This past Friday morning and Saturday morning I fished with the Buchholz party. For 21 consecutive years these four men have met up for an annual fishing reunion. The patriarch is 78-year-old Mr. Don Buchholz of Killeen, Don’s son, John Buchholz, John’s friend, Greg Horton, and Gary Cheer who is related to the Buchholz clan by marriage.
A 21-year tradition: from the left: Don Buchholz, John Buchholz, Greg Horton, and Gary Cheer.
Gary, an Englishman and 737 airline pilot, took big-fish honors on this 2-day effort with this hybrid weighing in at 4.25 pounds.
On Friday, we enjoyed ideal, pre-frontal fishing conditions as warm temperatures, southerly winds, and humid, cloudy conditions were within hours of being ushered out by an approaching cold front. Over the four hour span, we only fished two areas with very little “search time” involved in finding fish at either area. The action occurred, as it often does, in a bell-shaped curve, with the build-up being aided by steady chumming, the peak being fueled by the fishes’ own aggressive competitiveness and rising metabolism, and the taper-down as the school is thinned out by effective angling. We fished live shad on downlines for 178 hybrid striped bass and 5 white bass.
On Saturday, the cold front had passed and high pressure was building in. The 7:30am starting temperature was only 55 degrees and the wind blew at a stiff 14mph from the NNE. We had a slow start, with only 5 fish boated by 8:50am. At this time, the sun began to break through the otherwise solid cloud cover, and, after beginning to taper off for about 30 minutes down to ~11mph, the wind ramped up again. This seemed to trigger the fish, as we began to catch fish steadily from this time right up until 11:30am when they finally shut down. We boated 78 fish on this trip, including 76 hybrid stripers and 2 blue catfish.
TALLY = Day 1 = 183 Fish; Day 2 = 78 fish; total catch = 261 fish, all caught and released
GUIDE’S WEBSITE: http://holdingthelineguideservice.com/
TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
DAY 1:
Start Time: 7:45a
End Time: 11:45a
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 68F
Water Surface Temp: 62F @ lower lake, 67-68 @ upper lake
Wind Speed & Direction: S6-9
Sky Conditions: Grey and overcast @ 100%
Other: GT = 20
DAY 2:
Start Time: 7:30a
End Time: 12:00 noon
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 55F
Water Surface Temp: 62F @ lower lake
Wind Speed & Direction: NNE13-14
Sky Conditions: Grey and overcast @ 100% until 8:50, then gradually clearing to 40% clouds on a fair blue sky
Other: GT = 0
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
DAY 1:
SHAD: **Area 616
**Area 835
**Area 151
DAY 2:
**Area Vicinity 1399/651
**Area Vicinity 1293
Bob Maindelle
Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide
Belton Lake Fishing Guide
Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service
254.368.7411 (call or text)