Fishing Report

This Tuesday morning, December 22, I fished a morning trip on Belton Lake in pursuit of hybrid striped bass and white bass with Ray Behan and his wife, Gaby.

Gaby and Ray Behan with a sampling of the 103 fish they caught while “learning the ropes” on Belton this morning.

Ray is an Army aviator with 24 years of service to the nation.  He is a Chief Warrant Officer 3 flying the Apache attack helicopter and is currently assigned to a cavalry unit on Fort Hood. Gaby previously served as a nurse in the US Army.  After leaving active duty, she began to pursue her Bachelor of Science in nursing through the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton, Texas.

We had a bit of a rough start this morning. In the first two hours on the water, we only boated eight fish. The winds were nearly calm, the morning was cold and clear, and the fish and birds just didn’t have their game on under those conditions.

Without birds to lead the way, we relied on sonar to find our fish this morning. At around 9:15 I located a large shoal of fish holding on a major breakline between 27 and 30 feet deep. On our first pass with sonar, I detected several hundred fish in this large congregation. As soon we got set up over these fish using the Minn Kota Spot Lock feature, we begin to catch fish steadily.

In our last two hours on the water we put an additional 95 fish in the boat until they began to taper off around 11. By 11:20 the action was done and we called it a good day with 103 fish boated.

After this trip, and another fished with a party of three in the afternoon, I took my wife to the movies for “date night”.  When we returned home, I received this really nice note from Ray, who granted permission to share it:

First off…… we had a great day fishing with you, when we showed up, I was hoping to just CATCH a fish, as we haven’t had much luck this winter.   To not only catch many fish, but use the time to discuss techniques, signs, learn how to interpret my fishfinder, all in one trip…… it was more than worth getting up at O dark thirty.   You were professional, honest, and willing to miss lunch to let us keep fishing, and we both appreciate it.   I just hope that you DIDN’T miss lunch…..   Neither Gaby nor I wanted to reel in the lines and go home, we were having such a good time, catching so many fish this near to Christmas….. thank you !   We will definitely be seeing you again, as the seasons change, and the techniques needed differ, we will be calling you to get out there and see how it is supposed to be done.  Thanks!

I really appreciate a client taking the time to write something like this.

TALLY = 103 FISH, all caught and released

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TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:15a

End Time:  11:40a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 46F

Water Surface Temp:  58-59F

Wind Speed & Direction: Light and variable until 9:15a, then turning SW5-7

Sky Conditions:  Bluebird

Water Level: 5.1 feet above full pool with 0.29 feet of water released in the past 24 hours.

Other: GT= 10

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area  1645/1648 – vertical jigging at low light; fish found with sonar

**Area  1666 & 1667 – vertical jigging 9:15 to 11:30; fish found with sonar on breakline here

Bob Maindelle

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Salado, TX

www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

www.Facebook.com/bobmaindelle

This evening, Friday, 18 Dec., I fished with Mr. Gabe Carreras and his 7-year-old son, Christian, of Round Rock, TX, and Gabe’s father-in-law, Chris, from Birmingham, AL.

From left: Christian and Gabe Carreras with a nice Lake Belton hybrid striped bass that came out of 22′ of water on a slab.

From left: Chris, Christian, and Gabe, each with one of the larger 13″ class white bass we boated this afternoon.

This trio fished with me earlier this year in early September when the topwater action on white bass and hybrid stripers was strong.  So, today’s slower vertical jigging approach was a real change-up for everyone.

This trip was an early Christmas present from Gabe and his wife to Chris and Christian.  The couple managed to keep this all a secret, however,  on Wednesday when grandma and grandpa suggested the family catch a movie together this evening, Gabe had to do some quick thinking to maintain the element of surprise.  He contacted me by email to see if we could bump the trip start time up a bit so the fishing trip AND the movie could both take place on Friday evening.

So, we planned on fishing from 1:00 to 5:00p.  As I watched the weather forecast develop and planned my trips this week, I left Wednesday and Thursday alone due to light north winds and bright skies.  I was eager to see today’s wind shift back to the south come in just in time for this trip.

There is an old fishermen’s rhyme that goes like this:

Winds from the west, fish bite best,

Winds from the east, fish bite least,

Winds from the south blow the hook in the fish’s mouth,

But winds from the north, the fisherman goes not forth!

Despite lingering post-frontal conditions, no sooner did the lake’s surface begin to ripple with the gentlest of southerly breezes than the fish turned on and stayed turned on all afternoon, which is a very good thing when you have a 7-year-ol on board!

Gabe had been keeping up with my blog/Facebook posts and seeing the handsome numbers of fish we’ve been putting in the boat, so, he shared this with Chris and Christian and the 3 wagered on our fish count.  Christian bet 121, Chris bet 124, and Gabe, by default, would win if we exceeded that 124 fish wager.

As it turned out, we put exactly 140 fish over the gunwales today, including only white bass and hybrid stripers (and no largemouth, drum, nor catfish as we seen in the past few outings).

The methodical jigging stroke we’ve been using the past 3 weeks or so continued to produce today when used in conjunction both with a 3/8 oz. slab and a 3/4 oz. slab.

As the clock struck 4:45p, we brought the lines in, cranked up the Honda, and pointed the bow for the boatramp so as not to jeopardize the 6:45p start of “Alvin & the Chipmunks”

TALLY = 140 FISH, all caught and released

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TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 1:00p

End Time:  5;00p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 54F

Water Surface Temp:  60F

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE5-6

Sky Conditions:  Bluebird

Water Level: 6.2 feet above full pool with 0.25 feet of water released in the past 24 hours.

Other: GT= 5

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area  1659/1623 found with sonar

**Area  173/1573 found with sonar

**Area  between 1664 & 1665 thanks to brief feeding display by 1 gull

**Area 415 found with sonar

**Area 1664 – returned here with limited time remaining after Area 415 played out.

Bob Maindelle

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Salado, TX

www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

www.Facebook.com/bobmaindelle

This morning, Tuesday, December 15, I fished a morning trip with Troy Hensley, his two-year-old son, Trace, and Alexander Moses.

Troy Hensley with two “keepers”: his son and apprentice angler, Trace, and an unidentified Lake Belton hybrid striped bass.

Louisiana transplant Alexander Moses and his best fish of the morning which fell for a 3/4 oz. slab — a dead-on match for the forage the white bass and hybrid stripers were feeding on today.

Troy is a U.S. Army combat veteran and member of Memorial Baptist Church in Killeen. He and Alexander, who recently moved to Harker Heights from Louisiana, became friends through one of the church’s small groups.

Our target this morning was white bass and hybrid striped bass. The conditions this morning were excellent. We had a south-southeast wind, heavy grey cloud cover, warm air temperatures (55F), and unseasonably warm water temperatures (59-60F).

We met at 7:15 AM, and by 7:30 AM were observing for signs of fish activity and signs of bird activity. Before long, we found both. The action today occurred in two distinct areas, and was spread out over a full 4+ hours. The approach at both areas was essentially the same. We used three-quarter ounce slabs to imitate the shad which the game fish in these areas were feeding upon.

Because the water temperature is still fairly high, we used a jigging stroke of moderate speed to attract white bass of all sizes, hybrid striped bass of all sizes, as well as numerous largemouth bass, and freshwater drum.

I did note that the flatter and shallow the areas we fished were, the more likely the fish were to be congregated on bottom. Deeper and more sloped areas tended to offer fishing both on the bottom and for fish that were suspended between the top and bottom.

The suspended fish tended to be larger hybrid striped bass, and we targeted them with a slow smoking tactic, instead of the moderate jigging tactic we used for the bottom oriented fish. By the time the winds went calm, and the bird activity ceased, at around 11:15 AM, we had amassed a catch of 124 fish.

Back in the summer, I had taken Alexander’s sister, niece and nephew out fishing on a SKIFF program trip. The kids caught 124 fish that day. Alexander pointed out this observation, but, I saw that “gleam” in his eye! He knew Ethan well enough to know that tying his nephew’s results was not going to raise any eyebrows. No, Alexander was out to beat 124 fish.

So, since he had expressed an interest earlier in the trip about how my downriggers work, I suggested we kill two birds with one stone and catch one final tie breaker fish on the downrigger. I rigged it up while explaining the process to Alexander, and, no sooner did we start watching the rod, then it “went off” on a small white bass – the 125th fish to enter the boat this morning!!

TALLY = 125 FISH, all caught and released

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TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:15a

End Time:  11:15a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 55F

Water Surface Temp:  59-60F

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE 9-10 until 11am, then going slack

Sky Conditions:  100% heavy grey skies with light fog from 7:15 to 7:30a

Water Level: 6.81 feet above full pool with 0.09 feet of water gained in the past 24 hours from the ~2″ of rain that fell early Sunday AM

Other: GT= 0

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area  1663 first action under birds

**Area  1647/1652 under birds

**Area  Vic 133 under birds

**Area Vic 1129 under birds

**Area  153 last action under birds

Bob Maindelle

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Salado, TX

www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

www.Facebook.com/bobmaindelle

On Monday morning, December 14, I fished with Pastor Jimmy Low, Pastor Tom Zintgraff, and Tom’s son, James Zintgraff, who works in the cardiology department at Scott and White Hospital in Temple.  Jimmy and Tom both minister at the Heritage Church, near the new Cinemark Theater on I-35 in Temple.

Pastor Jimmy Low took big fish honors this morning with this freshwater drum (a.k.a. gaspergou) which fell for his slab right at sunrise.

Pastor Tom Zentgraff took this hybrid striper from out of an aggressive, mobile school of fish which attracted the attention of ring-billed gulls, which, in turn, attracted our attention.

James Zentgraff was very consistent in his technique this morning, and was rewarded with white bass, hybrid stripers, and freshwater drum .

Pastor Tom Zentgraff caught this rare warmouth.  There is no warmouth on the recordbooks for Belton Lake, so, he’s “starting the bidding” at 1/8 pound.

I was a bit concerned about this morning’s trip, given that we had just come off of a cold front which moved in late Saturday night into Sunday morning, and given the forecast for bright skies and light winds.  Well before dawn, as I got my first glimpse of Belton Lake, I could see a light wind was already at work on the surface, causing a ripple. My expectations for the trip increased as sunrise drew near and the winds increased.

As we launched around 7:15 AM, plenty of bird life was already in the air scouting for breakfast.  By 7:35 AM the first bird action directly connected to fish activity began to unfold. The birds stayed active for a full two and half hours and then quit around the same time the winds went calm, right at 10 AM. By 10 AM, we had already put 103 fish in the boat, but our task got infinitely harder at this point given the bright skies and calm conditions I initially thought we’re going to face us the entire morning.

I left this population of fish and searched for an entirely new population of fish, hoping that the change of venue would lead us to some fish that could be finessed with smaller lures and more intentional jigging tactics. By 10:15 we had arrived in the area I’d hoped to find fish.  Sonar revealed a few fish along a deep, gentle breakline and in a feeding posture, just slightly up off the bottom in about 30 to 33 feet of water. We changed over to 3/8 ounce slabs and jigged more slowly and more intentionally, and did get a few fish excited. We landed 27 additional fish in our last hour on the water in this area.

We would pull up on some fish, use the Minnkota to Spot Lock over top of them, and catch what was there; the only problem with such sluggish fish, however, was that nearby fish would not come over out of curiosity to see what was going on.  Rather, we had to move a boat length or two to the left or right in order to go to them.

During this final hour on the water, Tom and landed a very rare catch. He put a 1/8 pound warmouth, which is a small, wide-mouthed, brown colored member of the sunfish family, in the boat. Because no lake record for this species exists, we measured and weighed it end entered it on Tom’s behalf as a new lake record for that species, despite it being a fairly small fish.

By 11:15, the wind had completely died, there were no birds in sight, and the bite had wound down to nothing. We called it a day with exactly 131 fish landed in 4.25 hours of effort.

TALLY = 131 FISH, all caught and released

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TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:00a

End Time:  11:15a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 48F

Water Surface Temp:  59.9F

Wind Speed & Direction: S7 at sunrise, increasing to S10 in the next 2 hours, then going slack by 10:15am

Sky Conditions:  Bluebird skies.

Water Level: 6.69 feet above full pool with 0.27 feet of water gained in the past 24 hours from the ~2″ of rain that fell early Sunday AM

Other: GT= 25

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area  Vic 1648 first action under birds

**Area  Vic 1069 under birds

**Area  Vic 133 under birds

**Area Vic 1125 last action under birds

**Area  Vic 619 with 3 short hops along same contour w/fish found via sonar

Bob Maindelle

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Salado, TX

www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Wow!  What a trip!  On the afternoon of Saturday, 12 Dec., I conducted a “make-up” fishing trip for 9-year-old Zack Giertz and his 7-year-old brother, Nathaniel.

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7-year-old Nathaniel Giertz landed this 15.75 inch, 2.00 pound white bass, thus beating the existing Junior Angler white bass lake record that has stood since 2010.

9-year-old Zack Giertz landed the largest fish of the trip, this freshwater drum that weighed in right at 3 pounds.

We originally planned to fish the Saturday following Thanksgiving, but a wet cold front put the brakes on that outing.

The timing on this trip was intended to beat the arrival of the next cold front which would arrive around 1:30 AM Sunday morning. We enjoyed grey cloud cover, an unseasonably warm ambient air temperature of 72F, and an even more unseasonably warm water surface temperature of 62F. The only thing that hindered was a bit of rain and the winds — the direction (south) was ideal, but the velocity (20 and gusting higher) was dicey. Seeing the NOAA prediction for calming winds around 15-16mph for the afternoon, we decided to head out at that time instead of risking a morning trip.

As we got going, I tried to learn a bit about the Giertz family. Matt, the boys’ father is currently deployed with the U.S. Army in Kuwait. Liz, the boys’ mom, is a 1997 U.S. Military Academy graduate who left active duty when she and Matt started their family. Liz was attending a fundraiser in support of Fort Hood’s Santa’s Workshop when one of the vendors there, Beads for Life entrepreneur LeaAnn Crawford, saw Liz alone with her boys and mentioned the SKIFF (Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun) program fishing trips I offer. Ft. Hood Chaplain Bill Shelnutt had also mentioned this program to Liz, so, she decided to give me a call.

The fish were in a strong, pre-frontal feeding mode, so much so that we saw light surface action at 2 of the 3 locations we fished, and bird action at one of these locations. The fish were so aggressive that there were times when I watched on sonar as bottom-oriented fish rose 6-8 feet off bottom to attack our descending slabs.

As we used i-Pilot technology to hover over the first area I’d chosen to try, I attempted to give the boys instructions on the slow jigging tactics we’d be using with spinning tackle. I first instructed Nathaniel on how to open his bail and ensure his line was on bottom, then, I turned my attention to Zack. By the time I was half-way through tutoring Zack, Nathaniel had his first fish on and was shouting in excitement on the port side. As I went over to Nathaniel to unhook his fish, Zack hooked and landed his first fish and was now shouting in excitement over on the starboard side.

And so it went for nearly four hours of fish-catching fun in the blowing rain.

Zack got the idea early that we might be able to catch 100 fish, after our first stop of the trip yielded 26 fish in under 40 minutes. He kept mentally comparing our “catch to date” with the time remaining in the trip, and kept his eyes set on that 100 fish goal.

As we steadily caught fish, including white bass, hybrid striped bass, largemouth bass, and freshwater drum, the boys really got the hang of jigging, and rarely required much coaching after the first hour.

In our third hour on the water, Nathaniel hooked into something much larger than the average white bass we’d been catching up to that point. He was grunting and groaning as he tried to keep his rod tip out of the water and keep his line from contacting the boat. When we “saw color”, I realized he had a record-class white bass on the line. I scrambled for the net and we landed a new Belton Lake record!!

Nathaniel’s white bass measured 15.75″ and weighed 2.00 pounds on a certified Boga Grip scale. This beat the previous Junior Angler record of 1.50 pounds which measured 14.88 inches and which was caught by another young client of mine, Alex Harman, back in November of 2010.

Both boys caught numerous hybrid stripers and freshwater drum in the 2-3 pound class, as well.

As the daylight dimmed and the window for catching fish was closing at around 5:15pm, our fish count stood at 98. I put my own rod away and told the boys that if we were going to hit 100 fish, it had to be through their efforts alone.

Zack did his part, bringing in an 11″ white bass. The count was now 99. Things got really quiet as the boys concentrated on jigging and feeling for a bite. Finally, Nathaniel spoke up and said, “I’ve got him! I’ve got him!” and in came a short hybrid striper — our 100th fish of the trip. Then, with the pressure off, we landed one more fish for good measure and, as the sonar screen when clean and the day turned to night, the bite died and we called it a great day on the water!

SKIFF (Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun) trips are provided free of charge to families whose children are separated from a parent due to that parent’s military service, thanks to the Austin Fly Fishers and a network of supportive individuals, organizations, and companies from all over the U.S. All it takes is a phone call from a parent to me at 254-368-7411 to reserve a date. SKIFF is open to children in elementary and middle school, as well as youth in high school.

TALLY = 101 FISH, all caught and released

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 1:45p

End Time: 5:30p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 74F

Water Surface Temp: 62F

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE20-25

Sky Conditions: 100% cloudy with occasional, spitting light rain.

Note: Lake continues to fall at ~.30 feet per day and is currently 6.30 feet above full pool with a night of rain forecast.

Other: GT= 0

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 1659 – solid bite on slabs with light sub-surface feeding occasionally reaching the surface

**Area triangulated by 1660, 1661, and 1662 – solid bite on slabs under birds and with light sub-surface feeding occasionally reaching the surface

**Area 1626 – moderate low-light final bite on slabs

Bob Maindelle

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Salado, TX

www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

During the afternoon of Friday, the 11th of December, I fished with MJ Linder and his adult son, Elliot, targeting white bass and hybrid stripers on Belton Lake.

Elliot landed our largest fish of the trip, a 6.50 pound flathead catfish (a.k.a. yellow catfish) which fell for a slab worked near bottom.

From left: MJ and Elliot pose with the largest four white bass we caught today.  Most of our catch consisted of a nearly 50/50 mix of average white bass and short hybrid, with most of the hybrid running right at 13 inches and having the more slender, striper-like body shape.

MJ runs his own business, Mobility Therapies, which is focused on offering outpatient physical therapy to people in their own homes.  MJ’s son, Elliot, age 20, is headed for his first enlistment in the U.S. Navy beginning in February of 2016 where, based on his very high Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) test scores, he now has the opportunity to enter into the Navy’s nuclear propulsion program.

After a 144 fish morning under birds and grey skies, this afternoon’s trip was a bit tougher.  The birds did not work all afternoon, and the skies were quite bright.  This all meant we’d be fishing for deeper, more reluctant fish, and that those fish would have to be searched out with sonar.

We found 3 solid concentrations of fish, with each giving up ~30 fish or so until the bite declined and we went looking elsewhere.  At each of these 3 locations we used a slow jigging stroke to tempt the fish with 3/4 oz. slabs.  The first area we fished (when fish were the most reluctant) saw fish sour on the 3/4 oz. bait after we’d landed about 20, but I still saw plenty of fish on the sonar, so, I downsized our baits to 3/8 oz. and that did the trick, turning the fish back on until the school dispersed.

The second area we fished was much like the first — on a gentle breakline, and the third area we fished, after initially being drawn by birds only to have the birds give up before we got to them, was more flat.  Once the fish here failed to respond any longer to a vertical tactic, we continued to catch fish by casting our slabs and working them horizontally along bottom.

With over 100 fish in the boat by 4:00pm, I asked if MJ and Elliot would like to roll the dice and look at a different area of the lake for bird action possibly leading to taking some better hybrid.  The gamble was okay with them, so, we set out looking, but, unfortunately, did not find any useful bird action this evening.  We still managed to find fish with sonar and fish so as to both catch fish and keep our eyes out for birds, but what we found was really no different size-wise or species-wise than we had found in the areas we’d left behind.

As sunset came and the bite died, we closed out our trip with exactly 129 fish boated.

FISHING OUTLOOK: 

Sunday sees a mild, fast moving cold front come through so I expect fishing will be off that day. (No fishing)

Monday sees a return to SW winds and should offer improving fishing.  (Booked)

Tuesday sees continued, stronger SW winds and continued warming, and  should offer good fishing.  (I have an AM opening this day 7:15 to 10:15; call if interested)

Wednesday will see another cold front come in so fishing will be off that day. (No fishing)

TALLY = 129 FISH, all caught and released

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TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 1:15p

End Time:  5:30p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 74F

Water Surface Temp:  62F

Wind Speed & Direction: S14-15, tapering to S12-13 in the last hour before sunset.

Sky Conditions:  Fair skies with 40% white clouds following the clearing of fog and grey skies in the morning.

Water Level: 6.54 feet above full pool with 0.32 feet of water released in the past 24 hours

Other: GT= 20

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 1623-565 – long easing strokes with slabs (reduced from 3/4 oz. to 3/8 oz. when bite got tough but fish were still abundant on sonar)

**Area 1658- long easing strokes with slabs

**Area (vic) 406- long easing strokes with slabs

**Area 1654- long easing strokes with slabs

Bob Maindelle

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Salado, TX

www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

This morning, Friday, the 11th of December, I fished with Don Mikeska and his grandson, Kaden Lehrman, targeting white bass and hybrid stripers on Belton Lake.

We used sonar to find fish under foggy conditions while the birds were unable to see and work.  After the fog cleared, the birds went to work and led us to additional fish.

Kaden landed two at a time at the peak of the bite when fish could be seen from surface to bottom.  One fish is hooked on the treble and the other is hooked on the stinger hook.

Don is a retired painter from Temple, TX, and his grandson, Kaden, happened to be staying with him and his wife, Monica, while mom is away visiting her sister in London, England, for a few days.

Well, while mom’s away, the boys will play!  We met at the boat ramp at around 7:00 and had lines in the water by 7:15 under quite a thick blanket of fog.

The bird action that has been so helpful in the morning was non-existent under these foggy conditions as the gulls and terns simply couldn’t see well enough to spot fish and bait near the surface.  So, for the first hour, we relied strictly upon sonar to find fish, and did well, boating nearly 50 fish in the first hour on the water.

By 8:15 the fog began to thin and by 8:30 it was gone, leaving grey skies, a stiff breeze, and great fishing conditions, especially given the unseasonably warm 61-62F surface temperatures more commonly found in mid-November than mid-December.

As the fog lifted the birds began to work and kept working for about 70 minutes.  When the birds quit, we had another 20 minutes of fishing and then the fish shut down hard.  By this time Don and Kaden had worked to put 144 fish (literally, a “gross” of fish) in the boat.  Given the increasing wind and decreasing fish activity, they decided to call it a great day while they were ahead, and we wrapped it up a bit early.

Kaden when to a “fishing summer camp” for youth up in Massachusetts this past summer where he got to experience mackeral fishing, striped bass fishing, and lobstering.  It was neat to hear him recount the tales from that experience in between fish caught this morning.

Our catch consisted of mainly white bass and short hybrid stripers.  Kaden boated 3 legal hybrid, as well as a number of 2-3 pound freshwater drum, and a single largemouth bass just for good measure.

Once again the silver/white Redneck Fish’n’ Jigs Model 180 slab did the trick for us in the 3/4 oz. size.

FISHING OUTLOOK: 

Saturday morning is due to be excessively windy, but the afternoon should offer solid (albeit wet!) pre-frontal fishing. (Booked)

Sunday sees a mild, fast moving cold front come through so I expect fishing will be off that day. (No fishing)

Monday sees a return to southerly winds and should offer good fishing.  (Booked)

Tuesday sees continued southerly winds and should offer good fishing.  (I have an AM opening this day 7:15 to 10:15; call if interested)

Wednesday wil see another cold front come in so fishing will be off that day. (No fishing)

TALLY = 144 FISH, all caught and released

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TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:00a

End Time:  10:15a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 50F

Water Surface Temp:  61-62F

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE9 at dawn, increasing to S16 by trip’s end

Sky Conditions:  Thick fog, accompanied by 100% grey skies.  Fog lifted around 8:15, leaving better visibility but still-grey sky conditions

Water Level: 6.90 feet above full pool with 0.15 feet of water released in the past 24 hours

Other: GT= 30

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 024 – low light slabbing after finding schooled fish on sonar (no bird action)

**Area  024 through 794 with fish and birds constantly on the move over this great span in an hour’s time

Bob Maindelle

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Salado, TX

www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

This morning, Thursday, the 10th of December, I fished with Dr. Ryan Sparkman targeting white bass and hybrid stripers on Belton Lake.

Dr. Ryan Sparkman took a break from his home waters of Lake Conroe to get in on the sweet run of productive fishing Belton has provided since the warm-up following our last cold front.  We boated 235 fish in 4.5 hours.

Ryan trained at Scott & White Hospital in Temple, TX, as an anesthesiologist, and then moved his family to Bryan/College Station when an opportunity with Scott & White presented itself there.  Ryan was just starting to figure things out on Belton when he made the move, and now considers Belton Lake a true gem compared with the fishing scenario presented at his new “home lake”, Lake Conroe, with its turbid waters, limited white bass population, and abundant recreational boaters.

I had a last minute cancellation for this morning’s trip and so Ryan’s ability to come on short notice was a real win-win, and at a time where the fishing has been very productive and predictable.

We had the “perfect storm” of conditions facing us today — good weather (grey skies on the tail end of a warming trend, with several days of stable pressure beforehand), good wind speed and direction (S12-14), a dark moon, unseasonably high water temperatures (61-62F) and a good angler on board, able to take full advantage of the potential Belton offered today.

We left the ramp at 7:15, found fish with sonar in 20 feet of water by 7:25, and caught fish, non-stop, using sonar at first, then by following birds thereafter, for a full 4 hours.  The action never wound down until around 11:15.  We stayed with it another 30 minutes to “mop up”.

Our first 100 fish came over the side by 8:19am.  Although the birds (gulls and terns) worked during two distinct “spurts”, the fish they led us to continued to bite well after the bird action subsided.

Once again, we observed the feeding gulls to make sure our lure size was close to the size of shad the fish were feeding on.  We selected white and silver 3/4oz. Redneck Fish’n’ Jigs Model 180’s with a stinger hook and worked them with slow jigging strokes near bottom.

The majority of our catch consisted of 14-15″ hybrid stripers with the white bass running close in numbers.  We landed only 2 legal hybrids, as well as 4 largemouth bass, and 3 freshwater drum.

As of this writing I still have an afternoon trip open tomorrow (Friday) and a morning slot open on Saturday.  The price is $220 for up to two anglers ($110 per person).  Call me at 254-368-7411 ASAP if you are interested.  The incoming cold front due to arrive late Saturday night will negatively impact this scenario.

TALLY = 235 FISH, all caught and released

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TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:15a

End Time:  11:45a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 50F

Water Surface Temp:  61.1F

Wind Speed & Direction: S9 at dawn, increasing to S13 by trip’s end

Sky Conditions:  100% grey skies, but thin enough to make for bright conditions

Water Level: 6.90 feet above full pool with 0.15 feet of water released in the past 24 hours

Other: GT= 30

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 015/018 – low light slabbing after finding schooled fish on sonar (no bird action)

**Area  133 over to Area 1656 under birds for 90 minutes, with an additional 30 minutes of fishing after the birds lifted.

**Area  1657 final bird action of the morning took place here around 10:15 to 10:30, with an additional hour’s worth of action after the birds lifted.

Bob Maindelle

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Salado, TX

www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

This morning, Tuesday, the 8th of December, I fished with retired U.S. Navy flight surgeon Ray Johnson.

Despite suffering a heart attack that involved the “widow-maker” vessel of the heart back in August, Ray bounced back and gave the fish a run for their money this morning.

Ray has battled multiple sclerosis for a number of years now, then, this past August, suffered a heart attack.  Four days and 2 stents later, he was back up and running and all the time looking forward to his next fishing trip.

I looked for “just right” conditions to take Ray out and, seeing today fit that description in the forecast two days ago, gave him a ring.  He gave me a big thumbs-up, and so we met up at 7a this morning and went fishing.

Things started slowly as the skies were bright and clear and the winds at sunrise were light.  As the winds increased, the fishing picked up right along with them.

Our first fish came near Area 124 via downrigged 3-arm umbrella rigs.  We picked up occasional suspended and bottom-oriented white bass and hybrid just one at a time.  When it was clear this area wasn’t going to “turn on” any time soon, we moved.

Our next stop came in 25-27′ along a short breakline.  I spotted a small school of fish tightly clustered together and in a feeding posture, so, we buoyed them and then used the Spot Lock to stay over top.  We used a slow jigging stroke with silver/white 3/4 oz. slabs to boat white bass, short hybrids, largemouth, smallmouth, and freshwater drum — 26 in all in about 3 “short hops” all in this same general location (Areas 1642-1645)

As we enjoyed this slow but steady action, I continued to scan for bird activity.  At exactly 9:30a, I spotted about 20 gulls and terns all working over an 80 yard stretch of water (Area 1655).  We got to them quickly and used a variety of jigging tactics to put another 34 fish in the boat in about 40 minutes’ time.  The birds worked the first ~30 minutes of that time, then we continued to catch fish here for a few minutes after the birds quit.

The action in this segment of the lake died hard once the birds lifted, so, we searched elsewhere, finding heavily schooled fish on bottom in ~27 feet in the vicinity of Area 1623.  With 60 fish in the boat, and given what I was seeing on sonar, I felt Ray and I had a real good shot at boating 100+ fish.  We got down to business and fished hard for an hour straight and put another 42 fish in the boat from out of this area, thus finishing up our day with exactly 102 fish.

Although the numbers were strong this morning, we didn’t catch any outsized white bass or hybrids this morning.

TALLY = 102 FISH, all caught and released

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TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:00a

End Time:  11:30a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 41F

Water Surface Temp:  62.1F

Wind Speed & Direction: S5 at dawn, increasing to SSW12 by trip’s end

Sky Conditions:  Fair and cloudless

Water Level: 7.29 feet above full pool with 0.36 feet of water released in the past 24 hours

Other: GT= 0

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 124 – low light downrigging for spotty success

**Area  1642-1645 – slow tactic vertical jigging for bottom-oriented fish

**Area  1655 for 30 minutes of bird action

**Area 1623 for slow tactic vertical jigging for heavily clustered fish on bottom

Bob Maindelle

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Salado, TX

www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com