WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Saturday morning I fished with Temple Fire Chief Mitch Randles, his adult son, Kevin Randles, his adult daughter, Sabrina Randles, and Sabrina’s fiance, Dakota McDonald.  This trip was in celebration of Sabrina’s birthday and has become a bit of a family tradition.  I really enjoy taking this family out — they are just solid people with a love of family.  When the tornado hit Joplin, MO, several years ago, the Randles lost just about everything, but picked themselves up by the bootstraps, dusted themselves off, and made a new start here in Central Texas.  Missouri’s loss was definitely our gain!  Now Sabrina and Dakota have wedding plans for the autumn of 2018 and plan to stay local, so, hopefully we’ll have these fine folks around for years to come!

 

From left: Sabrina, Dakota, and Kevin landed these nice hybrid all just seconds apart as a nice school moved beneath the boat and crushed their slabs.

 

Chief Randles picked this nice one up on a slow-smoking retrieve.  I noted Mitch was reeling a bit more slowly than everyone else and was doing a bit better on getting bit, so, we all observed his retrieve speed, slowed down, and everyone began doing better from that point on.

 

Without even trying for them, nor changing our tactics to suit them, we caught at least 2+ limits of keeper largemouth bass today in the 40+ foot water we fished.  As the water cools, the largemouth will continue to go deep, bunch up, and hit slabs.  Just make sure you’ve got your Hazy Eye Stinger Hook on those slabs!!

And the birthday girl with her best fish of the trip!  As her dad would say, “Happy birthday, Squirt!”

 

WHAT WE FISHED FOR: This was a multi-species trip focused on white bass and hybrid stripers using artificial lures.

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED: Saturday morning, 30 December, 2017

HOW WE FISHED:   Our first stop came on a breakline in about 34′ where we found a mix of white bass, largemouth, short hybrid, and freshwater drum using sonar.  It is always beneficial to have fish cooperate early in the trip so I can coach folks out of any bad habits in their jigging techniques so they build on a solid foundation for the rest of the outing, and such was the case this morning.  After this first area tapered off, we went looking for more action.  At just before 9am, I spotted bird activity as I scanned with my spotting scope.  We were fortunate to find fish under birds without other boats around and enjoyed 30 minutes or so of undisturbed, fast fishing using a smoking tactic for fish that were both bottom-oriented and suspended from 25 feet down to bottom in ~43 feet of water.  When this dried up, we made four more stops, all under birds, over the remainder of the morning.  We only encountered one lull in the action shortly after the wind shifted from E to N, at which time the wind picked up and the conditions began to feel more “raw”.  The bite went strong until 11:35, then tapered to nil by 11:50.  Right at noon or so we were headed back to the dock with 167 fish landed and a smoked pork butt on the Randles’ minds!!

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES:   1) After a full day of “birdlessness” yesterday, the birds were “all over it” this morning, working from just before 9am through about 11:35 with just a brief lull as the wind shift from E to N came in. 2) The largemouth bass are really coming on strong in deep water.  Without trying, we landed at least 2 full limits of keeper largemouth as a by-catch targeting white bass and hybrid. 3) A very slow smoking retrieve outperformed all others when fish were suspended.  4) Fish have begun to respond well to snap-jigging.

TALLY: 167 FISH, all caught and released

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 8:00a

End Time:  12:15p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  49F

Water Surface Temp:  55.3F

Wind Speed & Direction:  ESE4-6 at trip’s start with a balmy feel to the air; a wind shift around 9:40am shifted winds 90 degrees through to the NNW at 4-6, then, the velocity slowly tapered up to just shy of whitecapped (~12mph) by trips end.  The cool dampness and wind chill factor could definitely be felt versus the nearly comfortable starting temperature.

Sky Conditions: 100% grey clouds

Water Level: 2.90 feet low

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area  B0022C

**Area  B0023c/348/1144 (under birds and over a wide-spread area; still had to use sonar to find the spot on the spot)

**Area B0024C

**Area vic 1556

**Area vic 1152

**Area  B0023c/348/1144  (after birds started feeding here a second time)

 

Bob Maindelle, Central Texas Fishing Guide

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

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

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Friday afternoon, December 29th, after fishing a morning trip, I turned right back around and fished with Wes Stearns, his 5-year-old son, Knox Stearns, Wes’ father-in-law, Richard DeArmand, and Richard’s soon-to-be son-in-law, Cameron Kimball.  Richard and Cameron are from western Kentucky and Wes and his family live in the north Austin area.

 

5-year-old Knox Stearns and his grandpa, Richard DeArmand, with our largest fish of the trip — a hybrid striper the pair tag-teamed.

From left: Wes Stearns, Knox Stearns, Cameron Kimball, and Richard DeArmand, each with one of the 100 fish we landed in just 3.5 hours this evening on Lake Belton using slabs in deep water.

 

WHAT WE FISHED FOR: This was a multi-species trip focused on white bass.

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED: Friday evening, 29 December, 2017

HOW WE FISHED:  We used slabs 100% of the time today, either via snap-jigging or with a slow smoking tactic.  As was the case in the morning, we had to move around a good bit as we found the fish would initially express interest in our presentations and give chase, but would cool off quickly and, after a short while, flat refuse to strike.  We wound up fishing 3 area, but “hopping” around a bit at each.  Also similar to the morning was the great number of smaller fish that showed up in our catch, despite fishing in several very different areas.  We landed our 100th fish right at the 3.5 hour mark and my crew decided to call it a day and head in before the (obscured) sun set and it got even colder for the lengthy ride back to the boat ramp.  Once again, no birds fed over active fish, so all of the fish finding was done via sonar this afternoon.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES:   1) No helpful bird action today. 2) We had to gear down on the speed of our smoking retrieve to get bit consistently today.  3) When slow-smoking stopped working, we “mopped up” with snap-jigging.  4) We had a lot of smaller fish in the catch today.

TALLY: 100 FISH, all caught and released

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 1:30p

End Time:  5:00p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  49F

Water Surface Temp:  53.3F

Wind Speed & Direction:  ESE4-6

Sky Conditions: 100% grey clouds

Water Level: 2.88 feet low

GT = 70

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area  B0021C

**Area  B0017C

**Area B0018C/B0019C

 

Bob Maindelle, Central Texas Fishing Guide

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

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

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, December 28th, I fished with 10- and12-year-old brothers Peyton and Grayson Hedgecoth, both students in the Little River-Academy school district.  The boys were accompanied by their dad, Eron Hedgecoth, who acted a photographer/videographer, but did not fish.  Grayson and Eron came out with me once before this past summer when we did a multi-species trip focused on blue catfish and white bass.  The boys were out to beat the results of that 74-fish outing.  At exactly 11:28, and with 88 fish landed for the morning, I told the boys we’d stay until 11:45 or until we’d caught 100 fish, whichever came first.  The boys really concentrated on their vertical jigging and, by 11:40 AM, they rose to the challenge, putting our 100th fish in the boat!

Peyton Hedgecoth, age 10, with a nice Lake Belton hybrid striped bass taken on a white slab with an air temperature at about 38F.  Dad made sure the boys were well-dressed and that allowed them to stick with it for a full morning trip.

Grayson Hedgecoth, who just turned 12 yesterday, landed this hybrid taken in around 38 feet of water after some wide-spread bird activity helped us in locating the fish.

WHAT WE FISHED FOR: This was a multi-species trip focused on white bass.  We encountered largemouth, drum, crappie, and hybrid striped bass as a by-catch.

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday morning, 28 December, 2017

HOW WE FISHED:  Slab are now, and will continue to be, the go-to bait for me through at least early March.  The presentation varied today with fish activity level.  When fish were actively feeding several feet off bottom we used a “smoking tactic”, and when they were glued to bottom and unwilling to chase, we used a snap-jigging tactic.  There seemed to be no middle-ground on this trip for which an “easing” tactic would have been appropriate.  The fish were either on or off, no in between. The smaller 3/8 oz. slab outperformed the 3/4 oz. slab today, and, the stinger hooks accounted for about 60% of the catch.  

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES:   1) I delayed our start time today until 8am and we still waited a bit for the birds, bait, and fish to get in gear.  No need to get out in the pre-dawn chill!  2) Although we enjoyed some helpful bird action during the first half of the morning, the birds only got us in the general vicinity of the fish, as the fish they were working over were spread pretty far and wide.  Also, the bird action did not last very long at any one location before dissipating and reforming, typically many yards away.

TALLY: 100 FISH, all caught and released

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 8:00a

End Time:  11:40a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  37F

Water Surface Temp:  52.9F

Wind Speed & Direction:  NE <5mph all day

Sky Conditions: 100% grey clouds

Water Level: 2.87 feet low

GT = 15

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area  B0012C (under birds)

**Area  vic 838 (under birds)

**Area  B0013C (under birds)

**Area B0014C

**Area B0015C

 

Bob Maindelle, Central Texas Fishing Guide

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

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

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, December 26th, I fished with John and Ryan Evans from Littleton, Colorado.  They came for a visit to Killeen to see John’s dad, a U.S. Army veteran, who retired here.  John works for a software firm and Ryan is working his way through college with a job in the hunting/fishing department at Dick’s Sporting Goods with aims to become a game warden after graduation.  This father and son team are typically icefishing for kokanee, rainbow, and lake trout this time of year.  In fact, they have a trip planned for this coming Sunday after their drive back to Colorado.

 

John Evans of Littleton, CO, with one of several hybrid striped bass we landed while “smoking” slabs through more aggressive fish.

From left: Ryan and John Evans with a few of the white bass we took this morning.  A majority of our white bass came on a snap-jigging tactic as we employed light 3/8 oz. slabs with Hazy Eye Stinger hooks affixed to the line tie.

WHAT WE FISHED FOR: This was a multi-species trip focused on white bass.  We encountered largemouth, drum, and hybrid striped bass as a by-catch.

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday morning, 26 December, 2017

HOW WE FISHED:  Slab are now, and will continue to be, the go-to bait for me through at least early March.  The presentation varied today with fish activity level.  When fish were actively feeding several feet off bottom we used a “smoking tactic”; when fish were less aggressive but still up off bottom, we used an “easing” tactic; and when they were glued to bottom and unwilling to chase, we used a snap-jigging tactic.  The smaller 3/8 oz. slab outperformed the 3/4 oz. slab today, and, the stinger hooks accounted for about 60% of the catch.  The fact that Ryan and John had icefishing (vertical jigging) experience, really flattened their learning curve.  Less experienced clients would likely have caught less than half of what we landed today.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES:   1) Thanks to the light fog layer, our bite did not start until after 8am.

TALLY: 102 FISH, all caught and released

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:30a

End Time:  12:30p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  46F

Water Surface Temp:  55.4 – 56.2F

Wind Speed & Direction:  ENE11

Sky Conditions: 100% grey clouds with steady, light mist

Water Level: 2.84 feet low

GT = 80

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 187 (only area where fish were active enough for smoking retrieve for any length of time)

**Area vic B0005C

**Area vic 1945/2059

**Area B0009C

**Area B0010C

**Area B0011C

Bob Maindelle, Central Texas Fishing Guide

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

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

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Friday morning I fished with a trio of boys from the Liberty Hill, TX, area.  First was the birthday boy, Preston Nichols (age 8), and two of his buddies — Jasper Arnold (age 8), and Luke Lavender (age 7).  The boys were chaperoned by Preston’s dad, Dan Nichols, who help me with crowd control and did not fish.

 

8 year old Jasper Arnold reeled in this 5 1/8 pound Stillhouse largemouth as we fish 30-40 foot water targeting white bass.  My by-catch of hefty largemouth bass always increases sharply as I jig for white bass in the winter, especially when submerged timber is nearby.

 

Cold and wet, but still smiling — from left, Preston Nichols, Jasper Arnold, and Luke Lavender.

WHAT WE FISHED FOR: This was a multi-species trip focused on white bass.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

WHEN WE FISHED: Friday morning, 22 December, 2017

HOW WE FISHED:  Due to an ill-timed, damp cold front, the fish were really in a negative mood this morning making them difficult to find and difficult to catch.  Dan had hoped to get a trip in during this holiday season when the kids had off from school, but, the forecast indicated that today’s low was going to be higher than that high temperature any day the following week, so, I thought it best to get the boys out while it was warmest.  Unfortunately, the cold front came in a bit earlier and a bit wetter than forecast, so, we had an uphill battle on our hands.  We put 15 fish in the boat via vertical jigging, and 3 fish in the boat via flatline trolling with shad-imitating crankbaits.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES:   1) The fish were very difficult to goad into striking this morning, but I noted that when the boys did hook one, others would lift 2-4 feet off bottom thus expressing a bit of interest, but nothing like a dozen or so fish following their hooked schoolmate toward the surface as is observed under better conditions.

TALLY: 18 FISH, all caught and released

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:15a

End Time:  110:45a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  59F dropping to 46F during the 3.5 hours on the water.

Water Surface Temp:  59.1F

Wind Speed & Direction:  NNW8-12

Sky Conditions: 100% grey clouds with occasional light rain

Water Level: 3.19 feet low

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area  SH0001C (2x)

**Area  101 (2x)

**Area   114-706

 

Bob Maindelle, Central Texas Fishing Guide

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

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

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Thursday morning I fished with Jason Maine and his family, including his wife, Jen, his daughter, Maggie, his son, Andrew, and his step-dad, Bob Sylvia of Connecticut.

 

Mom pulled in the largest fish of the trip when this 3.5 pound hybrid struck her slab in about 27 feet of water.

 

Andrew had his hands full with this freshwater drum which we caught from the same location as mom’s nice hybrid.  This was our second largest fish of the trip.

Right at the 4 hour mark, as the morning bite had really shut down hard, we pulled white bass number 100, 101, and 102 in a team effort to eclipse the 100 fish mark.  Great teamwork today by an entire family willing to be coached to success.

WHAT WE FISHED FOR: This was a multi-species trip focused on white bass.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday morning, 21 December, 2017

HOW WE FISHED:  With the water surface temperature staying in the high 50’s for some time now, we continued to use both smoking and easing tactics with 3/8 oz. and 3/4 oz. slabs with Hazy Eye Stinger hooks attached.   We caught fish in shallower, 25-36 foot water early, then moved out to deeper 43-48 foot water as the skies brightened.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES:   1) The overall length of this morning’s bite stopped well short of the 11:00 to 11:15 timeframe it has been extending to.  I suspect that because we had clear skies and the bite began at sunrise, that it also ended earlier versus our recent trips fished under cloud cover. 2) I really had to “spot-hop” today, making 12 separate “Spot-Locks” to put our catch together.  Once the bite waned, we could only get 3-5 fish interested in biting as soon as we got to an area.  After catching those, the rest of the school quickly grew disinterested.

TALLY: 102 FISH, all caught and released

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:15a

End Time:  11:30a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  43F

Water Surface Temp:  58F

Wind Speed & Direction:  SSW7-10

Sky Conditions: Bright with <10% high, white cloud cover

Water Level: 2.78 feet low

GT = 65

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic B0007C (with 3 short hops)

**Area B0008C (with 2 short hops)

**Area  B0004C (with 3 short hops)

**Area vic 2059

 

Bob Maindelle, Central Texas Fishing Guide

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

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

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Wednesday morning I fished with long-time client Steve Niemeier of Temple, his 12-year-old grandson, Caleb Fowler from Belton, and his 14-year-old nephew, Tevin Gilmore, also from Belton.

Belton’s Tevin Gilmore with a 6.75 pound Belton Lake largemouth bass hooked with the Hazy Eye Stinger hook on the 3/8 oz. slab he was using to jig for white bass with.

From left: Steve Niemeier, Tevin Gilmore, and Caleb Fowler with a few of the white bass we kept for photos, and then released.

WHAT WE FISHED FOR: This was a multi-species trip focused on white bass.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday morning, 20 December, 2017

HOW WE FISHED:  With the water surface temperature staying in the high 50’s for some time now, we continued to use both smoking and easing tactics with 3/8 oz. and 3/4 oz. slabs with Hazy Eye Stinger hooks attached.  Only briefly did terns appear this morning, pointing the way to one area which produced about a dozen fish for us, otherwise, we were  ‘on our own’ to use sonar to find fish.  The fish we found under birds were in ~25 feet of water (the shallowest fish we would find on this trip), and those fish we found with sonar were in between 32 and 43 feet of water.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES:   N/A

TALLY: 126 FISH, all caught and released

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:15a

End Time:  11:30a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 47F

Water Surface Temp: 58.4F

Wind Speed & Direction: WNW7-10

Sky Conditions: Bright with <15% white cloud cover

Water Level: 2.78 feet low

GT = 55

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic B0003C

**Area vic 1867

**Area 2033

**Area vic 1552

**Area B0005C

 

Bob Maindelle, Central Texas Fishing Guide

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

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

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Monday morning I fished with Mr. Rick Snelgrooes, his son, Sean, as well as Sean’s buddy, Grant, and Rick’s father-in-law, Charlie.  Grant and Charlie reside in Orange Co., California, where Rick and his immediate family just moved to Liberty Hill, TX, from earlier this year.

 

Charlie, the Orange County hybrid hunter.

Grant, the Orange County drum major, with a 5.75 pound drum.

From left – Sean, Grant, Charlie, and Rick with a few of the 100+ white bass we landed under a blanket of fog this morning.

WHAT WE FISHED FOR: This was a multi-species trip focused on white bass.  We also landed a number of drum and hybrid striper, as well as one largemouth bass.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday morning, 18 December, 2017

HOW WE FISHED: Fog was a big factor in today’s efforts.  I delayed the start of our trip by 30 minutes to let the fog thin a little. We launched at 7:45a and began the hunt for fish.  I did not think we’d enjoy any bird action today, but, to my surprise, just shortly after 8:00a, I spotted about 15 terns working over about 2 acres of water with solid fish beneath.  The fog now played in our favor as we could see these birds nearby, but more distant boat traffic could not, so we enjoyed about 2 hours of peaceful fishing as the birds led the way to success.  We put 91 fish in the boat by 9:45a using primarily a smoking tactic in combination with 3/8 oz. slabs with Hazy Eye Stinger hooks attached fishing in 34-36′.  This catch was made up of nearly 100% white bass.  After this action simmered down, we continued looking for fish, still under very foggy conditions.  That fog now hindered our ability to see birds, so, we then relied strictly on sonar.  As I graphed an area I felt had potential, we were blessed to have some brief bird action break out about 80 yards from us.  Once we “read” the birds, we got on the fish beneath them and put another 33 fish in the boat from out of 43′.  Because the potential for hybrid appeared better at this area, we went with 3/4 oz. slabs on slightly heavier rods.  By 10:50, the morning bite was over and the wind laid down for the first time all morning.  We called it a good trip right then and got the two teens (with zero body fat!) back into the van to absorb some heat.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES:   N/A

TALLY: 133 FISH, all caught and released

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:45a

End Time:  11:15a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  49F

Water Surface Temp:  58.3F

Wind Speed & Direction:  NW10, shifting to NNW13-14 around 10a

Sky Conditions:  High, thin, grey cloud cover at 100% in the eastern half of the sky, slowly creeping westward at a rate sufficient to keep the direct sun from shining on the water at any time during this morning’s trip.

Water Level: 2.81 feet low

GT = 110

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area B0002C & B0003C – 91 fish under birds

**Area vic 1483/355 – 33 fish under birds

 

Bob Maindelle, Central Texas Fishing Guide

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

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

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Thursday morning I fished with Mr. Al Trevino of San Antonio, TX.  Al graduated from Holy Cross High School back in the day and has remained close friends with a number of his classmates, including David G. who resides in Nolanville.  Dave was kind enough to put Al up for the night and feed him so he didn’t have to make a long, early morning drive for our 7:15a trip start.  Al has been in the sprinkler installation and repair business for 38 years, and now at nearly 60 years old, wants to downshift a bit, hence the getaway from the job for a little R&R on Lake Belton.

 

Al Trevino of San Antonio took his already solid “bite detection skills” which he’s developed using ultralight tackle in fishing for crappie and adapted well to the tactics we employed for white bass.  This led to a much better than average “hook to land ratio” for Al.

 

WHAT WE FISHED FOR: This was a multi-species trip focused on white bass.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday morning, 14 December, 2017

HOW WE FISHED: Our trip broke down into two distinct parts.  From trip’s start and until 9:30a, we jigged slowly for white bass which were congregated in moderate-sized schools in ~36′ on bottom. These fish were pretty reluctant to charge a bait, so, we fished with an “easing” tactic and enjoyed a steady pick of 49 fish before the bite shut down in this segment of the lake.  From 9:30a and until the fishing shut down altogether for the morning around 11:15a, we initially contacted a very large group of fish (several hundred individuals in the school) in 43′ on bottom.  The location of these fish was revealed to us as we watched for bird activity, and, although the birds action over these fish was slight and short-lived, it was enough of a clue to get us where we wanted to be.  We stayed in one “Spot-Lock” setting using the Ulterra for nearly 2 straight hours and put another 84 fish in the boat including white bass, short hybrid, largemouth bass, and freshwater drum.  These fish were much more aggressive and were duped by a smoking tactic.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES:   1) The bird activity on the main lake has fallen to near nil since this last cold front dropped the water surface temperatures into the high 50’s for the first time this fall.

TALLY: 133 FISH, all caught and released

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:15a

End Time:  11:30a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  46F

Water Surface Temp:  59.1F

Wind Speed & Direction:  NW10, shifting to NNW13-14 around 10a

Sky Conditions:  High, thin, grey cloud cover at 100% in the eastern half of the sky, slowly creeping westward at a rate sufficient to keep the direct sun from shining on the water at any time during this morning’s trip.

Water Level: 2.84 feet low

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area  960/1007 – easing for reluctant white bass on bottom through 9:30 for 49 fish

**Area 2059/1945 – smoking for aggressive mix of species in lower12′ of the water column thru 11:15a for an add’l 84 fish

 

Bob Maindelle, Central Texas Fishing Guide

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

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

The following is the text from my recent weekly column in the Killeen Daily Herald detailing a recent outing in which fellow guide Jason Weisberg and pursued striped bass on Lake Whitney on Dec. 13th…

As I meet and fish with folks from all over the nation (and, on occasion, some from other nations), I find it interesting how some are interested in catching great numbers of fish, regardless of size, while others prefer to hunt for fewer, but larger, fish.

Others focus on a particular style of fishing, while some focus on a particular species. Some anglers keep lists of their ‘personal bests,’ and some keep tabs on the variety of species they are able to tempt and land.

If you are an angler falling into this latter category and have yet to add the freshwater striped bass to your species list, this article is for you.

The cool months of the year at our latitude here in Central Texas tend to produce striped bass more readily than the warmer months do.

In fact, it is partly because of the freshwater striped bass’ inability to tolerate heat that fisheries biologists developed the hybrid striped bass by crossing striped bass with white bass to produce a fish more capable of tolerating the high water temperatures found in our nation’s southeastern and southwestern reservoirs.

Within a short drive of the Killeen area are two excellent striped bass lakes known for producing solid numbers of smaller fish up to 25 to 27 inches in length, which weigh 4 to 5 pounds.

To our north, just northwest of Waco, is Lake Whitney, a 23,500-acre reservoir on the Brazos River. To our west, just west of Burnet, is Lake Buchanan, a 22,200-acre reservoir on the Colorado River.

Both lakes are oriented generally north and south lengthwise with the main river channel flowing in from the north, and with their dams located on the southern ends.

I enjoyed a ‘guide’s day off’ trip to each lake over the past two weeks to sample the fishing for striped bass. On December 13, I was accompanied by fellow guide Jason Weisberg of Round Rock on a trip to Lake Whitney. The weather conditions were less than ideal with a 26-degree starting temperature before sunrise and nearly cloudless skies. We did have a southerly breeze at under 10 miles per hour, which was helpful.

On this trip we fished out of my custom-made Maritime 2090 equipped with a Minn Kota Ulterra trolling motor, Lowrance Carbon 16 sonar, and a Humminbird Solix 15 sonar.

In review, we caught 101 of our 106 fish by 11:15 a.m., despite staying though 3 p.m. continuing to search for additional catchable fish. We caught a mix of striped bass and white bass; Lake Whitney does not have hybrid striped bass.

Bird activity to the east side of the Brazos River channel at mid-lake helped us locate a majority of the fish we caught. Our best fish came on soft plastic swimbaits which were cast long distances and retrieved rapidly along the deep flats adjacent to the river channel in 25 to 30 feet of water.

More, but smaller, striped bass and white bass were taken with vertical tactics using slabs in the same areas.

Using the Spot Lock feature on the Ulterra was helpful in maintaining position over top of the fish we worked to find.

On Tuesday, I fished in cool, windless, rainy conditions on Lake Buchanan with Triton Boats and Texas Boat World pro staffer Ronnie Trower of Harker Heights. Although this day’s conditions were also less than ideal, we managed to put white bass, hybrid striped bass, freshwater striped bass, largemouth bass and spotted bass in the boat on this multispecies effort.

On this trip, we fished out of Trower’s new Triton 22TrX Elite bass boat equipped with Lowrance Carbon 12 sonar and a Minn Kota Ultrex trolling motor.

We found the largemouth bass and spotted bass in 10-16 feet on rocks, and the temperate bass (whites, stripers, and hybrid) near the river channel and under birds, just as they presented themselves at Whitney.

The largemouth and spots fell for Carolina-rigged soft plastics in dark, natural hues, whereas the temperate bass fell for shad-imitators including silver slabs, white slabs and shad-colored swimbaits.

Both vertical and horizontal retrieves fooled the stripers, hybrid and white bass. As is a standard practice on my boat anytime slabs are used, we rigged our slabs with Hazy Eye Stinger hooks.

Because of their size, both lakes harbor populations of gulls and terns year-round, but the most helpful bird activity typically takes place from November through early March.

If you go, allowing the weatherman to assist you is a wise move. Look for southeast, south or southwesterly breezes from 9-15 mph and abundant cloud cover. I have never encountered such conditions in the winter and not found the fish willing to bite.

A 90-minute drive and donning some warm clothing is all that stands between you and adding the freshwater striped bass to your species list.

 

http://kdhnews.com/sports/fishing/bob-maindelle-freshwater-striped-bass-just-a-short-drive-away/article_0344e04e-e871-11e7-8449-5f4d02df6c14.html