Principal Takes Fish to School — 78 Fish, Belton, 28 Mar. ’17

This past Tuesday morning, March 28th, I fished with Mr. Ray Johnson of Harker Heights, and a friend of his from church, Mr. George Morley, of Lampasas.

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Retired Lampasas ISD principal George Morley raised the bar for the 2017 hybrid season with the largest hybrid to come in the boat thus far.  This healthy fish measured 24.25 inches with mouth closed and tail pinched, and it weighed 6.25 pounds on a certified scale.

RayJ

Less than 15 minutes before George put his biggest fish in the boat, Ray put a this really sweet hybrid in the net.  It taped 23.75 and weighed 6.00 pounds.  Although I’ve had other 23.75″ fish caught this season, that was the heaviest up to that point.

Ray is a retired US Navy captain who served as a flight surgeon and then retired into a pediatric practice. George is a retired teacher and principal from the Lampasas Independent School District.

We began our trip at 7:15. I was able to net ample quantities of bait prior to Ray and George’s arrival, and our intent was to use these live baits in pursuit of hybrid.

Because the day was overcast to the point of occasional drizzle, it remained fairly murky and dark for our first hour on the water. During this time, the winds were also quite light. Concerned that the hybrid might not be cranked up quite yet, I suggested we spend some time vertical jigging for white bass since the opportunity presented itself in that I found a huge school of whites right on bottom while on our way to the first area I intended to search with sonar. In under an hour’s time we put 32 white bass in the one, two, and three year class in the boat on slabs. It was now 8:05 and I felt we could find areas sufficiently windblown to get the hybrid stripers really turned on.

As it turned out, the first four areas I searched for hybrid, produced only white bass. This seems to be a common occurrence this season. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with catching a nice mess of white bass, the heavier equipment we were using for hybrid really dulled down their fight, and our intention was to put hybrid in the boat, so, in each instance we continued searching for hybrid stripers after putting just a handful of white bass in the boat.

At the fifth area we searched this morning, and in 42 feet of water, I saw what I suspected were hybrid hugging bottom fairly closely. We put down a pair of large live baits, and much to my disappointment, the first two fish we boated were white bass.  I was shaking my head at this point thinking we were not going to be able to get away from these smaller fish, but persisted here because the sonar clearly showed fish that I knew were not white bass. Persistence paid off, as the third and fourth baits we dropped here were both taken by hybrid. That started a chain reaction that resulted in a run of over 40 fish landed at this area, nearly every last one of which was a keeper hybrid of at least 18 inches in length.

In addition to the quantity of hybrid we found here, we also landed the two largest hybrid that have come over the gunnels so far this season. Ray landed a 23.75 inch hybrid which weighed exactly 6.00 pounds. About 12 minutes later, George put an even larger fish in the boat. This one measured 24.25 inches and weighed 6.25 pounds.

The bite started to soften around 10:45, and by 11:30 the sonar was blank and we had gone for quite a  spell without so much as a sniff on the baits. We called it a good day right there and then and headed back to the dock with 78 fish landed for our efforts today.

TALLY = 78 FISH, all caught and released

WX Snapshot:

28MAR17

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:15a

End Time: 11:30a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 68F

Water Surface Temp: 68.0F

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE10-11

Sky Conditions: Overcast to the point of drizzle for the first hour, then just heavily overcast for the rest of the trip

Water Level: 1.33 feet above full pool

GT = 0

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area 565/826 — 32 white bass on 3/8 oz. slabs with Hazy Eye Stinger Hooks attached fished with easing tactic — moved on in search of hybrid

**Area 211 – 4 white bass on live shad — moved on in search of hybrid

**Area 1912 – 4 white bass on live shad — moved on in search of hybrid

**Area 1915 – 1 crappie, then small bluecat tore up our baits —  moved on in search of hybrid

**Area 1012 – At our 5th stop of the AM, found bottom-oriented school of hybrid in 42-43′; caught 40 fish of which 90% were hybrid and of which 4 in 5 were legal 18+” fish.  Boated our largest hybrid of the season: 24.25″ & 6.25 lbs.

Bob Maindelle

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

FISH FARMING! — 110 Fish, Lake Belton, 25 March ’17

This past Saturday morning, March 25th, I fished with Steve Springer and three clients of his, all from the Martinka Brothers Farm operation in Bartlett, Texas.

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Steve Springer spent some time on the water this morning with several of his clients from the Martinka Brothers Farms near Bartlett, TX.

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Jacob Martinka with one of several hybrid of this class that took our lively, medium-sized shad late this morning.

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After feeling his first hybrid pull like it did, Jordan Martinka was wishing his brother, Matt Martinka, could have made the trip, too.

Justin Young

Justin Young, one of the Martinka Brothers Farms part-time employees, and a full-time HVAC repairman put his fair share of white bass and hybrids in the boat this morning.
Steve sells agricultural supplies like seed and fertilizer, and the folks at Martinka Brothers farms are clients of his. Two of the five Martinka brothers, Jordan and Jacob, joined us this morning, as well as one of their employees, Justin Young.  The family raises grain crops and cattle on over 4,000 acres near Bartlett on a farm that has been in the family for 3 generations.

We got out on the water beginning right at 7:15 and I explained the two options we had before us today: hybrid fishing with live shad and slabbing for white bass. Thus far this season, white bass showing up in the live shad spread intended for hybrid has been a bit of an issue, so I made the fellows aware that we may need to move away from the white bass if we were going to specifically pursue hybrid.

At the very first location we tried, I spotted hybrid on sonar at 24 to 28 feet deep, but as we let our baits down to these fish, the more numerous white bass we saw on sonar at this area pulled right up off the bottom and attacked our baits. Instead of using up a bunch of shad and catching these white bass on the heavier rods intended for hybrid, we just tucked away the hybrid rods for a while and used lightweight spinning gear to enjoy the action these white bass offered. In under an hour’s time we put 52 white bass in the boat and I then presented the fellows with an option of leaving these still-biting fish behind to try again for hybrid.

A second location, this one a bit more windblown, produced the same as our first stop – – more white bass immediately attacking our live shad spread.

The third area we tried produced the same exact results – – more white bass attacking our shad.

Our fourth stop was a charm. With our tally now around 70 fish, we got live baits down to what appeared on sonar at 42 feet on bottom to be larger fish. When the first rod went down, the suspicions I had from looking at sonar were confirmed. We were officially on top of a nice school of hybrid. From this final location we put another 40 fish in the boat, of which 75% were hybrid stripers. Of those, about four of every five were of legal size.

By 11:15 the bite at this area was quickly waning. With both quality fish and a quantity of fish landed, the fellows were ready to call it a good morning and so we headed to the dock with exactly 110 fish landed for our efforts this morning.

 

TALLY = 116 FISH, all caught and released

WX Snapshot:

25MAR17

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:15a

End Time: 11:30a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 60F

Water Surface Temp: 66.1.0F

Wind Speed & Direction: Post-frontal, but still breezy conditions on the heels of a mild coldfront that passed thru around 11am yesterday; winds WNW14

Sky Conditions: Cloudless, fair skies and bright conditions all morning

Water Level: 0.78 feet above full pool

GT = 100

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area vic 1624 — 52 white bass on 3/8 oz. slabs with Hazy Eye Stinger Hooks attached fished with easing tactic — moved on in search of hybrid

**Area 618/1909 – 8 white bass on live shad — moved on in search of hybrid

**Area vic 1482 – 10 white bass on live shad — moved on in search of hybrid

**Area 1299 – At our 4th stop of the AM, found bottom-oriented school of hybrid in 42-43′; caught 40 fish of which 75% were hybrid and of which 4 in 5 were legal 18+” fish.

 

Bob Maindelle

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

STUMPED!! — 116 Fish, Belton, 23 March 2017

This past Thursday morning, March 23rd, I fished with Mr. Jeff Stump of Lexington, TX, and his brother, Randy Stump, who is visiting from near Columbus, OH.

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Jeff Stump with his best hybrid of the morning.

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Randy Stump with one of several hybrid of this class that took our lively, medium-sized shad late this morning.

Jeff works in the semi-conductor industry in Austin, and Randy is retired from a career in the battery industry.  Randy flew down for a week-long visit which will include several additional fishing trips in Jeff’s Bass Tracker.

This morning the winds had the fish stirred up right at first light, although they really were not interested in our first offering, which included horizontally fished blade baits.  However, when we switched over to a vertical presentation, the fish just couldn’t get enough of it.  We “eased” with small, 3/8 oz. slabs with Hazy Eye Stinger Hooks affixed to them and just wore the white bass out as long as they stayed shallow (under 25 feet) and tightly grouped (as witnessed on sonar).  By 9:15a, we’d landed 90 fish and decided to devote the remainder of the trip to targeting hybrid striper with live bait.

Our first stop for hybrid didn’t go so well, as the white bass beat the hybrid to the baits and then just kept on coming.  Our second stop for hybrid proved a whole lot better.  We used large live baits at first, and suspended them way up off bottom to try to prevent immediate detection by white bass.  This seemed to work well, as we immediately got into hybrid and they stuck around suspended beneath the boat.  We found that medium sized (2.75″) shad got hit much more quickly and aggressively than larger baits.  The larger baits got approached more slowly, and often got mauled without resulting in a hookup.

By trip’s end, we’d managed 15 “legal” hybrid of 18″ or greater in addition to the boatload of white bass we released to fight another day.  By trip’s end, the Stump brothers walked away with a favorable impression of Lake Belton’s fishery.

TALLY = 116 FISH, all caught and released

WX Snapshot:

23MAR17

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TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:25a

End Time: 11:55a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 62F

Water Surface Temp: 67.0F

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE15 at sunrise, increasing to SSE21 by trip’s end with higher gusts; stronger winds came in the afternoon

Sky Conditions: Cloudless, fair skies and bright conditions all morning

Water Level: 0.67 feet above full pool

GT = 0

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area 172/1573 and 1670/164 — 72 white bass on 3/8 oz. slabs with Hazy Eye Stinger Hooks attached fished with easing tactic

**Area 1667 – 18 white bass on 3/8 oz. slabs with Hazy Eye Stinger Hooks attached fished with easing tactic

**Area 1916 – live shad intended for hybrid but caught white bass only

**Area 1915 – live shad for hybrid striper — caught 15 legal fish in last 70 minutes on the water, along with several shorts and some white bass

 

Bob Maindelle

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

White Bass Interference — 76 Fish, Belton, 21 March 2017

This past Tuesday morning, March 21st, I fished Belton Lake with Rick and Sharon Powell and their friend, Ricardo Cisneros.

 

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Mrs. Sharon Powell took this hybrid striper on live bait from 28 feet of water over a deeper bottom.  Each area we fished gave up a few hybrid initially, but then white bass invaded and beat all other species to the bait.

BeltonBlue

Ricardo Cisneros took this 8.5 pound blue catfish on a large, lively threadfin shad before the white bass took over.

Prior to the trip I explained what I felt our options would be. This included fishing artificials for white bass and\or fishing with live shad primarily for hybrid striper, knowing that whenever live shad are used, other species are sure to be caught, as well. Rick’s only guidance to me was to make sure that Sharon caught fish.

Given the clear, bright conditions that developed right at sunrise, I thought our best shot at hybrid striper would come early. We fished a number of areas that initially marked up with hybrid on sonar, and, indeed, produced a few hybrid striper, but at each location, white bass would move in soon after a few fish were caught.

While there is certainly nothing wrong with catching white bass, doing it on heavier tackle intended for hybrid mutes their fight a good bit. So, in our third hour on the water and after the hybrid seem to have run their course for the morning, we changed over to deep vertical jigging with lightweight slabs equipped with Hazy Eye Stinger Hooks to put a good number of white bass in the boat. While fishing in 40 to 42 feet of water, we took our tally from 20 fish taken in the first two hours up to 62 fish by the end of our third hour.

Given the ample quantity of large livebaits I had, I offered that we would spend the last part of our trip hanging large, live baits in a final attempt to put a few more hybrid in the boat.

Although Ricardo managed one more hybrid, everything else we caught, even on these large livebaits, were white bass. We closed out our trip this morning with 76 fish including our largest, an  8.5 pound blue cat, which came up and slammed one of Ricardo’s large threadfin shad between our first and second hour on the water

To me, fishing is always enjoyable, but it is so much more enjoyable when doing it with good people – – and that was certainly the case in fishing with the Powell’s and Ricardo today.   After the trip we enjoyed a nice lunch together at Sol de Jalisco right there in Morgan’s Point.

TALLY = 76 FISH, all caught and released

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TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:45a

End Time:  1:00p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 62F

Water Surface Temp:  65.9F

Wind Speed & Direction:  SSE13 at sunrise, increasing to SSE19 by trip’s end

Sky Conditions: Cloudless, fair skies and bright conditions all morning

Water Level:  0.66 feet above full pool

GT =  95

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Shad at SHAD003 and SHAD006
 
**Area 1619 mix of legal and short hybrid, followed by white bass
**Area 1819 mix of legal and short hybrid, followed by white bass, plus an 8.5 pound bluecat
**Area 714 mix of legal and short hybrid, followed by white bass
**Area 192 through 1914 deep vertical jigging with 3/8 oz. slab/Hazy Eye Stinger Hooks in 40-42′
**Area 714 a single hybrid and white bass of all sizes on large live shad

Bob Maindelle

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

SPRING BREAK FISHING MARATHON COMES TO AN END– 1,237 Fish Landed 13-18 March!

Thanks to the statewide public school Spring Break this week, my fishing calendar is completely full with 2 trips per day scheduled each day from Monday through Saturday.  Each day I aim to provide a quick snapshot of the action…

SATURDAY AM

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Who: Mr. Paul Hanusa of Austin, and his son, 21-year-old Parker Hanusa, home on Spring Break from Rice University

What: Targeting white bass under birds with blades and slabs early, then hybrid striped bass using live shad

Where: Lake Belton, Area 1735/752 through Area 1860 for 93 white bass on blades and slabs thru 10AM, then 47 more fish on live shad from Area vic 930, of which 70% were legal hybrid striped bass).

When: 7:45a to 12:30p

Other:

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 65F

Water Surface Temp:  63.4F

Wind Speed & Direction:  SSE7-8

Sky Conditions: Morning began with 100% grey clouds, slowly clearing to 40% white cloud coverage on a fair sky.

Water Level:  0.58 feet above full pool

GT =  60

Tally: 137 fish, all caught and released.

 

FRIDAY PM

IMG_1314

 

Who:   Zoey Garcia and Jozy Ramirez, accompanied by their mom, Keike Talley

What:  A Ft. Hood SKIESUnlimited Program trip just for the two girls focusing on white bass by slabbing and downrigging

Where:  Stillhouse, Areas 805 (slabbing) and 1566-1055 complex (downrigging tandem rigged Pet Spoons)

When:  3:30p to 6:20p (the girls were ready for pizza before the 4 hour mark!)

Other:

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 74F

Water Surface Temp:  64.1F

Wind Speed & Direction:  SSE10

Sky Conditions: Fair skies with 20% white cloud cover

Water Level:  0.54 feet above full pool

GT =  0

Tally: 50 fish, all caught and released.

DAY’S GRAND TALLY = 187 FISH, all caught and released

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 18MAR17

Bob Maindelle

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

SPRING BREAK FISHING MARATHON — Day Five, 257 Fish, 17 March 2017

Thanks to the statewide public school Spring Break this week, my fishing calendar is completely full with 2 trips per day scheduled each day from Monday through Saturday.  Each day I aim to provide a quick snapshot of the action…

FRIDAY AM

HEIFRINKDHMAINEKDH

 

 

Who: Todd and Andrew Heifrin (age 16), and Jason, Maggie (age 13), and Andrew (age 6) Maine

What: Targeting hybrid striped bass using live shad on Lake Belton, as well as a bit of “slabbing” in the last hour, targeting white bass

Where: Lake Belton, Area 1912  (suspended hybrid with white bass beneath); Area 709 (hyper-aggressive white bass on slabs under birds).

When: 7:45a to 12:00p

Other:

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 68F

Water Surface Temp:  63.4F

Wind Speed & Direction:  SSE13-15

Sky Conditions: Morning began with 100% grey clouds to the point of drizzle and then warmed and dried very slowly

Water Level:  0.60 feet above full pool

GT =  60

Tally: 187 fish, all caught and released.

 

FRIDAY PM

DUNCAN GRANTKADEN KENNETHMIKESKAGROUPKDH

Who:  From left in group photo: Duncan Lancaster, Kaden Lehrmann (front), Mr. Ken McCoy, Kenneth McCoy, Grant Baggerly.

 

What: A 50/50 blend of slabbing for white bass (early afternoon) and live bait fishing for hybrid (last 2 hours up to sunset).

Where: Belton Lake, Area 1914 for 22 white bass, Area vic 902 for mixed bag of hybrid, white bass, and blue catfish

When:  3:30p to 7:30p

Other:

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 74F

Water Surface Temp:  64.1F

Wind Speed & Direction:  SSE11

Sky Conditions: Fair skies with 20% white cloud cover

Water Level:  0.59 feet above full pool

GT =  50

Tally: 70 fish, all caught and released.

DAY’S GRAND TALLY = 159 FISH, all caught and released

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17MAR17

Bob Maindelle

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

SPRING BREAK FISHING MARATHON — Day Four, 159 Fish, 16 March 2017

Thanks to the statewide public school Spring Break this week, my fishing calendar is completely full with 2 trips per day scheduled each day from Monday through Saturday.  Each day I aim to provide a quick snapshot of the action…

THURSDAY AM

KINGHYBRIDKDH

 

Who: Gary and Mary King, and their adult son, Hunter King on Spring Break from UMHB

What: Targeting hybrid striped bass using live shad on Lake Belton, as well as a bit of “slabbing” in the last hour, targeting white bass

Where: Lake Belton, Area 1910 (suspended hybrid with white bass beneath); Area 1911 (suspended hybrid with white bass beneath); Area 1912  (suspended hybrid with white bass beneath); Area 1913 (deep white bass on slabs).

When: 7:45a to 12:15p

Other:

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 58F

Water Surface Temp:  62.1F

Wind Speed & Direction:  SSE13-15

Sky Conditions: Morning began with 100% grey clouds to the point of drizzle and then warmed and dried very slowly

Water Level:  0.62 feet above full pool

GT =  0

Tally: 100 fish, all caught and released.

 

THURSDAY PM

Who:  Mr. Jason B. and his 8-year-old son.

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What: White bass fishing primarily with a vertical approach using 3/8 oz. slabs equipped with Hazy Eye Stinger Hooks, with a bit of “last light” downrigging used primarily to demonstrate the equipment to Hagen

Where: Stillhouse, Area 074 (short spurt of white bass action from bottom-oriented congregation of fish); Area 1690/1698 (short spurt of white bass action from bottom-oriented congregation of fish); Area 784/529 (strong action by yearling fish up shallower in last hour of daylight on vertical slabs); Area 1048/798 (strong action on 2-year class fish up shallower in last hour of daylight with slabs & downrigged tandem Pet Spoons);

When:  3:30p to 7:30p

Other:

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 74F

Water Surface Temp:  64.1F

Wind Speed & Direction:  SSE115

Sky Conditions: Fair skies with 40% white cloud cover

Water Level:  0.61 feet above full pool

GT =  20

Tally: 59 fish, all caught and released.

DAY’S GRAND TALLY = 159 FISH, all caught and released

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16MAR17

Bob Maindelle

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

SPRING BREAK FISHING MARATHON – Day Three, 267 Fish, 15 March ’17

Thanks to the statewide public school Spring Break this week, my fishing calendar is completely full with 2 trips per day scheduled each day from Monday through Saturday.  Each day I aim to provide a quick snapshot of the action …  Wednesday I split time between Belton in the AM targeting white bass on slabs and hybrid stripers on live shad, and Stillhouse in the PM targeting white bass on slabs.  The returning south wind surely helped the bite today.

WEDNESDAY AM

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Who: Mr. Steve Stewart, his adult daughter, Cara Massey, Cara’s husband, Brian, and the Massey’s two boys, 9-year-old Owen and 6-year-old Hudson.

What: Multi-species trip on Lake Belton targeting white bass on artificials and hybrid striped bass on live shad.

Where: Lake Belton, Area 1827/1680 for 41 fish, Area 1909 for 60 fish, and Area 346/152/976 for 50 fish.

When: 8:00a to 12:20p

Other:

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 52F

Water Surface Temp:  62.2F

Wind Speed & Direction:  S8-10

Sky Conditions: <20% white cover on a fair sky

Water Level:  0.75 feet above full pool

GT = 60

Tally: 151 fish, all caught and released.

 

WEDNESDAY PM

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Who:  Harker Heights High School baseball Coach Randy Culp and his sons, 12-year-old Easton, and 9-year-old Cannon.

What: White bass fishing with a 100% vertical approach using 3/8 oz. slabs equipped with Hazy Eye Stinger Hooks.

Where: Stillhouse,

When:  4:00p to 7:30p

Other:

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 72F

Water Surface Temp: 64.2F

Wind Speed & Direction: S8-10

Sky Condition: <20% white cover on a fair sky

Water Level:  0.47 feet above full pool

GT = 0

Tally: 116 fish, all caught and released.

DAY’S GRAND TALLY = 267 FISH, all caught and released

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15MAR17

Bob Maindelle

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.

SPRING BREAK FISHING MARATHON – Day Two, 152 Fish, 14 March ’17

Thanks to the statewide public school Spring Break this week, my fishing calendar is completely full with 2 trips per day scheduled each day from Monday through Saturday.  Each day I aim to provide a quick snapshot of the action …  Tuesday was pretty tough thanks to near-calm, bright post-frontal conditions in the morning following yesterday’s dry cold front passage.  The fishing picked back up in the afternoon after a 10-12 mph SSE breeze kicked in from 3p until dark.

TUESDAY AM

MCCLUREKDH

Who: Mr. Bill McClure of Leander, TX, and his three grandsons — Chris Ramirez (12), Beruke Mekonen (10), and Alex Thompson (8).

What:  White bass fishing using bladebaits early and slabs in deeper water later on.

Where: Stillhouse, Area109 to1054 throwing bladebaits for the first 90 minutes after sunrise for 28 fish, then Area 529 with slabs for 18 fish, then Area 986/1529 in deeper water with slabs for 11 fish

When: 7:45a to 11:45a

Other:

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 41F

Water Surface Temp:  62.1F

Wind Speed & Direction:  <2mph W for first 90 minutes, then <2mph SSE for remainder of trip

Sky Conditions: Morning began cool and crisp in the wake of yesterday’s mild cold front passage; AM had fair skies and <10% white cloud cover

Water Level:  0.57 feet above full pool

GT = 50

Tally: 57 fish, all caught and released.

 

TUESDAY PM

CATESKDH

Who: Mr. Jon Cates and his 8-year-old son, Louden.

What: White bass fishing with a 100% vertical approach using 3/8 oz. slabs equipped with Hazy Eye Stinger Hooks.

Where: Stillhouse,

When:  3:30p to 7:40p

Other:

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 72F

Water Surface Temp: 64.2F

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE10-12

Sky Conditions: Fair skies with ,10% white cloud cover

Water Level:  0.57 feet above full pool

GT = 0

Tally: 95 fish, all caught and released.

DAY’S GRAND TALLY = 152 FISH, all caught and released

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WX SNAPSHOT:

14MAR17

Bob Maindelle

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

SPRING BREAK FISHING MARATHON – Day One, 215 Fish, 13 March ’17

Thanks to the statewide public school Spring Break this week, my fishing calendar is completely full with 2 trips per day scheduled each day from Monday through Saturday.  Each day I aim to provide a quick snapshot of the action…

MONDAY AM

HEAVENERKDH

Who: Mr. Dell Heavener of Kansas, Oklahoma, and his two grandchildren, 7-year-old Teagan Heavener and 6-year-old Leah Heavener, both of Belton, TX

What: White bass fishing in shallow (<25′) water under birds with downriggers and bladebaits in the first half of the morning, then fishing in 25-45′ with slabs in the second half of the morning.

Where: Stillhouse, Area 1054/089 (blades), Area 143 to Area 996 (downrigging), Area 1908 slabbing, Area 1907 slabbing

When: 7:45a to 11:30a

Other:

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 48.5F

Water Surface Temp:  62.1F

Wind Speed & Direction:  NNE8 increasing to NNE 12

Sky Conditions: Morning began with 100% grey clouds to the point of drizzle, slowly brightening but still with 100% cloud cover by trip’s end

Water Level:  0.64 feet above full pool

GT =  55

Tally: 72 fish, all caught and released.

 

MONDAY PM

IMG_1137

Who: Mr. Richard Oates of Harker Heights, accompanied by his son and daughter, Andy Oates of Harker Heights, and Cathy Ross of Killeen

What: White bass fishing with a 100% vertical approach using 3/8 oz. slabs equipped with Hazy Eye Stinger Hooks.

Where: Stillhouse, Area 074/1279 – slabs for 80 fish in our first hour on the water, Area 638/639 – slabbing for 31 fish, Area vic 1717/946 for 20 fish, Area 088 slabbing for 12 fish

When:  3:30p to 7:40p

Other:

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 60F

Water Surface Temp:  64.3F

Wind Speed & Direction:  NNE12-13 tapering in the last hour to NNE7

Sky Conditions: Fair skies with ,10% white cloud cover

Water Level:  0.64 feet above full pool

GT =  50

Tally: 143 fish, all caught and released.

DAY’S GRAND TALLY = 215 FISH, all caught and released

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13MAR17

Bob Maindelle

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle