PRE-FRONTAL FEEDING FRENZY – 92 FISH

WHO I FISHED WITH:  On March 30th, I fished with Jennifer Ivicic and her dad, Tim Prcin.  This was a rescheduled trip (due to foul weather on our originally chosen date) and was a Christmas gift from Jennifer to her dad.

Jennifer has been with the Killeen Independent School District for 12 years, the last 3 of which she has served as a physical education teacher at Cavazos Middle School in Nolanville.  Tim has been an employee at Dealer’s Electric for 40 years.  Jennifer’s husband owns and operates a local small business in Holland, TX, – Precision Fence – with four other employees.

Jennifer grew up fishing with her dad and had some fond memories of fishing in the Colorado River from the Smith Ranch near the old Lemon’s Fishing Camp, back when her grandparents owned land there.  She handled a spinning rod with authority and both she and her dad were willingly coached to success.

PHOTO CAPTION: Jennifer Ivicic and her dad, Tim Prcin hold 14 to 15 inch long white bass taken on bladebaits thrown shallow during a pre-frontal feeding spree on Stillhouse this morning.  Note Jennifer’s clothing as of 10:30 am versus her clothing shown in the photo below around 8:15 am.  The front cooled all of Central Texas down by about 9 degrees in a matter of minutes!

 

PHOTO CAPTION: Tim Prcin took this 3.25 pound largemouth bass up in shallow water as we cast bladebaits to shallow white bass feeding aggressively on shad before a big cold front’s arrival.

WHAT WE FISHED FOR:  This trip was a multi-species fishing trip focused on white bass.

WHERE WE FISHED:  Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

WHEN WE FISHED:   30 March 2019

HOW WE FISHED:  This morning’s trip consisted of two distinct episodes of pre-frontal feeding by white bass herding shad in shallow water.  The first episode took place right at (obscured) sunrise.  This low light feed happened as calm conditions changed to a rippled surface as a wave of energy pushed through like a “mini-front” about 2 hours in advance of the inbound cold front.  When the wind began, the surface rippled, the clouds thickened and nature came alive.  Shad were swimming panicked, white bass were chasing them to the surface, multiple species of birds were feeding from above, and the fishing was fast and furious in under 10 feet of water throwing opaque Cicada bladebaits in the 3/8 oz. size which were a good match for the threadfin shad being fed upon.  This feed lasted about 70 minutes and produced exactly 49 white bass and 1 largemouth.

When that wave of weather passed, the skies brightened, the winds calmed, and nature settled back down.  There was no fish or bird activity again until about 9:15, when the skies began to go grey and cloudy once again with the clouds moving in from the NW.  We fished 3 locations under the bright skies and had just begun to fish a fourth when I spotted individual white bass occasionally boiling on shad about 150 yards from where we had encountered them earlier.  We moved to this area via trolling motor so as not to spook bait or gamefish, and I Spot Locked us in 8 feet of water, casting up shallower.  We watched the assault start in earnest, build to a peak as the front came in, and then soften as the rain and cold began to descend on the area.  We got another hour’s worth of pure catching in during this second episode, and added 42 white bass to our tally.  The average fish in this school was nearly twice the size of the average fish we encountered in our first episode.  Again, the opaque Cicada bladebaits in the 3/8 oz. size were a good match for the threadfin shad being fed upon, although one jumbo white bass regurgitated a 3.75″ gizzard shad, as well.

I was about to jockey us into another casting position so as to access a new group of fish that hadn’t been cast over when Tim and Jennifer agreed the additional fish we might catch (as the bite was definitely tapering off) was not worth the additional discomfort which the wind-driven mist and cooling winds were bringing.  So, we called it done at 92 fish as the bite was getting soft.

OBSERVATIONS:  This was a “textbook” example of pre-frontal fishing if there ever was one.  Fish in the 1, 2, 3, and 4 year classes were present in these two sprees.

TALLY: 92 fish caught and released

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:05a

End Time: 10:40a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  64F, dropping to 55F very quickly with the front’s arrival, then plateauing there

Elevation: 0.2 feet high, with a 0.07 foot 24-hour rise

Water Surface Temp: 65.2F

Wind Speed & Direction:  Calm at trip’s start, shifting to NW6-8 for about 20 minutes before the front’s arrival, then ramping up suddenly to NNW20+ with front’s arrival

Sky Conditions: 100% grey cloud cover through 8:20, then clearing until around 9:15, then clouding again in advance of the front with light, brief precipitation.

GT = 0

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow

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 AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 1967 to bank

**Area 730 to 999

 

Bob Maindelle

Full-time, Professional Fishing Guide and Owner of Holding the Line Guide Service

Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide

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

THEY CAME, THEY CAUGHT, THEY WENT TO THE MOVIES

WHO I FISHED WITH:  On March 29th I welcomed aboard Mrs. Fiona Williams and her two children, Ashlyn (age 14) and Levi (age 3).  Fiona’s husband, U.S. Army Master Sergeant Jarrad Williams, is currently deployed as part of the Army’s Criminal Investigation Command (CID) to Kuwait, Iraq, and Afghanistan.  MSG Williams, a native of Oklahoma, has approximately 3 months left in his deployment, and has been serving for 17 years.

This S.K.I.F.F. trip was originally planned for March 2nd, but rain and high winds foiled those plans.

S.K.I.F.F. stands for Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun.  This program began in May of 2009.  It is funded by the donations and fundraising efforts of the Austin Fly Fishers.  S.K.I.F.F. provides the children of military personnel separated from their families due to duty commitments with the opportunity to go fishing.  Full-time, professional fishing guide Bob Maindelle coordinates and conducts these 3.5 to 4 hour adventures on Belton Lake and Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir, just outside the gates of Fort Hood in Bell County, TX.

We worked this trip in after school on a Friday now that sunset comes around 7:45 pm, following the start of Daylight Saving Time.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:   From left: Mrs. Fiona Williams, her 3-year-old son, Levi, and 14-year-old daughter, Ashlyn, with white bass we caught while flatline trolling with crankbaits on an afternoon SKIFF program trip made available at no charge to soldiers’ families.

WHAT WE FISHED FOR:  This trip was a multi-species fishing trip focused on white bass.

WHERE WE FISHED:  Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

WHEN WE FISHED:   29 March 2019

HOW WE FISHED:  As Fiona knew Levi would only make it so long, we agreed to keep an eye on him and close out the trip once the novelty wore off for him. We faced some high winds which made the area I had been successful in early in the week quite silty and off-color, so the fishing was pretty tough.

Additionally, both of the kids had post-fishing trip movie plans – Ashlyn was headed to see “Five Feet Apart” with friends, and Levi and Fiona were considering taking in “Dumbo”.

Long story short, we fished just until both kids caught a legal sized fish to take a photo with and share with their dad, and then we wrapped it up.  Luckily, two of our first three fish were white bass which exceeded the 10-inch minimum, so we got that scrapbook photo well before dark.

Because the tactic which was working on this trip was flatline trolling (and because that method is not all that engaging for a 3-year-old), I gave Levi an number of “special duties”.  He was the “rod putter awayer”, he was the “thumper turner-oner”, he was the “fish in the livewell checker”, and he was the “aerator motor operator”.  He did great at all of those things (and at snacking!!).

OBSERVATIONS:  Due to 2 days of high winds (15-18mph) the upper third of Stillhouse is silty.  This made fishing a bit tough for these fish which are primarily sight-feeders.

TALLY: 3 fish caught and released

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 4:15p

End Time: 6:30p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  72F

Elevation: 0.17 feet high, with a 0.07 foot 24-hour rise

Water Surface Temp: 65.4F

Wind Speed & Direction:  SSE16

Sky Conditions:  ~90% grey cloud cover clearing to ~60% white cloud cover by trip’s end

GT = 0

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow

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 AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area  729 thru 1967 – flatlining

 

Bob Maindelle

Full-time, Professional Fishing Guide and Owner of Holding the Line Guide Service

Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide

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

45 FISH FOR ANDY’S 6TH BIRTHDAY!!

WHO I FISHED WITH: This afternoon, Thursday, 28 March, I fished with Belton natives Terri Covington, her son, Dave Covington, and Dave’s son, 6-year-old Andy Covington, on the occasion of Andy’s sixth birthday.  Terri planned this well ahead of time, desiring the event to coincide with the actual date of Andy’s birthday.  I expressed some concern about taking a child so young at this point in the season when options are limited and the techniques are a bit technical, but, all worked out well in the end.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  Andy Covington, son of Dave Covington and grandson of Terri Covington, was treated to a birthday fishing trip.  We landed 45 fish in just under 3 1/2 hours of fishing on Stillhouse.

WHAT WE FISHED FOR:  This trip was a multi-species fishing trip focused on white bass.

WHERE WE FISHED:  Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

WHEN WE FISHED:   28 March 2019

HOW WE FISHED:    I began our trip up shallow hoping for some sunfish to offer a bit of instant gratification, but, the heavy chop had muddied near-shore waters and sunfish just weren’t in the cards.  We changed over quickly to covering water by flatline trolling and began to pick up single fish with some regularity.  Next, a helpful handful of gulls showed some activity over a patch of open water, leading us to find white bass aggressively feeding on shad in about 22 feet of water, allowing all of us to catch a number of fish in short order primarily via a snap-jigging tactic.  Although smoking a slab and lift-dropping a blade also produced, the snap-jigged slab with stinger produced best.

After this hour-long run was over, we picked up a few more fish in two separate locations via flatline trolling, and then called it a day around 7:45p given that Andy has school tomorrow.  We all bet he sleeps well tonight!!

OBSERVATIONS:  The action has definitely moved shallow thanks to the multi-day warming trend and high winds of the majority of this day. 

TALLY: 45 fish caught and released

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 4:15p

End Time: 7:45p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  76F

Elevation: 0.11 feet high, with a 0.08 foot 24-hour rise

Water Surface Temp: 66.8F

Wind Speed & Direction:  SSE17+ at trip’s start, tapering down to SSE13 by trip’s end

Sky Conditions:  40% white cloud cover at trip’s start, transitioning to 100% thin, grey cloud cover by trip’s end

GT = 55

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow

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 AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area  729 thru 1967 – flatlining

**Area SH0106C – snap jigging

**Area  114 thru 703 – flatlining

**Area  116 thru 291 – flatlining

 

Bob Maindelle

Full-time, Professional Fishing Guide and Owner of Holding the Line Guide Service

Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide

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

ATTENTION TO DETAIL PUT FISH IN THE BOAT — 52 FISH @ STILLHOUSE

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Monday, 25 March, I fished with Mr. Tommy Maedgen and his wife, Sylvia, of Troy, TX.  Tommy, who just fished with me last Tuesday, retired from life as a “shop” teacher in the Temple Independent School District where he taught woodworking, metalworking, small engine repair, and more.  Sylvia is retired from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The couple recently got a really good deal on a 2006 Skeeter with very, very few hours on it and are working on retrofitting the trolling motor and electronics, so, part of their purpose in coming out was to see such technology in action so as to be more well-educated when it comes time to buy this helpful equipment.

PHOTO CAPTION:    Tommy and Sylvia Maedgen of Troy, TX, put 52 fish in the boat this morning using a combination of bladebaits, slabs, and crankbaits.  The fishing was solid as the winds shifted from W to N in advance of an incoming cold front, right up until the skies cleared around 11:10am.

WHAT WE FISHED FOR:  This trip was a multi-species fishing trip focused on white bass.

WHERE WE FISHED:  Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

WHEN WE FISHED:   25 March 2019

HOW WE FISHED:    As we got going this morning, we had solid, grey cloud cover and an 8 mph breeze from W.  We found abundant, active white bass chasing shad in a low-light feed in under 18 feet of water up on a flat adjacent to the river channel.  Opaque Cicada bladebaits in 3/8 oz. did the trick for these fish.  As the skies went from fully cloudy to partly cloudy, the shallow bite died and we dropped back to the 25 foot mark to continue catching fish along the channel break using slabs in a snap-jigging presentation.  After the two locations we were successful at this failed to produce additional fish, the wind picked up and the clouds thickened.  The shallow water bite rebounded and allowed us about 50 minutes’ worth of flatline trolling success pulling baits at ~14′ deep in slightly deeper water.  Side-imaging provided ample evidence that these fish were patrolling in groups of 10-20 fish, and, typically, when one of our rods went off, the other went off just seconds later.

Sylvia’s great, reflexive hookset accounted for a lot of fish today as she connected with a majority of the fish which struck her slab.  Both she and Tommy were very attentive to their presentations, which also helped us make the most of our situation this morning.

This bite died as the winds finally went from NW to N and the skies got cloudless and bright.  We landed only 2 drum via vertical jigging in our final 30 minutes of effort under these tough conditions.

OBSERVATIONS:   Even more bait witnessed in the upper 12 feet of the water column routinely this morning.  Caught first obviously spawned-out white bass on the main lake this morning.

TALLY: 52 fish caught and released

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:25a

End Time: 11:40a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  68F

Elevation: 0.05 feet high, with a 0.07 foot 24-hour drop

Water Surface Temp: 65.2F

Wind Speed & Direction:  Winds were W8 at trip’s start, swinging through WNW, then NW, then NNW, and finally due N12 by trip’s end as mild, dry cold front pushed in.

Sky Conditions: Back-and-forth coverage this morning with best, full-coverage grey clouds in the first hour, then going partially cloudy through 11:10, and finally clearing to cloudless beyond that time.

GT = 0

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow

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 AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 729 blades for active, low-light fish

**Area vic 091 -snap-jigging for schooled whites on channel wall w/ 3 progressively shallower short hops as clouds built back in

**Area 745 to channel break – multiple flatline passes for 1-2 fish per pass for 10+ passes

**Area vic 077 – 2 drum after skies cleared

 

Bob Maindelle

Full-time, Professional Fishing Guide and Owner of Holding the Line Guide Service

Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide

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

Fishin’ With His Grandpa Mike — 38 Fish @ Stillhouse

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Saturday morning I welcomed U.S. Army retiree Mike Fagan and his grandson, Nathan Houston (age 11) aboard for a morning of white bass fishing on Stillhouse Hollow.  Mike’s mom, Dee Heffernan presented this trip to Mike as a gift back before Christmas 2018.

Mike served both as a trainer and as a mechanic while in the military and now is working in a second career as a hydraulic lift mechanic for Altec aerial devices commonly seen in use on cable TV and phone company vehicles.  Nathan is a student in the Florence Independent School District and is playing center field and pitching for his baseball team.

The two have fished together regularly, so, Nathan was more advanced than most 11-year-olds when it came to casting, retrieving, playing fish, etc., which certainly helped today.

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left: 11-year-old Nathan Houston and his grandfather “Papa” Mike Fagan with a few of the 38 fish we landed on a grey, breezy early spring day on Stillhouse Hollow. The fish on the far left of the photo went over 14″.

WHAT WE FISHED FOR:  This trip was a multi-species fishing trip focused on white bass.

WHERE WE FISHED:   Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

WHEN WE FISHED:  23 March 2019

HOW WE FISHED: We spent most of our first 2.5 hours in water shallower than 22 feet mixing it up between slabs fished vertically and bladebaits cast horizontally with the slabs producing better than the blades.  Our last 2.5 hours were spent over deeper, 34′ water in a segment of river channel working bottom-oriented and suspended fish with slabs assisted by Garmin LiveScope.  Bottom-oriented fish were definitely easier to tempt than were suspenders today.  Helpful bird action existed most of the first 5-hours following sunrise.

 

OBSERVATIONS:  Fishing bounced back a bit today over yesterday’s tough situation.  Fish fed moderately and steadily throughout the morning, helped by the low light extended by cloud cover.  The most notable observation today was the speed at which I saw suspended fish moving in that there was a noticeable uptick, which I’m sure relates to the water temperature climbing to its highest thus far this season.  Despite these fish moving quickly, I also noted that these suspended fish were much more difficult to tempt than fish coming in on bottom, and were also more difficult to tempt than slower suspended fish have been in the past few weeks when temperatures were lower.

TALLY: 38 fish caught and released

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:  7:25a

End Time:  12:30p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:   64F

Elevation:    0.19 feet high with a 0.10 foot 24-hour drop

Water Surface Temp:   61.6F

Wind Speed & Direction:   SSE11-13 the entire trip

Sky Conditions:   100% grey cloud cover with just the lightest bit of drizzle on 2 brief occasions

GT = 0

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow

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 AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area  vic SH0092C – first stop under low-light and with minor bird action for active whites in 18′

**Area  SH0104C – 2 short hops for shallow, active fish in ~20′

**Area SH0101C – a few fish down in this gut

**Area SH0105C – last 2 hours of fishing came in 5 short hops in this area over the channel for both bottom-oriented fish and moving, suspended fish

 

Bob Maindelle

Full-time, Professional Fishing Guide and Owner of Holding the Line Guide Service

Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide

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

DRUM ROLL, PLEASE — 18 FISH @ BELTON

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Friday afternoon I fished with returning guest Steve Stewart of Georgetown, TX.  Steve brought two buddies, Jerry Weathers and Jimmy Helm, with him.  The three men have been friends since boyhood, all originally coming to know one another through the church they attended as boys and still attend to this day.  All are “actively retired”, either still engaged in the work they once did full time, and/or engaged in other pursuits requiring effort and energy.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left: Jimmy Helm, Steve Stewart, and Jerry Weathers, each with a Lake Belton freshwater drum on this evening that did not give up either quantity or quality of white bass for us.

WHAT WE FISHED FOR:  This trip was a multi-species fishing trip focused on white bass.

WHERE WE FISHED:   Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED:  22 March 2019

HOW WE FISHED:  Thanks to yet another morning which was forecast to be calm, clear, bright, and cool (and, in hindsight, was exactly that), I checked if all three men might be able to make an afternoon trip instead, as we were to have better winds, higher temperatures, and more cloud cover, all of which typically improve the fishing.

We did see those favorable conditions develop, but the bite was very slow this afternoon.  Despite the presence of gulls and terns, we never once saw an instance of them flocking over a patch of water to feed on gamefish-driven bait.  We also never found (on sonar) more than just a handful of fish at any given area.  The fish we did find typically did bite, but, once we landed 2 or 3, the gig was up and we had to move to keep our strings stretched.

In the end, we landed bigger and better drum than we did white bass or hybrid, so, to commemorate the trip, we took a photo with what we had on hand — I think they call that improvising.

Interestingly enough, I compared notes with a fellow guide who fished Decker Lake today.  He reported just a single bite while fishing from before sunrise to after 2pm there. He had reached out to others in his network who reported slow fishing on Buchanan yesterday, as well.  Then, as I stopped at a local gas station to top off after the trip, I spoke with a fellow angler who had been fishing in the Lampasas River for spawning white bass.  He said the most anyone caught of there was 6 or 8 fish.  He had also touched base with some buddies, one of which had fished Texoma and the other Lake Whitney. They, too, told him the fishing was poor.

I don’t know what accounted for this.  I suppose if we understood fish as well as we wished, we’d have exploited them to the brink of extinction by now, so, a little uncertainty is probably a good thing now and then!?!

 

OBSERVATIONS:  

TALLY: 18 fish caught and released

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:  3:15p

End Time:  7:45p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:   69F

Elevation:    0.34 feet high with a 0.06 foot 24-hour drop

Water Surface Temp:   60.2F

Wind Speed & Direction:   ESE11-13 the entire trip

Sky Conditions:   60-70% grey cloud cover

GT = 0

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow

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 AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area  B0007

**Area  B09145C

**Area 1856

**Area vic B0106C

 

 

Bob Maindelle

Full-time, Professional Fishing Guide and Owner of Holding the Line Guide Service

Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide

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

LEARNING, AND UN-LEARNING — 53 FISH

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Tuesday, 20 March, I fished with Mr. Tommy Maedgen of Troy, TX.  Tommy retired from life as a “shop” teacher in the Temple Independent School District where he taught woodworking, metalworking, small engine repair, and more.  Tommy’s wife, Sylvia, was to join us today, but duty (in the form of Master Gardener responsibilities) called, and she was not able to make this outing.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:   Tommy Maedgen of Troy, TX, with two fistfuls of chunky Stillhouse white bass taken from out of 36 feet of water as the wind rose and cloud cover moved in.

WHAT WE FISHED FOR:  This trip was a multi-species fishing trip focused on white bass.

WHERE WE FISHED:  Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

WHEN WE FISHED:   20 March 2019

HOW WE FISHED:   This morning’s trip divided neatly into two parts.  The first part was a slow, shallow water bite from sunrise until around 9:30a, during which time we had little wind and little cloud cover.  During this time we threw bladebaits in under 17 feet of water to scattered white bass up feeding on shallow flats where life is getting more and more abundant with the lengthening days and (slowly) warming water.  We landed a total of 18 fish using 1/2 oz. opaque Cicada bladebaits.  This included 1, 2, and 3 year class white bass, and 3 drum.

Part 2 of our morning began around 9:30a when a light WNW breeze began to ripple the surface and some patchy white and grey cloud cover began to move in from the WSW.  During this time a “slug” of mature, migrating white bass moved upstream in a segment of the Lampasas River channel.  These fish were all tight to the bottom but were able to be “teased” up off the bottom using an “easing” tactic in combination with the Hazy Eye Slab/Stinger combination (white, 3/8 oz.).  Tommy and I stood (and later sat) shoulder-to-shoulder with our eyes glued to the Garmin GPSMAP1242xsv Touch which was displaying the information fed to it by the LiveScope transducer I have transom-mounted to view down the starboard side of my center console.  As we viewed the screen together, I coached him on what it would take to consistently fool fish into biting.  As a long-time largemouth angler, Tommy not only had to learn some new tricks, but he also had to unlearn some old ones, especially in the area of aggressive hooksetting.  In the end, he was consistently fooling, hooking, and landing solid white bass.  His enthusiastic parting words were, “Thank you, Bob, I really learned a lot today!”.

OBSERVATIONS:   Lots of observations today:  1) I spotted sunfish in the shallows for the first time since they vacated last fall.  2) During the period of calm prior to 9:30am there was more “action” on the surface of the lake today, indicating life is shifting upward and shoreward.  3) I witnessed multiple instances of pods of white bass chasing our bladebaits both when schoolmates were hooked and when the lure was coming back without a hooked fish. 4) Several of the white bass we landed were oozing milt or eggs.  5) Based on credible reports, we ought to have both pre-spawn and post-spawn white bass in the lake any time now.

TALLY: 53 fish caught and released

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:25a

End Time: 11:50a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  56F

Elevation:   0.42 feet high with a 0.15 foot 24-hour drop

Water Surface Temp:  59.5F

Wind Speed & Direction:  Winds were NW9 at trip’s start, tapering to NE1-3 by trip’s end

Sky Conditions:  70% thin grey clouds which burnt off by 10am

GT = 30

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow

Wx SNAPSHOT:    

 

 

 AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic SH099C, vic SH0091C, vic SH0100C, and vic SH0101C — shallow blade bait action

**Area SH0102C and SH0103C – vertical work for deep fish in conjunction with LiveScope

 

Bob Maindelle

Full-time, Professional Fishing Guide and Owner of Holding the Line Guide Service

Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide

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

WHILE BEATING THE BUSHES FOR FISH, WE FOUND THIS …

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Monday morning I fished with James and Will Schnitker.  James has been a part of the radiology department at Scott & White for over 30 years.  His son, Will, came home from college up in Wichita Falls for Spring Break, and the two spent a part of that together in the outdoors with me in pursuit of fish on Lake Belton.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  Yep, just when we thought we anglers were safe from all the political shenanigans, “they” sent out the black helicopters to spy on us!  We spotted this unusual sight on the small island just across the Leon River channel from Morgan’s Point Marina.  Hmmmm…

WHAT WE FISHED FOR:  This trip was a multi-species fishing trip focused on white bass.

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday morning, 18 March 2019

HOW WE FISHED:   The tough fishing which has persisted since last Wednesday continued on today, along with the cold temperatures resulting from clear overnight skies.  Add in a wind with a northerly component, and precious little of it, and there is a recipe for a tough morning of fishing.

James, Will, and I boated a total of 27 fish this morning by grinding it out on bottom and vertical jigging.  Although we used Garmin LiveScope, it did not help in putting extra suspended fish in the boat as there were simply no fish suspending this morning.  Everything we caught came off bottom and very few fish moved in from around us.  We essentially caught just the few fish I first spotted on sonar when we first stopped at a location, then had to keep moving as no additional fish were drawn to the commotion of schoolmates being reeled in.

OBSERVATIONS:   The tough bite continued today.  No bird action, chilly north winds, clearing and calming conditions all led to very tough fishing once again today (and since last Wednesday when the temperatures dropped sharply.

TALLY: 27 fish caught and released

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:30a

End Time: 12:15p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  41F

Elevation:   1.1 feet high with a 0.15 foot 24-hour drop

Water Surface Temp:  56.2F

Wind Speed & Direction:  Winds were NW9 at trip’s start, tapering to NE1-3 by trip’s end

Sky Conditions:  70% thin grey clouds which burnt off by 10am

GT = 50

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow

Wx SNAPSHOT:    

 

 

 AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area  B0110

**Area  B0144

**Area  B0116

 

 

Bob Maindelle

Full-time, Professional Fishing Guide and Owner of Holding the Line Guide Service

Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide

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

A GLIMMER OF HYBRID HOPE — 55 FISH @ BELTON

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Saturday I fished with Michael and Tanya Baird of China Spring, TX, their sons, Preston Rieger and Keegan Baird, and Preston’s girlfriend, Meagan Davis.

As fate would have it, Michael works at the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Inland Fisheries office in Waco, which is the office which has responsibility for the majority of our Central Texas reservoirs, including Belton and Stillhouse.  Michael has been an instrumental part of the team which does the sampling, stocking, monitoring, etc. on our lakes for several years now.  His wife, Tanya, works for a property management company.  Preston is an E-4 in the U.S. Army where he works on diesel-powered equipment out of Ft. Stewart, GA, Meagan is in college working toward becoming a teacher, and Keegan is working his way through elementary school.

 

PHOTO CAPTION: From left:  Meagan Davis, Michael Baird, Tanya Baird, Keegan Baird, and Preston Rieger, each with a “keeper” hybrid of 18+ inches which fell for my small, 3/8 oz. Hazy Eye Slab/Stinger combination this past Saturday on Lake Belton.

WHAT WE FISHED FOR:  This trip was a multi-species fishing trip focused on white bass.

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED: Saturday evening, 16 March 2019

HOW WE FISHED:  All of our action on this trip took place in the last two of the four hours we fished.  It was during this time that the brilliant sun which shone from 3:15 to 5:15p was muted by cloud cover moving from SW to NE.  This thin, grey layer cut the light levels which got fish moving and feeding and invigorated the birds to begin flying, thus giving away the position of the fish we were after.

We first started catching fish via snap-jigging for fish that were tight to bottom and reluctant to move far or fast to feed.  Slowly, I began to notice fish moving up in the water column.  I got the LiveScope turned on and mimicked the screen of my GPSMAP 1242xsv Touch on a second screen (a 12.9″ iPad) so everyone had a view of what was going on beneath the boat.  As the birds turned on, we moved to the action and were treated to steady catching from about 6:15p to 7:30p.

One one occasion, as we were catching white bass from 25 feet deep down to bottom over a 40-foot bottom, a group of signatures came in on the LiveScope up around 17′ deep.  These were larger, darker targets and were moving with a purpose — much more quickly than the white bass which were just milling around.

These turned out to be hybrid stripers.  We hooked up with 5 at a time, and wound up catching a total of 7 before the pack moved on and we returned to catching white bass.  It was nothing short of a miracle that a boatload of 5 people using light spinning gear landed 5 of 5 hybrid without tangling in other lines, the outboard, or the trolling motor, but, everyone listened to the coaching I tried to provide and it went really smoothly.

Honestly, we were in a good area at a great time and got these fish.  There really was no trend to find, and I had little confidence even after seeing how and when these fish came in to the boat that I could continue putting clients on hybrid this early on.  My “opening day” for hybrid this year will be Tuesday, 09 April, and that may even be a bit too optimistic.  We’ll see.  Bottom line: I’m glad we caught these hybrid, but I think we are still a good ways away from seeing these fish turn on to live bait and go gangbusters.

After the “hybrid hustle” we finished out the trip gunning for additional white bass feeding in the lower 1/2 of the water column in ~32 feet of water under a second flock of birds we spotted.

Every fish we caught today came on the Hazy Eye Slab/Stinger combination.

OBSERVATIONS:   

TALLY: 55 fish caught and released

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 3:15p

End Time: 7:15p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 58F

Elevation:   1.31 feet high with a 0.02 foot 24-hour drop

Water Surface Temp:  57.4F

Wind Speed & Direction:  Winds were NE3 at trip’s start, picking up to NE6-8 by trip’s end

Sky Conditions:  Nearly cloudless blue skies through 5:15p, then a bank of high, thin, grey clouds moved in from the SW to NE and aided our efforts

GT = 90

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow

Wx SNAPSHOT:    

 

 

 AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area  B0141C

**Area  B0131C / B0133C

**Area  B0142C to B0143C

 

 

Bob Maindelle

Full-time, Professional Fishing Guide and Owner of Holding the Line Guide Service

Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide

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

POST-FRONTAL FISHING WITH THE PENNINGTONS — 32 FISH

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Saturday morning I fished with returning guest Brian Pennington of Harker Heights, and his adult sons Eric and Alex.  Brian has been working at the Operational Test Command (OTC) at West Fort Hood for many years testing military equipment before turning it over to our troops to use.  Following his graduation from Texas A&M in College Station, Eric went to work for the A&M library at that campus, and Alex is in pursuit of his bachelor degree at Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos.

 

PHOTO CAPTION: From left:   Alex, Brian, and Eric Pennington with some fat, healthy Stillhouse Hollow white bass taken under tough, post-frontal conditions characterized by clear skies, light winds, and low temperatures.

WHAT WE FISHED FOR:  This trip was a multi-species fishing trip focused on white bass.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

WHEN WE FISHED: Saturday morning, 16 March 2019

HOW WE FISHED: As I wrapped up my evening trip at Lake Belton the night before this trip, the NOAA weather forecast painted a pretty grim picture of bright, cold, calm conditions.  Seeing this, I phoned the Pennington’s, explained what I saw and how such conditions typically negatively impact the fishing, and gave them the option of cancelling, rescheduling, or going forward with the trip as planned.  With his boys now being out on their own, coordinating time together is difficult, so, Brian chose to press on with our plans.

We were fortunate in that the weather that was forecast did not actually come to fruition until about 75 minutes before our planned wrap-up time of 11:30.  During that final portion of the trip, the fishing tapered to zero and just finding fish to fish for was challenging.

During the first part of the trip, however, we were blessed to have some unexpected grey cloud cover.  This allowed for a light morning feed.  We found fish with the help of birds for about the first 2 hours, then relied on sonar for our fish-finding after the bird action died off.

The white bass I’m finding in shallower water very much seem to be in small packs of 3-8 fish each, not in larger schools which allow you to sit in one place and catch with steady regularity.  Thus, we used the “jog” function on the Minn Kota Ulterra quite extensively today, catching a few, then moving a few boat-lengths to access “new” water, catching a few more, and so on.

We used Cicada blade baits for the majority of our catching today, although the fish are still sluggish and we got a lot of short strikes and missed fish thanks to a lack of aggressive pursuit of these lures.  Never did we have a hooked fish come to the boat accompanied by schoolmates, which is common when fish are more aggressive in warmer water.

OBSERVATIONS:  Most bird action was focused on dead/wounded bluegill, not yet on shad.

TALLY: 32 fish caught and released

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:30a

End Time: 11:30a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 44F

Elevation:  0.46 feet high with a .05 foot 24-hour rise

Water Surface Temp: 56.7F

Wind Speed & Direction:  Winds were NE3 at trip’s start, picking up to NE6-8 by trip’s end

Sky Conditions: Light grey skies due to overrunning moisture coming from the SSW right at sunrise gave us about 2.5 hours of cloud cover, which then cleared about the time the birds quit and the fishing got progressively tougher.

GT = 50

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow

Wx SNAPSHOT:    

 

 

 AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area SH0099C – snap-jigging and blades

**Area 730/SH0089C – blades until the birds quit

**Area vic 052 – snap-jigging as the skies cleared and the bite died

 

 

Bob Maindelle

Full-time, Professional Fishing Guide and Owner of Holding the Line Guide Service

Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide

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