VERY AGGRESSIVE HITS / BITES!!

Guys yesterday using side scan we found the largest school of Big whites so far since the last few trips. Them hybrids are hanging out with the whites just like Mr.Bob had explain in one of his articles. Find a good school of whites and the hybrids is in or very close by. Yesterday was an epic day. We got there a little after 1:00 pm. Our first stop not to far from the ramp we found stacks of large whites and using the trolled tactic we immediately hook up with a few good large hybrids and whites then they got spooked because of the trolling activity. Second and third location also yielded lots of school in shallow water but same results. If we anchor on top of them or troll they would get spooked and move away. We change tactics and started to throw deep diving crank bait rig with a teaser pet spoon on a three way swivel and toss toward marked school with buoys. We hit pay dirt. Found the biggest school of hybrids and whites using the crank bait rigs. We absolutely killed them on every cast. We limited out on hybrids on our first 10 cast then catch and release a bunch of big fat healthy hybrids. Folks Mr.Bob said they were gonna feed hard during the month of November. It's only the 31st of October and already them fish are feeding hard and stuffing their belly's. Using the right techniques can yield great catching results. I would of never known the big school were to the left or to the right and would of drove right on by and miss the big school if it wasn't for side scan.

Whites will show up as bunches of little white dots







The whites would chase the spoon all the way near or to the boat then would nail it hard. Big whites fights almost like a hybrid.






The bait rig we used.
80% of our catch hit the pet spoon. Doubles hook ups hybrids and whites on the same rig was common. Just make sure you get a crank bait that will get all the way to the bottom. Sure way to tell is occasionally you'll feel it scraping the bottom. A tendum rigged pet spoon is a must. Fish been spitting out 3-4" shads. Spoons will inmatates exactly what they are feeding on right now.( But I'm sure any thing in sliver would catch). Dan caught a few on rattling traps.
Also using an extra long rod helps a lot with throwing this type of rigs. I use a 9' medium heavy spinning rod. Light,thin,but strong.



Here's Mr.Dan fighting a hard fighting hybrid.



The fish bit well into sun set. We ended the day with full limits of big healthy hybrids and nothing but big fat 15" white bass. Playing hooky from work was fun. The fish are still there with good schooling acitvity till the next cold front. You guy's better call in sick. Thanks!! For checking my post. Hope you guy's get a chance to catch some for the grease pot. Or maybe even an epic day!!

brucevannguyen Online content
Pro Angler

Registered: 04/13/09
Posts: 637
Loc: Houston,TX
Here's another good article.

BOB MAINDELLE GUIDE LINES
BOB MAINDELLE: Fish get hungry every November
0
Bob Maindelle | For the Herald | Posted 11 months ago

It happens every November. As the water surface temperatures begin to fall through the 70s and into the 60s, something wired into fishes� DNA tells them to feed, to feed long and to feed hard. That time is now on Belton Lake.

My past three guided trips yielded an incredible total of 756 fish.

On Nov. 3, I fished with Barrett and Dave Covington of Belton. The brothers put together a tally of 267 fish in just a tad over four hours on the water. The pattern the fish followed would continue to hold true right through this past week. As the pre-dawn light grew strong enough to reveal the lake�s surface, schools of white bass and hybrid striped bass began to actively chase the baitfish (threadfin shad) in shallow water of 12 feet or less. Horizontally cast lures roughly imitating the size and color of the shad produced well. I prefer the Cicada bladebait for this kind of work.

Once the skies brightened following sunrise, this shallow activity abated, and the fish moved deeper, to the nearest breakline. We used sonar to keep up with this movement to deep water, and found fish stacked up heavily in the lower 2-3 feet of the water column, typically in 22-27 feet of water.

In this situation, vertical presentation with lead slabs got the nod. Using electronic anchoring technology, like the Minn Kota Spot Lock function on i-Pilot equipped trolling motors, makes staying over top of fish a simple task to accomplish.

We noted that when we first found fish on sonar and began to fish for them, they would immediately go into a frenzy as the first few fish were caught from the school. The fish would then settle down a bit, and, eventually, refuse to bite. In such cases, moving just a boat-length or two left, right, forward, or backwards would often put us right on top of a very eager new school of fish that was nearby all the time, but which just refused to move horizontally along the bottom to come to our baits at our previous position.

On Monday, this same scenario played out when I guided retired Texas judge Bob Schwartz, of Temple, and his adult son, Will Schwartz, to another plentiful catch of 143 fish taken over a four-hour span.

On Tuesday, I fished a full-day trip with Dr. Tom Wells and his wife, Patricia Wells, of Sun City. They landed a total of 346 fish from 6:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., including an award-winning white bass which measured 15 3/8 inches, thus qualifying Mrs. Wells for a Texas Parks and Wildlife Department �Big Fish Award.�

Given that we are in the dark of the moon in the lunar cycle, that the water surface temperature is still at an unseasonably warm 69-70 F, and that there are no severe cold fronts currently in the extended weather forecast, I predict this ultra-productive fishing will hold up at least two or three more weeks. Typically, as the water temperatures fall into the high 50s, this bite moderates.

It is unfortunate that our culture typically equates fishing with warm weather. As summer gives way to fall, kids go back to school, vacation plans fall by the wayside, and football and hunting become more of a focus, fishing often takes a back seat in the cool months of the year. The statistics in my 23 years of detailed record keeping bear out the fact that November�s fishing is as good as, or better than, the fishing typically experienced in March, the month most equate with the best fishing of the season.

Shhhhh. That is suppose to be a secret!!

Bruce would you please post a better picture of the way you have the rankbait and the pet spoon rigged? I can't see the three way swivel. It looks like you have just taken the front treble off the crankbait and tied the leader for the pet spoon there? That is the opposite of how all of my "hell pet" rigs are tied.

Great shots on the side imaging!

My side imagine doesn't look that good! Great pic

Thanks for the explanation Bruce.

Thanks for the side image pic, helps me figure out what to look for.

Humminbird 2D pics of a small school of whites in clear mode. Max mode picks up a lot more details but in shallow water it picks up a lot of other clutters too so I transition between the the two mode.

( Humminbird set to clear mode )

First two pics is at whitney. Bait fish shads,stripers,and suspended whites feeding feeding on shads.




( Humminbird set to clear mode )

Second two is school of whites on the bottom right corner (orange and red mass) and some bait fish shads

Awesome post, Bruce!

what map card do you have?

Navionic Hot maps. You know where them fish are at cool shot. I already told you the location. But seems they are every where with similar structures.

Pre front tomorrow. Dam it!!

Sure wish I can play hooky from work again. BTW the more sun you get the better the bites on the spoon. It flash!!

I have the Humminbird south lakes map!! it is very different, but i do know those locations!! LOl

Who puts downriggers on a freakin flat bottom?

Only serious fishermen who know that controlled depth fishing is a serious advantage for people who really want to catch fish.