This afternoon I fished with Bryan Boyd, vice president of Austin-based Centex Flooring, and his 10 year old son, Drew. We targeted Belton Lake hybrid striped bass using live shad fished directly beneath the boat.
Mr. Bryan Boyd and his 10 year old son, Drew, whacked ’em this afternoon. They caught and released 31 legal hybrid exceeding 18 inches.
Many of these fish were not only healthy with good coloration, but very fat, too. The fish on the left went a shade over 5 pounds on a certified scale.
After a short lunch break off the water with my good friend Billy Champlin following this morning’s trip, I returned to the lake to net more shad for this trip. Fortunately, that small chore went well. Bryan and Drew encountered a bit of I-35 congestion thus delaying our start a bit, but, we made up for lost time by getting right on the fish where I’d left off this morning.
The ambient temperature had risen from the still-cool start this morning, and the humidity and cloud cover increased, while the winds decreased. We saw no bird activity related to fish activity this afternoon.
We spent the entire trip fishing just two areas a few hundred yards apart and found bottom-oriented hybrid at both areas, thanks to sonar. I looked for a density of relatively inactive fish holding tight to the bottom with a few active “high riders” holding up off bottom as my cue that fish were present. We got baits and chum down over the fish, made some commotion and watched sonar and our rod tips for a result. Many times these inactive fish can be aroused with the presence of bait, chum, and a few schoolmates getting hooked and brought up through the water column.
By trip’s end we’d boated 1 largemouth bass, 2 small blue cat, 1 white bass, 5 short hybrid stripers, and 31 legal hybrid (exceeding 18 inches).
As we fished, Bryan wondered if he should have coaxed his 6 year old daughter into coming along. I told him these hybrid are really too much for younger children to handle. Even 8-10 year old kids have a tough time battling these hard-fighting fish independently. So, I suggested he hold off on bringing his daughter until July-August when we can rely on white bass to respond to downrigging and have sunfish as a backup plan to provide instant gratification over on Stillhouse Hollow.
TALLY = 40 FISH, all caught and released
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TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 4:45p
End Time: 8:15p
Air Temp: 65F at trip’s start.
Water Surface Temp: 62.7F
Wind: Light and variable 0-2
Skies: Greyed over
Other Notes: GT30
Areas Fished with success:
**1370 Netted shad here
**1372 Legal and short hybrid
**086 Legal and short hybrid
Bob Maindelle
Holding the Line Guide Service
254-368-7411
www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
Salado, Texas