1 largemouth bass, 7 freshwater drum, and 67 white bass, of which only three were short.

All fish were taken on the white, 5/8 ounce Hazy Eye Slab fished with a smoking tactic.

Here is a tutorial on the smoking tactic we used… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIPopSLUYoQ

TALLY: 77 fish caught and released.

OBSERVATIONS: No helpful bird action today. The water temperature profile measured this morning, 15 Nov., was:

0 feet, 64.9F
5 feet, 65.6F
10 feet, 66.0F
15 feet, 66.0F
20 feet, 65.9F
25 feet, 65.6F
30 feet, 65.6F
35 feet, 65.6F
40 feet, 65.5F
45 feet, 65.5F
50 feet, 65.5F
55 feet, 64.5F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 1:30P

End Time: 5:40P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 64F

Elevation: 15.21 feet low, 47 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 64.9F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: Calm through ~11:30A, then going light and variable, then picking up steady from the S and increasing from S4 up to S8 during out time on the water.

Sky Condition: Fair skies with decreasing clouds through the afternoon after a morning of calm fog

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 11% illumination.

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Areas:

B0165G- 30 fish smoking Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

953 – 20 fish smoking Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

0145/0147 – 7 fish smoking Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

B0021C – 13 fish smoking Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

308 – 7 fish smoking 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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

A “PERSONAL BEST” STORY — 61 FISH GOING SOLO @ LAKE BELTON

November 15th, 2023November 15th, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Wednesday, November 15, I fished with first time guest Bill Magyar of Belton, Texas.

Bill makes his living as a commercial airline pilot routinely flying out of Dallas. When he’s not in the air, he enjoys spending time on the water in his own kayak.

As we visited by phone prior to the trip, he expressed some frustration over not catching fish from his kayak. I let him know that during our time spent together this morning, I could share with him some tactics and pointers which should help him improve going forward.

Here’s how the fishing went…

—————————————————————————————————–

Here’s an up-to-date calendar so you can check availability: https://holdingthelineguideservice.com/available-dates.php

Next available dates are Nov. 23 (Thanksgiving morning), 27, and 28

PHOTO CAPTION: Bill Magyar enjoyed a personal best today with a solo catch of 61 fish despite tough, post-frontal weather conditions. “Smoking” with a Hazy Eye Slab was his key to success today.

Find the Bladed Hazy Eye Slab here: https://whitebasstools.com/

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday, 15 November 2023

HOW WE FISHED:

The weather forecast called for this to be the last full day of north winds following the passage of last Thursday’s cold front. Although that same forecast called for winds to max out around 8 mph this morning, we were blessed with more wind than that, at least for a spell.

Prior to 9 AM, we actually had light white caps and the fish bit well up until that point. As the wind slacked off, fishing got tougher. I moved to an area which has been productive, but found that due to the landforms there blocking the wind, there was a nearly calm surface there, so, we quickly left that behind, and returned to more open, wind-blown terrain.

We got back on the fish by 9:45 and, as the wind vacillated between 6 and 10 mph, the bite picked back up until finally tapering off right at 11:30 AM.

We actually did better than I anticipated under these bright, cool, low-wind conditions. Bill’s solo effort produced 61 fish including 2 largemouth bass, 1 freshwater drum, and 58 white bass.

Every last one of our fish came on the 5/8 ounce, white Hazy Eye Slab, fished with a smoking tactic. All fish today were taken from directly off the bottom, as there was no aggressive chasing of shad up and away from the bottom witnessed this morning.

Here is a tutorial on the smoking tactic we used… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIPopSLUYoQ

TALLY: 61 fish caught and released.

OBSERVATIONS: No helpful bird action this morning. The water temperature profile measured this morning, 15 Nov., was:

0 feet, 64.9F
5 feet, 65.6F
10 feet, 66.0F
15 feet, 66.0F
20 feet, 65.9F
25 feet, 65.6F
30 feet, 65.6F
35 feet, 65.6F
40 feet, 65.5F
45 feet, 65.5F
50 feet, 65.5F
55 feet, 64.5F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:10A

End Time: 11:30A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 46F

Elevation: 15.19 feet low, 47 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 64.9F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: N6-7 at trip’s start, increasing to N13 by 9A, than slacking off to <N5 until 10, then building back to N6-10 thru trip’s end

Sky Condition: Bright, cloudless, post-frontal conditions

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 5% illumination.

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Areas:

vic B0059G – 7 fish smoking Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

717 (2 hops) – 18 fish smoking Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

B0013C – 18 fish smoking Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

953/1486 – 6 fish smoking Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

vic B0052G – 12 fish smoking 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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

NEW WEEK, SAME OLD GREAT FISHING — 116 FISH @ LAKE BELTON

November 13th, 2023November 13th, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Monday, November 13, I fished with returning guests Frank Sumner and Steve Arnold. The two are longtime buddies from church and have been out with me a number of times.

I really appreciate that Frank is a plan-ahead kind of guy. Stepping off of the boat today he put in his reservation for the peak spring season fishing in May, just as he put in his reservation for today’s trip when his May 2023 trip wrapped up this past spring.

By doing this, he always insurers himself of getting in on the best of the best fishing both spring and fall.

Here’s how the fishing went…

—————————————————————————————————–

Here’s an up-to-date calendar so you can check availability: https://holdingthelineguideservice.com/available-dates.php

Next available dates are Nov. 14 & 27

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Steve Arnold and Frank Sumner, both U.S. Army veterans, worked for their 116 fish catch. With a stretch of “between fronts” weather, we had to move more often to stay in the catching.

Find the Bladed Hazy Eye Slab here: https://whitebasstools.com/

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday, 13 November 2023

HOW WE FISHED:

We did not make a final call on the timing of this morning’s trip until 5:15 AM. Depending on your source for weather information, you could have been told this morning was going to be a rainout, or that this morning was going to be completely dry, or just about everything in between.

When I got up and viewed weather radar, it was clear there was a storm system to the northwest and another system to our southeast, and we were hanging between the two, dry as could be.

We never did see a drop of rain all morning.

As we got going this morning, it was quite cloudy and gloomy and cool. The fishing got off to one of the slower starts I’ve encountered over the past three weeks or so, but, as it got breezier, brighter, and warmer, the fishing kept getting better and better. As we get into lulls in the weather between fronts, this kind of thing is to be expected.

Although we wound up with 116 fish this morning, this trip required a good bit more effort than last week. The fish never got really fired up enough to chase baits aggressively for any length of time at any of the locations we stopped at prior to around 10:15. But, from 10:15 until noon it was a whole different story.

Fish were staging much higher up off the bottom, in much larger groups, chasing faster, swimming faster, and feeding more aggressively during this time span. We took our fish count from 68 fish prior to 10:15 up to our final tally of 116 fish, with these last 48 fish caught between 10:15 and noon.

Prior to 10:15, we used a combination of smoking with 5/8 ounce, white Hazy Eye Slabs, and using the sawtooth method with MAL Heavies with chartreuse tails. We enticed fish beneath the boat with the vertical tactics and the fish we saw grouped out away from the boat were tempted using the horizontal tactics with the MALs.

As Steve and Frank personally witnessed, even when the fish were not enthusiastic, a quick retrieve speed with the Hazy Eye Slab is still necessary to mimic the look of a panic shad. Whenever I saw their retrieve speed lagging, I would give them a little reminder and they would go right back to catching instead of fishing.

Our final count for this morning was 116 fish which included 114 white bass, 1short hybrid striper, and 1 largemouth bass. The average size of our fish today was much better than has been the case of late. We encountered only a handful of sub-legal fish this morning.

TALLY: 116 fish caught and released.

OBSERVATIONS: No helpful bird action this morning. Fishing was tougher given the weather lull we are now in.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:10A

End Time: 12 Noon

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 55F

Elevation: 15.15 feet low, 47 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 64.7F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: NW6 at trip’s start, increasing to NW10-11 by 10:15A

Sky Condition: 100% moderate grey cloud cover all morning

Moon Phase: New moon at 0% illumination.

GT = 5

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Areas:

B0105G – 3 fish smoking Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

B0178C – 41 fish casting MAL Heavies & smoking Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

B0187G – 12 fish smoking Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

508 – 12 fish smoking Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

B0066G – 7 fish smoking Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

1150 – 41 fish smoking 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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com