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