WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Friday morning I fished with a very nice young family — the Morgans. Garrett Morgan is originally from this area, and his wife, Kristi, is originally from west Texas. The two now live with their boys, Avery and Dax, in Midland, TX, where they operate several Beltone Hearing Centers. The family returned to Morgan’s Point to visit Garrett’s folks over the Memorial Day Weekend. Garrett’s dad, Jerry, had reserved a trip with me some months ago and decided to make the trip Garrett’s birthday present.
PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Kristi, Dax, Garrett, and Avery Morgan, each with a Belton Lake white bass exceeding 13″.
WHEN WE FISHED: 22 May, 2020, AM
HOW WE FISHED: With two boys aboard, my first instinct was to limit the amount of “bait and wait” we did unless the hybrid were really cranked up. So, we gunned for hybrid early on, but found little of interest to present our baits to through around 7:45. At this time, the grey skies thinned and brightened and took on a white appearance. More light penetrating spurred on the start of a bite. As I searched with sonar, I came upon a massive school of white bass suspended about 1/3 of the way toward the surface from around 53 feet deep. We got Spot-Locked on these fish and spent a full 2 hours catching and releasing. All I did during that time was go from angler to angler releasing fish and keeping an eye out for poor technique. Fortunately, that was rarely an issue and we therefore took full advantage of what we’d discovered.
The fish were so aggressive that, on several occasions, we landed 2 fish on one lure at the same time, one on the treble and one on the stinger.
As the wind ramped up, the fish moved to about half-way up in the water column. We adjusted our smoking tactic using my white, 3/4 oz. Hazy Eye Slabs and kept right on catching.
By 9:45, the boys were starting to wane, so, I suggested we change things up a bit and hang bait for a bonus hybrid or two while they stretched and snacked. Everyone was agreeable to this, so, we moved until I found some action I thought would produce hybrid. We dropped shad down and, after just a few minutes, a school of white bass swam into our spread. They ate shad until right at 10:45 when we decided to call it a great morning with 157 fish landed. No hybrid landed this morning, however.
TALLY: 157 fish caught and released
OBSERVATIONS:
TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 6:45A
End Time: 10:45A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 73F
Elevation: 0.57′ high, 0.04′ fall, 17 CFS flow
Water Surface Temp: 73.2F
Wind Speed & Direction: SSE12-14
Sky Conditions: Grey skies through 7:45, giving way to a brighter, white sky the remainder of the trip
GT = 170
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area vic 717/B0037C – aggressive action by suspended white bass
**Area vic B0013C – final stop in search of hybrid at late morning – only found white bass on live shad
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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Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
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