WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Wednesday, March 24th, I fished with first-time guest Mr. Rob Keeney of Harker Heights, TX.
Rob was to fish with his wife, Prudence, but she was called out of town on a family emergency, so Rob fished solo with me this morning.
The two of them previously competed in BBQ cookoff events in the Kansas City and Charleston areas, so, we had that interest in common and got to compare a lot of notes on the topic during our trip.
Rob works remotely in the information technology field for his company based back in South Carolina. The work-from-home option suited him and Prudence well, allowing them to work and still be near their grandkids (and son and daughter-in-law!) here in central Texas.
Rob has his own 16′ stick-steer Tracker-style panfish boat and is looking to exercise it a bit more as the weather warms. He was treated to landing his first ever hybrid striped bass on this morning’s trip.
PHOTO CAPTION: Rob Keeney landed a boatload of white bass and his first hybrid striped bass on today’s spring fishing trip to Lake Belton.
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday (AM), 24 March 2021
HOW WE FISHED:
I know many folks would like to see warmer weather just move right in for good, but, I am very partial to a steady, slow spring warmup as it keeps the fishing steadily improving over a longer span.
We have now been hovering just at or above the 55-57F water surface temperature mark for nearly three weeks now and the fish are right at the simmering point about ready to boil. The fishing is good and it will get better.
We headed out right at sunrise this morning and caught fish non-stop from then until 11:45 when they tapered to nil.
We put a bit more hustle in our slab presentation this morning, and continued on with the larger 3/4 oz. Hazy Eye slabs with stinger hooks in white. These were a nearly-identical match for the forage we found many of our fish regurgitating this morning. The slabs and LiveScope were a deadly combination this morning.
We never ventured shallower than 34 feet this morning. Fish may have been there, but the bright skies early on were my indicator to stay deep and on the several recent occasions when I’ve gone shallow, the fish have seemed smaller and highly mobile.
Hazy Eye Slabs, MAL Lures, and Stinger Hooks are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/
TALLY: 119 fish caught and released
OBSERVATIONS:
TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 7:30A
End Time: 11:50A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 46F
Elevation: 0.80′ low with a 0.00’ 24-hour change and 26 CFS flow thru the dam.
Water Surface Temp: 57.4F
Wind Speed & Direction: Winds were WNW6-8 at sunrise, swinging northerly and picking up to 10-11 after 8:45AM
Sky Condition: Light blue sky with building white haze in advance of grey cloud cover building in after the trip’s conclusion.
Moon Phase: Waxing crescent at 78% illum.
GT = 119 fish caught and released including 1 drum, 1 hybrid, and 117 white bass
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area B0189C at first light with fish slowly migrating out to B0076G by 9:15 – 42 fish (S)
**Area 1859 (end of the shallow water bite took place here around 10:30A) – 26 fish (S)
**Area 1552 (just north of this point) – most productive area – 51 fish in our final 90 minutes
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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