WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Monday morning I fished with Mr. Steve Webb. This was one of two trips Steve booked with me as we spoke on the floor of the Central Texas Boat Show back in January. Steve is a very good multi-species fisherman with a leaning towards catfish. During our first trip, I got to introduce him to the Garmin LiveScope technology as we used it to vertical jig for deep white bass on Stillhouse.
On this trip, Steve specifically wanted to pursue hybrid striped bass. He came with a notebook (and a really fancy bucket!) in which he had thought ahead and written down a list of questions he wanted to ask.
Even when you are successful on your own, as Steve is, seeking input from others who do well at what they do helps you become a better angler. To this end, I try to book two trips a year with professional guides outside of this region to try to stay sharp and keep improving. Kudos to Steve for having this mindset.
It was very enjoyable for me to share what I know about some things I do often and at the same time learn from Steve about how to handle certain sets of circumstances encountered when catfishing.
PHOTO CAPTION: Although the hybrid didn’t feed long and hard this morning, we enjoyed a few scrapes. On one occasion Steve had a second rod go down just as he was bringing a hybrid to net. He grabbed the second rod as I kept the first hybrid in the net and in the water, and we managed a quick “doubles” photo before releasing boat.
PHOTO CAPTION: Steve Webb, his notebook, and his bucket!! Some men spend money on cars, some on boats, some on expensive golf clubs, or fancy clothes; not Steve — nope, Steve spends his money on buckets.
WHAT WE FISHED FOR: Hybrid striped bass using live shad (and a few bonus blue cat)
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
WHEN WE FISHED: 06 May 2019, AM
HOW WE FISHED: It’s not too often I contact a client before the trip and they say, “I really don’t like catching fish.”, but, Steve did.
We agreed that finding fish is much more challenging than catching fish.
So, on this trip, we did, indeed, find a few pockets of fish – in fact, every stop we made held at least a few fish. When we found fish, we hovered atop them with Spot Lock, then proceeded to have a conversation about one of the many topics Steve hoped to cover in our morning together.
Steve asked a lot of good questions, many involving the influence of wind on fish location, as well as questions about the whole genre of catching and keeping shad.
The fishing was a bit slow but, when blue cat invaded our bait spread, I got to see firsthand a tactic Steve tried to explain to me at the Boat Show for catching them. I won’t divulge Steve’s secrets here, but, suffice it to say that I was impressed with both the simplicity and efficacy of the technique.
OBSERVATIONS: Area SHAD014 which I tend to rely upon for bait in May is now inundated with flood water, thus, I had to find shad elsewhere. SHAD025 produced well and showed potential for producing more than just this morning.
TALLY: 24 fish caught and released – including 6 legal hybrid
TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 7:00a
End Time: 11:30a
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 67F
Elevation: 6.04 feet high with a 0.71foot 24-hour rise, and a flow of 431 cfs. This was due to heavy, area-wide rains mid-day Thursday and all day Friday, 2 & 3 May. Downstream flooding on the Brazos is preventing the release of water, so it is presently just accumulating in Belton and Stillhouse.
Water Surface Temp: 70.1F
Wind Speed & Direction: ESE9-13mph
Sky Conditions: Grey skies with varying levels of cloud thickness through the morning
GT = 60
#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area vic 1945 – low light bite for hybrid on live shad; late morning blue cat present
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