This past Thursday morning I fished with cousins Ray Johnson and Mike Milner. Both fellows are in their late 70s. Ray is a resident of Harker Heights, and Mike lives to the west of Fort Worth. Mike drove down the night before the trip in celebration of Ray’s forthcoming birthday.

 

Mike Milner of Fort Worth with one of several fish we took over 5 pounds this morning on large, lively threadfin shad suspended up off bottom.

 

The bite was really on this morning; we could only keep one rod per man baited and in the water.  Occasionally we’d get a third rod down with a cut bait on it, but that was the exception, not the rule.

Thanks to a returning south wind following the passage of a brief, mild cold front yesterday, the task of collecting bait was quite easy this morning. This allowed for me to cull back smaller baits and just keep the more desirable 4 to 5 inch threadfin and gizzard shad.

Mike and Ray arrived punctually for a 7:15 departure from the dock, and after a quick safety briefing, equipment intro, and a word of prayer, we headed out in pursuit of fish.

Our first stop came between 25 and 27 feet on a primary point fairly near the old Leon River channel. We picked up seven white bass and one keeper hybrid followed by a short hybrid. When sonar revealed a mass of white bass moving in along the bottom, I left this area behind and headed for deeper, clear water.

Fishing for hybrid this morning was the most consistent I have seen it for quality hybrid striped bass since the flooding that occurred two weeks ago. We fished just one area with live bait and pulled 46 keeper hybrid most of which were “cookie-cutter” 20  inch long fish, with four longer 5 pound fish thrown in for good measure. Once the hybrid on this area got started, they fed for 2.5 hours straight.

The bite weaked at 10:45 AM and we departed to enjoy a little variety by jigging for white bass in the last 30 to 40 minutes of our trip. In right at 25 minutes we were able to add an additional 20 fish to our count including 19 white bass in the one and two year class, and a single barely legal largemouth bass. All of these fish came on a 3/8 oz. white slab retrofitted with a Hazy Eye Stinger hook.

By trip’s end we amassed a catch of 84 fish this morning.

TALLY = 84 FISH, all caught and released

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:15a

End Time: 12:00p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 65F

Water Surface Temp: 71.2F

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE8-10

Sky Conditions: Clear and sunny following a mild cold front’s passage the day before

Water Level: 2.14 feet above full pool and falling; 3900+ cfs release

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 1814/1824 – mixed bag on live bait

**Area 1800 – 2.5 hours of non-stop hybrid action on live and cut baits

**Area 1928/1816 – vertical jigging with slabs/stingers for 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

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle

This past Tuesday morning I fished with Mr. Hampton Haines and his wife, Stacy, in celebration of their 28th wedding anniversary.

 

Hampton “Hamp” Haines of Georgetown captured this pending new Lake Belton record hybrid.  This fish nudged out the current catch & release category fish which measured 25.63″.  Haines’ fish was 25.75″ and 8.75 pounds.

 

Hamp and Stacy Haines celebrated their 28th wedding anniversary with a Belton Lake fishing trip.
The Haines live in Georgetown, Texas, and have two grown kids, both of whom are employed in the medical profession. A “shout out” to Ricky Guenat who referred them to me.

We fished four areas this morning. Our first stop targeted schooled white bass holding along a slope at 26 feet. We worked slabs among these fish and landed a total of 10 before the school dissipated and we moved on. These fish were all caught on slabs equipped with Hazy Eye Stinger hooks. At the remaining three spots we fished this morning, we used live bait and targeted hybrid striped bass. Our first stop for hybrid yielded a largemouth bass, a smallmouth bass, five hybrid striper, and 10 more white bass.

Our third stop, although intended for hybrid striper on live bait, yielded six more white bass. Our final stop of the morning, and the one at which we spent the most time, gave up more hybrid striped bass than white bass. This is the first time the balance has shifted towards hybrid striper since the flooding which began with a heavy rain two Monday nights ago.

Over a 31 foot bottom, we suspended our baits at between 23 and 26 feet in order to avoid catching any white bass present and to avoid drawing in any other white bass. I also used the largest baits I had captured in my cast net, all in an effort to fend off the white bass.

We did not have to wait very long for the hybrid striper present at this area to make their presence known. We enjoyed 90+ minutes of nonstop hybrid action from the time the first baits went down and until 11:20 when the action ground to a halt.

The highlight of the trip was Hamp’s capture of a pending new lake record hybrid striped bass.  This fish was the single hybrid striper any of my clients have ever brought to net. It weighed 8.75 pounds and measured 25.75 inches. It was quite wide across the back and had a bit of a pot belly.

Hamp did a great job of bringing it to net, and in helping me get quickly set up to weigh and measure the fish without undue stress or delay.

As required for entering recordbook fish, we got a picture of Hamp with the fish, and a picture of the fish on a measuring board with its mouth closed and tail lobes pinched together. We took the weight on my certified scale, although that measurement is optional for fish in the catch and release category, which is managed strictly by fish length.

When all was said and done today we had landed 59 fish of which two dozen were legal hybrids, and five of which exceeded 4.75 pounds.

TALLY = 59 FISH, all caught and released

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:15a

End Time: 12:15p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 65F

Water Surface Temp: 71.2F

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE10-13

Sky Conditions: 100% grey cloud cover

Water Level: 3.54 feet above full pool and falling; 3900+ cfs release

GT = 40

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic 146 – 10 white bass

**Area vic 1918 – 1 largemouth bass, 1 smallmouth bass, 5 hybrid, and 10 whites

**Area 1923 – 6 whites

**Area 1800 – 24 hybrid, 2 whites

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

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle

This past Monday morning I fished with Kyle Mathes and his crew of four others on Lake Belton in pursuit of hybrid striped bass.  This crew included his father, Mark Mathes, and three friends, Kyle Marable, Brian Fogle, and Cory Weiermann.

 

 

Mark Mathes took big fish honors with this 6 pound class hybrid.

 

Kyle was the camping trip organizer and did a great job getting all the reservations, fishing details, groceries, RV site etc. lined out.

 

Kyle Marable was evidently the only morning person in the whole crew, his comedic monologue kept everyone chuckling, even when they didn’t yet feel like talking.

 

Cody Weiermann, a plumber’s apprentice working for A-Z Plumbing in Harker Heights took a day off to join in on the hybrid fishing.

 

Brian Fogle stayed focused on the fishing the whole time and rarely took his eye off the rod.

Kyle and the gang made plans to camp all week at Westcliff Park but had to shuffle over to Live Oak Ridge Park instead due to the recent flooding.

This same flooding has really put the normal consistency of the hybrid striped bass bite experienced this time of year off a good bit. The areas in which these fish are typically found had been badly muddied up by the flooding. Now that the water has begun to clear, I still find no bait nor gamefish on the deeper, clearer areas normally loaded down with fish this time of year.

Evidently, the last two years of flooding in the springtime have mightily contributed to a strong presence of white bass in the lake. Without exception, white bass materializing while fishing live bait for hybrid has been an issue all during this 2017 season. Some of the normal tricks of the trade to fend these white bass off, including using large baits, and keeping them high up in the water column, often fail to ward off these smaller fish which, when caught on more stout hybrid tackle, are not all that fun to reel in.

We persisted today and gunned only for hybrid, and only with livebait, and were able to come up with hybrid striped bass at about a 1 to 6 ratio with the white bass.

By the time 12:15 PM rolled around, my crew had landed exactly 101 fish, they had a good idea of where they would need to fish for the rest of the week, some ideas about when and where to gather shad, and some realistic expectations about their hybrid catch versus their white bass catch.

TALLY = 101FISH, all caught and released

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:20a

End Time: 12:15p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 60F

Water Surface Temp: 70.1F

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE9-12

Sky Conditions: 10% cloud cover over a fair sky

Water Level: 3.94 feet above full pool and falling; 3900+ cfs release

GT = 40

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 1643/1068 –  mixed whites and hybrid

**Area 1923 –  mixed whites and hybrid

**Area 1620/1757-  mixed whites and hybrid

**Area1628-  mixed whites and hybrid

 

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

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle

This past Friday morning I fished once again with a contingent of the Oliver clan. This morning’s trip included Pa Oliver, and three of his sons: Joe, Jamie, and Jack.   Although this family really doesn’t need much of an excuse to go fishing, the excuse this go-‘round was Pa’s upcoming 87^th birthday.

 

Happy Birthday, Pa!  Pa’s “Cameron Yoe” hat is in support of son Joe’s new job as the Cameron High School principal.

 

Pa’s son, Jamie Oliver, from north Austin with a hybrid.

Pa’s son, Jack Oliver, from Marble Falls with a hybrid.

Pa’s son, Joe Oliver, from Temple with a hybrid.

Now nearly 12 days after the recent flooding, the main basin of Belton is still not holding fish, and is still quite turbid. This has left the Leon River arm as the only fishable option, and with that comes a lots of white bass interference while fishing live bait for hybrid.

During this morning’s efforts, we fished five distinct areas, and at each area we caught 3 to 5 white bass for every hybrid that took our live baits. After dropping Joe off at 11am, we hit two more areas and encountered pretty much the same situation.

This appears to be something that we will just have to work through until the water on the main lake clears up and the fish return to their April/May routine, if they do.

For our efforts today we landed a total of 65 fish, 100% of which were landed on live bait.
TALLY = 65 FISH, all caught and released

 

Wx Snapshot:

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:00a

End Time: 12:15p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 79F

Water Surface Temp: 74F

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE8-9

Sky Conditions: 40% clouds on fair sky

Water Level: 5.34 feet above full pool and falling; 3900+ cfs release

GT = 50

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area 146/1922

**Area 1926

**Area994

**Area1916/1827

**Area1668/788

**Area1661/1623

 

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

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle

This past Thursday afternoon I fished with Luis Canellas and Jack Maurici. Luis accompanied his daughter, Amanda, who is Jack’s girlfriend, to Texas for a Team USA powerlifting event to be held this coming weekend at the Courtyard Mariott in Killeen. The trio is from the Miami Beach, Florida area and traveled by air into Austin earlier today.

Luis Canellas, a Florida real estate appraiser, did some fishing while waiting for his adult daughter’s powerlifting tournament to begin the following day.

Florida chef Jack Maurici, came to support his girlfriend, Amanda, as she competed against other nations in a Team USA powerlifting event held in Killeen.

Jack is a chef at his own restaurant and Luis owns a real estate appraisal business.  As these Texas tourists let their fingers do the walking, they happened upon a listing as they were inbound to Killeen from the Austin Airport.  They found a listing for Tightlines Premium Fishing Tackle and inquired there about local fishing guides. Rodney, Dean and the gang at Tightlines referred these folks to me, and just hours after Luis’ initial phone call to me, I had him and Jack out on Belton Lake and hooked into fish.

We divided our trip up, devoting the first two-thirds to jigging for white bass, and the last third in pursuit of hybrid striped bass using livebait.

We made three “short hops” at one area, and put 121 white bass in the boat in about two hours and 45 minutes.

In the last 75 minutes of light, we moved up into 25 feet of water and hung live baits to tempt hybrid striper. Although this evening’s bite was not overly aggressive, nor did we see hundreds of fish on sonar, we were able to catch enough keeper hybrid to allow both Luis and Jack to appreciate the power of these fish, and get the necessary fish fighting techniques down pat before we called it an evening. Our largest hybrid of the evening was landed by Luis, and that fish went 4.75 pounds.

To say that Luis and Jack were competitive would be an understatement. As I announced that we were just two fish shy of 100 white bass, the two did all they could to beat the other to catch fish number 100. Luis took that honor, as well. Finally, Luis also had the good fortune of catching two white bass on one lure at the same time.

After being accustomed to fishing for largemouth bass, often with live shiners, in the tannic, shallow waters of Florida, the productivity of this trip – – 141 fish in all – – just blew both of these fellows away.

Luis sent me an update by text the day after the trip, letting me know his daughter took first place in the powerlifting competition, and got to hear the National Anthem played for her.
TALLY = 141 FISH, all caught and released

Wx Snapshot:

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 3:45p

End Time: 7:45p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 79F

Water Surface Temp: 74F

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE8-9

Sky Conditions: 40% clouds on fair sky

Water Level: 5.74 feet above full pool and falling; 3900+ cfs release

GT = 60

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area 1676 thru 1827 in 3 short hops; 100% slabbing for white bass

**Area 1921 – hybrid on 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

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle

This past Tuesday morning I finished Lake Belton with US Navy veteran David Burke, of Belton, Texas.

David, who is originally from San Angelo, worked the last 12 years of his career as a drug and alcohol addiction counselor at Christian Farms between Harker Heights and Nolanville. His 3-year stint in the Navy had him fueling large cargo helicopters aboard a 700+ foot long ship. He spoke fondly of his daughter who now lives with him and works on the janitorial staff at UMHB.

David got more then a little turned around trying to find our boat ramp, and we got off to a late, 8:30 AM start, but made up for lost time the best we could. David was primarily interested in using artificial baits for white bass, but was very open to doing whatever it took to put fish in the boat.  He actually took a real liking to the hybrid after he caught his first big on on bait.

I initially came prepared only with artificial baits, but went ahead and took advantage of the time prior to David’s arrival to put some live shad in my bait tank as I waited for him to arrive.

We split the morning fairly evenly between suspending live bait off the bottom for hybrid striper and vertical jigging, using an easing tactic, as we targeted white bass. When all was said and done today, we had put a grand total of 59 fish in the boat.

Today’s shad activity and fishing was definitely hindered a bit by the weather disturbance that passed through last night with its multiple pop-up storm cells, and in that it left a northeast wind blowing lightly this morning.
TALLY = 59 FISH, all caught and released

Wx Snapshot:

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 8:30a

End Time: 12:30p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 63F

Water Surface Temp: 69F

Wind Speed & Direction: NE3-4 the entire trip

Sky Conditions: 100% clouds with occasional drizzle

Water Level: 6.32 feet above full pool and falling; 3800+ cfs release

GT = 0

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area 1921 for early white bass/hybrid mix on bait

**Area 146/1922 for whites vertically jigged on slab

**Area 1922 for 100% keeper hybrid for 90 consecutive minutes

 

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

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle

This past Monday morning’s trip was a bit out of the ordinary. Instead of just going out to catch fish, Kyle Johnson had a number a very specific things he hoped to accomplish during our time on the water. Fortunately, he was able to clearly communicate these things well in advance of our trip, so I had time to prepare to try to accomplish these goals.

 

From left: Kyle Johnson, his daughter, 8-year-old Mazzy, and his wife, Myka, all celebrated Mazzy’s big catch of this Lake Belton hybrid striped bass taken on live shad in 25′.

The first thing Kyle desired was to understand a few kid-friendly techniques I routinely use so as to help keep his own eight-year-old daughter’s interest during their father-daughter fishing trips.

To accommodate this, I planned to show him the basics of downrigging, using an “easing” tactic while vertical jigging with slabs, and the use of a slip float rig for fishing shallow and targeting sunfish. Additionally, Kyle wanted to be sure to catch some fish, especially for his wife and daughter; and his third request was that I simply point out what I was perceiving on sonar as he sat next to me in both motoring from place to place and then while searching more intently for fish once we arrived at prospective areas.

Once again, bait was super easy this morning. With ample bait on board, we started out in search of hybrid striper in water under 25 feet in depth while the light level was low. At our first stop, we landed both short hybrid and white bass, but the pace was just moderate and so I moved us before long. The next area at which we found fish produced all of the hybrid striped bass we would catch during this trip, as well as a handful of white bass. These fish, too, were in less than 25 feet of water. By the time this hybrid bite died down, Mazzy had just about reached her limit on bait fishing, and so at this point, I began to search for areas with heavier concentrations of bottom hugging white bass which would allow for us to vertical jig using an easing tactic.

When this did not immediately work out, I transitioned right into showing Kyle how to use the downrigger, and letting Mazzy enjoy the fruits of the explanation as she was able to reel in the rather easily caught, but fairly small, suspended white bass that fell for our tandem-rigged pair of Pet Spoons.

As we downrigged, we discovered what we were looking for earlier – – a big, bottom hugging school of white bass. I used the Minnkota Spot Lock function to hover over top of these fish, and allowed Kyle and Myka to wear out the white bass using slabs worked with an easing tactic. This was good on-the-job training for Kyle who typically uses a snap jigging or ripping tactic in conjunction with slabs — a technique more appropriate for falling water temperatures.

Once this school of white bass stopped responding to our slabbing, I provided one more demo up shallow using a telescoping bream rod with a slip float to target smallish, very shallow water species, like sunfish.

When all was said and done today everyone caught fish; we landed a total of 51 fish, including some very nice hybrid striper, and Kyle had a grasp on the several kid-friendly tactics I came prepared to demonstrate.

 

TALLY = 51 FISH, all caught and released

Wx Snapshot:

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:15a

End Time: 11:45a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 70F

Water Surface Temp: 70F

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE6-7 the entire trip

Sky Conditions: 80% clouds

Water Level: 6.72 feet above full pool and falling; 3800+ cfs release

GT = 50

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area 1920 for early white bass on bait

**Area 1635/1628 for hybrid on bait

**Area 1677 for whites on slabs discovered via downrigging

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

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle

This past Saturday afternoon I fished with seven of the Oliver clan, representing three generations. Joining me today were Pa Oliver, three of his sons: Joe, Jack, and Jamie, and then each son brought one of their own sons. Joe brought his son, Thomas; Jamie brought his son, Sam; and Jack brought his son, Asa.

 

From left: Jack, Pa, Asa, and Sam Oliver, each with hybrid that came in the boat within a minute’s span of one another.  With 8 people in the boat and 4 fish on the line, it was pure pandemonium!!

 

Jamie was our “canary in the coal mine” — when I saw what I suspected were hybrid that were drawn into the commotion of the white bass we’d been jigging for, I gave Jamie a bait to put out and he made good with it. This was the very first hybrid that kicked it all off for us.

Joe, the “ringleader” who put the whole trip together, shown here with his son, Thomas, landed the largest hybrid of the evening — a 5.25 pounder.

This was really a fun trip for me, as it always is with this family. You can just tell they are a tight knit bunch which, through the years, have been intentional about carving out time from busy lives to spend in the presence of one another.

Due to the number of anglers aboard, and the rising and stained water conditions which prevented me from getting on some of my preferred fishing areas, I intended that we would primarily jig for white bass on this trip. Although this is the way we started things off, at the second area at which we stopped to jig for white bass, as we begin to pull the white bass up through the water column, a large school of hybrid materialized in the middle third of the water column.

I dropped a test bait down so as to verify that what I was seeing were actually hybrid. When Jamie nearly instantly had his shad taken by a good sized hybrid, we very quickly put away the spinning gear and transitioned to fishing six downlines. We were met with such success from this point until shortly after sunset, that we never did touch the spinning gear nor target white bass again.

This was by far the strongest hybrid bite I have seen since we’ve experienced the recent flooding. Of the 118 fish we boated on this trip, easily 60 of these were keeper hybrid, with one of Joe’s fish weighing in at 5.25 pounds

Hopefully, this week will see a diluting and settling of the turbid water now in the main body of Lake Belton, so that even more areas are accessible during what is normally this peak time of year for hybrid striped bass fishing.

TALLY = 118 FISH, all caught and released

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 3:45p

End Time: 8:15p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 78F

Water Surface Temp: 70F

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE7-8 the entire trip

Sky Conditions: 80% clouds

Water Level: 6.96 feet above full pool and falling; 3600+ cfs release

GT = 80

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area 1827/1916/1912/1919 complex – jigged whites until commotion brought in hybrid, then caught all hybrid on live bait

**Area vic 1619 –  all hybrid

**Area vic 1620 – sunset all-hybrid bite

 

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

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle