Dad, Good Buds, and a Personal Best — 59 Fish @ Belton

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This past Monday morning I fished with MJ Linder of Belton, MJ’s dad, Gene Linder of Abilene, and Ryan Mighell and Justin Hall, both of Gatesville, TX.  MJ is the owner of Mobility Therapies (think of a physical therapy company that makes house calls), Gene is a retired educator from Abilene Christian University, Ryan is a fireman on the Killeen Fire Department, and Justin is a youth pastor at the Church of Christ in Gatesville.

MJ Linder of Belton with our largest fish of the trip, and his personal best hybrid — a 25 1/8″ fish taken from 38 feet of water.

 

MJ’s dad, Gene Linder, of Abilene with his best fish of the trip.

 

Killeen fireman Ryan Mighell with a chunky Lake Belton hybrid taken from 43 feet of water.

Justin Hall, the youth pastor at the Gatesville Church of Christ, with a hard-fighting hybrid taken on live shad.

WHAT WE FISHED FOR: During this trip, we focused entirely on fishing for hybrid striped bass using live shad

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday morning, 30 April 2018

HOW WE FISHED:  Fishing really turned around thanks to the first really “fishy” weather we’ve had in a long time.  Some nice low pressure, grey clouds, and southerly winds dominated the weather today and is forecast to hang around all week.  The fish instantly responded and were feeding well and posturing up off bottom where they could be easily seen on sonar.  We fished live shad from start to finish and put 59 fish in the boat with just over half being legal (18″ +) hybrid striped bass.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES:   1) The grey clouds, balmy overnight temperatures, and southerly winds really activated the fish today.  We caught fish steadily over the entire 4+ hours we spent on the water.  2) The 67.1F water was the season’s warmest thus far.

TALLY: 59 FISH, ALL CAUGHT AND RELEASED 

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:15a

End Time: 11:40a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 63F

Water Surface Temp:  67.1F

Wind Speed & Direction:  SSE9-11 through 10:30, then shifting and strengthening S13-14 thereafter.

Sky Conditions:  100% grey with some murk.

Water Level: 2.13 feet low and slowly falling

GT = 65

 

Wx SNAPSHOT:    

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area B0075C — 15 whites

**Area vic 1541 — majority of the morning’s catch here on shad

**Area B0084C – a few fish caught here on bait after the bite peaked

**Area 1743/346 – last area fished of the morning; gave up 4 fish, including 25 1/8″ hybrid

 

 

 

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

HEAVIEST HYBRID OF THE 2018 SEASON — 134 FISH @ BELTON

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This past Friday morning I fished with Jim Rogers of San Diego, California.  Jim joined me for a 5 hour hunt for fish in the morning, then returned in the evening with his nephew, Lucas Tavill, for another 4+ hour run at the fish.  Jim is an investment banker at a private, family-owned bank in San Diego, and Lucas is a First Lieutenant and West Point graduate now serving in a logistics unit on Fort Hood.  The two came out with me in mid-May of 2017.  On that outing, we landed 132 fish.  On this trip, as the clock wound down, I felt we had a realistic shot at surpassing that number, and, indeed, we ended up with exactly 134 fish landed including primarily white bass and hybrid stripers.

Jim Rogers with the season’s largest hybrid taken on my boat thus far — a 6.25 pounder weighed on certified scales.

 

U.S. Army First Lieutenant Lucas Tavill with one of about 30 hybrid that went on a feeding binge for about 90 minutes, tapering off around 7:45pm.  During this time fish hit both live baits of all sizes and chunk baits.

 

 

WHAT WE FISHED FOR: During this trip, we focused on hybrid early and late, and white bass at late morning and early afternoon.

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED: Friday morning, 27 April 2018

HOW WE FISHED:   Jim and I began the morning casting bladebaits for smaller hybrid and white bass in an area that caught my eye as numerous herons patrolled over open water and along the shoreline.  We wound up with 22 fish here before the action died, then went to a variety of areas using live bait for hybrid stripers with slow results.  Every so often as we patrolled for hybrid, I detected deep, bottom-hugging white bass which we took advantage of using slabs and light spinning tackle.  In the afternoon, we pursued white bass specifically for the first 2 hours, then left our last 2.5 hours for the pursuit of hybrid using live bait.  Both approaches in the afternoon were handsomely rewarded.  We picked up exactly 39 white bass and a single, bonus keeper hybrid on a bladebait as we used blades and slabs in water under 30′.  Then, as the skies got some white haze sufficient to cut the bright, direct sun, we moved a bit deeper and picked up another 36 fish, including a nice run of keeper hybrid on all manner of bait — large, small, live, and dead.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES:   1) Despite solid results today, the lack of stability in our weather and the repeated, frequent cold fronts have prevented any consistency in the fishery up to this point this spring.

TALLY: 134 FISH, ALL CAUGHT AND RELEASED 

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:00a

End Time: 8:20p with an off-the-water break from 12:30p to 4:00p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 65F in AM; 78F in PM

Water Surface Temp:  66.5-67.1F

Wind Speed & Direction:  NW all day, varying from 5-9mph

Sky Conditions:  Clear with occasional clouds at under 5%, and with a light, white haze developing in the afternoon.

Water Level: 2.13 feet low and slowly falling

GT = 125

 

Wx SNAPSHOT:   For some reason, NOAA did not include wind data for this date on their forecast.  It was NW5-9 most all day.

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

AM

**Area vic  1974/687 — 22 whites and short hybrid on blades early

**Area vic  B0081C — mixed bag on bait and slabs

**Area vic 717 – 13 white bass on slabs in 52′

PM

**Area B0082C — vertical white bass on slabs

**Area B0083C — vertical white bass on slabs

**Area 378 — vertical white bass on slabs; horizontal white bass on blades

**Area B0081C – mixed bag incl. a majority of hybrid on live/cut shad

 

 

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

Well, your life is about to change… —

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This past Wednesday morning I fished with the Oliver family, including “Paw” Oliver who turned 88 that day, his four sons, Jamie, Jack, Joe, and Jeff, and Joe’s son, Thomas.  Thomas, who is expecting his first child in mid-May, sat next to Paw at one point in the trip as we moved from one place to another.  Paw knowingly said to Thomas, “Well, your life is about to change,” referring to the arrival of the baby.  I always enjoy fishing with this very close-knit family.  Today’s fishing was not as enjoyable as the fisherman from my perspective.  Once again we were plagued with light winds and clear, bright skies in that normally most-productive first 2 hours of the day, then, when the wind did begin, it came suddenly from the northwest instead of slowly ramping up from the west and swinging northerly.  The fish reacted negatively, as evidenced by the majority of our fish being caught at our very first stop of the trip.

 

Expecting dad Thomas Oliver had the “hot rod” today, landing several hybrid on live shad.

Jeff Oliver (with fish) with his brother, Joe, standing by.  Jeff had two nice pulldowns in our last 15 minutes on the water, landing the second of them from out of ~30 feet of water..

 

Paw celebrated his 88th birthday on this trip.  The fishing was to be followed by lunch, then all hands were going to pitch in to do some yardwork for him while the weather was cool and the sun shone.

 

WHAT WE FISHED FOR: This trip was focused strictly on hybrid striped bass.

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday morning, 25 April 2018

HOW WE FISHED:   We fished live shad in a variety of locations, putting a mixed bag of 28 fish in the boat.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES:   1) The lack of stability in our weather and the repeated, frequent cold fronts have prevented any consistency in the fishery up to this point this spring.

TALLY: 37 FISH, ALL CAUGHT AND RELEASED 

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:00a

End Time: 12:20p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 65F

Water Surface Temp:  66.5-67.1F

Wind Speed & Direction:  NW breeze under 2 at trip’s start, ramp up rapidly from the NNW with the arrival of a mild, dry cold front.  Winds were 20, gusting higher as we departed.

Sky Conditions: Clear blue, cloudless skies

Water Level: 2.13 feet low and slowly falling

GT = R

 

Wx SNAPSHOT:   N/A

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

 

**Area vic 1482 – mixed bag on live bait

**Area vic 1079 – mixed bag on live bait

 

 

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

Longing for Stability — 75 Fish @ Belton

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This past Tuesday morning I fished with returning guests Rick Snelgrooes and Stuart Gehrke, accompanied by two other friends of Rick’s, Brad Messner and Dave Gullo, who came out with me for the first time.  Once again, poor fishing weather really plagued us.  We just haven’t gotten any traction from any stable weather all spring thus far.  Today, post-frontal clear skies and nearly calm winds made the fishing tough as nails.  The hybrid bite was next to non-existent, and what white bass we caught came in the noon hour as we enjoyed the first little bit of steady wind we would experience all morning.

 

Stuart Gehrke with a Lake Belton hybrid which, due to its slender build, made me look twice to verify that it wasn’t a full-blood striper.

Brad Messner, a retired U.S.A.F. instructor pilot and a Californian who normally stalks trout, was really enthusiastic about the techniques we used today, all of which were very new and different to him.

Dave Gullo managed to catch a few in between phone calls — no rest for those executive types, you know.

WHAT WE FISHED FOR: This trip was focused strictly on hybrid striped bass in the first 2/3 of the trip, then we saved some time at the end for vertical jigging for white bass.

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday morning, 24 April 2018

HOW WE FISHED:   We fished live shad in a variety of locations, putting a mixed bag of 34 fish in the boat in the first 3 hours of the trip, of which a low percentage were hybrid stripers.  We then closed out the trip by vertical jigging with slabs, putting another 42 fish (all white bass) in the boat.  Thanks to the first light wind of the day beginning to move the water, we enjoyed some steady action, albeit for smaller, but more numerous, fish.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES:   1) The lack of stability in our weather and the repeated, frequent cold fronts have prevented any consistency in the fishery up to this point this spring.

TALLY: 75 FISH, ALL CAUGHT AND RELEASED 

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:30a

End Time: 12:30p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 55F

Water Surface Temp:  65.7F

Wind Speed & Direction:  SE3-6

Sky Conditions: Clear blue, cloudless skies

Water Level: 2.12 feet low and slowly falling

GT = 100

 

Wx SNAPSHOT:   N/A

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

 

**Area vic 187 – mixed bag on live bait

**Area vic B0070C – mixed bag on live bait

**Area vic 378 – a quick take of 42 white bass as the wind began for the first time all morning in the 11a to noon hour

 

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

Happy 51st with Matt, Matt, and Mitch – 33 Fish @ Belton

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This past Monday morning I fished with Matt Laakso, his son, Mitch Laasko, and Matt’s friend, Matt Beauchene, all from the Austin area.  This spring has been plagued with cold, unstable weather, and this morning was no exception, with yet another late April cold front pushing winds from the north west, making the skies cloudless, and dropping the ambient temperature to 48F at launch time, well below the already low lake surface temperature of 65.3, which is well below average for this time of year by a full 5-6 degrees.  We caught fish, but it certainly wasn’t fast or furious.

 

Matt Laakso with one of his birthday trip hybrid striped bass from Lake Belton.  Despite poor conditions, we still caught a few quality fish.

Mitch Laakso had consistently good technique, especially when it came to taking the rod out of the rod holder without lifting upwards using the circle hooks we had on.

Matt Beauchene with a stocky one.

WHAT WE FISHED FOR: This trip was focused strictly on hybrid striped bass in the first 2/3 of the trip, then we saved some time at the end for vertical jigging for white bass.

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday morning, 23 April 2018

HOW WE FISHED:   We fished live shad in a variety of locations, putting 18 fish in the boat in the first 3 hours of the trip.  We then closed out the trip by vertical jigging with slabs, putting another 15 fish (all white bass) in the boat.  Even the white bass were buckled down pretty tightly thanks to the post-frontal, high-pressure conditions.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES:   1) The lack of stability in our weather and the repeated, frequent cold fronts have prevented any consistency in the fishery up to this point this spring.

TALLY: 33 FISH, ALL CAUGHT AND RELEASED 

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:45a

End Time: 1;30p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 48F

Water Surface Temp:  65.3F

Wind Speed & Direction:  NE6-11

Sky Conditions: Clear blue, cloudless skies

Water Level: 2.11 feet low and slowly falling

GT = 55

 

Wx SNAPSHOT:   N/A

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

 

**Area vic 187 – mixed bag with legal hybrid

**Area vic 1743 – – mixed bag with legal hybrid

**Area vic B0073C – – mixed bag with legal hybrid

**Area vic B0079C – white bass via smoking with slabs & Hazy Eye Stingers

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

…AND LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF — 75 FISH

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This past Friday evening, April 20th, I fished with Jerry Morgan, and his relatives, Mike and Charlotte Morgan.  This crew fished with me once before in the warm months on Stillhouse in pursuit of white bass and largemouth bass.  This evening’s focus was on hybrid striped bass.  The tough conditions which impacted our fishing this morning moderated this afternoon in that the air warmed a bit, the wind throttled back to a manageable 13mph or so, and, most importantly, we got some cloud cover.  As it turns out Jerry is neighbors with Jim Mason who fished with me on today’s morning trip.  As our morning trip came to a close, Jim ribbed me a bit, letting me know how “nice” it would be if Jerry caught no more than 67 fish (so as not to exceed the 68 fish Jim’s party took in the morning).

 

Jerry Morgan of Morgan’s Point Resort with a very nice Lake Belton hybrid striped bass taken on live shad.  Note the Atlanta Falcons shirt — Jerry is the proud papa of his son Chris, who is the offensive line coach of the Falcons.

 

 

 

Charlotte Morgan with one of many hybrid she took using good technique on getting her rod out of the rod holder without lifting the tip vertically.

 

 

 

Mike Morgan took his fair share of hybrid and then led the charge to exceed 68 fish as the white bass aggressively took our slabs during the final, low-light bite.

WHAT WE FISHED FOR: This trip was focused strictly on hybrid striped bass.

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED: Friday evening, 20 April 2018

HOW WE FISHED:   After discussing our options at dockside, my crew was sure they wanted to pursue hybrid only this afternoon, and pass on opportunities for white bass.  With this in mind, I hit an number of areas, got bait down, observed sonar for a response, and moved on if no response was forthcoming.  We did not hit fish until our 4th stop, but, once we got those fish going, they stayed turned on right through sunset, allowing us a total of 75 fish landed.  With local sunset (given cloud cover and terrain) around 8:00pm, we had 57 fish with about 40 minutes of fishing light left to go, and the vast majority of those fish were legal hybrids.  Jerry kept the Mason/Ray party total of 68 in his mind, and, when a large school of white bass moved in and showed up on sonar around 7:30p, I shared the the only clear path to exceeding 68 fish would be to jig for those abundant white bass.  Everybody was okay with the change of pace and did quite well at working their slabs vertically to the tune of another 18 fish to end our trip with a total of 75 fish landed for the evening.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES:   1) Thanks to more favorable afternoon weather, the afternoon catch exceeded the morning catch today, which is out of the ordinary.  2) As is often the case in this March-May hybrid fishery, the bite was bottom-oriented and worked up from very little initially presenting on sonar to a steady pick of fish with near constant, multiple sonar returns of a mixed bag of gamefish under the boat.

TALLY: 75 FISH, ALL CAUGHT AND RELEASED 

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 4:00p

End Time: 8:25p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 69F

Water Surface Temp:  65.7F

Wind Speed & Direction:  ESE13-14

Sky Conditions: 30% cloud cover on blue skies

Water Level: 2.08 feet low and slowly falling

GT = 95

 

Wx SNAPSHOT:   N/A

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

 

**Area vic B0075C – strong hybrid bite on live shad from ~5:40p through 7:30p, then white bass moved in and were easily taken on smoked slabs

 

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

MIXED BAG ON BELTON – 68 FISH WITH THE MASONS AND RAYS

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This past Friday morning, April 20th, I fished with father and son Jim and Peyton Mason, and family friends of theirs, Jimmy and Linda Ray, of Shreveport, LA.  Jim is from Waco and Peyton flew in from Colorado for a visit after getting his dad a fishing gift certificate for Christmas 2017.

 

From left: Linda and Jimmy Ray with two solid hybrid stripers taken in our first 20 minutes on the water.

From left: Jim Mason with a hybrid striper and Linda Ray with a comparably-sized largemouth, both taken on live shad just seconds apart in about 38′.

Peyton Mason with a well-proportioned hybrid that took his large, live gizzard shad.

WHAT WE FISHED FOR: This was a multi-species trip focused primarily on hybrid striped bass.

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED: Friday morning, 20 April 2018

HOW WE FISHED:   The late-arriving spring, still-cold water, and tremendous instability in our weather have resulted in a lack of consistency with the fishery thus far this spring. On this morning, we had a wind just north of east with a chilly bite to it and really didn’t do well until the low, grey, murky clouds thinned and began to let some sun through to brighten the skies and water.  Our last 2 hours was considerably better than our first 2 hours, but we’re still not seeing anywhere near the numbers of fish, nor the consistency in the fishery, that is normal for this time of year.  Our better fish (hybrid) all came on live and cut baits, and we spent about a 20 minute window slabbing for whites with a smoking tactic when the opportunity presented itself.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES:   1) Due to the strong E. wind I did not search for shad.  Others who did were unsuccessful in finding spawning threadfin this morning.

TALLY: 68 FISH, ALL CAUGHT AND RELEASED 

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:15a

End Time: 11:45a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 50F

Water Surface Temp:  65.2F

Wind Speed & Direction:  We launched into a stiff ENE breeze that never let up from 14-15mph the entire morning.

Sky Conditions: Grey, murky skies, thinning and brightening after 9:30a

Water Level: 2.05 feet low and slowly falling

GT = 100

 

Wx SNAPSHOT:   N/A

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area  vic 1749 – several hybrid right off the bat, but no sustained bite

**Area  vic 1294 – several hybrid right off the bat, but no sustained bite

**Area vic B0068C – a mixed bag on bait, then whites via slabbing when they showed up “in force” around 38-41′ over a 44′ bottom.

**Area vic B0077C – a mixed bag on bait, composed of hybrid, largemouth, and white bass

 

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

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION — 75 FISH @ BELTON

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This past Thursday morning, 19 April, I fished with  returning guest Clay Lohse of Abilene and a friend of his from the medical profession, Bryan Townsend.  Both men work in the nursing field and both are pursuing credentials as nurse practitioners.  Clay has his own YouTube channel named “RespectTheFish” and routinely posts instructional videos there.  On today’s trip, he did a number of informal interviews to mesh with video and put up on his channel.

 

From left: Bryan Townsend and Clay Lohse with a sampling of the 30+ legal hybrid that fell for live shad this morning on a day with clear skies and light NW breezes.

WHAT WE FISHED FOR: This was a multi-species trip.

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday morning, 19 April 2018

HOW WE FISHED:   We fished for the first 3 hours with live shad targeting hybrid stripers, producing 51 fish, of which 31 were legal-sized hybrid, with the balance consisting mainly of short hybrid and white bass.  In our last 50 minutes, we made a move in search of white bass to work over with slabs, and found abundant action in about 32′ of water.  We aimed for hitting the 75 fish mark (24 additional fish) by 11 AM and succeeded.  The white bass were sluggish at first and failed to respond to a smoking retrieve, so, we slowed down to an easing tactic, got them fired up to where they began to suspend off bottom, and then smoked through them with good results.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES:   1) The surface temperature exceeded 65.3 for the third consecutive day in over two weeks and as it did, the threadfin shad began to spawn once again allowing for “one & done” netting for a third day in a row.

TALLY: 75 FISH, ALL CAUGHT AND RELEASED 

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:00a

End Time: 11:00a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 55F

Water Surface Temp:  65.4F

Wind Speed & Direction:  We saw a light NW breeze today at trip’s start, around 5-7, slowly tapering up to 9-10.

Sky Conditions: Cloudless blue skies.

Water Level: 2.04 feet low and slowly falling

GT = 45

 

Wx SNAPSHOT:   N/A

 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area  vic 187 & vic 1012- moderate, steady action on hybrid using live bait for 3.0 hours; 51 fish incl. 31 legal hybrid

**Area  B0080C – fast action on white bass with slabs/Hazy Eye Stinger hooks; 24 white bass

 

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

ST. CHRIS, PATRON SAINT OF HYBRID — 100 Fish

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This past Wednesday morning, 18 April, I fished with a crew of four, including Brian House, a parishioner at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Killeen.  With him was his pastor, Chris Downey, and a seminarian doing an internship at the church, Miguel Flores, as well as a buddy of Brian’s from CrossFit gym, Chris Moore.

 

Pastor Chris Downey has responsibilities for both the church and school at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Killeen.

 

The “ringleader”, Brian House, picked a solid date and coordinated everything for his party of four, including two members of his church’s staff, and a buddy from the gym.

 

Miguel Flores is a seminarian (described to me at a ministerial internship) at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Killeen.

Chris Moore and Brian House got to know one another through the gym where they both do CrossFit.

WHAT WE FISHED FOR: This was a multi-species trip.

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday morning, 18 April 2018

HOW WE FISHED:   We fished for the first 3 hours with live shad targeting hybrid stripers, producing 71 fish, of which ~40 were legal-sized hybrid, with the balance consisting mainly of short hybrid and white bass.  In our last 90 minutes, we made a move in search of white bass to work over with slabs, and found abundant action in about 28′ of water.  We aimed for hitting the 100 fish mark (29 additional fish) by noon, and succeeded.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES:   1) The surface temperature exceeded 65.3 for the second consecutive day  in over two weeks and as it did, the threadfin shad began to spawn once again allowing for “one & done” netting for a second day in a row.

TALLY: 100 FISH, ALL CAUGHT AND RELEASED 

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:15a

End Time: 12:00p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 70F

Water Surface Temp:  66.4F

Wind Speed & Direction:  We saw a W wind at 6-8 slowly shift to N and increase

Sky Conditions: Cloudless blue skies.

Water Level: 2.01 feet low and slowly falling

GT = 30

 

Wx SNAPSHOT:   

 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area  vic 187 – moderate, steady action on hybrid using live bait for 2.5 hours; ~8:15 to 10:45; 71 fish

**Area  B0079C – fast action on white bass with slabs/Hazy Eye Stinger hooks; 11:20 to noon; 29 fish

 

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

MULTI-SPECIES BONUS – 35.5″ FLATHEAD!

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This past Tuesday morning I fished with Steve Thomas and Jim Johnson, both retirees living in Georgetown, TX.  Most of their local fishing experience came in the form of fishing shallow, visible cover for largemouth bass on Lake Georgetown.  Their desire was to enjoy a blend of quality and quantity while learning tactics for fishing deep, clear water to help them expand their repertoire on their home lake.  We fished for hybrid with live bait for 2.5 hours, then left the remaining 1.5+ hours for the pursuit of white bass using artificial lures.

As the white bass we were vertically jigging for stirred up a little commotion, this flathead (yellow) catfish came in for a look and got a bit too curious about Jim’s slab.  After a lengthy battle on the Fenwick Eagle medium light spinning rod he was using for the white bass work, we brought this 35.5 inch catfish to net and released it promptly after a few photos.

 

Steve with one of the many hybrid we took on live shad this morning.  The fish showed a definite preference for threadfin shad over gizzards this morning.  Along with the hybrid, we also encountered white bass, largemouth bass, crappie, blue cat, and drum.

WHAT WE FISHED FOR: This was a multi-species trip.

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday morning, 18 April 2018

HOW WE FISHED:   We fished at just one location this morning with live shad, then changed over after 2.5 hours of that to vertically jigging for white bass using a smoking tactic, primarily for white bass that were actively feeding at the top of the lower third of the water column under very windy conditions.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES:   1) The surface temperature exceeded 65.3 for the first time in over two weeks and as it did, the threadfin shad began to spawn once again allowing for “one & done” netting.

TALLY: 54 FISH, ALL CAUGHT AND RELEASED 

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:15a

End Time: 12:00p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 59F

Water Surface Temp:  65.3 to 65.5F

Wind Speed & Direction:   S to SSW at 9-11 for the first 2 hours, then ramping up to 16-18 in the last 2 hours

Sky Conditions: Cloudless blue skies.

Water Level: 2.01 feet low and slowly falling

GT = 30

 

Wx SNAPSHOT:   

 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area  B0076C & B0077C – moderate, steady action on hybrid using live bait

**Area  B0054C – moderate, steady action on white bass with slabs/Hazy Eye Stinger hooks

 

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