WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Saturday afternoon I was joined by two couples: Shannon Bradshaw and Brandon Parr and their friends, Andrew Baker and Chelsy Richardson. Andrew and Brandon serve in the same infantry unit on Fort Hood The ladies went in together to get the fellows a fishing gift certificate for Valentines’ Day in 2017 and redeemed it today. We faced some tougher conditions this afternoon as the sky brightened and the wind calmed over the midday period. As it turned out, we were able to use a variety of tactics including snap-jigging for whites and tight-lining with live shad for hybrid to catch a variety of fish. Along the way we all got a good chuckle when I told the group I was looking forward to a prairie dog hunt in late May. While picturing a not a prairie dog but a greyhound in her mind, Shannon asked of the prairie dogs I’d just mentioned, “Aren’t those the ones they race?”. There was a split second of silence and then laughter erupted.
Shannon Bradshaw with our longest hybrid of the trip. This fish aggressively took a live shad suspended at mid-depth over a 34′ bottom.
Chelsy Richardson and Andrew Baker with a nice pair of hybrid. Andrew’s fish was our heaviest of the trip, weighing 4.125 pounds. Both came on live shad suspended off a 34′ bottom.
Did ya’ll know the Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer Co. has a fishing team?
From left, Chelsy Richardson, Andrew Baker, Shannon Bradshaw, and Brandon Parr, each with a 2 year class white bass caught off bottom in 25-28′ along a blunt point under tough, bright, calm conditions.
WHAT WE FISHED FOR: This was a multi-species trip during which we caught a mix of white bass and hybrid stripers
WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake
WHEN WE FISHED: Saturday evening, 10 March 2018
HOW WE FISHED: Fishing was much tougher this afternoon than this morning. Our conditions were just what you don’t hope for — bright and calm — but, we persisted and put together a nice catch aided by a grand finale of nearly 20 keeper hybrid (18″ or greater). We kicked off the afternoon snap-jigging near bottom while we still had a bit of a ripple. Multiple “short hop” around the same location got us 27 white bass and a single largemouth in our first two hours. Our third hour was slow as we searched multiple locations finding little and catching nothing. We made a move to another segment of the lake in our final 80 minutes. As I searched with sonar, side imaging revealed scattered but abundant hybrid holding along a steep bank over 34′. I hovered the boat in one spot using Spot Lock, got live bait down, sweetened the deal with a steady flow of chum, and we began to pull hybrid stripers steadily for the remainder of the trip, right up until dark around 6:45. Although these fish were definitely more aggressive than those we encountered the previous evening, we still had plenty of refusals where we watched fish on sonar as they stalked a bait, rose to it, then turned away without making contact. During this last span of time, we landed 18 legal hybrid, 1 short hybrid, and 1 largemouth bass around 2 pounds.
OBSERVATIONS/NOTES: 1) The hybrid we encountered were definitely more aggressive than those we encountered the previous evening, but we still had plenty of refusals where we watched fish on sonar as they stalked a bait, rose to it, then turned away without making contact.
TALLY: 48 FISH, ALL CAUGHT AND RELEASED
TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 2:30 pm
End Time: 6:50 pm
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 85F
Water Surface Temp: 60-62F
Wind Speed & Direction: SSW2-4 most of the trip.
Sky Conditions: <10% cover with white clouds on a blue sky by trip’s end.
Water Level: 2.43 feet low
GT = 0
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area 381 to B0050C — 28 fish snap-jigging
**Area B0051C – 20 fish on live shad in last 75 minutes of light
Bob Maindelle, Central Texas Fishing Guide
Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service
254.368.7411 (call or text)
Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
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