WHO I FISHED WITH: On Friday, March 19th, I fished with first-time guests Brian, Kelvin, and Will Reinhardt, referred my way by Mr. Doug Streater. This was an afternoon trip.
Brian works for Doug in the management of Extraco Bank in Temple, and took some downtime to get his son, Will, age 9, out for a Spring Break trip in conjunction with his birthday. This was Will’s first time to catch a fish (although he’d made a few unsuccessful attempts previously while bank fishing).
This was a multi-generational trip as Kelvin is Brian’s father, and Brian is Will’s father.
PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Kelvin, Will, and Brian Reinhardt — 3 generations of anglers aboard for a combination Spring Break/Happy Birthday trip for Will.
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
WHEN WE FISHED: Friday (PM), 19 March 2021
HOW WE FISHED:
Having learned a few lessons about fish location and water conditions on this morning’s trip, I put those things to use in choosing locations for us to search for the fish we would catch this afternoon. The break in between my AM and PM trip afforded me an opportunity to do some scouting which actually revealed where I would not go in the afternoon, thus, it was still time well spent as I was able to ascertain that without clients on board.
We caught all of our fish at just two locations, the first in 52 feet of water with 4 “short hops” made while there in order to keep up with fish as they moved about (fairly routinely) to feed in the first 2.75 hours of the trip. Each of the 46 fish we landed at that area came on the heavier 3/4 oz., white Hazy Eye Slab with stinger hook, which I had very good results on in the morning.
Around 6:45P, these fish we’d been on in deep water let up fairly quickly and the handful of birds which had been flitting around in the area (not in any helpful way) disappeared. This was my signal to head shallow.
We moved to fish water under 25 feet through the close of the trip and, after looking over three areas with minimal results, found willing white bass at what would be the final stop of the trip. We added another dozen fish to the count at this location, including one largemouth bass which we sight-cast to as it pursued a shad on the surface and gave his location away.
We wound up with 58 fish this evening, including 1 drum, 1 largemouth, and 56 white bass from various year classes. We took all of the white bass on the 3/4 oz. Hazy Eye Slab using a moderate smoking tactic.
Hazy Eye Slabs, MAL Lures, and Stinger Hooks are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/
TALLY: 58 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: 3:30P
End Time: 7:40P
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 59F
Elevation: 0.78′ low with a 0.01’ 24-hour change and 26 CFS flow thru the dam.
Water Surface Temp: 58 F
Wind Speed & Direction: Winds were NNW13-14 at trip’s start, tapering down to NNW8-9 by sunset
Sky Condition: Cloudless, bright skies
Moon Phase: Waxing crescent at 40% illum.
GT = 60
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area B0151C – 4 short hops for 46 fish
**Area B0061C/B0126C at sunset – 12 fish
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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