HYBRID ON THE BRINK – 104 FISH @ BELTON

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Thursday evening I fished Lake Belton with Mr. Lin McCraw and four teenagers, including Lin’s two sons, Cole and Wil, and family friends Marvin Jordan and Jace Sims.  I came prepared for both white bass which I felt confident we would catch, as well as for hybrid striper, which I was less confident about based on recent, spotty fishing for that species in the still-cold water.  Lin makes his living as an attorney up in the McKinney area in north Texas and came down for a visit to his ranch near Gatesville.

 

From left, Jace Sims and Cole McCraw handle a nice pair of hybrid that fell for cutbait as a large school of fish fed on shad in 25′ over a 40′ bottom.

Wil McCraw with one of ten hybrid we landed in a short, intense feed which took place under birds around 5pm.  That’s his dad in the background.

 

Marvin Jordan calmly listed to my coaching and did a great job boating our largest fish of the trip, a 4.125 pound hybrid striped bass, also taken on cutbait.

WHAT WE FISHED FOR: This was a multi-species trip during which we caught both hybrid stripers and white bass.

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED: Friday evening, 09 March 2018

HOW WE FISHED:   As most afternoon trips do, today’s trip started slow and ended better.  For our first two hours we vertically jigged for smaller white bass holding tight to bottom in 22-35′ with 3/8 oz. slabs with Hazy Eye Stingers affixed.  During our third hour we encountered quickly moving schools of fish pushing bait toward the surface from beneath.  Most of the action was in 25′ over a 40-45′ bottom.  We found hybrid willing to take cutbait (but not live shad) and put 10 in the boat with a few more missed before this action under birds died down to nil.  Our final hour was spent slow-smoking slabs in 26′ at a breakline.  Birds got us close and sonar closed the deal.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES:  1) The hybrid bite is “teetering” on the brink of taking off.  The bite over the past 10 days has been spotty, but a few more degrees of water temperature rise should see a big improvement.  2) Chunk bait far outperformed live bait for the hybrid we encountered.

TALLY: 104 FISH, ALL CAUGHT AND RELEASED 

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 2:30 pm

End Time:  6:40 pm

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  68F

Water Surface Temp:  59-61F

Wind Speed & Direction:  SSE13-15

Sky Conditions: 65-80% grey clouds

Water Level: 2.44 feet low

GT = 15

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic 788 to 382 (with 3 short hops) vertical jigging with 3/8 oz. slabs in 25-35′

**Area  vic 1024 vertical jigging with 3/8 oz. slabs in 22′

**Area  B0049C – fishing under birds with cutbait for 10 hybrid holding at 25′ over 40-45′

**Area  B0052C – slow smoking slabs for white bass in ~26′ during last-light bite

 

Bob Maindelle, Central Texas Fishing Guide

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www/twitter.com/bobmaindelle

THROWING BLADES & TROLLING CRANKS — 47 FISH @ STILLHOUSE

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Thursday morning I fished with Mike and Gail Klosterhoff of Georgetown, TX, on Stillhouse Hollow.  Gail got Mike a fishing gift certificate for Christmas and today was when they chose to redeem it.  Based on recent scouting efforts I’d made on Stillhouse, I knew the use of bladebaits would figure heavily into our approach, so, I did some dockside coaching on the use of these lures before we encountered fish so Mike and Gail would be more capable when we got into white bass.  Because the Klosterhoffs recently bought a pontoon boat of their own and desire to get better at catching fish on their own, I tried to explain why we did what we did as the morning went along so they could apply such lessons to their own efforts going forward.  Thank you for the referral, Dan Marriott!!

Mike and Gail Klosterhoff of Georgetown, TX, put 46 white bass and 1 largemouth in the boat under warming, cloudy conditions on Stillhouse Hollow throwing bladebaits.

 

WHAT WE FISHED FOR: This was a multi-species trip focused on catching white bass.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: Friday morning, 09 March 2018

HOW WE FISHED:   All fish caught today were taken in under 20′ of water and primarily using bladebaits.  We used 3/8 oz. Cicadas in shallower water (<10′) and 3/4 oz. Binsky blades in water over 10′.  A lift-drop retrieve did the trick.  We also put a few fish in the boat via flatline trolling.  The fish showed a definite preference for the Storm Smash Shad over the Wiggle Wart I had on the other line.  The trolling targeted scattered fish whereas the bladebaits were thrown at congregated fish as seen on sonar.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES:  1) Despite our decent catch, there still seems to be a scarcity of both fish and bait in the areas traditionally holding fish under current water conditions and in this season as compared to seasons past. 2) The “bridge tree” I watch each time of year for a gauge of spring’s progress began greening this week. 3) Sandhill cranes have migrated beyond us now.

TALLY: 47 FISH, ALL CAUGHT AND RELEASED 

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:30 am

End Time:  10:30 am

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  53F

Water Surface Temp:  58-59F

Wind Speed & Direction:  S5-7 then increasing sharply to S14 around 9:30

Sky Conditions: 100% grey clouds

Water Level: 3.72 feet low

GT = 40

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area SH0011C to SH0014C – blade baits in under than 12′

**Area SH0012C – flatline trolling

**Area 091 to SH0013C

 

Bob Maindelle, Central Texas Fishing Guide

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www/twitter.com/bobmaindelle