Fished a half-day morning trip this morning with Tom and Eric K. of Austin. Tom works for Dell down there, and Eric is a graduating high school senior headed to OU (with his head screwed on straight and a plan for his life).

ERIC K. GRIPPING AND GRINNING MINUTES BEFORE WE GOT WASHED OUT

As we discussed this father and son’s expectations for the trip, it was clear these fellows had done a lot of fishing together and had a preference for quality over quantity. With this in mind we rigged up for live shad fishing targeting hybrid striper on Belton Lake.

Start Time: 6:30a

End Time: 8:45a

Air Temp: 69F at trip’s start.

Water Surface Temp: ~75F

Wind: Winds were SE at 9 at trip’s start, then swung around due E and lightened. This was to be the calm before the storm, literally. At around 9:00a, winds shifted suddenly from the N. with a very sudden drop in air temperature, thunder,lightning, and rain.

Skies: Cloudy and grey up until the front hit, then heavy clouds and rain until some partial clearing began in the early evening.

With expectations of heavier than normal traffic on Belton today due to the Texas Striper Association tournament here, we got out on productive water early and anchored up awaiting sunrise and the first bite of the morning. With a variety of baits out including treadfin shad, perch, and black saltys, we found all the action came on the shad today.

We only got in about 2 hours of fishing before the storm sent us packing. We spent our entire time on Area 098 and were able to boat 2 barely legal hybrid, a white bass, and a blue cat. 4 other boats did join us. We only saw 2 other hybrid caught amongst these vessels, as well as a handful of white bass. We used a combination of anchoring and drifting with a drift sock to put this catch together. We had several other attempts made at our baits, but no solid hits. All four fish that took our baits well were hooked and landed — a tribute to Tom and Eric’s ability to actually properly play a fish and bring it to net.

By 8:45a, a wall of water was moving towards us from the W. and a messenger boat dispatched from BLORA was going from boat to boat warning of the severe weather coming. We packed it up and were shutting our pickup truck doors as the first raindrops fell. Soon, the winds were gusting 30mph+ from N and a cold, hard rain was falling. By mid afternoon over 3/4 inch of water fell.

TALLY = 4 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