Belton Lake Channel Catfish

ALL ABOUT EATER CATFISH – 21 FISH @ BELTON

by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This past Friday evening, May 1st, I welcomed returning guests Rick Powell and Ricardo Cisneros aboard.  During the Coronavirus shutdown, I took my wife, Rebecca, and a handful of friends out fishing specifically for blue catfish on Lake Belton.  Ricardo, who regularly follows my Facebook posts, saw this and hoped to duplicate the effort on occasions where he hoped to catch a few “eating-sized” catfish (12+ inches).

He requested I take he and his friend (and boss) Rick Powell out to show them what I’d learned.

No, I’m not starting to guide for catfish and don’t intend to do so in the future, but, as the fishery offers consistency and as the quality of these fish continue to improve on Lake Belton (due to zebra mussel consumption, I suspect), I will no doubt routinely mix in some catfishing in my multi-species trips. Additionally, my 100% C&R policy still pertains to this species.

 

PHOTO CAPTION: This is what the methods I’ve pieced together (with a good bit of help from Steve Webb) typically produce – smaller “eater-sized” blue catfish, two of which provide 4 fillets — just enough for a 1-person serving if kept and cleaned properly. Most fish are 12-15 inches, like this one held by Ricardo Cisneros.

WHEN WE FISHED:  01 May, 2020, PM

HOW WE FISHED: First, I search for blue catfish concentrations on sonar.  Next, I Spot-Lock and chum with range cubes, then get right down to fishing vertically with my “Catfish Plumb” bait holders tipped with fresh, dead shad or non-stink doughbait.  To enhance things, I’ve brought Garmin LiveScope to bear, which allows slightly suspended fish to be targeted.  Otherwise, the default bait position is just inches off bottom.

Concentration is a must, as the catfish typically take only one swipe at the bait, during which time a quick, hard hookset is a must.

In 3.5 hours’ time, some of which was set aside for Humminbird side-imaging explanation and Garmin LiveScope explanation, we put 22 blue cat over the side of the boat with just as many missed on the hookset.

 

TALLY: 22 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: As I searched for spawning shad, a definite, shallow-water and shad-oriented fishery is also ripe for picking, albeit short-lived with the action drying up about the time the direct sun peeks over the eastern horizon.

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:   4:00P

End Time:  7:30P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 82F

Elevation:  0.77′  high, 0.06 foot 24-hour rise, 17 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp:  70F

Wind Speed & Direction:  S17 at trip’s start, tapering to S14 by trip’s end

Sky Conditions: 30% high white haze on blue skies

GT =28

 

Wx SNAPSHOT:   

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic B0073C (fished it at start of trip and end of trip with 2 other non-productive stops in between)

 

Bob Maindelle

Full-time, Professional Fishing Guide and Owner of Holding the Line Guide Service

Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide

254.368.7411 (call or text)

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Persistence Paid Off — 18 Fish, Belton Lake, 20 June 2014

by Bob Maindelle

I was joined once again this morning by Tony Bagliore and Greg Graham for a morning of fishing on Belton Lake.  Tony and Greg work together operating Bagliore Concrete.

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Greg took this hybrid striped bass on a large gizzard shad during a short feeding spree near noon.

 

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Tony plucked this nice 2-foot channel cat from out of the school of hybrid that Greg’s fish came from during that same feeding frenzy.
The conditions were near-calm and overcast, which usually bodes well for topwater action this time of year, so, we spent some time at first light looking for just that.  We found pods of smallish white bass scattered all over feeding strictly on young of the year shad.  Were we equipped with fly gear in order to imitate these 3/4″ long fry we’d have done well.  As it was, even the smallest lures we could use and still span the distance from boat to fish was too large and got largely ignored.  We managed 3 white bass on Cicadas, but it was anything but consistent.
We searched with sonar near and far and found precious little as the winds remained near calm — always a tough hand to be dealt on Belton.  Knowing that we were looking at a tough bite, I stopped and dropped baits in a few areas with scant fish showing, knowing that when fish are in a negative mood, you often don’t see much on sonar as the fish just sulk with belly-to-bottom.
Occasionally we’d see a school of white bass pop up and we’d chase them to see if they were locked on to bait large enough to imitate, but, today was always the same with the fish keyed in only on tiny shad.
Tony recently equipped his own boat with downriggers, so, I took him through the paces on rigging these correctly to give him confidence and reduce his learning curve; we did not, however, draw any strikes on our tandem or triple rigs equipped with Pet Spoons.
Between the 5th and 6th hour of this 4 hour trip persistence finally paid off.  I told Greg and Tony that I stuck with it this long only because I believed the fish had never entered into a feeding “window” at all this morning and that, despite the late hour, I felt the fish could still turn on.  Had the fish fed even briefly in the first 4 hours of the morning, I would have bet they were done by now.  So, we persisted … and were rewarded.
At 11:15, in 40-45 feet of water as I idled over a break line, I saw several sonar signatures indicating hybrid were in the vicinity.  We quickly got setup over these fish and got large gizzard shad baits down to them.  The response was fast — 3 of four rods went down right away, and, for the next 10 minutes rods kept getting pulled down and fish kept coming up.  When this short “burst” was over, we enjoyed much slower acton for another 50 minutes until finally, sonar was clean and the bite was done.
In this end-of-trip frenzy, we boated another 15 fish, including one white bass, one ~13 inch blue cat, one 24″ channel cat, and 12 legal hybrid striped bass.
Such is summertime hybrid fishing.

TALLY = 18 FISH, all caught and released

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TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

 

Start Time: 6:15am

End Time: 12:15pm

Air Temp.: 77F @ trip’s start
Water Surface Temp.: 83.0F
Wind: SSE4-6
Skies: 100% bright grey cloud cover
Other Notes: GT35
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area 1399 — all hybrid came off E. slope
Bob Maindelle

Holding the Line Guide Service
254.368.7411
www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
Salado, Texas