WHO I FISHED WITH: On the morning of Friday, December 29th, I welcomed aboard a great crew from McLeod Auto Sales in Killeen. The trip was arranged for the ‘the boss’, Travis McLeod, but, he fell ill and wasn’t able to join us. Attending were Emily Oakley, Chris Ochoa, and Jay & Lindsey Moses.
All had at least a little prior fishing experience. The cold and wind were factors, but, fortunately, everyone dressed well for the occasion.
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PHOTO CAPTION: Jay Moses landed two personal bests on this trip, starting out with a 5.50 pound largemouth, then shortly thereafter improving that to a 6.75 pound largemouth, both taken on the white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab.
PHOTO CAPTION: Emily also took two quality largemouth of her own on the same white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab.
PHOTO CAPTION: Chris joined the largemouth party with a sweet fish of his own on, you guessed it, the white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab, before dancing to the beat of a different “drum”.
PHOTO CAPTION: And, no monster largemouth for Lindsey, but her drum was impressive! The full ski suit was no overkill and kept Lindsey in the game from start to finish.
PHOTO CAPTION: Oh, yeah … here is a shot of the species of fish we were actually going for!!
Find the Bladed Hazy Eye Slab here: https://whitebasstools.com/
WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir
WHEN WE FISHED: Friday, 29 Dec. 2023 (AM)
HOW WE FISHED:
Brrrrrrrr! We got off to a frosty 31F start this morning. I initially started off with two sets of two anglers with backs to one another — on pair on the starboard gunwale and one pair on the port, but, with the wind and the waves, keeping everyone dialed in on two separate LiveScope systems while trying to unhook fish, occasionally untangle lines, etc. got to be a chore, so, I wound up fishing everyone on just the starboard side — and it worked out.
The McLeod Auto Sales crew did very well as they used the slow-smoking tactic in conjunction with Garmin LiveScope and a thumper/metronome to retrieve their lures upwards off the bottom at just the right speed.
Fishing started slow when the skies were most dim and the wind was lowest, then improved with increasing light and wind velocity.
As we hit what would be our final area fished for the morning, their 4-angler tally was 41 fish at around 10:20AM. By 11:20AM, we were headed back to the boat ramp with final tally of 109 fish.
The winds peaked during a roughly 40-minute window, and we were at the right place at the right time to take advantage of it. As this would be the deepest water we fished (over 40′), I upped everyone’s lure weight to a white, 3/4 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab at this location only.
Our final tally for the morning was 109 fish.
Here is a tutorial on the smoking tactic we used… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIPopSLUYoQ
TALLY: 109 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: 7:30A
End Time: 11:30A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 31F
Elevation: 17.84 feet low, 1 CFS flow
Water Surface Temp: 55.3F on the surface.
Wind Speed & Direction: WNW6 at trip’s start, increasing to WNW15 by trip’s end
Sky Condition: Cloudless, pale blue sky
Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 94% illumination.
GT = 45
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
Areas 0253, 2022/SH0239G/SH0240G, SH0254G
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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