WHO I FISHED WITH: On Tuesday, February 15th, I fished for the first time since the passage of Winter Storm Landon.
Joining me today from north Austin was my brother, Andy Maindelle. We’d planned a Maindelle-style cast-and-blast comprised of white bass fishing in the morning, then heading over to the range to zero the rifle he’ll be using for our annual prairie dog shoot during the summer.
Between cold weather with much frontal activity and low water temps, and Belton Anglers Stocking Hybrid (B.A.S.H.) fundraising duties, I had not fished much over the past two week period, nor had I been all that excited about doing so, knowing the fishing is typically slow this time of year.
Here is how the fishing went …
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My next few openings will be on Feb. 28th, and March 1st and 2nd. Weekday mornings are always best.
PHOTO CAPTION: Andy Maindelle with two of the 63 fish we took on Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs (white, 5/8 oz.) from cold, 50.8F water while fishing Belton between cold fronts.
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday (AM), 15 February 2021
HOW WE FISHED:
Our weather today was in that “ho-hum” category between fronts with the last front’s passage back on Saturday morning, and the next front’s passage due in early Thursday morning. We had mostly clear skies, an overnight low of 39F, and increasing SE winds throughout the morning.
We fished about 4.5 hours, from sunrise at ~7:12 until the bite shut down for good around 11:45.
Our best span of fishing was in the hour from 8:10 to 9:10.
The water was a nearly uniform 50.8F from surface to bottom in 65′. We found our fish today in 32-41′. The chilling water has definitely moved the fish out deeper, albeit weeks later than is typical for Lake Belton, as we normally see that transition in mid-December or so.
The tactics we employed today were slow and methodical, although the fish activity level was not so low as to require deadsticking. We used the white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab all morning save for one 10 minute span when we experimented with horizontally hung soft plastics and found fish response to them was the same as to the slabs.
We used an easing tactic with long, 8′ rods to slowly lift our slabs away from bottom while observing Garmin LiveScope. When lifting the slab caused a white bass to follow, we kept right on lifting until the fish overtook the slab. If we couldn’t lift any higher but were still being pursued, we’d continue the upward motion of the slab by smoothly transitioning to reeling it upward.
We caught 63 fish, including 8 freshwater drum, 2 largemouth bass, and 53 white bass. No “magnum” fish today; and no milt or eggs seen dripping from any of the fish we landed.
Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs and MAL Lures found here: https://whitebasstools.com/
TALLY: 63 fish caught and released
OBSERVATIONS: No helpful bird activity today. Gulls were focused on naturally-occurring shad near the surface pre-sunrise and little else; terns worked randomly over open water for the first 3 hours of the morning.
Temperature profile:
0 feet 50.8F
5 feet 50.8F
10 feet 50.8F
15 feet 50.8F
20 feet 50.8F
25 feet 50.8F
30 feet 50.8F
35 feet 50.8F
40 feet 50.8F
45 feet 50.8F
50 feet 50.5F
55 feet 50.5F
60 feet 50.5F
65 feet 50.5F
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 7:10A
End Time: 11:45A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 39F
Elevation: 2.86 feet low, 0.02′ fall in last 24 hours, 8 CFS flow
Water Surface Temp: 50.8F
Wind Speed & Direction: SE7 at sunrise, steadily increasing to SE20, gusting 28 by trip’s end, with winds forecast to stay 17-20+ straightline with higher gust until after Thursday’s frontal passage.
Sky Condition: Clear skies at trip’s start, increasing to 10-15% white cloud cover over the course of the morning.
Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 98% illumination.
GT = N/A
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
Area vic 1290 (3 fish) Area 187 (30 fish), Area vic 1286 (16 fish), Area vic B0005C (14 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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