THEY FISH IN NEW JERSEY, DON’T THEY?? — 109 FISH

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This past Tuesday morning I fished with a really nice couple, Steve and Erica Allen, from Tuckerton, New Jersey, right on the southern New Jersey Atlantic coastline.  The Allen’s son, also named Steve, recently enlisted in the U.S. Army and will be deploying to Europe with his armor unit soon.  They came to visit before his departure and decided to come fishing with me while waiting for Steve’s duty day to end on post.  Steve and Erica routinely fish in the freshwater ponds and bogs in their area for bass and pickerel with artificial lures, so they were no strangers to most of the tactics we used today.

 

Got your hybrids?? Check!!  With foul weather bearing down on us, the hybrid turned on just long enough for Steve and Erica to catch the first ones of their lives  — then we had to bug out!!

 

 

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

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday morning, 03 April 2018

HOW WE FISHED:  We targeted white bass in shallow water (under 26′) during the low-light time from 7:45 to around 9:45a using 3/8 oz. white slabs with Hazy Eye Stinger Hooks attached.  Once the bite began to taper off we changed over to horizontally cast bladebaits to cover a bit more water and “mop up”.   We landed exactly 100 fish during this time and then decided to pursue fewer, but larger, fish using live bait.  Using freshly netted, live threadfin shad, we landed largemouth bass and white bass, but really were gunning for hybrid. We hit our third area and were still “hybrid-free” when a severe thunderstorm warning popped up on my i-Phone.  It looked like we were going to be denied a hybrid on this trip, but, I saw fish on sonar which I knew were hybrid, so, I kept chumming and thumping and, just as the breeze began to pick up from the west about 30 minutes in advance of the storm’s arrival, the fish turned on.  Erica missed her first one right at the boat and was just about heart-broken.  Then Steve got a pulldown and did a very nice job fighting his all the way into the net.  Once the pressure was off and we broke the “hybrid-barrier”, Erica relaxed and soon after put her own hybrid in the boat.  Both Steve and Erica had now landed the first hybrid striped bass of their lives.  Just a few minutes later after we’d re-baited, a loud clap of thunder occurred a bit too close for comfort and we called it done right then.  By the time I hopped in the cab of my truck after getting the boat on the trailer, it started pouring with ample thunder and lighting.  We landed 111 fish in all.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES:   1) No spawning shad after seeing the first spawning activity yesterday — likely due to the sudden cold spell that took place during the daylight hours yesterday, despite an overnight warmup.

TALLY: 111 FISH, ALL CAUGHT AND RELEASED 

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:45a

End Time: 11:35a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 69F

Water Surface Temp:  65.3F

Wind Speed & Direction:   SW10-11

Sky Conditions: 100% grey cloud cover as a mild cold front moved in briefly.

Water Level: 2.12 feet low

GT = 70

 

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area  380 – 100 whites on slabs/blades

**Area B0055C –  a few whites on livebait while attempting to catch hybrid

**Area vic 1882/1819/2027 – a few whites on livebait while attempting to catch hybrid

**Area  B0065C – whites, largemouth, and 2 hybrid on livebait as storm approached

 

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

‘Twas a Bit Chilly — 64 Fish @ Belton

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This past Monday morning I fished for a fifth time with Mr. Rodrick Rhoads, this time accompanied by 2 of his 5 children, 14-year-old April and 12-year-old Oliver.  The Rhoads have chosen to home-school their kids, thus they have the flexibility to do things together and at times other than on the ever-crowded weekend, and such was this morning’s trip with all of Lake Belton to ourselves.  Although our efforts were hindered a bit by a short-lived cold front which drove the temperature at dawn down to 49F with very little warming the entire morning, the water has warmed into the mid-60’s, so fish were still feeding, albeit not overly-aggressively.

 

A short-lived, damp cold front pushed morning temperatures to 49F, but the warm water kept fish biting this morning under grey skies and light NE winds.  Rodrick Rhoads took this hybrid on a live threadfin shad.

April Rhoads, age 14, caught white bass early and hybrid stripers in the latter half of the trip.

 

Oliver Rhoads with the last fish of the day — a blue cat that moved in after we’d stayed in one place for a while, thus letting the scent of our livebait and chum draw this species into our livebait spread.

Oliver got a bit of a surprise with the “two-fer”.  The smaller white bass is hooked on the lure’s treble, and the larger fish was hooked on the Hazy Eye Stinger Hook I equip all of my slabs with for enhanced hookup percentages.

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

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday morning, 02 April 2018

HOW WE FISHED:  We targeted white bass in shallow water (under 26′) during the low-light time from 7:20 to around 8:30a using 3/8 oz. white slabs with Hazy Eye Stinger Hooks attached.   We landed exactly 30 fish during this time and then decided to pursue fewer, but larger, fish using live bait.  Using freshly netted, live threadfin shad, we landed hybrid striped bass, white bass, largemouth bass, and a single blue catfish.  Fish were found from 24-33 feet deep at each of the 2 areas we fished.  In all, we put an additional 35 fish in the boat.  Our final hour on the water was the slowest (as it often is in the morning), thanks not to light level, but to a quirk in the weather.  During this time the air felt the most raw and cold at any point during the morning, and a light blanket of fog developed right over the water’s surface.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES:   1) First spawning shad sighted allowing for “one & done” netting.

TALLY: 65 FISH, ALL CAUGHT AND RELEASED 

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:25a

End Time: 12:20p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 49F

Water Surface Temp:  65.3F

Wind Speed & Direction:   NW7-10

Sky Conditions: 100% grey cloud cover as a mild cold front moved in briefly.

Water Level: 2.15 feet low

GT = 35

 

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

 

**Area 1024 – smoking for white bass — 31 fish in 90 minutes

**Area  692 – – mixed bag on live bait; mainly keeper hybrid

**Area vic 1882/1819/2027 – mixed bag on live bait; mainly keeper 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