WHO I FISHED WITH: Yesterday morning, Friday, March 19, I fished with long-time client Steve Niemeier and his five-year-old granddaughter, Zoey Haberer.
The wind kept me grounded for three planned trips this week, and we were not certain until last night that we would be able to get this one in.
PHOTO CAPTION: Foxy fishing partner you’ve got there, Steve!
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
WHEN WE FISHED: Friday (AM), 19 March 2021
HOW WE FISHED:
Although our starting temperature was 43F with a 13 mph wind, that was better than no wind at all.
The water temperature at the surface was right around 55 Fahrenheit and some of the windblown southerly exposures were noticeably silty due to the high, sustained winds since Tuesday. I marked fish in as little as 12 feet, and we caught fish in as much as 70 feet today. The fish are definitely on the move as the bulk of the white bass begin to head towards spawning areas.
Today’s fishing was fairly straightforward. We had no assistance from birds until our final 45 minutes, so, our first three hours necessitated the use of sonar to find fish. Because the fish were hunkered down on bottom, they did not show well on side-imaging, therefore, I had to go nearly directly over top of them to find them with colored sonar and down-imaging.
The presentation was the same regardless of depth or location – – we used a slow smoking retrieve with a three-quarter ounce Hazy Eye Slab with stinger hook to work for fish that were unwilling to move more than about 2 or 3 feet from the bottom. This was the first time since the fall cool down I used the larger profile three-quarter ounce bait to get the job done over the course of the entire trip. Last week’s warm-up got fish metabolism rising, and although the water temperatures plateaued this week, the fish remain active.
The three-quarter ounce bait shows up a good bit better on Garmin LiveScope than my smaller 3/8 ounce bait, so it was easy to observe both lure and fish response to it.
We fished only four areas of the six we searched to put together our total catch of 77 fish, including three freshwater drum, one largemouth bass, and 73 white bass.
Hazy Eye Slabs, MAL Lures, and Stinger Hooks are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/
TALLY: 77 fish caught and released
OBSERVATIONS: There comes a point each spring as the water temperature begins to rise where the fishes’ metabolism takes over and they must feed. Today was evidence of that. With high pressure, clear blue skies, and cold temperatures, white bass would normally be much more reluctant to hit, yet, despite all that, we enjoyed a good catch today.
TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 7:40A
End Time: 11:40A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 43F
Elevation: 0.78′ low with a 0.01’ 24-hour change and 26 CFS flow thru the dam.
Water Surface Temp: 55.5 F
Wind Speed & Direction: Winds were WNW12 for our first hour, shifting and increasing to NNW15 by trip’s end
Sky Condition: Cloudless, bright skies
Moon Phase: Waxing crescent at 40% illum.
GT = 95
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area B0138C/B0198C (7 fish early)
**Area 753 – count to 51
**Area 717- count to 77
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
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