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