WHO I FISHED WITH: On the afternoon of Thursday, December 28, I fished with first time guest Mr. Bryan Jones, and his two boys, Ben, age 17, and Ethan, age 15. Also accompany us, but not fishing was Bryan‘s brother, Mark, in visiting from New Mexico.
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PHOTO CAPTION: From left, Mark, Bryan, Ethan, and Ben Jones with a portion of their afternoon catch of 100% white bass taken on Lake Belton, December 28th.
Find the Bladed Hazy Eye Slab here: https://whitebasstools.com/
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday, 28 Dec. 2023 (PM)
HOW WE FISHED:
Bryan and crew arrived about 30 minutes early, so we went ahead and got going around 12:45 instead of 1:15 PM. The first hour of an afternoon trip is normally slow, and this afternoon was no exception. We had no issues finding fish, but the fish we found were very reluctant to come off bottom and strike the slabs we were using.
The middle two hours of the afternoon proved to be a bit better, although the fish never really got overly aggressive, nor was there any fish-related bird activity at all this afternoon. One of the things working against us was a decreasing wind from the NW. It was blowing around 14mph as we got going and slowly tapered down all afternoon. This typically never helps.
Those fish we caught we caught using the white, 5/8 ounce Bladed Hazy Eye Slab. As the shadows began to get long and the atmosphere began to cool off around 4 PM, the fishing cooled right off with it.
Despite the fishing being less than stellar, one of Bryan’s hopes was to see how the various forms of sonar played into the fish-finding equation. All afternoon he got a real-world demo on how fish appeared on DI, SI, and 2D sonar as we searched for them, and then how Garmin LiveScope aided us in gauging fish response to our presentations after we found them.
The boys and their dad really seemed to enjoy their first on-the-water experience with bringing Garmin LiveScope to bear on the fishing. It truly helps folks stay more engaged and for longer periods of time when they can see with their own eyes that there are fish present to work for and to try to catch.
Our final tally for the afternoon was 39 fish, 100% of which were white bass.
Here is a tutorial on the smoking tactic we used… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIPopSLUYoQ
TALLY: 39 fish caught and released.
OBSERVATIONS: The water temperature profile measured on 27 Dec. was:
5 feet 56.5F
10 feet, 57.1F
15 feet, 57.1F
20 feet, 57.1F
30 feet, 57.1F
35 feet, 57.1F
40 feet, 57.1F
45 feet, 56.9F
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 12:50P
End Time: 5:30P
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 32F
Elevation: 15.48 feet low, 40 CFS flow
Water Surface Temp: 55.4F on the surface.
Wind Speed & Direction: NW13-14 at trip’s start, dying back to NW7-8 by mid-afternoon
Sky Condition: 10% white clouds on pale blue sky
Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 98% illumination.
GT = 55
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
Areas 1679, 1678, B0184G, B0253G, 1743, B0013C
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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