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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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)
Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle
Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle
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