Fished a 1/2 day morning “Kids Fish, Too!” trip with grandpa Keith L. of Georgetown, TX, and his 8 and 9 year old grandsons, Andrew B. and Luke B. of Copley, Ohio. The boys were down visiting during their Spring Break. On this day, we enjoyed near 70 degree temps at sunrise, and the boys were glad to point out that it was snowing back home!!

ANDREW, GRANDPA KEITH, AND LUKE ON THE BOYS’ SPRING BREAK TRIP FROM COPLEY, OHIO

Start Time: 7:15a


End Time: 11:45a


Air Temp: 69F at trip’s start warming to 84F in the afternoon.


Water Surface Temp: ~63F

Wind: Winds were just right — from the SW at about 12 mph.

Skies: Skies were overcast and grey.

I had a good feeling about this morning’s trip as it was balmy overnight, it was warm and humid at the start of the trip, and a front was due in later in the day with winds due to be taking a NW turn and getting pretty hard.

The boys were enthusiastic and attentive which I was pleased to see. With the water temps still in the low 60’s, we’re still on a pretty technically demanding slab bite, but the boys were able to catch on very quickly to the instruction I was giving them about keeping their slabs where the fish were.

We launched out and I kept a sharp eye out for birds. We immediately saw 2 osprey working and observed each catch a fish. Suspecting small, schooled white bass near the surface, I went to investigate, but found the birds were picking off large gizzard shad.

We settled in and fished an 80 yard swath extending to the NNW of Area 143. I originally got on this area based on some definite but scant sonar returns showing fish in and around this feature. As we began working our slabs, the action began, then increased, then peaked, then fell, then went flat, all over a 2 hour span. It is great to have kids on board and ride that entire morning-feed bell curve like that. We put 43 fish in the boat during the feed and then things quieted down. During the feed we caught fish with both a standard jigging approach and via smoking for doubles and triples at the peak of the bite when fish were chasing hooked schoolmates. We also caught fish using a lift-drop retrieve on cast spoons. Occasionally, a single white bass or at most 2-3 fish were seen chasing single shad on the surface.

We combed the area with downriggers after the bite died and added 2 more fish to our tally on White Willow Spoons and then left this area altogether after subsequent passes failed to produce.

Our count stood at 45 fish and it was now about 10:30a. I told the boys I thought we could get to 50 if they were up for it. They gave me the thumbs up and so we then pursued 5 additional fish with crankbaits. We locked onto 2 largemouth and a crappie at Area 888 to Area 405, and lost a real nice largemouth here, too. It’s now 11:10 and we need 2 more fish.

We head down to Area 110, and no sooner get our baits in the water than Luke comes up with #49, a white bass, with plenty of other fish showing on sonar. Two more passes yield nothing and the school is gone.

We turn parallel to shore and head to the NE of Area 110 — the starboard rod begins to dig in to bottom, then the port side rod does the same — Andrew thinks he’s got one on so we all look but see it’s just the crank rubbing bottom. Then it happened — Luke’s rod loaded and the fish was on. He’d caught the last 3 fish and decided to give the honors to his big brother. Andrew didn’t take the privilege lightly and did a fine job bringing #50 to net — yet another foot-long white bass going right at 3/4 pounds.

50 fish on the nose and home we went!!

TALLY = 50 FISH, all caught and released

Bob Maindelle, Owner, Holding The Line Guide Service and Kids Fish, Too! Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide, Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Lake Georgetown Fishing Guide, Walter E. Long (Decker) Lake Fishing Guide. Offering Salado Fishing, Killeen Fishing and Ft. Hood Fishing

Fished a 1/2 day evening “Kids Fish, Too!” trip with Dr. Kenton Z. and his children, Gillian and Tor of Pittsburg, PA. The kids were down visiting during their Spring Break. On this day, we enjoyed near 80 degree temps at trip’s start, but with it, endured a wicked NW wind that really cramped our style a bit.

KENTON AND THE KIDS, GILLIAN AND TOR, TROOPERS ALL!!

A WIND-DRIVEN 5,000 ACRE BRUSHFIRE ON FT. HOOD COULD BE SEEN FROM THE LAKE OVER THE ENTIRETY OF OUR TRIP.

Start Time: 3:45p


End Time: 7:45a


Air Temp: 83F at trip’s start.


Water Surface Temp: ~61-64F

Wind: Winds cranked up to near 30mph for the first 90 minutes of the trip, then tapered off to less than 14 by trip’s end, all from the WNW.

Skies: Skies were clear and bright.

As we began our trip, I got to know the family a bit and learned that Gillian, age 13, had never caught a fish before, and that Tor, age 11, had only reeled in a fish someone else had hooked. I promised the kids that by trip’s end they’d both be catching fish independently, and they really seemed enthused at that prospect.

Based on the length and intensity of the morning bite (fairly strong bite, ending around 9:30a) I was hopeful we’d see a moderate pre-sunset bite this evening, and that is what we experienced. I had hoped to fill in the ‘meantime’ with some deepwater fishing in the relatively lower light conditions found there, but the very strong winds denied us access to that.

So, we sampled some mid-depth areas and struck out, and headed to the shallower waters of Area 412 by 5:30p, about an hour before I’d normally try there. We were modestly rewarded here with 8 fish … but those fish were the first these kids had ever caught on their own and they were super excited about it. Once Tor caught his first fish and realized how important correct lure presentation was, he asked me to double-check his presentation every time he dropped his slab!!

As the 6:30-7:00p timeframe came, birds began to coalesce in our vicinity, but they never grouped up tightly nor fed heavily — nor did the fish. We hopped over to Area 389 and found more fish during this time right on bottom with just a few getting active enough for a short span of time to allow us to enjoy a second spurt of activity resulting in 13 more fish coming aboard — all average white bass. We also lost 3 right at boatside — but that’s how it goes with new anglers going through the learning curve.

By 7:30 the fishing here had all but shut down and the birds had departed. We headed back towards the dock looking for birds as we went but found none.

So, the count for the day stood at 21 fish by the time the trip was through, but for two brand new fisherman in some tough, frontal, windy conditions, that was pretty darn good. Great job kids!!

TALLY = 21 FISH, all caught and released

Bob Maindelle, Owner, Holding The Line Guide Service and Kids Fish, Too! Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide, Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Lake Georgetown Fishing Guide, Walter E. Long (Decker) Lake Fishing Guide. Offering Salado Fishing, Killeen Fishing and Ft. Hood Fishing