Family Tradition – 36 Fish, Belton Lake with Andrew Sonnier, 05 July 2014

This morning I met 14 year old Andrew Sonnier of Manvel, TX, at the boatramp on Belton for our second trip together.  Each year his family has a tradition of vacationing over the 4th of July weekend at a bed and breakfast near Arrowhead Point on Lake Belton.  We first fished together in 2012.

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Andrew Sonnier of Manvel, TX, with a nice 4th of July weekend hybrid striped bass taken on live bait at Belton Lake.

As we got going well before sunrise this morning I was hoping to encounter topwater feeding white bass and hybrid stripers.  I knew our “window” of opportunity would be short, as the skies were cloudless this morning, and the rays of the direct sun usually kill whatever strong topwater feed is occurring.

We did find about 15 minutes’ worth of action and used Cork Rigs to capitalize on what we found, but, when all was said and done we’d only bagged 13 fish before being forced to change tactics as the sun drove the fish away from the surface.

Over the next 90 minutes we searched for and spotted multiple schools of “popcorn” topwater feeding fish.  By “popcorn” I mean white bass and hybrid striper that force bait to the surface for just a few seconds at a time, but do that over and over again in the same general vicinity.  Typically, if you see this kind of action and wait a bit once you arrive at the scene, at least a few fish will present themselves close enough to be cast to.  We picked up another half dozen fish throwing Cork Rigs at these fish.

Next, we did a bit of downrigging in the same general vicinity of the “popcorn” action, assuming that the fish and bait were still present, even though neither was willing to show themselves under the ever-brightening sun.  We picked up another 8 fish on the downriggers using a 3-arm umbrella and a tandem rig, both rigged up with Pet Spoons.

Finally, once a bit of wind developed, I felt the time was right to give live bait fishing for hybrid a try.  Wind and hybrid fishing success are very closely tied.   Rarely do I have excellent results without some wind blowing.  A 13-14 mph wind with cloud cover is just right, but, today we had to settle for 6-7 mph and bright skies.  We used sonar to locate suspended hybrid stripers hanging around 29-34 feet over a 45+ foot bottom along a breakline.  We used my i-Pilot trolling motor to hover over the fish and present our baits on downlines hanging vertically.  The results came quickly, allowing us to boat 10 keeper hybrid, 1 short hybrid, and one 2.25 pound channel catfish all in about a 75 minute window.  All of the keeper hybrid went right at 3.50 to 3.75 pounds and looked really healthy.

I really enjoy fishing with young men like Andrew — he is very enthusiastic about the sport, and is also very teachable.  He listened more than he spoke and followed directions well which served to increase his success.  He was also very hands-on and willing to try things himself so he could do these things himself when not with guide and fishing on his own.

 

TALLY = 36 Fish

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TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:05 am

End Time:  10:15 am

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  Rain-cooled 68F from showers the previous night

Water Surface Temp:  83.1F

Wind Speed & Direction:  SSE 3-6

Sky Conditions:  Grey thin cloud bank in the eastern sky at dawn, followed by clear, bright skies, with a thin layer of clouds causing some obscuration of the sun in the last hour on the water.

Other: N/A

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area  084 Low light topwater

**Area  972 & 1407 “popcorn” topwater under sunny skies

**Vicinity of Area 1074-509 downrigging for schooled white bass

**Area 1406 hybrid on live bait

 

Bob Maindelle

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Salado, TX

www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Consolation Trip — 60 Fish, Belton, 04 July 2014

This Independence Day morning I took my brother, Andy, and nephew, Trent, out on Belton Lake.  This was a “consolation trip” in that it was to make up for not being able to get out on Stillhouse Hollow the night before to do some bowfishing as we had originally planned to do thanks to some heavy rainfall and high winds stemming from afternoon thunderstorms.

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My nephew, Trent Maindelle, with 10.25 pounds of fish taken 20 seconds apart.

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My brother, Andy Maindelle, and nephew, Trent with fish taken on live baits fished on downlines over 40 feet of water.

Our trip broke down into 4 distinct “chapters” — early morning topwater, mid-morning livebait fishing, downrigging for suspended fish, and pursuit of “popcorn” white bass and hybrid stripers on topwater at the close.

Beginning at exactly 6:05am, moderate-sized mixed schools of white bass and hybrid striped bass began forcing shad to the surface thus making enough commotion that they could be seen and heard in the low light conditions.  We kept our distance and threw long casts into these fish using Cork Rigs and pulled 19 fish in over a 35 minute span before the short feed ended.   That feed probably would not have gone even that long were it not for a grey cloud bank in the eastern sky that kept the sun’s direct rays off the water for a few extra minutes.

Next, we rigged up with live bait and fished downlines set at 24-29 feet over a 40+ foot bottom and focused on larger, 18+ inch hybrid striped bass.  What we actually caught was a nice mix of 2 largemouth, 1 smallmouth, and 5 hybrid, with the largest largemouth weighing in at 6.00 pounds and the largest hybrid going 4.25 pounds (both measured on a certified scale).   When the sun began to shine brightly and what little wind was blowing began to lay down, this bite died.

Next we did a bit of downrigging using umbrella rigs set down to 19-24′ for suspended fish.  We never really found more than some scattered schools, none of which stuck in one area very long, so, we boated 4 fish with this method and, since a light wind had returned, decided to give live bait another try at a different location.

As we got setup for live bait, a large grey band of clouds began to move into the area.  Not minutes after these clouds obscured the sun, mixed schools of white bass and hybrid stripers began feeding on the surface once again.  We broke out the Cork Rigs and, with the trolling motor on high, did all we could to keep up with several fast-moving schools.  We chased these fish for about 6/10ths of a mile and for about 35 minutes, catching fish constantly, and adding a final 28 fish to our tally.  Once that band of clouds passed and the direct sun shone hot and bright once again we called it a good morning and headed in.

 

TALLY = 60 Fish

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TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:05 am

End Time:  10:15 am

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  Rain-cooled 68F from showers the previous night

Water Surface Temp:  83.1F

Wind Speed & Direction:  SSE 3-6

Sky Conditions:  Grey thin cloud bank in the eastern sky at dawn, followed by clear, bright skies, with a thin layer of clouds causing some obscuration of the sun in the last hour on the water.

Other: N/A

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area  834-793 Low light topwater

**Area  1405 Live Bait for Largemouth, Smallmouth, Hybrid

**Vicinity of Area 483-830

**Vicinity of Area 155

 

Bob Maindelle

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Salado, TX

www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com