SPRING BREAK 2022 – TRIP #2 w/ George, Geoff, Kaden, & Greg – 200 Fish

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This morning, Tuesday, March 15th, I fished with returning guests George VanRiper, his adult son, Geoff, Geoff’s 11-year-old son, Greg, and Kaden Howley, another of George’s grandsons, age 13.

I was excited to fish with this crew today as a mild, dry cold front blew in and wind speed was on the rise, which normally leads to excellent fishing.  This morning was no exception!   My crew of four landed exactly 200 fish in just over 4 hours’ time.

Here is how the fishing went …

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My next few openings will be on March 30th and April 4th thru 7th.  Weekday mornings are always best.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left: George and Greg Van Riper, Kaden Howley, and Geoff Van Riper.  All 200 fish these fellows caught came on the Bladed Hazy Eye Slab (5/8 oz. in white), fished with a slow-smoking tactic.

PHOTO CAPTION:  Eye, Eye, Eye!  One of the features on the Bladed Hazy Eye Slab is the black “false eye” on the hook-end of the lure (as well as a small, spinning willowleaf blade, and a stinger hook).  The size of the lure and the eye on it are just-right imitators of the threadfin shad these fish are feeding upon.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday (AM), 15 March 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

Right around 5p yesterday evening, a line of storms advanced from W. to E. over Central Texas as a mild cold front moved in.  Overnight, the atmosphere cooled and dried, leaving a cloudless, windy weather setup this morning.  Despite this being a “cold front”, the morning temperature was actually 6 degrees warmer than the previous morning’s low, so, although we still had to dress for the weather, the fishing was pretty comfortable.

We started out in deeper, clearer water than we did yesterday, due to the lack of cloud cover.  I felt some of the deeper areas would be well-lit thanks to a bright sunrise, and they did.

We found our first school of fish in about 37′ and landed 48 fish there.

We wound up fishing four areas, catching a majority of our fish (133 to be exact) at our second stop.

We added 11 fish at our third stop, and rounded the trip out with a final 8 fish at our last stop.

The bite really tapered off around 11AM.  By that time we’d landed 181 fish, and decided to give it another 45 minutes to see if we could make or break that 200 fish mark.

Every last one of our fish came on the white,  5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab fish with a slow-smoking tactic.

We caught exactly 200 fish this morning, including 13 freshwater drum, 4 short hybrid striped bass, and 183 white bass.

Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs and MAL Lures are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 200 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:  We fished the frontal “weather window” which exists during daylight hours from the time the storm front passes, and until northerly winds reach peak velocity and plateau.  The fish were definitely turned on!

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:30A

End Time: 11:50A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 54F

Elevation: 3.24 feet low, 0.00′ change in last 24 hours, 30 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 51.9 F

Wind Speed & Direction:  WNW14 at sunrise, slowly increasing to NW19-20 by trip’s end.

Sky Condition: Blue bird

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 91% illumination.

GT = 40

Wx SNAPSHOT: 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Areas vic B0118C, B0178C, 1934, & B0009C

 

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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