Fishing Report

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Sunday evening I fished with returning guest ex-Navy SeaBee Mac McElroy of Harker Heights and his brother-in-law, Charlie Walters, a retired U.S. Army judge from the DFW area.  I rarely take booking on Sundays, but, due to these fellows’ schedule and the fact that I wanted to avoid the poor weather conditions which were forecast for our originally scheduled trip time on Saturday morning (cold and wet) we went ahead with this Sunday afternoon outing when the forecast showed some improvement.  Charlie tried to get Mac’s goat a few times about catching the largest fish of the trip, but Mac kept cool and steadily plucked white bass both snap-jigging and using an easing tactic.

 

Charlie Walters with a nice 3.75 pound hybrid taken during the first hour of our trip in deep, clear water while we still had fog and low light with calm conditions.

 

From left: Mac McElroy and Charlie Walters with fish from the 2016 year class.  The photo is a bit grainy because it was taken right at dark.  The several fish we caught right at dark rose as high in the water column as I’ve seen white bass rise since the lake cooled rapidly in January.

 

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

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Sunday evening, 18 February 2018

HOW WE FISHED:   We fished vertically 100% of the time this evening.  We fished 3/8 oz. slabs with Hazy Eye Stingers in deep water for smaller fish when bird activity was lacking, then stuck with these same slabs during some brief bird action, mainly because the bite was tentative most of the trip.  Although we were due to have SE winds at 15+, no winds developed, and, as it typical under mild wind conditions, the bite was also pretty mild.  We found fish in deep, clear water under grey skies during the first 90 minutes of the trip, experienced a 1-hour lull in the middle of the trip as the skies cleared rapidly, and then took our fish count from just 18 fish landed up to a total of 62 fish with the majority of these caught in the last 75 minutes, right up until dark.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES:   1) The water is slowly warming due to more mild conditions and increasing day length.  2) The suspended fish we caught at low light rose as high in the water column as I have seen fish go so far in this late winter season — that being just 9-12 feet beneath the surface.

TALLY: 62 FISH, all caught and released

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 2:15p

End Time:  6:30p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  56F

Water Surface Temp:  53.4F

Wind Speed & Direction:  Light and variable through 5:30pm, then SSW at <5.

Sky Conditions:  Heavy, low cloud cover and fog to the point of limiting visibility to about a mile for the first 90 minutes, then rapidly clearing and warming.

Water Level: 3.53 feet low

GT = 40

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area B0036C – in 45′

**Area B0037C – 2 short hops in 44′

**Area B0039C to B0040C – 5 short hops in 32-35′

**Area B0038C – low light bite for fish steadily rising in the water column to within 9-12 feet of the surface by dark

 

 

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 in bold italics is excerpted from the Killeen Daily Herald’s 18 February 2018 edition…

http://kdhnews.com/sports/fishing/bob-maindelle-fort-hood-siblings-help-skiff-program-reach-milestone/article_e31b7bee-147a-11e8-b1b4-c315494bdb9f.html

Back in the fall of 2017, Alison Errington of Fort Hood contacted me for more information about the Fort Hood SKIFF (Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun) program.

CAPTION: Brooke Errington, left, Roy Adams, center, and Billy Errington enjoyed a four-hour Soldiers Kids in Fishing Fun program trip Thursday. The 149 fish caught by the siblings put the cumulative total number of fish landed by those participating in the program since 2009 over the 10,000 mark.

This program is funded by the donations and fundraising efforts of the members of the Austin Fly Fishers, a fly-fishing club which meets monthly in Austin. The program offers free, four-hour guided fishing trips by boat on both Belton Lake and Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir. In so doing, the Austin Fly Fishers hope to help ease the strain on military families which occurs when a military parent must be separated from his or her spouse and children due to military duty.

After the four-hour trip concluded, resulting in a catch of 44 fish, Alison knew her two older kids, 15-year-old Billy and 17-year-old Brooke, would enjoy such an adventure as well.

Fast forward to this past week. Once again Alison contacted me, this time to arrange a trip for Brooke and Billy.

After looking at the weather, Thursday’s conditions appeared excellent in that we were forecast to have southerly winds, ample gray cloud cover, and above-average temperatures toward the end of a warming trend, with a mild cold front moving in the following day.

We met at Belton Lake at 2:15 p.m., intending to fish until sunset at around 6:15. The kids were accompanied by their maternal grandfather, Roy Adams, who rode along as a non-angler. Adams resides in central Pennsylvania and arranged to escape the cold winter weather for a few weeks by visiting his daughter and grandchildren here in Texas.

After setting up the spinning reels appropriately for Billy and Brooke, both of whom are right-handed, I showed them the two most common tactics we would employ in pursuit of white bass. After showing them these tactics, I then had them demonstrate the tactics for me so I could coach them on any adjustments they would need to make in order to be successful.

We then headed out in pursuit of fish.

We were fortunate in that we were able to find bottom-oriented fish loosely congregated in about 33 feet of water at the first location we searched with sonar. As the kids got more adept at presenting their 3/8-ounce slabs and detecting bites, they began to steadily catch fish, including one- and two-year-old white bass. We continued catching fish for a full 90 minutes at this first area.

When the action at our first location waned, we cranked up the outboard and moved locations, hoping to find another population of fish willing to bite. As we rode, I spotted two terns which appeared to be feeding on shad. I slowed the boat and observed these terns from a distance. The birds’ feeding activity quickly escalated and soon over 30 gulls and terns were flying and diving atop a small area of water, eating the small baitfish which were being crippled and killed by the hungry, feeding fish beneath them.

Seeing this develop, I advised Billy and Brooke to grab different rods with heavier ¾-ounce lures tied on and gave them some instructions on how to work these baits for the suspended fish we had encountered. These fish were holding between 35- and 45-feet deep over a 53-foot bottom.

Our catch rate soared as these aggressive fish fell for our presentations, which very closely matched the size, color and profile of the threadfin shad they were feeding on. By the time the sun had set and the fish stopped feeding, we had landed 149 fish.

Brooke, a senior at Killeen High School, plans to attend Kansas State University and double-major in nutrition and kinesiology to prepare for a career in occupational therapy for special-needs children.

Billy, a sophomore at Killeen, has his sights set on studying architecture as a Golden Gopher at the University of Minnesota.

The siblings’ 149 fish landed Thursday put the cumulative total number of fish caught over the span of the SKIFF program over the 10,000-fish mark. This was the second most productive SKIFF trip ever, falling just short of the 153 fish landed by Cody and Cady McNeal in 2014. The average catch is just over 25 fish per child.

SKIFF began in May 2009 and has placed 391 children on the water. The vast majority of these kids have been from the Fort Hood community, but others have come from as far away as the Dallas-Fort Worth area and from Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio.

Those interested in coordinating a SKIFF trip may call 254-368-7411. Children age 10 and older may fish any time of year. Trips for children ages 5 to 9 take place in the warmer months from early May through the end of September.

TALLY: 149 FISH, all caught and released

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 2:15p

End Time:  6:15p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  67F

Water Surface Temp:  52.5F

Wind Speed & Direction:  SSE15-17

Sky Conditions:  <30%  white cloud cover

Water Level: 3.51 feet low

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT: N/A

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic 382 – snap-jigging and easing in ~34′ for smaller fish prior to start of bird activity

**Area triangulated by B0033C/34C/35C – all aggressive, larger white bass in 35-45′ over a deeper bottom, with fish drawing nearer to the surface as the light failed at sunset.

 

 

 

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 evening I fished with Sophal “Paul” Korng of Harker Heights and his friend, Stan Myer.  Both men are originally from Cambodia and came to the U.S. in the late 80’s.  Paul and his family established the “Top Donut” chain of stores around Central Texas.  My two-man crew really paid attention to the details of the snap-jigging tactic which is nearly mandatory in this still-cold water.  Thanks to that attention to detail, they began to catch fish right off the bat and just got better as the afternoon went on.  I first got to know Paul when a friend and fishing client, Jerry Worley, referred Paul to me after learning of his interest in fishing.

 

 

Sophal (Paul) Korng of Harker Heights landed several nice largemouth and his fair share of our 100+ white bass as the water slowly warms on Lake Belton.

 

Stan Myer, who recently moved to Central Texas from Oregon where he fished routinely for sturgeon, put all of the keeper hybrid we landed today in the boat during a short spurt of activity under birds around 4pm.  This one went 4.25 pounds.

 

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

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday evening, 08 February 2018

HOW WE FISHED:   We fished vertically 100% of the time this evening.  We fished 3/8 oz. slabs with Hazy Eye Stingers in deep water for smaller fish when bird activity was lacking, then switched over to 3/4 oz. slabs and used a slow-smoking tactic under birds for more aggressive, large white bass and hybrid.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES:   1) The water temperature was up to 52.1 from a low of 47.4 just about 3 weeks ago.  2) The fish we found (albeit briefly during the wind shift) under birds were active and suspended.  They responded best to a slow-smoked slab. 3) The fish we found on bottom with sonar were all 2017 year class fish; the suspended fish under birds were primarily larger, 2015 year class fish – some of the consistently largest white bass I’ve seen since October.

TALLY: 111 FISH, all caught and released

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 2:00p

End Time:  6:05p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  53F

Water Surface Temp:  52.1F

Wind Speed & Direction:  NNE3-6 at trip’s start, then shifting ENE6-8 with an increase of clouds around 4:00pm

Sky Conditions:  30% high, thin white cloud cover, increasing slowly to grey 90% coverage by trip’s end

Water Level: 3.45 feet low

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic B0026C

**Area B0031C and one short hop shallower under birds

**Area vic 1945

**Area B0032C after seeing 2 terns look “fishy”

 

 

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 3 members of the Alabama National Guard:  Staff Sergeant Marcus Stacks of Andalusia, AL, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Ray Aldridge of Athens, AL, and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Bobby Garrett of Wetumpka, AL.  These fellows have been at North Fort Hood for about a month assisting their unit in deploying prior to deploying themselves.

 

From left: Bobby Garrett, Marcus Stacks, and Ray Aldridge of the Alabama National Guard fished a half-day trip with me on Belton in pursuit of deep, cold white bass.

 

Just before noon we saw this Army bridging boat loaded down with men and equipment heading up the Leon to make repairs to the pumphouse at the mouth of Bull Creek.

 

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

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday morning, 25 January 2018

HOW WE FISHED:   With a surface temperature of 49.3F thanks to a clear night dropping ambient air temperatures down to 28F, the fish remained deep and sluggish.  We caught 100% of our fish via snap-jigging with a prolonged pause using 3/8 oz. slabs with Hazy Eye Stinger hooks attached.  We landed a mixed bag of white bass, short hybrid striped bass, blue catfish, and largemouth bass from 36 to 48 feet deep.  Ray prefers deep, finesse fishing for largemouth and smallmouth on the deep drops and ledges he fishes in the lakes of northern Alabama.  His experience in this manner of fishing translated into success in jigging for white bass as he hooked a greater percentage of his fish that bit, and landed more of the fish he hooked than

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES:   1) Several times what appeared as marginal sonar returns turned into solid schools of active fish because the fish were so tight to the bottom to begin with and in such deep water that sonar just didn’t sense all of them. 2) No bird action.

TALLY: 74 FISH, all caught and released

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:30a

End Time:  11:55a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  28F

Water Surface Temp:  49.3F

Wind Speed & Direction:  Winds were calm for the first 3 hours.  A light and variable SE breeze under 7mph developed around 10a.

Sky Conditions:  Less than 10% thin, white cloud cover

Water Level: 3.29 feet low

GT = 65

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic 382 – a solid 90 minutes of catching starting right at sunrise

**Area vic B0010C

**Area vic 1940

 

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 Saturday afternoon I fished the year’s first SKIESUnlimited Program trip with 9-year-old Gracie McCombs.  Not to be confused with SKIFF (for kids separated from a military parent by that parent’s military duty), SKIESUnlimited is available to all military kids at a reasonable fee.  That fee may be paid for through credit families receive when a military sponsor deploys.  Gracie had fished before in Oregon and remember catching what she called “some kind of a bottom-feeder”.

 

This sonar screenshot taken on my Lowrance Carbon 16 shows a school of white bass in 68 feet of water and in a feeding posture.  One of the white bass we caught from this group regurgitated a nearly fresh 2.5″ long threadfin shad.

 

Thankfully, Gracie did not tire with the repetition it took to put fish in the boat as we carefully timed the slow rhythm of our retrieves to goad the deep, sluggish fish into biting.

 

 

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

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

WHEN WE FISHED: Saturday, 20 January 2018

HOW WE FISHED:   Fishing was slow in the first 3 hours of our trip, allowing us just 9 fish (and a few more missed).  The fish turned on, as is typical under the conditions we faced, during the last hour leading up to sunset.  During this time we nearly tripled our catch, taking our tally up to 26 fish.  We landed 25 white bass and 1 largemouth.  The fish were very deep and very sluggish.  I found some fish up to 70 feet down.  We used both deadstick tactics with soft plastics, and extremely slow “smoking” tactics with slabs to catch the fish we caught after finding them with sonar, then using the i-Pilot Link function to put fish on down-imaging in the crosshairs and send the trolling motor to park on top of them.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES:   1) Snap-jigging would draw fish, but the slow-smoking and deadsticking is what triggered the fish to bite.  2) Schools of fish are tightly bunched in deep water.

TALLY: 26 FISH, all caught and released

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 1:30p

End Time:  5:50p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  63F

Water Surface Temp:  47.4 to 48.2F

Wind Speed & Direction:  S16 and tapering to S10 by trip’s end

Sky Conditions: 10% thin, white cloud cover

Water Level: 3.9 feet low

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT: N/A

 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 1319 thru SH0006C

**Area vic SH0007C

 

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 returning guests Rick Snelgrooes of Liberty Hill, TX, his 13-year-old son, Sean, Sean’s buddy Damian Gullo (age 16), Rick’s 9-year-old granddaughter, Piper Sutherland, and Piper’s dad, Ian Sutherland from the Los Angeles, CA, area.  This would be the last fishable weather prior to the arrival of a much publicized winter storm which shut most of Texas down on Tuesday, 16 Jan. with the threat of ice and snow and temperatures well below freezing.

Grandpa Rick Snelgrooes led the charge today with our first fish caught and a number of healthy largemouth bass boated.  His prior experience from two previous trips during this cool water period helped flatten his learning curve this morning.

Everyone caught fish all morning long:  from the left — Damian Gullo, Piper Sutherland, Rick Snelgrooes, Sean Snelgrooes, and Ian Sutherland

Ian picked up this nice drum that moved in to vacuum up the mess left behind by the white bass we caught as they regurgitated partially digested shad and defecated due to stress as we reeled them in.

Rick helps Miss Piper, his granddaughter, hoist a freshwater drum (nicknamed gaspergou) of her own.

Rick capped off the trip with yet another nice, deepwater largemouth taken in 48′ in the last 20 minutes of our trip.

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

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday, 15 January 2018

HOW WE FISHED:   We enjoyed mild, pre-frontal conditions this morning warming to the low 50’s as we left the lake.  The fish started feeding right at sunrise and stayed moderately active for a full 3 hours.  Right at 10:30a to around 11:15a, coinciding with an increase in the wind, the fish activity picked up noticeably, allowing us to use afaster, more aggressive “easing” tactic versus the low and slow “snap-jigging” we had to use prior to this time.  Proper bait adjustment off bottom was absolutely essential as all of the fish caught via snap-jigging were glued tight to the bottom.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES:   1) During the time we used the snap-jigging technique, a full 2+ second pause was necessary to get bit consistently.

TALLY: 105 FISH, all caught and released

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:20a

End Time:  11:45a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  42F

Water Surface Temp:  51.2

Wind Speed & Direction:  SSE2-6

Sky Conditions: 80% thin, grey cloud cover

Water Level: 3.12 feet low

GT = 115

Wx SNAPSHOT: 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 382 – snap jigging; 2 hops both in ~34-36′

**Area vic B0028C – snap jigging; 3 hops in 30′

**Area vic B0021C – snap jigging and easing; 2 hops in 49-51′

 

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 Saturday evening I fished with U.S. Army Major Michael Byrnes and his oldest two children, Evelyn (age 13) and Michael (age 10).  We were originally supposed to fish over the holidays, but the weather just didn’t cooperate.  The delay worked out well, as it allowed Major Byrnes to accompany the kids on their big adventure.  Major Byrnes and his wife, Lyndsay, decided to move their family to Fort Hood for just 1 year from their home in Marshall, Wisconsin, instead of being separated from dad after he was called onto active duty to serve at Fort Hood with the 646th Regional Support Group.  This unit helps all National Guard and Reserve units coming through Ft. Hood to get logistically prepared for deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan.  This was the year’s first SKIFF (Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun) trip provided to military kids free of charge courtesy of the Austin Fly Fishers since 2009.

From left: Major Michael Byrnes, his son, Michael Byrnes, and Evelyn Byrnes, each with a 2-year class white bass caught in the last hour of the day from a near-motionless school we found suspended over a channel beneath birds.

Evelyn with our largest fish of the trip.

Michael with the first fish of his life, which earned him a TPWD “First Fish Award”

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

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED: Saturday afternoon, 13 January 2018

HOW WE FISHED:  We fished a full four hours.  As is typical of afternoon trips, we more than doubled our catch in the last hour.  Our first 3 hours were spent in deeper, clear water vertically jigging for white bass seen holding in schools on bottom.  We used snap-jigging and a slow easing tactic to catch our first 33 fish by 4:45pm.  There were instances where deadsticking would have been appropriate, but, given that Evenlyn and Michael were brand new to fishing and that setting the hook while deadsticking was going to be tough to get the hang of on their first trip out, I left that tactic alone.  In the final hour of our trip, a flock of helpful terns and gulls got active over top of a nearly immobile school of white bass (with a few hybrid hanging around) in an area where a nearby channel cuts close to the bank.  We slowly smoked our slabs through this large, cooperative school and put a final 35 fish in the boat, including the several largest white bass of the trip.

During this trip, Evelyn landed the first fish of her life — a 17 3/8″ freshwater drum.  Michael also landed the first fish of his life — a 7.25″ white bass.  We caught a total of 2 drum, 5 hybrid striped bass, 3 largemouth bass, and 58 white bass.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES:   1) The cold water, north wind, high pressure, and clear skies today combined to really make the fish lethargic.  We saw way more fish on sonar than we had show interest in our baits.  In several instances, we only caught fish during the first few minutes our lures were dropped into a school; after catching 3 or 4, the fish just lost interest and settled back to bottom.

TALLY: 68 FISH, all caught and released

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 1:45p

End Time:  5:45p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  48F (then falling with an approaching cold front)

Water Surface Temp:  51.8 to 52.1F

Wind Speed & Direction:  N8-11

Sky Conditions: Clear, bluebird skies

Water Level: 3.14 feet low

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT: N/A

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area B0026C – deep jigging for small whites

**Area B0012C – deep jigging for small whites

**Area B0027C – mid-depth slow smoking for suspended 2 & 3 year class white bass

 

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 returning guest Dr. Michael Szkrybalo.  Michael is an emergency medicine physician who got his start in the U.S. Army and now works at Baylor Scott & White.  It was a wacky weather day and the fishing reflected that.  We began the day with what would be a high temperature of 56F, a balmy feel to the air, calm winds, and some thin fog.  Under these conditions we fished for nearly 2 fishless hours until a SE breeze began to move the water and the fish began to feed.  We caught the vast majority of our fish in about 90 minutes, between 10:30a and noon.  Nearly all of our fish were small, from the 2017 year class, but the action was steady during this “window” on slowly smoked 3/8 oz. slabs.  As I came off the lake, the winds were blowing at 20, gusting 25+ and the temperature had fallen to 50F.  By 3:30pm, the winds were blowing 30, gusting to 40, and the temperature had fallen to 41F.

This is what I refer to when I write about “year classes” of white bass.  The top fish is a 3-year-old white bass of ~13″, the fish in the center is a 2-year-old white bass of roughly 11.5″, and the fish on the bottom is a 1-year-old fish measuring about 8″.  In most  years on Belton and Stillhouse, we have some representation in at least the 1, 2, and 3 year-old fish classes.  Due to the past three year’s worth of spring water conditions (when the white bass spawn), the 2017 year class is by far the most abundant in both reservoirs right now.  Mike and I caught mainly 1 year class fish.

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

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday morning, 11 January 2018

HOW WE FISHED:  We fished in no less than 36 feet of water today, and out to as deep as 52 feet.  As the winds began to push from the SE and the bite slowly began, we used a snap-jigging tactic in very deep (45-52′) water.  As the winds built and shifted through the S, to the W, and then to the NW, the bite strengthened and went shallower.  During this window, a slow smoking tactic worked well during which time I sync’ed the rhythm of the thumper to the speed we needed to turn our spinning reel handles so as to avoid going too fast.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES:   1) The pre-frontal wind shift had everything to do with turning the fish on. 2) The arrival of cold, dry air on the  NNW wind had everything to do with turning the bite back off.

TALLY: 81 FISH, all caught and released

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:20a

End Time:  12:30p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  56F (then falling with an approaching cold front)

Water Surface Temp:  52.8F

Wind Speed & Direction:  Calm until around 9:20, then light SE until 10:30, then swinging quickly through S, to W, to NNW and building to 20+

Sky Conditions: 100% cloud cover with light fog with slow clearing to 30% by the time the front roared in

Water Level: 3.09 feet low

GT = 10

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic 1177

**Area B0014C (with 2 short hops)

**Area 382 (with 2 short hops)

 

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 afernoon I fished with Willis Creed and his son, Skyler Creed, from north central Missouri.  Willis is a timber-framed home builder and Skyler is a college student at Missouri State University in Columbia.  The two came down to Texas to visit some friends and go hog hunting here in Central Texas, and decided to “mix it up” a little and do some fishing after the weather moderated a bit.  Since the cold weather we experienced here wasn’t nearly as cold as what these fellows are used to back home up north, they didn’t mind hunting and fishing in the cold — it’s all relative, I suppose!  Either way, all three of us enjoyed fishing Belton with near zero boat traffic.

From left: Willis and Skyler Creed of Missouri with a mixed bag of fish we took in 30 feet of water while working slabs with a finesse tactic.  The pair boated 89 fish in water with a surface temperature around 51-52F.

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

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED: Friday afternoon, 05 January 2018

HOW WE FISHED:  We fished primarily in deep, 42+ foot water today until our very last stop, which came in 28-30′.  We fish with just two retrieves: slow smoking for suspended and more active bottom-oriented fish, and snap-jigging for non-aggressive bottom-oriented fish.  100% of our fish were taken on the smaller 3/8 oz. slab with the Hazy Eye Stinger Hook attached.  We used an extended pause while snap-jigging and found many of our fish came on the pause.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES:   1) Today, out of necessity, we stopped on what I would normally consider marginal sonar returns.  The extended cold snap really did impact the fishery, dropping our water temperatures about 6 degrees in just 5 days.  Fish were hard to find and definitely not heavily schooled, nor feeding aggressively.  Therefore, when I saw any fish activity, we stopped, worked over top of them and figured out if we could get them turned on.  This worked out for us at about 3 of the 6 or 7 areas we patrolled and paved the way to a respectable 89 fish afternoon as we enjoyed a slow warmup.

TALLY: 89 FISH, all caught and released

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 1:45p

End Time:  5:50p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  48F

Water Surface Temp:  52.1F

Wind Speed & Direction:  SSE at 10-12 all afternoon

Sky Conditions: <10% scattered white cloud cover

Water Level: 3.00 feet low

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area B0026C

**Area B0025C

**Area 1024

**Area 163 (out a bit deeper than the waypoint, and with 2 short hops)

 

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

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