KEYED IN TO THE WIND – 76 FISH

WHO I FISHED WITH: 

This morning, Wednesday, March 27, I fished with returning guest, James Copeland, accompanied by first time guests, Ben and Evan Hayes.

James is in the mortgage business and did business with Ben and Evans father who was in the title business, eventually working with Ben and Evan as they grew into the family business.

 

My next open dates are: 2, 5, & 11 April (AMs)

Here is how the fishing went…

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  Ben Hayes took our largest fish this morning, just a few minutes after the first winds of the morning began to blow.  This fish inhaled his 3/4 oz. white Bladed Hazy Eye Slab.

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left: Ben Hayes, James Copeland, and Evan Hayes with a few of the 76 fish they landed, mainly on MAL Originals worked with a sawtooth method.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday, 27 Mar. 2024 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED: 

For the second consecutive morning, the air temperature at sunrise was 45° and the winds were calm. The winds stayed calm until around 10 AM. There was a low deck of gray clouds during this time.

 

I moved the trip start time back to 8 AM to eliminate waiting through some of the cold, calm conditions, but we still had to bide our time until the wind kicked in.

 

Prior to 10:10 AM, my crew of three had landed only seven fish, but ended up with a total of 76 fish in five hours’ time — a testament to just how keyed these fish are to wind.

 

During the slow two hours, fish were still able to be found, but simply would hardly budge for any presentation, vertical or horizontal.  Those fish we did catch fell for the white, 3/4-ounce Bladed Hazy Eye Slab.

 

Once the wind began to blow, the fishing picked up very rapidly with horizontal presentations outproducing vertical presentations from that point on.

 

The vast majority of our fish today were taken on MAL Original lures with both white tails and with chartreuse tails. James, Ben, and Evan used the sawtooth method with a total of seven turns of the reels handle per iteration. I had the metronome set to an 80 BPM setting in order to keep them from reeling too fast or too slow.

 

Our 76 fish consisted of exactly 74 white bass, 1 hybrid striped bass, and 1 freshwater drum.

 

Fish are definitely re-populating on topographic features and are using the 29-34 foot depth range quite consistently.

Find the MAL Original and the 3/4-ounce Bladed Hazy Eye Slab here: https://whitebasstools.com/

 

TALLY: 76 fish caught and released 

 

OBSERVATIONS: Here is the water temperature profile for Lake Belton, measured before sunrise on March 26 …

0 feet, 62F
5 feet, 62F
10 feet, 62F
15 feet, 62F
20 feet, 62F
25 feet, 62F
30 feet, 62F
35 feet, 62F
40 feet, 61.9F
45 feet, 61.4F
50 feet, 56.0F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 8A

End Time: 1:15P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 45F

Elevation: 11.59 feet low, 33 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 62.0F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: Calm thru 10A, then slowly picking up from the south, peaking at S8 by 10:40A

Sky Condition: Low, thin grey cloud layer at 80% slowly clearing to cloudless by 1P

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 99% illumination.

GT = 55

Wx SNAPSHOT:    

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:  

Best areas were B0064G and B0066G

 

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 #austinsubaru

When Texas is Colder than Minnesota — 42 Fish

WHO I FISHED WITH: 

This morning, Tuesday, March 26, I fish with returning guest Doug Fornfeist of Morgan’s Point, TX, joined by first time guests, Landon and Levi Fries.

 

Doug‘s wife is an aunt to Landon‘s wife.  With eight-year-old Levi on spring break from up in Minnesota, the Fries family paid a visit to Texas, and today was the day Doug had planned for a fishing trip for father and son.

 

My next open dates are: 2, 5, & 11 April (AMs)

 

Here is how the fishing went…

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left: Doug Fornfeist and his nephew-in-law, Landon Fries, landed 42 fish on a blustery, late March morning trip using a combination of MAL Original Lures and Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday, 265 Mar. 2024 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED: 

The impact of yesterday‘s cold front passage was certainly felt this morning with a low of 45° at sunrise, only rising to 55° well into the afternoon time as high blue skies, a northerly wind, and high-pressure conditions built in.

 

Such weather never bodes well for fishing, and this morning was no exception.  Fish took a little bit of effort to find, but were especially difficult to convince to bite this morning through about 10:30 when the sun took the bite out of the wind, and the wind velocity flattened out at around 13 mph.

 

Expecting warmer weather in Texas,  Landon and Levi did not bring a whole lot of cold weather clothes and wound up underdressing for the conditions. They lasted about an hour and a half, after which we had to go back in to get Landon some more clothes and drop little Levi off to stay in a warm house.

 

Doug and Landon caught back up with me around 10:30 and we fished until 12:50. Before the break, we’d put seven fish in the boat. The two men wound up adding 35 fish to that tally during the late morning. Fish were still sluggish but, I was able to find enough groups of them with enough consistency to pluck a few from each school and put together a decent catch given the conditions.

 

We relied on a three-quarter ounce, white Bladed Hazy Eye Slab for all but the last 45 minutes. In those last 45 minutes, I began to see fish spread across the bottom in about 32 feet of water on the port side of the boat, drawn in by the splasher. Seeing this, I switched Doug and Landon over to MAL Lure (the Original with chartreuse tail) after catching two fish on two consecutive cast as I checked my hunch.

 

I had Doug and Landon throw short casts, working the bait using the sawtooth method with four iterations over that short distance before reeling back in and executing another short cast. This accounted for our last nine fish of the morning.

 

The tally of 42 fish consisted of 2 hybrid striped bass, 1 yellow catfish, and 39 white bass.

Find the 3/4-ounce Bladed Hazy Eye Slab here: https://whitebasstools.com/

 

TALLY: 42 fish caught and released 

 

OBSERVATIONS: Here is the water temperature profile for Lake Belton, measured before sunrise on March 26 …

0 feet, 62F
5 feet, 62F
10 feet, 62F
15 feet, 62F
20 feet, 62F
25 feet, 62F
30 feet, 62F
35 feet, 62F
40 feet, 61.9F
45 feet, 61.4F
50 feet, 56.0F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:45A

End Time: 12:50P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 45F

Elevation: 11.60 feet low, 33 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 62.0F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: NW 12-14 all morning

Sky Condition: Cloudless “bluebird” skies on a cold front’s passage

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 99% illumination.

GT = 105

Wx SNAPSHOT:    

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:  

Best areas were 0010, B0082G, B0272G, 2028, and B0056G

 

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 #austinsubaru

Connecting with Connections in Connecticut — 57 Fish

WHO I FISHED WITH: 

This morning, Monday, March 25, I fished with returning guests, Clint Murphy and Maureen Parker, accompanied by their friends, and my first time guest, Barry and Rosale Lobo.
Maurine and Rosale went to high school together in Orange, Connecticut, reunited later in life, and for the last several days have been visiting with her and Clint here in Texas.
Here is how the fishing went…
PHOTO CAPTION:  From left: Clint Murphy, Maureen Parker, and Barry and Rosale Lobo with a few of the 57 fish they caught, mainly in the last half of their morning trip following the early morning passage of a wet cold front.
PHOTO CAPTION: Today was Maureen’s day to shine.  She caught the first fish.  She caught the most fish.  She caught the largest fish.  And, she caught the greatest variety of fish.  She says she never has days like this, but, I have my suspicions!!!

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday, 25 Mar. 2024 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED: 

We had a rough start of it this morning with the tail end of a wet, cold front’s passage exiting our area right around sunrise. The forecast called for very quick clearing with an ensuing dry , westerly breeze.  What actually developed were lingering cool, calm conditions with some occasional drizzle.
Eventually, this also moved east, allowing for skies to clear, temperatures to climb, cloud cover to thin, and a westerly wind begin to build.
As these things happened, the fishing improved. We went from only four fish in the boat at 10:15 to a 57 fish catch by 12:55.
When it became clear early on that the fishing was going to be slow to start with, I set aside the MAL Lures and horizontal tactics up shallow, and from that point on we focused only on vertical use of Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs using a slow smoking tactic in 22 to 34 feet of water for the remainder of the trip.
For the first time in quite a while I found fairly consistent schools with 20 to 40 fish per school in distinct areas holding on the bottom.  These have been few and far between lately, and, even when I had been finding them, they tended to consist of fairly disinterested fish.
Today, those grouped fish on deeper topographies bit fairly well with the conditions considered.
When all was said and done,  my four-angler crew’s catch of 57 fish consisted of 1 blue catfish, 2 largemouth bass, 1 legal hybrid striped bass, 1 freshwater drum, and 52 white bass.

Find the 3/4-ounce Bladed Hazy Eye Slab here: https://whitebasstools.com/

 

TALLY: 57 fish caught and released 

 

OBSERVATIONS:  No spawning activity observed once again this morning thanks to a cold front over the weekend dropping this morning’s low to 55F, along with turbulent weather, including thunder and lightning, right up to sunrise.  Limited bird activity, mainly by terns.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:40A

End Time: 12:55P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 55F

Elevation: 11.65 feet low, 33 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 62.0F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: WSW 0-7 all morning

Sky Condition: Grey skies with decreasing light sprinkles through around 10:15A, then clearing rapidly to 60% white clouds on a blue sky following a wet front’s passage, complete with thunder, lightning and 6/10″ rain from ~4:30-7:45A

Moon Phase: Full moon at 100% illumination.

GT = 105

Wx SNAPSHOT:    

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:  

Best areas were B0011C/B0185C and 2028/B0184C

 

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 #austinsubaru

Fishing with the Queen & Roger — 43 Fish

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This morning, Wednesday, March 20, I fished with returning guest, Terri Covington, the queen of Belton real estate.

Joining Terri was a buddy from church (First Baptist of Belton), Mr. Roger Millstid, who recently moved to Morgan’s Point from the San Antonio area, to be nearer to his son.

My next open dates are on April 2, 5, and 9.
Here is how the fishing went…
PHOTO CAPTION:  Terri Covington and Roger Millstid worked MAL Originals horizontally and Bladed Hazy Eye Slab vertically to put together a 43 fish catch as the weather slowly rebounds from a weekend cold front.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday, 20 Mar. 2024 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED: 

Although this morning’s 48° start was still 11° warmer than yesterday‘s 37° start, the overnight temperatures were still well below the surface temperature of the lake, thus we continued to cool off following last Friday’s cold front.

 

The fishing was not quite as tough as it was yesterday, but the fish were still far from giddy. We managed a few fish horizontally in under 17 feet of water just after sunrise, picking up seven nice white bass on MAL Original Lures cast into about 20 feet of water and worked with a sawtooth method. That dried up after about 50 minutes.

 

I did some looking, and scratched at two areas while looking with sonar. The third area I headed to looked pretty good with two gulls working as we approached.

 

As I got over the patch of water the birds were working, I could see active fish as much as 2 or 3 feet up off the bottom, so I Spot-Locked on them, and we switched over to vertical tactics, employing three-quarter ounce Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs using a slow smoking tactic and moving the lures at a pace of 93 BPM.

 

This was our most productive stop of the trip and the action lasted about 30 minutes. As we fished, I noticed increased gull activity back behind us in deeper water – – about 30 feet of water.

 

I’m motored over toward these fish, and as I got closer, I could see some very light surface activity, despite a bit of chop on the water. I cut the motor a good hundred yards out from  this surface activity and trolled the rest of the way in to the fish. As we trolled in, I gave Terri and Roger instructions on how to use a countdown method to target these fish, which were obviously near the surface.

 

I had them cast, count the lure down four seconds, and then do a steady retrieve at a rate of 105 BPM. They each landed four or five fish that way, after which the fish activity and the bird activity slacked off.

 

Still seeing plenty of fish on bottom on both down- imaging and 2-D sonar, I switched us back to slow smoking with the slabs, and we landed another dozen or so until finally the activity at this entire area fell to nil.

 

We continued fishing another 45 minutes or so, and although we found fish, we simply could not get them to chase, nor show any interest whatsoever in our presentations.

 

We finished the day with 43 fish landed, including one hybrid striped bass, one freshwater drum, one largemouth bass, and 40 white bass.

 

Find the 3/4-ounce Bladed Hazy Eye Slab here: https://whitebasstools.com/

 

TALLY: 43 fish caught and released 

 

OBSERVATIONS:  No spawning activity observed once again this morning thanks to a cold front over the weekend dropping this morning’s low to 48F.  Very light surface feeding occurred around 9:45 and lasted about 20 minutes.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:40A

End Time: 11:45A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 48F

Elevation: 11.93 feet low, 33 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 61.3F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE4-7 all morning

Sky Condition: Grey skies through around 10:15A, then clearing rapidly to 30% white clouds on a blue sky

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 81% illumination.

GT = 105

Wx SNAPSHOT:    

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:  

Best areas were B0126C &  B0273G

 

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 #austinsubaru

Temps Bottomed Out; Better Weather Ahead – 50 Fish

WHO I FISHED WITH:

This morning, Tuesday, March 19, I fished with returning guest, Mark KKieckhafer, who I used to work with back in my Wilsonart days over in Temple.

 

Accompanying Mark were his two brothers in law, Steve Korinek, and K.C. Ross, both from Wisconsin where, in his retirement, Steve runs a guide  service (Night Bite Fishing) on trophy walleye fishing done mainly by trolling at night.

 

Here is how the fishing went…

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left: Steve Korinek, K.C. Ross, and Mark Kieckhafer with a portion of their white bass catch.
PHOTO CAPTION: Mark landed our largest fish of the trip with this 6-pound class bluecat.
PHOTO CAPTION: K.C. landed the largest of the five hybrid which we netting today; it came on the white, 3/4-ounce Bladed Hazy Eye Slab.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday, 19 Mar. 2024 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED: 

We had a very tough weather scenario facing us today as classic, post-frontal conditions plagued us for a full  2+ hours of our trip. During this time, the sun was bright, the temperatures were cold, and the winds were flat. Over this span of time we managed a total of 18 fish going from place to place, picking up just single digits, and then moving along, all the while using vertical tactics .

 

Finally, around 10:30, a returning South wind kicked in and within minutes we saw our results turn around as the wind continued, the bite built, and we wound up picking up a total of 50 fish by around 12:15.

 

100% of our fish today were caught on the white, 3/4-ounce Bladed  Hazy Eye Slab.  I upsized to this bait earlier this week after observing both spawning shad and adult shad being fed upon by even small white bass as fish fed on the surface late last week.

 

Our catch of 50 fish included 5hybrid striped bass, 1 blue, catfish, 1 freshwater drum, and 2 largemouth bass with the balance consisting of all legal white bass.

 

Find the 3/4-ounce Bladed Hazy Eye Slab here: https://whitebasstools.com/

 

TALLY: 50 fish caught and released 

 

OBSERVATIONS:  No spawning activity observed once again this morning thanks to a cold front over the weekend dropping this morning’s low to 39F.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:40A

End Time: 12:15P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 39F

Elevation: 11.99 feet low, 33 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 61.2F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: NNE0-3 mph for 3 hours, then building to SSE7 by trip’s end

Sky Condition: Clear, bluebird, post-frontal skies transitioning to 30% light white cloud cover in the last 2 hours

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 72% illumination.

GT = 100

Wx SNAPSHOT:    

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:  

Best area was B0272G, which we fished as the wind began blowing for the first time all morning; everywhere else only gave up a handful of fish under tough post-frontal conditions

 

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 #austinsubaru

After 2 Steps Forward, We Took 1 Step Back — 55 Fish

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This morning, Monday, March 18, I fished with returning guests Dave and Steve Wise. Dave is a Minnesota-based snowbird who makes his way down to Texas about twice a year to visit with his dad and his brother, Steve, who reside in the north Austin area.

 

Here is how the fishing went…

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left: Brothers Steve and Dave Wise paired up on Lake Belton for a 2-man catch of 55 white bass despite the cold front conditions they faced this morning.

 

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday, 18 Mar. 2024 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED: 

After a nice four-day long, midweek warm-up last week, which really nudged the white bass fishing in the right direction, we lived through a three-day cold snap with the coldest of the weather occurring this morning.

 

It was only 48° at the end of the boat ramp on Lake Belton as we launched this morning, although tomorrow morning is supposed to be even colder due to limited cloud cover overnight . Last Thursday saw the very first threadfin shad spawning, but there was no such activity this morning. In fact, there was not much shallow water activity at all. We caught only 3 fish in under 17 feet of water today, whereas the majority of the 280 fish caught last Wednesday and Thursday mornings came in under 15 feet of water.

 

Today, we had to go “low and slow“, with vertical use of slabs, using a slow-smoking tactic.

 

One productive adjustment I made today was to upsize to the white, three-quarter ounce, Bladed Hazy Eye Slab.  Last week’s start of spawning activity and abundant shallow water white bass activity showed me that the fish were willing to go after meals quite a bit larger than the 5/8 ounce presentation I had been defaulting to over the winter.

 

Although we found fish in 22 to 35 feet of water just about everywhere I looked, the group size of these fish was not massive, so, we picked up a few fish, then moved, picked up a few more fish, then moved, and so on.

 

As is often the case when fish are sluggish, as they were this morning, the fish typically flared up and expressed interest in the first few minutes we made our presentations, and then grew indifferent to our presentations soon thereafter. Our peak activity came between 9:30 and 10:45 this morning. After 10:45, the skies began to clear significantly with the first direct sunlight of the morning shining on the water , and the fish just seemed to begin to really slack off after that.

 

For their efforts, Dave and Steve wound up with 55 fish — all white bass and still more than a limit’s worth, but not near the kind of tallies we saw during the ideal weather conditions late last week.

 

Find the 3/4-ounce Bladed Hazy Eye Slab here: https://whitebasstools.com/

 

TALLY: 55 fish caught and released 

 

OBSERVATIONS:  No spawning activity observed this morning thanks to a cold front over the weekend dropping this morning’s low to 48F.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:40A

End Time: 12:15P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 48F

Elevation: 12.01 feet low, 33 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 61.3F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: NNE 8-13 mph

Sky Condition: 80% grey cloud cover at trip’s start, clearing to 60% high, thin, white cloud cover by trip’s end.

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 63% illumination.

GT = 50

Wx SNAPSHOT:    

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:  

Best areas were 968 (28 fish), and B0271G (18 fish)

 

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 #austinsubaru

SHAD ARE SPAWNING … THINGS ARE GETTING GOOD!! — 130 FISH

WHO I FISHED WITH: On Thursday morning, 14 March, I fished with a family of six from just west of Houston.  At 7:40 AM, I welcomed aboard James, Heather, Harrison, Cannon, Millie, and Shepherd Steen.

This was a bit of a spring break trip, mixed with a visit to the Baylor college campus for Millie, who may join her two older brothers there next year.
Here’s how the fishing went…
Next available dates are 28 Mar., 2 & 4 Apr. (AMs)

PHOTO CAPTION: The Steen family.  From left: Shepherd, Millie, Cannon, Heather, James, and Harrison.  The Steens caught a majority of their fish on MAL Originals (white tails and chartreuse tails) in the first 2.5 hours of light, then relied on white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs as the fish moved deeper and settled down in the final 1.5 hours of the trip.  They landed 130 fish.

 

PHOTO CAPTION: It was only appropriate that Heather, who researched, planned and coordinated the trip, caught the biggest fish of the morning.  This 19″ hybrid striper weighed 3.50 pounds. It fell for her 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: Thursday, 14 Mar. 2024 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED: 

This morning was as close to a cookie cutter version of yesterday‘s excellent conditions and results as you could get.

 

Perhaps the biggest positive feature was air temperature that exceeded the water temperature during the overnight hours.

 

Additionally, the skies were completely greyed over with a muggy feel to the air and a stiff southerly breeze at 12 to 14 mph.

 

As I suspected such conditions might, this weather prompted the first shad spawning activity I have seen thus far this year.

 

Only the three brothers were adept at casting with spinning gear, so, there was a bit of a learning curve to get through and in pretty tight quarters, trying to get six people to cast consistently and safely aboard a 22-foot boat. Aside from that, all six needed some instruction on how to work the MAL Original Lures they’d be using.

 

Once we got all those kinks worked out, we enjoyed two and a half solid hours of catching using the sawtooth method before the shallow water bite began to slack off. During these two hours we fished three locations.  At each, we stayed hovering in about 14 to 16 feet of water, casting shallower as a default, or sight-casting to white bass hitting shad on the surface as opportunity knocked.

 

Here is a tutorial video on executing the sawtooth method: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3FMEQHOMQ

 

After about 2.5 hours had passed, the Steens had landed 102 fish, the bird action was waning, the bite was softening, and there was not much to see up shallow any longer as seen on sonar, so, we “re-tooled”, by putting away the MAL Lure rods, and breaking out the Bladed Hazy Eye Slab rods.

 

I gave an overview on how to work the slabs, emphasizing the importance of reeling smoothly and at the right speed.  I incorporated a metronome to help everyone “keep the beat” when it came to reeling at the correct speed.

 

At the first location we hit, I left the LiveScopes turned off so everyone could just focus on the reeling.  Once everyone was doing well and everyone had caught a few fish, only then did I layer in the LiveScopes.  This allowed everyone to continue reeling if they were getting chased during the standard 4-5 cranks they were taking previously.  It also allowed each person the chance to retrieve their bait by suspended fish.

 

The fishing slowly tapered off through 11:45 when James decided the eating meat all Miller’s Smokehouse in Belton sounded more appealing than working for just one more white bass.

 

We called it a good day with exactly 130 fish landed, including 1 legal hybrid striped bass, 1 freshwater drum, and 128 white bass.

 

TALLY: 130 fish caught and released 

 

OBSERVATIONS:  I witnessed the first spawning shad activity of the year this morning.  It was steady from 7:10 to 7:50, then more sporadic through 9:30A.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:45A

End Time: 11:45A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 72F

Elevation: 12.08 feet low, 33 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 63.4F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE 10-14mph

Sky Condition: 100% grey cloud cover all morning

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 23% illumination.

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:    

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:  

B0066C (50 fish), B0074C (10 fish), B0066C second stop (42 fish), 681/B0126C (16 fish), B0269G (12 fish)

 

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 #austinsubaru

WITH TWO WARM NIGHTS, THE TIME’S NOW RIGHT — 150 FISH

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This past Wednesday morning, March 13, I fished with returning guests, Trey, Ann, and Jon Barfield.

Trey is a small businessman specializing in fire suppression and air filtration.  Ann works with Trey on the filtration side of the business, and Jon is in his plebe year at the Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, New York.
Here is how the fishing went.
Next available dates are 28 Mar., 2 & 4 Apr. (AMs)

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Trey, Ann, and Jon Barfield with a portion of their 150-fish catch taken primarily in shallow (<15′) water, and using the MAL Original with chartreuse tail or white tail.

 

Find the Bladed Hazy Eye Slab here: https://whitebasstools.com/

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday, 13 Mar. 2024 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED: 

For the last few posts I’ve been talking about the fishing being “on the cusp” of turning on, or “simmering” just waiting to boil over.  Well, today was the day!!

What a huge turnaround in the fishing overnight. This was the first night in several weeks where the air temperature overnight was higher than the water temperature.
I have noted many years now that this event often spurs the white bass fishing, the hybrid striped bass fishing, and the threadfin shad spawn.
After having to really work to find and catch fish for the last several weeks since February‘s premature warm-up, things really turned around this morning. We enjoyed gray skies and wind from the south all morning , and caught fish, literally, from start to finish. My three angler crew landed a total of exactly 150 fish.
The vast majority of these fish were taken in under 20 feet of water using the MAL Original with chartreuse tail or white tail (fish were indifferent to the color), and using a sawtooth tactic.
Here is a tutorial video on executing the sawtooth method: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3FMEQHOMQ
From time to time we saw small schools of white bass force shad to the surface, and a fast, accurate cast with an immediate retrieve to such activity was often met with a strike.
We fished this way through 10:50 AM when I suggested to the group that we leave fish to find fish in order to allow me to demonstrate how LiveScope is so effective in vertical jigging for fish in deep water, all because Trey had expressed extreme interest in this.
Even though the fish were winding down by this time, we were able to quickly locate two schools of fish in 23 feet of water and plucked four or five fish from each one of them– – definitely enough for Trey to see how the football-shaped fish moved from side to side, how his lure’s signature moved up and down, and how chasing fish were readily visible on the screen, thus informing the angler on when to keep reeling, or when to let his or her lure return to the bottom.
The Barfield’s 150 fish catch consisted of 149 white bass and 1 largemouth bass.

 

TALLY: 150 fish caught and released 

 

OBSERVATIONS:  This was the first day time this spring I witnessed repeated efforts by white bass to herd shad to the surface and then actually break the surface while feeding upon them over an extended period of time.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:35A

End Time: 11:45A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 68F

Elevation: 12.11 feet low, 33 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 62.4F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE 8-9mph

Sky Condition: 80% white cloud cover with occasional breaks of sun

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 14% illumination.

GT = 40

Wx SNAPSHOT:    

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:  

Area 380 (41 fish), B0001G (46 fish), B0063C (43 fish), 382 (9 fish), vic 0187 (11 fish)

 

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 #austinsubaru

ON THE CUSP OF SPRINGTIME FISHING — 38 FISH

WHO I FISHED WITH:  On the afternoon of Tuesday, March 12, I fished with returning guests, Rick Snelgrooes, and Brad Messner.

Both fellows are experienced anglers with freshwater, saltwater, and fly fishing experience under their belts.
Here is how the fishing went…
Next available dates are 28 Mar., 2 & 4 Apr. (AMs)

PHOTO CAPTION: From left, Brad Messner and Rick Snelgrooes with a few of the fish they caught using MAL Original Lures with chartreuse tails worked with a sawtooth method.

 

Find the Bladed Hazy Eye Slab here: https://whitebasstools.com/

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday, 12 Mar. 2024 (PM)

HOW WE FISHED: 

As we got going this afternoon, I shared with Rick and Brad how I felt we were right on the cusp of seeing the wonderfully productive springtime fishing kick in, but, that we weren’t quite there, meaning we’d have to work to find ’em, and then work to catch ’em.

We fished this afternoon‘s trip just the opposite as compared to the morning in that we started in deeper, clearer water, while the sun was high and bright, and moved up shallower as sunset approached.
In our first 2.5 hours, the fishing was slow but steady for suspended, migrating fish slowly working their way along the river channel in 20 to 28 feet of water over a deeper bottom.
I did not see opportunities to use the countdown method with an MAL Lure for these fish, so, we went vertical with the white, 5/8 ounce Bladed Hazy Eye Slab to single out individual, moving, suspended fish, and “snipe” them by reeling the lures right in front of their noses.
This accounted for 16 fish.  I noted that a fairly low percentage of fish expressed interest at this time of day (meaning, we saw way more fish swim by than the number which chased our baits).
In the last 90 minutes before sunset, we tried fishing up shallow in less than 16 feet of water. We struck out at the first area and then wound up more than doubling our catch in the final hour of fishing at the second shallow water area we visited.
Using a sawtooth method with an MAL Original was the key to catching these fish. We found seven cranks off the bottom with a 5.2 to 1 gear ratio reel was sufficiently fast and took the lure far enough off the bottom to interest these fish routinely.
We ended the evening with 38 fish landed, including 37 white bass, 1 largemouth bass, 1 blue cat, and 36 white bass.

 

TALLY: 38 fish caught and released 

 

OBSERVATIONS:  This was the first day this spring where a countdown method was useful because suspended fish were aggressive enough to chase horizontally.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 3:45P

End Time: 7:55P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 76F

Elevation: 12.20 feet low, 33 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 62.4F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE 8-9mph

Sky Condition: 80% white cloud cover with occasional breaks of sun

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 7% illumination.

GT = 105

Wx SNAPSHOT:    

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:  

Area vic 0158 (5 fish), B0253G (3 fish), B0268G (8 fish), 380 (22 fish)

 

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 #austinsubaru

SPRING BREAK FISHING WITH THE CARLUCCI FAMILY – 42 FISH

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This morning, Tuesday, March 12, I fished with returning guest, Anthony Carlucci, and his son, Bentlee. The two attended a winter SKIFF trip with me, enjoyed their time on the water, and this time brought with them little brother, Coco, as well as Mom (Kristina Carlucci) and grandma (Laura Riley, who is Anthony’s mom). Laura came in from Florida to visit while the boys were on spring break.

Here is how the fishing went.

Next available dates are 28 Mar., 2 & 4 Apr. (AMs)

PHOTO CAPTION: From left, Anthony, Bentlee (age 8), Kristina, and Coco (age 5) Carlucci, and Laura Riley on a Spring Break family outing for three generations.

 

Find the Bladed Hazy Eye Slab here: https://whitebasstools.com/

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday, 12 Mar. 2024 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED: I feel like we are on the cusp of seeing that fantastic spring fishing kick in, but it has definitely not happened yet. I am still having to work to find fish and continue to work even once they’ve been found to get them to chase and bite. I think a few warm nights with the air temperature higher than the water temperature will do the trick. Perhaps after this weekend’s cold front passes we’ll make some ground up. 

My five person crew this morning had pretty limited experience so I had to keep us in fairly open, snag-free water, and employ straightforward tactics that would give everyone a shot at fish over the course of the morning.
For starters, we headed up shallow and cast MAL Original Lures using a sawtooth method for fish hunting shad under low light conditions. By the time it got too bright for fish to stay shallow any longer, we’d put a total of 13 fish in the boat this way.
From this point on, we focused on finding bottom-oriented fish, which I could park the boat atop of and have my crew use white, 5/8 ounce, Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs to fish vertically for these fish using a slow-smoking tactic. We added another nine fish to our count in the middle portion of our trip using this method.
In the final hour, I spotted some persistent bird activity . These gulls were working adjacent to the channel and on the windblown side of it. As I slowly motored around to try to get a feel for what was happening, I saw there was an abundance of shad in the area and white bass were suspended and working these baitfish over.
Initially, we stopped  and relied on the thumper to draw these fish in as we used a smoking tactic to catch them while they swam beneath the boat. As I continued to observe the birds, I’ve felt that counting down MAL Lures might be a better approach, and we verified that was the case in just a few casts.  In our final hour on the water, we quickly took our tally up to 42 fish which included 1 largemouth bass, 2 hybrid striper, and 39 white bass.

Here is a tutorial on the slow-smoking tactic we used… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIPopSLUYoQ

TALLY: 42 fish caught and released 

 

OBSERVATIONS:  This was the first trip this spring where a countdown method was useful because suspended fish were aggressive enough to chase horizontally.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:40A

End Time: 12:20P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 58F

Elevation: 12.20 feet low, 33 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 60.4F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE all morning 6-11mph

Sky Condition: Light grey cloud cover at 100% gradually clearing to 80% white cloud cover with occasional breaks of sun

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 7% illumination.

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:    

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:  

Areas 171 (8 fish), 380 (4 fish), 2032 (2 fish), B0070 (9 fish), B0077C/B2063 (3 fish), B0267G (16 fish)

 

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 #austinsubaru