Red Dot Inspector – 172 Fish, Belton Lake, 07 April 2015

I awoke around 4:30am, stepped outside to see what kind of weather I’d be facing today, and had that “sixth sense” feeling we were in for a good one!  It was warm, moist, grey, and with just a bit of breeze from the south.


OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA.

Today’s father-and-son trip with Rodrick & Oliver Rhoads included a “behind the scenes” look at bait-netting before a very productive 172 fish day, consisting of a mix of short (<18″) and keeper (18+”) hybrid striped bass.

I was joined at around 6:45am by Mr. Rodrick Rhoads of Georgetown, TX, and his 9 year old son, Oliver.  Roderick has fished with me twice before, once bringing Oliver, and once bringing his oldest child, his daughter April.  Since I suspected the shad-catching would not be the chore it has been, I invited Rodrick and Oliver along to observe this bait-gathering process.  As dark turned to early morning grey, the shad began to show themselves.  I threw the net a few times and attempted to narrate as I did so.  We got what we were after fairly quickly and were on our way to the fishing grounds.

Not only was the shad netting easy, the fishing today was even easier.  We wet our first line at exactly 7:35am and fished until 11:45am.  We never moved the boat a single time and caught exactly 172 off of this single area.  I crunched the numbers — that is one fish landed every 1.47 minutes for over 4 hours straight.  These fish are simply in overdrive thanks to an increase in their metabolism.

A funny thing happened as I was taking a hybrid off the line for Oliver.  He noticed this particular fish had a red dot on it.  After we released the fish, I baited his line and he let it down.  His bait clicker went off indicating another hybrid had struck his shad and was moving off with it.  He reeled it in and swore it was the exact same fish.  I told him that once a fish is caught, it won’t bite again for a while because it is stressed.  But, Oliver just knew it was the same fish.  I asked him how he knew this.  He said because this fish had the same red dot in the same place as the last one did.  I asked him to point this “red dot” out to me.

You guessed it!  He pointed right to the fish’s anus.  Dad and I grinned and informed him that every fish has one of those!  He was okay with that.

Our 2-man haul today consisted of 4 white bass and 168 hybrid striped bass.  All were released to fight again.

There are only a few open slots remaining between now and the end of this annual “peak bite” for hybrid on Belton.  Those dates are:

Thursday, 30 April – AM
Tuesday, 05 May – AM
Thursday, 07 May – AM
Thursday, 14 May – AM
Monday, 18 May – AM (Memorial Day)
Tuesday, 19 May – AM

 

TALLY =  172 Fish, including 4 white bass and 168 hybrid striped bass

 

GUIDE’S WEBSITE: http://holdingthelineguideservice.com/

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:35a

End Time: 11:45a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 68F

Water Surface Temp: 63F @ lower lake, 67-68 @ upper lake

Wind Speed & Direction: S11-13

Sky Conditions: Grey and overcast @ 100%

Other: GT = 115

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area  Vicinity 1374

**Area  1544 in ~27 feet of water

 

 

Bob Maindelle
Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide
Belton Lake Fishing Guide
Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service
254.368.7411 (call or text)