This afternoon I was joined by Pat Sprague of the Sun City Hunting and Fishing Club for a white bass and hybrid striped bass fishing trip on Belton Lake.
This nice 5.25 pound hybrid striped bass struck Pat’s slab in 27 feet of water. It was mixed in with a school of whites on a bottom with limestone and some old submerged cedar trees.
We also picked up some unusually large white bass for Belton. The fish on the left measured 14 3/8 inches which is pretty rare on this fairly infertile water body.
Pat hails from “up north” where walleye and pike rule the water and where fishing in and around visible cover (weeds, timber, etc.) is the norm. So, today’s trip out in open water which was anywhere from 22-27 feet deep, and where we never once laid eyes on the bottom features holding the fish we caught, was a real learning experience for Pat.
Over the course of our trip we used a variety of vertical jigging tactics combined with the use of sonar, we used bladebaits, and we used a combination of flatline trolling and downrigging to put together our catch of 31 fish.
Vertical jigging was definitely the standout technique today and accounted for the lion’s share of our success. We found that a combination of jigging and “easing” did the trick for these still-cold fish which were generally unwilling to move very far or very fast for a bait.
Although birds are still abundant on Belton, no helpful bird activity took place this evening. All the fish we caught we caught by first finding them with sonar and then fishing for them.
TALLY = 31 FISH, all caught and released
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TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 3:45p
End Time: 8:10p
Air Temp: 72F at trip’s start.
Water Surface Temp: 55.7F
Wind: S17-20
Skies: Fair and cloudless
Other Notes: GT0
Areas Fished with success:
** 1015/1126 – jigging/bladbaits, 2 whites, 1 keeper hybrid
** 1362 – jigging, mix of 9 whites/short hybrid
** 1361 – jigging/smoking, 1 keeper hybrid/17 white bass
** 507 – downrigging, 1 white
Bob Maindelle
Holding the Line Guide Service
254-368-7411
www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
Salado, Texas