HAS DEADSTICKING DIED? — 20 FISH @ BELTON

WHO I FISHED WITH: On Thursday, February 8, I fished with long-time client and friend Gary Davidson from Kerrville, Texas.

We have both been intrigued by the potential which wintertime deadsticking holds, but both admit we have not yet figured this sort of fishing out to the extent we have other effective white bass and hybrid stripe bass techniques.

This morning we intended to dedicate the trip to deadsticking for suspended, shad-oriented fish and do some comparisons with bait size, bait color, the use of scent, and lure movement.

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 Feb. 21, 22, 26, 27 (AMs)

PHOTO CAPTION: Gary Davidson of Kerrville with a bonus bluecat which slowly approached and then slurped in his deadsticked pink fluke from about 48 feet of water.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday, 08 Feb. 2023 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED:

Long story short, I suspect this now three-week-long, slow warming trend, which has put our surface temperature back between 52 and 54 degrees, has halted what was developing as a good deadstick bite as the water temperature fell below 50 degrees and continued to cool slowly by around the middle of January.

This cooling definitely pulled shad together and nearer, if not directly over, the main channel. On this morning’s trip we found no bait in such locations.

We fished for five hours and spent the first 3.5 hours searching for bait and game fish. Although we caught fish at each of the locations where bait and gamefish were found, and did so using deadstick tactics, we never saw the kind of horizontal bands of interested fish which needs to form beneath the boat in order for a good result to be had.

After seeing this repeatedly, we spent the tail end of the trip looking for bottom-oriented fish in more traditional locations. Although our single best producing stop came at one of these areas, and the fish there were caught by easing or slow smoking a slab, these fish were still very reluctant. This came as no surprise as we had next to no wind all morning.

When all was said and done, we had landed exactly 20 fish including 2 blue catfish, two large mouth bass, one short hybrid, and 15 white bass of which about 12 were of legal size. Gary nabbed the largest fish of the morning with an 8.75 pound blue cat which fell for his dead sticked bubble gum pink fluke on a jig head.

Gary and I agreed that with what little we have seen and learned of deadsticking thus far, we both now have more enthusiasm about fishing in January and February, and we look forward to continuing to experiment, but, it looks like that experiment will restart in 2025, Lord willing.

Here is a tutorial on the snap-jigging method … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGtrnAQ_T94&t=55s

Here is a tutorial on the slow-smoking tactic … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIPopSLUYoQ

TALLY: 20 fish caught and released.

OBSERVATIONS: Here was the water temperature profile taken down to 55′ on 08 Feb.:

0 feet, 54.2F

5 feet, 52.9F

10 feet, 52.3F

15 feet, 52.2F

20 feet, 51.9F

25 feet, 51.7F

30 feet, 51.4F

35 feet 50.9F

40 feet, 50.5F

45 feet 50.2F

50 feet, 49.9F

55 feet, 49.0F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:30A

End Time: 12:20P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 59F

Elevation: 13.85 feet low

Water Surface Temp: 52.6F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE/SSW <4 all morning

Sky Condition: Grey skies all morning

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 0% illumination (new moon was yesterday).

GT = 25

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

B0263G, vic B003JWG, B0264G, B0265G, vic B0042C

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

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide #BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing #bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport #fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday #Fitec #SubaruAustin

Here’s an up-to-date calendar so you can check availability: https://holdingthelineguideservice.com/available-dates.php

Next available dates are Feb. 5, 6, 7, & 8 (AMs)

PHOTO CAPTION: This 4.25-pound largemouth was a personal best for Jackson. He lured it in, hooked it, fought it, and brought it to net all by himself.

PHOTO CAPTION: That is a pair of bonafide 15″ white bass, considered trophy class fish by TPWD, taken just 40 minutes apart under cool conditions with a diminishing fog. The fish both struck a white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

WHEN WE FISHED: Friday, 02 Feb. 2023 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED:

As water temperatures continue to rise, thanks to slightly above average temperatures for February for several consecutive days, and nighttime temperatures overnight in the low 60s, a noticeable uptick in fish activity levels has been apparent.

We got off to a great start right at 8 AM with a light south breeze and fairly heavy gray cloud cover.

Jackson quickly got the hang of the slow-smoking tactic.

While sitting atop a feeding school of white bass, Jackson landed his first three fish after getting the hang of smoothly and continuously reeling his white, 5/8 ounce Bladed Hazy Eye Slab.

No sooner did we begin firing on all eight cylinders, then an unexpected, heavy fog moved in, and, quite literally, put a damper on things . We struggled for the next 30 minutes as what was a brightening sky began to darken once again, bird activity slowed to nearly zero, and the bite soured.

Slowly, the skies brightened, even though the fog remained, and the fish began to start feeding again, as did the birds, although we nearly had to be directly beneath any birds to actually see them due to the fog’s thickness. We only fished three locations all morning with the fishing getting gradually more productive at each one.

By the time the fog finally lifted just after 11 AM, the bite was on a downhill slide.

Boom-Pa, as Jackson refers to Dwight, and I both thought Jackson was just about done around 11:10 or so with 47 fish to his credit. We weren’t sure if he was going to get up and grab a rod again after mentioning that his wrist was sore, and sitting down to take a granola mix break.

I challenged him to make it an even 50 fish or to fish until 11;30, whichever came first. By 11:25, Jackson had landed his 50th fish of the trip and began to rally. He asked if we could stay a little longer so that he could catch 52 fish. Of course, we did just that, and headed in around 11:35.

Although Jackson may not have set the hook on every one of those 52 fish, he did reel each one in and hoisted each one over the gunwale to me. His catch included 47 white bass, two of which measured right at 15 inches, two largemouth bass, the largest of which was 4.25 pounds, and three freshwater drum.

Before leaving the parking lot, Dwight made plans to do this same thing in May for his granddaughter, Jemma who will turn 10, and we kicked around dates in September to do likewise for his grandson, who will turn five.

Here is a tutorial on the snap-jigging method … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGtrnAQ_T94&t=55s

Here is a tutorial on the slow-smoking tactic … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIPopSLUYoQ

TALLY: 52 fish caught and released.

OBSERVATIONS: Here was the water temperature profile taken down to 50′ on 02 Feb.:

0 feet,52.6F

5 feet, 51.4F

10 feet, 50.0F

15 feet, 49.9F

20 feet, 49.9F

25 feet, 49.5F

30 feet, 49.2F

35 feet, 48.8F

40 feet, 48.7F

45 feet, 48.4F

50 feet, 48.3F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 8A

End Time: 11:35A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 61F

Elevation: 17.23 feet low

Water Surface Temp: 52.6F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: S4-9 all morning

Sky Condition: Grey skies quickly turning into a morning-long fog

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 45% illumination.

GT = 5

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 1950 – 3 fish slow-smoking with the white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab

Area SH0083C/2020 – 23 fish slow-smoking with the white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab

Area SH0268G – 26 fish fish slow-smoking with the white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab