On Monday, April 5th, I was joined by Kevin Yuille and a fishing buddy of his for a morning of hybrid striped bass fishing on Belton Lake.
Kevin Yuille with two fistfuls of 3 to 4 pound hybrid stripers caught on live shad from Belton Lake.
I first met Kevin at the recent Cabela’s Great Outdoors Days event at the Buda, TX, location when he came in shopping for an upgrade to his black & grey sonar unit. Kevin has a 17′ boat with a 50 hp motor and fishes on the weekends, mainly throwing artificial for largemouth bass
As it typically is during this 7-8 week “window” of prime hybrid striped bass fishing, fishing was pretty straightforward this morning — find bait, catch bait, find fish, catch fish. That’s it!
Although we found no spawning shad this morning, about a half hour worth of throwing provided ample bait for the morning, mainly for smaller threadfin shad. Once the bait was on board and being “babied”, we headed to the fishing grounds where we were greeted by some stiff winds at 18mph with higher gust and swells sufficient to make it a bit dicey for the first hour or so.
We located fish in two distinct areas, got them excited with chum, and then caught them for about 60-75 minutes at each location as the action rose, peaked, and fell off.
As is often the case in this super-productive season, it was actually harder to find and catch the bait today than it was the gamefish we used that bait to catch! Our catch of 53 fish today was a personal best single-trip total for Kevin.
As of this writing, I only have one April date left open, and only five dates left open in May before what is the traditional end of the treadfin shad spawn and the awesome hybrid fishery that accompanies it. The Lord has truly blessed Rebecca and I with your business this season — thank you!
Those dates are:
Thursday, 30 April – AM
Tuesday, 05 May – AM
Thursday, 07 May – AM
Thursday, 14 May – AM
Monday, 18 May – AM (Memorial Day)
Tuesday, 19 May – AM
TALLY = 53 Fish, including 4 white bass and 49 hybrid striped bass
GUIDE’S WEBSITE: http://holdingthelineguideservice.com/
TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 8:15a
End Time: 12:15p
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 66F
Water Surface Temp: 63F @ lower lake, 67-68 @ upper lake
Wind Speed & Direction: SSE16-18 with higher gusts in first hour
Sky Conditions: Grey and overcast @ 100%
Other: GT = 30
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area Vicinity 1374
**Area 1543
Bob Maindelle
Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide
Belton Lake Fishing Guide
Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service
254.368.7411 (call or text)