WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Wednesday evening, May 12th, following a successful morning trip, I welcomed aboard my brother, Andy Maindelle, of Austin, and a co-worker of his, Johnny Perez, who traveled in from San Antonio.
The two work at Blizzard Entertainment in Austin providing support for online video gaming.
It remained unusually cool today, rising only to 64F in the afternoon with heavy grey skies and a steady NW wind with just a touch of drizzle for a few minutes during our first hour on the water between 4:00 and 8:15 p.m.
PHOTO CAPTION: Johnny Perez, left, and Andy Maindelle with two of the sixty fish we caught in our first 2 hours’ of effort using MAL Lures worked vertically in ~42 feet of water.
PHOTO CAPTION: We devoted the last 2 hours of our trip to “hanging bait” for hybrid, but, that species continues to elude this spring. Suspiciously absent are the 18-19″ fish which normally make up the majority of a spring trip’s hybrid catch.
WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake
WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday (PM), 12 May 2021
HOW WE FISHED:
Although cool, the conditions were solid for a good catch with grey cloud cover and wind. We set out and immediately got into fish which were literally carpeting the bottom in about 42 feet of water. Once both fellows (quickly) got the hang of using the MAL Lure, it was game-on.
Andy and Johnny landed 65 fish in our first two hours on the water — 100% white bass, all with the aid of Garmin LiveScope.
So, when two guys who make their living in the video game industry come aboard your boat, look at and use your electronics successfully and say things like, “This is so cool!” or “It’s like having a video game come to life.” — you know you’re on to something. Truth is, everyone who uses this technology –whether young, old, techy, or old-school — really see the value in using it.
Well, since I had live bait on board from the morning’s strong spawning run, I suggested we put in another hour of fishing for whites, then devote our final hour to fishing bait in an attempt at hybrid stripers.
The fellows considered the offer and “countered” with calling it quits on the white bass and heading right out to shoot for hybrid stripers at that point, thus allowing us a full 2 hours to pursue them.
We fished lively live shad for 2 hours, right up through 8PM. We landed only one legal hybrid during that time, as well as a bonus smallmouth bass, and numerous white bass. The crop of 18-19″ hybrid are glaringly, obviously lacking from the population structure this year.
By 8PM, the light was beginning to fail early due to the still-heavy cloud cover. I felt we had another 15 minutes, max, to put fish in the boat, so, at that time, we reverted to fishing the MAL Lures for their flash, color, and vibration, and added a final 15 fish to the count in that short period of time.
We ended the evening with 95 fish caught and released.
MAL Lures are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/
Tutorial on how to fish MAL Lures is found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE
TALLY: 130 fish caught and released
OBSERVATIONS: The crop of 18-19″ hybrid are glaringly, obviously lacking from the population structure this year.
TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 4:00 PM
End Time: 8:15 PM
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 64F
Elevation: 0.34 feet high, +0.08 24-hour change, 27 CFS flow
Water Surface Temp: 70F
Wind Speed & Direction: NNW8-9 all afternoon with occasional higher gusts
Sky Condition: Heavy grey skies all afternoon
Moon Phase: Day after new moon; waxing crescent at 0% illumination
GT = 25
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area B0078C – white bass galore — 65 fish in one Spot-Lock in ~ 2 hours’ time on MAL Lure
**Area B0089C – 1 hybrid and multiple white bass on shad
**Area B0084G – 1 smallmouth and multiple white bass on shad
**Area B0084G – 14 white bass on MAL Lure in final 15 minutes of light
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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