WHO I FISHED WITH: Yesterday morning, Tuesday, November 21, I fished with a lively boatload of boys as we faced some pretty crazy weather conditions.
Mr. Don Bousquet, owner of the Ragin’ Cajun boat storage business just uphill from Temple Lake Park on Lake Belton, put this trip together for cousins Cam Miller of Mandeville, Louisiana, and Hudson and Townes Slimp of Salado, TX. The boys were chaperoned by Mr. Guy Slimp, and Mr. Larry Miller who aided me, but did not fish.
Here is how the fishing went…
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PHOTO CAPTION: Front, from left: Hudson and Townes Slimp and Cam Miller, with Larry Miller and Guy Slimp in the back. The boys put together a 67 fish catch under the toughest wind conditions we could have and still be able to fish.
Find the Bladed Hazy Eye Slab here: https://whitebasstools.com/
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday (AM), 21 November 2023
HOW WE FISHED:
A hard cold front moved through yesterday turning our winds northerly overnight and increasing wind velocity substantially. Whether or not the trip was going to make was up in the air right to the last minute because the wind forecast varied with each successive weather update.
We met up at 7:10 AM, and hit the most open areas first before the still increasing wind velocity forced us off of those exposed areas. Birds helped point the way to fish this morning. Indeed, there was more fish and bird activity present than we could get to, unfortunately.
After leaving open water to escape the increasing wind, I found water up in the tributaries to be significantly turbid thanks to heavy, overnight wave action. This further reduced our selection of fishing options.
We wound up finding and catching fish at four distinct areas. Each scenario was the same… we used white, 5/8 ounce, Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs to catch primarily bottom-oriented white bass using a smoking tactic as these fish chased those slabs up off the bottom, overtook them, and bit.
The assistance which Garmin LiveScope typically provides while executing rhe smoking tactic was diminished a bit this morning, due to heavy wave action and gusting winds pushing the boar both up and down, and back and forth, and preventing a nice, steady hover. We got shaked, rattled, and rolled!!!
When all was said and done, the boys landed 67 fish including 1 hybrid striped bass, 1 freshwater drum, 2 largemouth bass, and 63 white bass. Just four of the white bass were short.
Here is a tutorial on the smoking tactic we used… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIPopSLUYoQ
TALLY: 67 fish caught and released.
OBSERVATIONS: The water temperature profile measured on 20 Nov., was:
0 feet, 65.9F
5 feet, 65.6F
10 feet, 65.6F
15 feet, 65.6F
20 feet, 65.6F
25 feet, 65.5F
30 feet, 65.5F
35 feet, 65.5F
40 feet, 65.5F
45 feet, 65.5F
50 feet, 65.5F
55 feet, 65.3F
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 7:10A
End Time: 11:30A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 53F
Elevation: 15.29 feet low, 47 CFS flow
Water Surface Temp: 64.7F on the surface.
Wind Speed & Direction: NNW15 at trip’s start, ramping up to NW22 with higher gusts by mid-morning
Sky Condition: Light grey and fully clouded
Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 62% illumination.
GT = 105
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
Areas:
vic 0908 (3 hops) – 35 fish smoking Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs
B0013C – 7 fish smoking Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs
305 – 20 fish smoking Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs
B0064G – 7 fish smoking Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs
Bob Maindelle
Full-time, Professional Fishing Guide and Owner of Holding the Line Guide Service
Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide
254.368.7411 (call or text)
Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle
Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle
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