WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Saturday, November 5, I fished with first time guests Taylor Valentin, and her boyfriend, Andy Havranek.
Taylor is a speech pathologist working in the private sector, and Andy is a manager for a large telecommunications company.
As I often do whenever I have couples join me on the boat, I asked this couple how they first met, and the answer was through their common interest in playing the Elder Scrolls video game.
As a common thread through most trips which go well, both Taylor and Andy were very willing to listen to guidance and to be coached.
A special thanks to Taylor’s folks, Paco and Angie Valentin for setting this trip up for them.
Here is how our morning went…
—————————————————————————————————–
Here’s an up-to-date calendar so you can check availability: https://holdingthelineguideservice.com/available-dates.php
Next available dates are Nov. 14, 15
PHOTO CAPTION: Andy Havranek and Taylor Valentin with the largest fish of the morning, a just-legal hybrid striped bass.
PHOTO CAPTION: Our target species was white bass. 108 of the 116 fish landed were white bass; the vast majority of our catch came on the white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab.
Find the Bladed Hazy Eye Slab here: https://whitebasstools.com/
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
WHEN WE FISHED: Saturday, 04 November 2023
HOW WE FISHED:
A light, marine layer of fog stayed over the surface of the lake right up until 11 AM.
Yesterday’s ~5 hour scouting trip paid big dividends today as two of the five areas we fish (and the two which produced the most fish) were among the areas I identified during those morning scouting efforts.
Although this made for a slow start, it also kept fish biting well right up to about 11:15. Once the skies began to clear, they cleared rapidly, and the bite began to fall off sharply.
We fished a total of five areas this morning. Due to low light conditions, we downrigged briefly at the first area for a total of three white bass and one just-legal hybrid striper taken on a Pet Spoons fished behind three-armed umbrella rigs.
After that brief bout of downrigging, we switched over to smoking with slabs and never looked back. At the remaining four areas we fished, it was pretty much a cookie-cutter scenario. I found abundant, bottom-oriented, heavily congregated fish in 25 to 32 feet of water, hovered atop them using Spot-Lock, dropped white, 5/8-ounce Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs down to them and cranked these slabs upwards using a smoking tactic.
Here is a link to a video I created on how to execute this technique: Smoking Slabs
The fish would pursue, strike, get hooked, and the rest was history. We put a total of 116 fish in the boat. Four came on downriggers, two came on MAL Lures when I found a large group of fish holding on bottom, but out away from the boat as seen on side-imaging, and the balance of 110 fish came on the 5/8-ounce, white Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs.
Of the 116 fish landed, 1 was a hybrid striper, 7 were freshwater drum, and 108 were white bass.
TALLY: 116 fish caught and released.
OBSERVATIONS: 1) Far fewer gulls spotted today than yesterday; I suspect those I spotted were just passing through. 2) Water temperature profile measured 7:40AM, Friday, 03 November. At long last, the thermocline has disappeared…
0 feet, 64.9F
5 feet, 66.1F
10 feet, 66.4F
15 feet, 66.4F
20 feet, 66.4F
25 feet, 66.4F
30 feet, 66.4F
35 feet, 66.4F
40 feet, 66.4F
45 feet, 66.4F
50 feet, 66.3F
55 feet, 66.3F
60 feet, 65.6F
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 7:45A
End Time: 12:00P
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 59F
Elevation: 15.16feet low, 47 CFS flow
Water Surface Temp: 64.9F on the surface.
Wind Speed & Direction: SSE6 at trip’s start, building to SSE12 by trip’s end
Sky Condition: 100% grey skies and light, marine layer fog through 11A, then clearing rapidly to 50% white clouds on blue sky
Moon Phase: Last quarter moon at 49% illumination.
GT = 105
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
Areas:
vic B0173G – 4 fish downrigging
B0149C – 29 fish smoking Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs
Area B0171G (3 short hops) – 11 fish smoking Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs
Area B0009C (2 short hops) – 67 fish smoking Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs; 2 on MAL Heavies
Area B0157G/472 – 3 fish 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
#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide #BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing #bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport #fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday #Fitec