Finishing Well! — 59 Fish, Belton, 09 May 2014

This morning I fished with Steve Niemeier and his 9-year-old grandson, Caleb.  Steve is a CPA with the Temple, Texas-based firm of Brockway Gersbach Franklin & Niemeier and has been fishing with me since 2010.



9-year-old Caleb saved the best for last.  As we brought the trip to a close around noon, he brought this solid 6.00 pound hybrid to net all by himself.  This was the largest fish Caleb had ever caught.

We were originally scheduled to fish yesterday, but with a 70+% chance of rain accompanied by thunder and lightning put out by NOAA, we decided to postpone.  As it turned out, at least an inch of rain fell area wide yesterday and up until around 4am this morning; and this morning before sunrise there was still some patchy drizzle lingering as I was netting shad.

The shad netting was very slim today, but I expect that was because of the turbulent weather, not so much because the spawn is winding down, although we are most certainly past “the peak” of it.

I was a bit concerned that the fishing would mimic the shad activity, but this was not to be the case.  As we got going right at 7:30, the winds began to pick up a bit and this, plus the grey cloud cover, made for good fishing conditions.

We experienced about 12-15 minutes of a wait between arriving at our first area and seeing the bite turn on as the baits worked below the boat and the chum worked its magic.  Once the first fish hit, we caught fish fast and furious at first (being able to keep up with only 3 rods at a time), then things tapered slowly off to where we could fish four rods but with constant action, then, by around 10:30 our bite died out as the winds went calm after 3 solid hours of action.  During this time we caught 54 fish, including 48 legal (18+ inch long) hybrid striped bass up to 6.00 pounds, 4 blue catfish, 1 white bass, and 1 short hybrid striper.  These fish were in 36 feet of water.

With about an hour more to fish, we searched 3 different areas with sonar, finding “so-so” sonar returns at the last of these areas in 31 feet of water.  We once again got positioned, got baits in the water, got chum working, and then waited for a response.  Fortunately, despite the late hour and marginal winds, a few fish responded, and we were able to close out the trip on a strong note, adding 5 more keeper hybrid striped bass to our tally.

I complimented Caleb on his perseverance at the end of our trip.  He worked hard for the first 3 hours catching his share of our first 54 fish, then when the lull occurred and the temperature started to rise, I recruited him to help me do a few things around the boat that needed doing to take his mind off the waiting as we tested the waters at our final stop of the day and allowed our baits and chum to work.  He didn’t whine or complain, and his persistence paid off.  He landed 3 of 5 keeper hybrid we attracted into our spread at this final area and was able to finish well.


TALLY = 59 FISH, all caught and released


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TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 7:30a
End Time: 12:00p
Air Temp: 71F at trip’s start.
Water Surface Temp: 70.4F 
Wind:  SSE5-6 at sunrise and staying steady, then going nearly slack at 10:30 to 11:20, then picking up at SSE5-6 once again.
Skies: Greyed over entire trip.
Other Notes: GT40

Areas Fished with success:

**1200 Netted shad here in the AM
** 835 – caught 48 of 59 fish here in first 3 hours
** 151 caught 11 of 59 fish here in last 25 minutes








Bob Maindelle
Holding the Line Guide Service

254-368-7411

www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
Salado, Texas

An “Engineered” Solution — 51 Fish, Belton, 06 May 2014

This morning I fished with a really nice young couple from Academy, Texas – Cory and Kelli Hargrove.  Cory is a Texas A&M graduate now employed as an engineer on the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad.  Kelli is the stay-at-home mom of Hunter, now a 1st grader.  The couple first met at church in 1995.



44 of our 51 fish caught today were “legal” 18+ inch hybrid striped bass which came from 30-35 feet of water.

Cory takes a moment for a quick shot with our trip’s largest fish before releasing it to fight again another day.   It went right at 5.25 pounds.

With continued (6 straight days) of southerly winds, there was a continued solid hybrid striped bass bite and solid threadfin spawning activity making both gathering bait and then catching quality fish with that bait very straightforward.

We fished our first area for 3 straight hours and caught fish there steadily until 11am when the action began to soften.  We spent about 20 minutes searching for more fish and were fortunate to find yet another concentration of fish so late in the game on a morning bite that rarely lasts more than 4 hours.

We were able to pull 7 more keeper hybrid from off of this last area and then called it a day around 11:45.

Despite the fact that Cory was already a knowledgeable fisherman, he listened very closely to the instructions I provided at the beginning of the trip concerning the use of circle hooks.  Kelli, who was not as experienced, also listened out of a genuine desire to do well.  With both Cory and Kelli willing to be coached, we avoided the steep learning curve that many anglers go through as they try to fish with circle hooks as they normally would using conventional J-shaped hooks and getting frustrated by losing fish after fish as they make their way through that curve.  

We landed a total of 51 fish on this trip including one “short” hybrid striper of less than 18”, 5 blue catfish, 1 white bass, and 44 legal (18+ inch) hybrid striped bass.  In the 22 years I’ve been on Belton, I have never seen the proportion of legal fish to sub-legal fish that I’m seeing this year, nor have I seen so few other species mixed in with the hybrid stripers I’m catching.  This has been a remarkable spring.


TALLY = 51 FISH, all caught and released


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TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 7:45a
End Time: 12:00p
Air Temp: 64F at trip’s start.
Water Surface Temp: 68-69F 
Wind:  SSE16-17 at sunrise, dropping slightly within the first hour after sunrise to SSE14
Skies: Greyed over entire trip.
Other Notes: GT20

Areas Fished with success:

**1200 Netted shad here in the AM
** 1377 – caught 44 of 51 fish here in first 3 hours
** 151 caught 7 of 51 fish here in last 30 minutes








Bob Maindelle
Holding the Line Guide Service

254-368-7411

www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
Salado, Texas

Need a Mask to go with that Cape? 66 Fish, Belton, 05 May 2014

This
morning I treated my wife, Rebecca, and mom, Charlotte, to a morning of hybrid striped bass fishing.  We are in the peak of the spring hybrid bite that coincides with the annual threadfin shad spawn, and had an unexpected postponement from some new clients, so, we made it a family day on the water.

Over 70% of our catch of 66 fish consisted of strong, healthy legal-sized (18″+) hybrid striped bass.  We used circle hooks, fought the fish quickly, handled them minimally, and released every single one to grow larger and fight again.

Rebecca (decidedly NOT a fan of any outdoor temperature below 89F) brought a little extra “insurance” against the cold this morning.  

Fishing was easy this morning.  The wind was from due south around 11-12 mph which made for predictable shad netting (140 baits in my first throw — thanks Mr. Bill!) and predictable fish location.

We fished on exactly one area all morning, never moving more than a single boat length and encountered a very aggressive, extended hybrid striped bass bite, sprinkled with a few average white bass and a few blue catfish.

Both Rebecca and Charlotte are pretty good anglers but had never fished with live shad, nor with reels equipped with bait clickers or line counters.  Once we got some basics down, they were cooking with oil and went on to try some “advanced” skills including hooking live shad on the circle hooks and netting one another’s fish. 

It was good to be with family today!

TALLY = 66 FISH, all caught and released


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TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 7:15a
End Time: 11:50p
Air Temp: 64F at trip’s start.
Water Surface Temp: 68.7F 
Wind:  S12 at sunrise, increasing to S15 by trip’s end.
Skies: Cloudless fair sky
Other Notes: GT0

Areas Fished with success:

**1199 to 511 Spotted abundant shad here after netting what I needed
**1200 Netted shad here in the AM
** 1381 — caught all 66 fish here








Bob Maindelle
Holding the Line Guide Service

254-368-7411

www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
Salado, Texas

Largest Hybrid of the 2014 Season — 33 Fish, Belton, 03 May

This
morning I fished with mother and son team Kelly and Matthew Morrison of Temple, Texas.  This was the Morrison family’s 14th outing with me over the past 4 years.

Matthew and Kelly with 2 of the 27 legal (18+ inch) hybrid striped bass they caught this morning.

Matthew caught this 6.00 pound, 23.25 inch hybrid this morning, the largest hybrid any of my clients have taken so far this 2014 season.

Matthew is now 16 years old, involved in baseball and golf, learning to drive, and is a big University of Texas Longhorn’s fan and Texas Rangers baseball fan.  Both dad (John) and mom usually accompany Matthew on our trips, but a speaking engagement in the Dallas area found John away from home today.  Kelly had just spent a very full day outdoors with her niece at a school field day yesterday, so she was ready to take it easy and let Matthew do most of the rod work today.

One of the things I most enjoy about fishing is that no two days are alike.  There are so many variables at work — wind speed, wind direction, day length, cloud cover, water level, and the list goes on.  Trying to make correlations between what I’m observing and fish activity is an engaging mental exercise which I’ve long enjoyed.

Today was a bit odd.  After 4 days of stable weather and with winds turning to a favorable SW direction and at a manageable speed, I expected high numbers of fish today.  With high numbers of fish typically come a good percentage of smallish fish including white bass, sub-legal hybrid striped bass, and blue catfish.

What actually played out today was that we caught fewer fish than in the past several trips, but, the proportion of these which were large, quality, hybrid striped bass was high — 27 of 33 fish to be exact were at least 18 inches in length, with one fish going exactly 23.25 inches and weighing in at exactly 6.00 pounds on a certified scale.

Just when you think you’ve figured things out, you learn how much more there is to learn.

TALLY = 33 FISH, all caught and released


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TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 7:00a
End Time: 11:50p
Air Temp: 54F at trip’s start.
Water Surface Temp: 68.4F 
Wind:  SW12 at trip’s start, then increasing to SW15 through 11a, then dying off to SW8 by trip’s end.
Skies: Cloudless fair sky
Other Notes: GT35

Areas Fished with success:

**1199 to 1125 Netted shad here in the AM
** 1374/1294 caught 23 fish here until 9:00am
** 930 caught 4 keeper hybrid here
** 953 caught 2 keeper hybrid here
**835 caught 4 keeper hybrid here








Bob Maindelle
Holding the Line Guide Service

254-368-7411

www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
Salado, Texas

Must be Living Right — 61 Fish, Belton Lake, 02 May 2014

This
morning I fished with father and son team Steve and Nick Stewart of Georgetown, Texas. 

Nick (L) and Steve (R) Stewart with our first 3 hybrid taken in the first 15 minutes on the water.


Steve
owns Deskmap, a geologic mapping company, and his son, Nick, works for
the Dept. of Defense.
Nick just returned to the U.S. from a stint in Afghanistan and was enjoying some downtime with his folks before heading back and reestablishing himself in the Washington, D.C. area.

I told Steve he must be living right — this 6 week “window” in which the threadfin shad spawn and the hybrid go on a rampage, typically sees repeat customers reserving dates a full year in advance.  By the first of April, the month of May is typically booked solid.  Well, not knowing or appreciating any of this, Steve just called me out of the blue on Wednesday looking for a trip today minutes after a cancellation call for this morning’s trip came in, so he just kind of waltzed into an ideal situation.

Shad netting went well this morning with over 260 shad caught in one throw (my first throw).  This set us up nicely to get on the fish just as the sun was rising.

Our first stop saw about an hour of solid action and our best catch of legal-sized hybrid of the day.  This action died as the WNW breeze died, and then picked right up again,albeit briefly, when the breeze resumed after a 25 minute lull.  As the fishing slacked off we decided to make a move after looking “locally” first in the same general vicinity we’d been fishing and finding little.

Our second stop yielded a very high proportion of “short” hybrid to keeper-sized fish, so, we enjoyed some very fast action for about 30-40 minutes, and then decided to leave these fish behind and roll the dice on finding some additional large fish in our final hour on the water.

As it turned out, the gamble paid off, as were we able to land 5 additional keeper hybrid at our final stop.

Today’s fish all came on large, lively threadfin shad fished vertically beneath the boat after first finding fish on sonar in 30-36 feet of water.

When all was said and done today, we’d boated exactly 61 fish, of which about 25-30% were legal, 18+ inch hybrid striped bass.

TALLY = 61 FISH, all caught and released


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TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 7:00a
End Time: 11:30p
Air Temp: 49F at trip’s start.
Water Surface Temp: 68.8F 
Wind:  WNW13 at trip’s start, then varying from WNW 10-14
Skies: Cloudless fair sky
Other Notes: GT35

Areas Fished with success:

**1369 Netted shad here in the AM
**1380 caught 50% of our catch here
**976/152 caught 40% of our catch here
**150/098 caught 10% of our catch here








Bob Maindelle
Holding the Line Guide Service

254-368-7411

www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
Salado, Texas