WHO I FISHED WITH:  This morning, Saturday, December 9, I fished with three generations aboard. Some time ago, Mrs. Sommer Johnston made all the arrangements for her dad, Shawn Isdale, her husband, Dallas Johnston, and her son, four-year-old Forbes Johnston, to spend this Saturday morning together out on Lake Belton.

Shawn runs a well-known chiropractic business in Harker Heights, TX. Dallas is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and now works with his father-in-law, and little Forbes is big brother to a two-year-old sister, with another sibling on the way.

Here is 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 Dec. 13 & 14

PHOTO CAPTION:  Hybrid were very active this morning as a mild, dry cold front pushed in from the northwest.  We landed a total of 19 hybrid stripers, of which 15 were 18″ or greater (the legal limit if the fish were kept).

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left: Dallas and Forbes Johnston, and Shawn “King-Daddy” Isdale with a sampling of the white bass we took mainly off bottom before and after the hybrid went crazy under birds.  Most of our white bass came on the white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab.

PHOTO CAPTION: Shawn Isdale with one of four hybrid of this size he took during a 2-hour feeding spree on Lake Belton

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

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Saturday, 09 Dec. 2023 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED: 

After just a bit of ribbing about how the Army-Navy game should go today, we got down to business and went over the essential tactics for the morning. Our first 45 minutes was a bit slow as light westerly winds had just begun blowing , and as we battled some gray cloud cover which prevented the brightening of the morning sky.

Within 45 minutes, the winds had increased and began swinging northerly, the temperature began to drop just slightly, and the cloud cover dissipated. This all occurred as a mild, dry, cold front began to push into Central Texas.

Up to this point my crew had landed 6 fish and missed another three. As this twist in the weather materialized, the fish and the birds went crazy for about two hours. During this time, both white bass and hybrid striped bass pushed shad relentlessly for over 3/8 of a mile occasionally slowing a bit, but otherwise cruising at about 2.5mph.

I observed boats running to the visible bird activity, stopping, then catching just a fish or two as the main body of fish blew past and kept doggedly pursuing the shad into the wind.

Having encountered this scenario plenty of times in the past two weeks, I felt the single best approach in terms of putting the greatest number of fish in the boat was to put dual downriggers down equipped with number 14 Pet Spoons and keep these about two feet shallower than whatever level the majority of the fish showed at on colored sonar and down-imaging.

The action was nonstop and got a bit crazy at times with a four-year-old on board to keep an eye on, multiple simultaneous hook ups, wind blowing at an increasingly fast clip, and other weekend boats to keep an eye on.

By the time this frenzy died at around 10:15 AM, we had put an additional 38 fish in the boat including 15 legal hybrid up to 4.5 pounds.

Using the birds as a barometer of fish activity, it was pretty apparent when the action died. Seeing this, I immediately took us back to vertical jigging using a smoking tactic with 5/8 ounce, white Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs, and we put a final 16 additional fish in the boat during our last hour on the water.

I was pretty impressed with how engaged little Forbes stayed. The variety of tactics we used and the consistent action was helpful in keeping him engaged, and he also got some special assignments, including checking to see that the aerator was in operation, using the bait net to return all small white bass to the water, turning the thumper on and off, and reeling in any fish that were too big for his Daddy and his “King-Daddy“ to handle.

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 07 Dec., was:

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:30A

End Time: 11:40A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 61F

Elevation: 15.69 feet low, 40 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 58.9F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: W5 at trip’s start, building and shifting to NW13 by trip’s end as a mild, dry cold front moved in.

Sky Condition: About 60% grey cloud cover for the first 45 minutes, then clearing to 0% cloud cover as the front moved in.

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 13% illumination.

GT = 50

Wx SNAPSHOT:    

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:  

Area vic 714 – 6 white bass smoking white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

Area 1548 thru B0243G – 38 fish downrigging #13/14 Pet Spoons, incl. 9 legal hybrid

Area 1552 –  8 white bass smoking white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

Area 472 –  8 white bass smoking white, 5/8 oz. 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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