PRAIRIE DOG RACING – 48 FISH @ BELTON

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Saturday afternoon I was joined by two couples: Shannon Bradshaw and Brandon Parr and their friends, Andrew Baker and Chelsy Richardson.  Andrew and Brandon serve in the same infantry unit on Fort Hood  The ladies went in together to get the fellows a fishing gift certificate for Valentines’ Day in 2017 and redeemed it today.  We faced some tougher conditions this afternoon as the sky brightened and the wind calmed over the midday period.  As it turned out, we were able to use a variety of tactics including snap-jigging for whites and tight-lining with live shad for hybrid to catch a variety of fish.  Along the way we all got a good chuckle when I told the group I was looking forward to a prairie dog hunt in late May.  While picturing a not a prairie dog but a greyhound in her mind, Shannon asked of the prairie dogs I’d just mentioned, “Aren’t those the ones they race?”.  There was a split second of silence and then laughter erupted.

Shannon Bradshaw with our longest hybrid of the trip.  This fish aggressively took a live shad suspended at mid-depth over a 34′ bottom.

Chelsy Richardson and Andrew Baker with a nice pair of hybrid.  Andrew’s fish was our heaviest of the trip, weighing 4.125 pounds. Both came on live shad suspended off a 34′ bottom.

Did ya’ll know the Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer Co. has a fishing team?

From left, Chelsy Richardson, Andrew Baker, Shannon Bradshaw, and Brandon Parr, each with a 2 year class white bass caught off bottom in 25-28′ along a blunt point  under tough, bright, calm conditions.

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

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED: Saturday evening, 10 March 2018

HOW WE FISHED:   Fishing was much tougher this afternoon than this morning.  Our conditions were just what you don’t hope for — bright and calm — but, we persisted and put together a nice catch aided by a grand finale of nearly 20 keeper hybrid (18″ or greater).  We kicked off the afternoon snap-jigging near bottom while we still had a bit of a ripple.  Multiple “short hop” around the same location got us 27 white bass and a single largemouth in our first two hours.  Our third hour was slow as we searched multiple locations finding little and catching nothing.  We made a move to another segment of the lake in our final 80 minutes.  As I searched with sonar, side imaging revealed scattered but abundant hybrid holding along a steep bank over 34′.  I hovered the boat in one spot using Spot Lock, got live bait down, sweetened the deal with a steady flow of chum, and we began to pull hybrid stripers steadily for the remainder of the trip, right up until dark around 6:45.  Although these fish were definitely more aggressive than those we encountered the previous evening, we still had plenty of refusals where we watched fish on sonar as they stalked a bait, rose to it, then turned away without making contact. During this last span of time, we landed 18 legal hybrid, 1 short hybrid, and 1 largemouth bass around 2 pounds.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES:  1) The hybrid we encountered were definitely more aggressive than those we encountered the previous evening, but we still had plenty of refusals where we watched fish on sonar as they stalked a bait, rose to it, then turned away without making contact.

TALLY: 48 FISH, ALL CAUGHT AND RELEASED 

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 2:30 pm

End Time:  6:50 pm

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  85F

Water Surface Temp:  60-62F

Wind Speed & Direction:  SSW2-4 most of the trip.

Sky Conditions: <10% cover with white clouds on a blue sky by trip’s end.

Water Level: 2.43 feet low

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 381 to B0050C — 28 fish snap-jigging

**Area B0051C – 20 fish on live shad in last 75 minutes of light

 

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

I’M GONNA TEACH MY KIDS THIS TECHNIQUE — 105 FISH @ BELTON

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Saturday morning I was joined by Mr. Frank “Big Dad” Ellis, his step-son, Richard Garrison, and four of Frank’s grandchildren — Alexis (age 12) and Aubrey (age 10) Mikeska, and Eliana (age 11) and Janessa (age 8) McKee, all of Copperas Cove.  The girls all fished while Frank and Richard helped me help the girls with technique, taking off fish, untangling lines, and more.  The girls are all on spring break and this was the first of a few big events they had planned for the week.  Aubrey, the only “morning person” in the bunch, really warmed my heart when, in the middle of the white bass feeding frenzy tells her grandpa, “Man, this works great.  I’m gonna teach my kids this technique when they go fishing.”

 

From left, Aubrey Mikeska, Richard Garrison, Alexis Mikeska, Janessa McKee, Frank Ellis, and Eliana McKee with a few of the 105 fish they landed as the opening act of their Spring Break 2018.

WHAT WE FISHED FOR: This was a multi-species trip during which we caught white bass (primarily), as well as crappie, largemouth, and drum.

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED: Saturday morning, 10 March 2018

HOW WE FISHED:  Fishing got off to a bit later start this morning thanks to some heavy grey cloud cover which obscured sunrise, and thanks to very light winds.  By 7:30am things started to happen as nature came alive, fish began biting, and birds started flying and feeding.  We fished only two areas this morning.  The first half of the trip, while the bite was more subdued, we used a snap-jigging tactic for smaller white bass holding very tightly to the bottom. During the second half of the trip we witnessed the most aggressive white bass feed I have seen so far this year.  Hundreds of white bass were feeding in an area of about 2 acres in size and in about 25 feet of water.  The fish were primarily in the middle third of the water column with individual fish occasionally breaking the surface as they chased shad.  Fishing was super easy with a smoking tactic and the trusty 3/8 oz. slab with Hazy Eye Stinger hook affixed.  This aggressive feed lasted about 75 minutes.  Afterwards, fish were still catchable, but were on bottom and much less aggressive, thus requiring that we go back to snap-jigging.  At this point anything short of another frenzy would have been anticlimactic.  As this was a “Kids Fish, Too!” package trip, we wrapped up right around the 3.5 hour mark with exactly 104 fish landed.  I think Aubrey would have fished ’til midnight if we let her, Alexis could have hung a bit longer, and Eliana and Janessa were ready for an early lunch.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES:  1) A number of the larger white bass we landed from out of the suspended school we smoked for were males dripping milt.  That was the first time I’ve observed that on either Belton or Stillhouse this season.

TALLY: 105 FISH, ALL CAUGHT AND RELEASED 

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:30 am

End Time:  10:00 am

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  66F

Water Surface Temp:  60-62F

Wind Speed & Direction:  S3 at trip’s start, building to S7 by 9:00am, then shifting suddenly to WSW9-10.

Sky Conditions: 100% grey cloud cover, tapering off to 30% cover with white clouds on a blue sky by trip’s end.

Water Level: 2.43 feet low

GT = 50

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic 382 – snap-jigging for small white bass hugging bottom

**Area 617 to 378 to 380 – frenzied white bass caught via slow-smoking

 

 

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