HOLY SMOKES (BBQ)!! — 74 FISH @ BELTON

WHO I FISHED WITH:   This past Wednesday morning I fished with another contingent of the Oliver family.  This go round, brothers Jack and Joe fished with me, joined by Jack’s sons, Eli, Isaac, and Asa.  Jack and his family are from Marble Falls.

As some of you know, I no longer fish on Thursday so I can dedicate that one day each week specifically to marriage maintenance.   Miss Rebecca and I actually call these “Marriage Maintenance Thursdays”.  Well, this week we’d planned to hit a few shops Rebecca wanted to go to in Marble Falls.  I was hoping to drop in at the old Thomas Bait location, now known as Waymore Bait and Tackle, right at FM1431 and Hwy. 281, as well as Rods, Barrels, and Strings, both in Marble Falls.

Anticipating that we’d be having lunch there, Rebecca chose a few places that looked good to her, and I then ran these by Jack and his boys.  The pick was Holy Smokes on Commerce St. in Marble Falls.  So, we went, we ate, and we enjoyed!!  We split a “Bubba Plate” which was a sampling of chicken, brisket, ribs, and 2 kinds of sausage, plus 3 sides, all for under $16.  It was great!  (Not Miller’s Smokehouse in Belton great, but very, very good, nonetheless).

Thanks, Jack!

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left:  Eli Oliver with his dad, Jack with a pair of solid Lake Belton hybrid striped bass.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left:  Brothers Eli and Isaac Oliver of Marble Falls with a pair of hybrid taken on live shad which struck just seconds apart.

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left: Joe Oliver and his nephew, his brother Jack’s son, Asa Oliver.  Asa serves as a professional firefighter in the Hill Country near Lake Travis.

WHAT WE FISHED FOR:  Hybrid Striped Bass

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED:   29 May 2019, AM

HOW WE FISHED:  We fished smallish live shad on tightlines in 48 to 62 feet of water and never brought our baits up more than 5 cranks off bottom.  Most locations took only 3 cranks before the baits were too high to get chased with regularity.  The first 2 hours were slower than the time from 9-11 am.  That slower first half also had dark skies with lighter winds.  The final hour from 11-Noon was fishless after the fish quit and the weather began getting squirrely with intermittent rain showers accompanied by wind gusts whenever the drops fell.  It was a solid morning of fishing after much environmental change has taken place in a fairly short period of time.

OBSERVATIONS:    1. We missed very few bites today whenever my anglers resisted the urge to lift their rod tips while using circle hooks, which tells me the fish were aggressively taking the baits, not just swiping at them. 2. Shad are still spawning. 3. I noted the significantly cooler water temperature on Belton vs. Stillhouse and suspect that all the water taken from down low in the water column at Lake Proctor has kept Belton from warming as quickly as Stillhouse (which is smaller and has no reservoir above it feeding water in).

TALLY: 74 fish caught and released, with ~46 legal hybrid in this mix of hybrid, short hybrid, white bass, and blue cat

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7a

End Time: Noon

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:   75F

Elevation:   8.56 feet high with a 24-hour fall of 0.44 feet on a flow of 4646 cfs

Water Surface Temp:    76.7F

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE10-13 the entire morning

Sky Conditions:  Grey skies all morning  

GT = 25

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow

Wx SNAPSHOT:     

 

 AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 1944 – slow, steady pick of legal hybrid

**Area  B0091C – slow, steady pick of legal hybrid

**Area  vic B0151C – action-packed mixed bag angling for a full 2 hours with ~50% of the catch legal hybrid along with whites and blue cat.

 

 

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

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