Day: April 18, 2014

And a “Good Friday” it was! – 34 Fish, Belton, 18 April 2014

by Bob Maindelle

This morning I fished with Gene Ellis of the Belton Police Department, and his son-in-law, Johnny Hess, who works for the Belton road maintenance department.


Gene Ellis (L) and his son-in-law, Johnny Hess (R) each with two fists full of fight.  We boated 21 legal (18+ inch) hybrid this morning.

Gene and a friend of his, Mike Rhoden, last fished with me in January of 2010 when we used artificials for a mix of hybrid and white bass in cool water.  This trip was totally different.  With the water temperatures now in the low 60’s and warming slowly, the hybrid bite on live shad has really turned on well.  Johnny, having gone fishing only 2-3 times in his life, had never caught a fish before.  Gene and I were determined to change all that!!

As we got going this morning, around 7:35a we spotted several large flocks of gulls working over top of baitfish being forced to the surface by aggressively feeding hybrid below them.  We looked for the “center of mass” and got to it and put baits down among the fish.  We defaulted our bait depth settings to the bottom with four rods, but adjusted at least two every time we saw a “wolfpack” of moving, suspended fish beneath the boat on sonar and were rewarded on a number of occasions for doing so as the fish typically responded immediately to the rising bait suddenly appearing at their eye level.

The action under the birds lasted about 50 minutes and died.  We then used sonar to search out bottom-oriented fish that had stopped pursuing bait, but which were willing to feed if “spoon fed” baits along with chum from overhead.

We found one such “patch” of fish and fished over them successfully until the winds went calm and the sun shone brightly killing the bite by around 10:15a.  With a honey-do list heavy on yardwork and some volunteering to do at church on Easter Sunday, Gene and Johnny decided to stop while they were ahead, so we cranked ‘er up and headed back in after an action-packed morning of hybrid fishing.



TALLY = 34 FISH, all caught and released


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TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 6:30a
End Time: 10:30a
Air Temp: 55F at trip’s start.
Water Surface Temp: 62.7F 
Wind: NNW 3-5
Skies: Fair
Other Notes: GT0

Areas Fished with success:

**1370   Netted shad here
**838/841 Active hybrid under birds
**086/1280/1282     Bottom-dwelling hybrid chummed up







Bob Maindelle
Holding the Line Guide Service

254-368-7411
www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
Salado, Texas

Fish — Fat & Sassy!! 40 Fish, Belton, 17 April 2014

by Bob Maindelle

This afternoon I fished with Bryan Boyd, vice president of Austin-based Centex Flooring, and his 10 year old son, Drew.  We targeted Belton Lake hybrid striped bass using live shad fished directly beneath the boat.


Mr. Bryan Boyd and his 10 year old son, Drew, whacked ’em this afternoon.  They caught and released 31 legal hybrid exceeding 18 inches.

Many of these fish were not only healthy with good coloration, but very fat, too. The fish on the left went a shade over 5 pounds on a certified scale.

After a short lunch break off the water with my good friend Billy Champlin following this morning’s trip, I returned to the lake to net more shad for this trip.  Fortunately, that small chore went well.  Bryan and Drew encountered a bit of I-35 congestion thus delaying our start a bit, but, we made up for lost time by getting right on the fish where I’d left off this morning.

The ambient temperature had risen from the still-cool start this morning, and the humidity and cloud cover increased, while the winds decreased.  We saw no bird activity related to fish activity this afternoon.

We spent the entire trip fishing just two areas a few hundred yards apart and found bottom-oriented hybrid at both areas, thanks to sonar.  I looked for a density of relatively inactive fish holding tight to the bottom with a few active “high riders” holding up off bottom as my cue that fish were present.  We got baits and chum down over the fish, made some commotion and watched sonar and our rod tips for a result.   Many times these inactive fish can be aroused with the presence of bait, chum, and a few schoolmates getting hooked and brought up through the water column.

By trip’s end we’d boated 1 largemouth bass, 2 small blue cat, 1 white bass, 5 short hybrid stripers, and 31 legal hybrid (exceeding 18 inches). 

As we fished, Bryan wondered if he should have coaxed his 6 year old daughter into coming along.  I told him these hybrid are really too much for younger children to handle.  Even 8-10 year old kids have a tough time battling these hard-fighting fish independently.  So, I suggested he hold off on bringing his daughter until July-August when we can rely on white bass to respond to downrigging and have sunfish as a backup plan to provide instant gratification over on Stillhouse Hollow.


TALLY = 40 FISH, all caught and released


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TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 4:45p
End Time: 8:15p
Air Temp: 65F at trip’s start.
Water Surface Temp: 62.7F 
Wind: Light and variable 0-2
Skies: Greyed over
Other Notes: GT30

Areas Fished with success:

**1370   Netted shad here
**1372   Legal and short hybrid
**086     Legal and short hybrid







Bob Maindelle
Holding the Line Guide Service

254-368-7411
www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
Salado, Texas

It’s Hybrid Time! — 34 Fish, Belton Lake, 17 April 2014

by Bob Maindelle

This morning I welcomed Luke Neiser, owner of Temple-based Mobile Phone Geeks, and his crew aboard including his 8 year old son, Nathaniel, Luke’s longtime friend, Hugh Moore, and Hugh’s dad, James Moore.
 



(L to R): James Moore, Hugh Moore, Luke Neiser, and Nathaniel Neiser with 4 of the 35 fish we boated on live shad this morning.

James caught our largest hybrid of the day on a large gizzard shad.  This fish went 5.25 pounds.


I was a bit concerned as we began today for two reasons.  First, the water temperature had dropped yet again overnight, and we had an east wind.  We struggled for the first two hours, catching only 4 fish on shad, but, as the heavy grey skies began to lighten and the temperature began to warm with the little bit of sun penetrating the clouds, things turned on well for us in the last two hours.

We found aggressive hybrid striped bass feeding activity taking place over ~30 feet of water and this feeding activity drew gulls in.  As the fish fed, they would occasionally force baitfish to the surface allowing the birds above a shot at consuming a confused or wounded shad. We spotted the gull activity, idled in for a look, confirmed our suspicions with sonar, put down the baits and brought up the fish. 

It was all we could do to keep up for the first 20 minutes, then things cooled to manageable, then, by around 11:30, came to a close.  All of the fish we caught today came on live gizzard and threadfin shad fished on downlines from a “hovering” position maintained by a GPS guided
trolling motor. 

Young Nathaniel had limited experience with strong fish prior to this trip, but wound up catching several fish all by himself.  James took big fish honors with a nice 5.25 pound hybrid taken on an outsized gizzard shad — the old “big bait, big fish” maxim definitely held true.


TALLY = 35 FISH, all caught and released


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TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 7:55a
End Time: 11:45a
Air Temp: 53F at sunrise.
Water Surface Temp: 62.7F 
Wind: ESE5-7
Skies: Greyed over
Other Notes: GT30

Areas Fished with success:

**1370   Netted shad here
**709    1 hybrid, 2 white bass, 1 crappie
**1372  23 legal hybrid, 4 white bass, 4 short hybrid







Bob Maindelle
Holding the Line Guide Service

254-368-7411
www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
Salado, Texas