WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Wednesday, May 6th, I welcomed aboard Derrick Fontenot, his girfriend, Veronica Merritt, and their friend, Tony Siefner, whom Derrick works with. All three are veterans — Derrick and Veronica served in the U.S. Army, and Tony served in the U.S. Navy.
The trio came out with me once prior for hybrid striped bass back in early June of 2019, and Derrick has done a one-on-one sonar training with me for his Lowrance equipment.
PHOTO CAPTION: Tony Siefner started the day off right with this 6.75 pound Lake Belton hybrid. This is the largest hybrid I’ve had a client land in the 2020 season-to-date.
PHOTO CAPTION: This long-bodied hybrid landed by Veronica Merritt weighed in at 5.75 pounds.
PHOTO CAPTION: In addition to this 5.25 pound hybrid, Derrick Fontenot also managed a 5.00 pound blue catfish this morning.
WHEN WE FISHED: 06 May, 2020, AM
HOW WE FISHED: Because my crew had an above-average result on their last outing for hybrid back in 2019 (95 fish, of which 44 were legal hybrid), the very first thing I mentioned this morning was how I anticipated the post-frontal conditions we experienced (north wind, bright, cloudless skies, and lower temperatures) would negatively impact the fishing. Fortunately, the water temperature is in the high 60’s and has been trending warmer, so fish metabolism is high. This induces fish to feed, but they just don’t binge aggressively under such conditions.
We hedged our bet this morning using smaller baits and cutbait for fish that were more tentative.
We continued fishing these baits on a tightline suspended up off bottom using what is essentially a Carolina rig terminated with a Kahle hook.
In all, we landed 46 fish, of which 15 were legal hybrid stripers. Were this not a catch-and-release trip, we’d have wrapped up by 9:30 with a 5-fish limit per angler.
As always, we released 100% of our catch and continued fishing until right at 11:30, with our final fish coming at 10:45. I’m of the opinion that folks are not paying me for a meat haul, only to go back to the dock when a certain number of a certain kind of fish are caught, but, rather, they are paying me for an outdoor experience, and I feel I owe them every bit of the time they are compensating me for.
10:30 seems to be the time these fish start wrapping up their feed and settling down until evening, as the fish have demonstrated in each of the hybrid-specific trips I’ve conducted now, and as they confirmed again this morning.
When all was said and done, in addition to the 15 keeper hybrid, we landed 2 short hybrid, 1 freshwater drum, 3 blue catfish, and 25 white bass in the 1, 2, and 3-year class.
TALLY: 46 fish caught and released
OBSERVATIONS: No shad at SHAD014. Shad were moving off-shore in 8′ of water at Area 011. I netted sparse shad at Area SHAD026
TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 7:00A
End Time: 11:30A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 57F
Elevation: 0.93′ high, 0.05 foot 24-hour rise, 17 CFS flow
Water Surface Temp: 70F
Wind Speed & Direction: N8 at sunrise, shifting to NE10 by trip’s end
Sky Conditions: Clear skies with 80% high, thin, white clouds building in from the E. beginning around 10A
GT = 120
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
Shad @ Area SHAD026
**Area vic LOST ROD 2
**Area vic 682
**Area 1945/1552
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)
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