This past Tuesday afternoon, 12 April, I met up with retired U.S. Navy captain Ray Johnson of Harker Heights. Ray fishes with me about once each quarter. Our last trip was in pursuit of quality white bass using artificial lures on Stillhouse. This day, for variety’s sake, we headed out after a mixed bag of fish, including hybrid stripers, on Belton.
Retired U.S. Navy Captain Ray Johnson of Harker Heights with one of several sizeable hybrid striped bass we caught under grey skies and a NE wind today.
Due to NE winds and heavy cloud cover today, there was very little temperature variation from morning to evening. Because the wind had been from the NE, I focus on areas directly impacted by this wind. Because we chose to shoot for larger fish, this meant using bait. There can be some periods of waiting while using bait as schools of fish come and go through an areas, so, it allows more time for conversation than when working artificials for smaller fish.
Since Ray had spent time at sea, I asked him about the single most remarkable sight he’d ever witnessed. He didn’t have to think very long before telling me the tale of encountering a massive, rogue wave in the Mediterranean that literally washed across the flight deck of the USS John F. Kennedy while he was on it. He told how they had some advanced warning of it because it showed up both on radar, and the sonar technicians could hear the sound it gave off quite some distance away … and how it was both terrifying and impressive nonetheless. Good story!
We fished 4 areas, finding small fish to jig for at the first, scant fishing producing 2 keeper hybrid at the second area, suspended white bass and short hybrid at the third area, and the quality fishing for hybrid stripers that we were gunning for on Belton at the final area we fished in the last 50 minutes of light.
TALLY: 51 Fish, all caught and released
TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 3:45p
End Time: 7:45p
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 68F
Water Surface Temp: 66.5F
Wind Speed & Direction: Winds were ESE at 11-12 with occasional drizzle right up until the last hour when winds slowly tapered down to ESE6.
Sky Conditions: 100% grey skies to the point of light rain for the entire trip.
Water Level: 594.69 and falling with 594.0 being full pool. Water being released at 765 cubic feet per second. Lake fell 0.05 feet in the past 24 hours
Other: GT= 0
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area 1606 – small fish, mainly white bass, on slabs only in 41′
**Area vic 1318/346 two keeper hybrid on live bait followed by a handful of smaller fish
**Area vic 972/1075 lots of suspended fish; got a few whites and short hybrid on live baits fished at 22-25′ over a 37′ bottom.
**Area 1288 – consistent fishing for the last 50 minutes of light for keeper and just-short hybrid along with a few white bass using live bait. Fishing started on bottom in 37′, then moved steadily upwards in the water column as the light failed.
Bob Maindelle
Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service
254.368.7411 (call or text)
Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
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