March | 2022 | Fishing Report

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

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SPRING BREAK 2022 – TRIP #1 w/ Zach, Clayton, & Cooper

March 14th, 2022 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Monday, March 14th, I fished with first time guests Zach Dennison, Cooper Fix, and Clayton Oaks.

Zach’s mom, Cathy, set every thing up several weeks in advance for the boys who are on Spring Break from Belton High School, where the boys all got acquainted through the cross country track team.

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

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

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Zach Dennison, Cooper Fix, and Clayton Oaks with 3 of the 103 fish they caught and released on Lake Belton on this, the first day of Spring Break 2022.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday (AM), 14 March 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

Despite the calendar indicating it is mid-March, the weather is still lagging behind a bit. At launch time this morning the ambient temperature was 48F, and the water was still a chilly 52.0 to 52.6F depending on location.

With substantial grey cloud cover keeping the light level low, I opted to search fairly shallow, in under 20 feet of water, where the bottom would be (somewhat) illuminated. This yielded 10 healthy white bass, all over 12″, as we cast MAL Heavy Lures with silver blades and chartreuse tails and worked them with a “sawtooth retrieve” reeling them as slowly as we could while still keeping the blade spinning.

We put in about 75 minutes of effort on this scenario, then, as the skies brightened (although still 100% clouded), we moved out deeper to the 35-42′ mark. From this point on all of the fishing was vertical using the 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab with Stinger Hook and in the white color. We fished these with a slow-smoking tactic and most of our fish caught were fish which originated on bottom and overtook the lure on the rise.

Using Garmin LiveScope helped keep the boys engaged and made sure they did the right thing at the right time.

We caught 95 white bass and 8 short hybrid striped bass this morning.

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

TALLY: 103 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: Of the 103 fish landed, 8 were short hybrid striped bass, which puts them at 7.76% of the catch, all of these fish looked good and were approaching 12.5 to 12.75 inches.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:30A

End Time: 11:35A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 48F

Elevation: 3.24 feet low, 0.03′ fall in last 24 hours, 30 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 52-52.6F depending on location.

Wind Speed & Direction: S11 at obscured sunrise, steadily increasing to S16-17 by trip’s end.

Sky Condition: Thin grey cloud cover for the first 3 hours, then partially clearing and brightening to 80% white cloud cover.

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 85% illumination.

GT = 75

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Areas vic 172, 327, B0009C, and 308

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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

CLEAR SKIES, CLEARLY TOUGHER FISHING — 39 FISH @ STILLHOUSE

March 9th, 2022 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Wednesday, March 9th, I fished with Johnny Frey of Marble Falls, TX, and his son-in-law, CJ Ruhnke of Harker Heights.

Mrs. Frey was originally supposed to join us, but the 34F starting temperature this morning gave her second thoughts.

Johnny volunteers at Camp Peniel, a Christian camp on the Highland Lakes near Marble Falls. They have a father-son fishing event coming up soon, and one of his goals in fishing this morning was to see the approach I took to targeting white bass so he’d have a possible starting point for the participants in the event to be held on Lake Buchanan.

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

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

PHOTO CAPTION: The largemouth bass by-catch continued this morning on the MAL Heavy Lure worked horizontally as fish begin moving shallower.

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Johnny Frey and CJ Ruhnke with a few of the chunky 37 white bass we took this morning before the action tapered off around 10AM.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday (AM), 098 March 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

After two days of wind and complete, grey cloud cover, this morning’s conditions, although more pleasant to be out in, were more difficult for fishing.

After some thin grey cloud cover and a continuing breeze from the north for about 90 minutes, the winds went nearly calm and the skies began to clear and brighten. Right away the fishing scaled back. About 45 minutes later, after a NNE breeze once again rippled the surface, the fishing revived a bit, only to die off sharply right around the 10 o’clock hour, as was the case on both Mon. and Tue. as well.

The “sawtooth” retrieve was the ticket once again today as the fish are still very closely relating to bottom. Side imaging clearly revealed nomadic schools of white bass wandering around in groups of ~15-25 fish each. We’d choose which side of the boat to cast from based on our side imaging readings.

We caught 37 white bass and 2 largemouth bass this morning, 100% of which came on MAL Heavy with silver blade and chartreuse tail. The white bass we are catching are long, plump fish — the best condition they will typically be in all year.

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

TALLY: 39 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: 10A seems to be quitting time since the last cold front passed early Mon. AM. Both fish and bird activity sharply dropped off after this point in time for three days in a row now.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:05A

End Time: 11:40A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 34F

Elevation: 3.12 feet low, 0.00′ change in last 24 hours, 1 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 52.3F

Wind Speed & Direction: NNW5-7 for about 90 minutes, then calm, then turning NE, then ENE, never blowing more than 5-6mph.

Sky Condition: Thin grey cloud cover for about 60 minutes, then quickly clearing to 20% white clouds on bright blue sky thereafter.

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 41% illumination.

GT = 55

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Areas 1174/SH0074G, SH0077G

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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM KIELLA BUILDERS — 60 WHITE BASS

March 8th, 2022 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Tuesday, March 8th, I fished with Dayton Collingsworth of Hewitt, TX, accompanied by his 18-year-old daughter, Grace, and his 11-year-old son, Michael.

The kids are on their public school spring break (which felt more like winter break!) this week, so their dad took some time off to spend with them.

Dayton received the fishing trip in a prize drawing over the holidays as an employee of Kiella Builders in Temple, where he serves on staff as an (Aggie) architect. Brooke Kiella put the whole holiday celebration together and was great to work with in that regard.

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

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

PHOTO CAPTION: 18-year-old Grace Collingsworth of Hewitt, TX, landed this 6.75-pound largemouth plump with eggs while casting for white bass while on Spring Break with her dad and brother. This fish took an MAL Heavy Lure with silver blade and chartreuse tail.

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Dayton, Grace, and Michael Collingsworth on the kids’ Spring Break 2022 part of which was spent white bass fishing on Stillhouse Hollow for pre-spawn fish.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday (AM), 08 March 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

After making a number of observations on fish behavior and location while on the water yesterday after the passage of a stiff cold front in the early morning hours on Monday, I was able to refine my approach today (Tuesday) and tried to be at the right places at the right times to make the most of the fishery in this still-cold water.

White bass are definitely moving upstream gathering (or “staging”) for the right combination of conditions to head to their spawning grounds, but cold water and lack of flow certainly aren’t helping things along.

This morning I relied heavily on side-imaging to find fish in small, nomadic groups, then worked to position cross-wind of them to allow my crew to cast to them as I kept tabs on their presence and numbers by continuing to observe side-imaging from our Spot-Locked position.

Although we did well on the MAL Dense Lures yesterday, they were actually a bit too heavy for the shallower waters we were fishing, so, this morning I re-rigged with MAL Heavy Lures which are just a tad lighter. This was a great way for me to gauge the “effective range” of the MAL Dense, which I would set at water no shallower than 16-18 feet when used horizontally. It will be effective to 40+ feet on the other end of the spectrum.

As was the case yesterday, the catching was strong through about 10A, then sharply tapered off. Deep fish essentially ignored us after we left the shallow bite alone around this 10A timeframe.

The “sawtooth” retrieve was the ticket today as the fish are still very closely relating to bottom.

We caught 58 white bass and 2 largemouth bass this morning, 100% of which came on MAL Heavy with silver blade and chartreuse tail

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

TALLY: 60 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: 10A seems to be quitting time since the last cold front passed early Mon. AM. Both fish and bird activity sharply dropped off after this point in time both yesterday and today.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:15A

End Time: 11:45A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 41F

Elevation: 3.12 feet low, 0.02′ fall in last 24 hours, 1 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 53.6F

Wind Speed & Direction: N8-10 all morning

Sky Condition: 100% grey cloud cover all morning

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 32% illumination.

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Areas SH0074G, SH0075G, SH0076G

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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

QUALITY STILLHOUSE WHITE BASS — 42 FISH

March 7th, 2022March 7th, 2022 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Monday, March 7th, I fished with returning guests Tommy & Sylvia Maedgen from the Temple, TX, area.

Between poor weather and an unusually high number of requests for sonar training, I’d not been on the water with clients in several days, but did fit in a few hours of scouting last Friday, which paid dividends this morning.

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

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

PHOTO CAPTION: Tommy and Sylvia Maedgen with a sampling of the quality fish Stillhouse will put out in this pre-spawn period. That fish on the far right of the photo which Sylvia is holding is 15.25 inches long.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday (AM), 07 March 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

There are a lot of opinions out there about how cold fronts impact fishing. Concerning temperate bass (white bass, striped bass, and their hybrids), I have observed that the negative impacts of a cold front occur well after the actual front has passed, and after the skies clear, winds go slack, and the ambient temperature drops. This week, that poor set of conditions is not set to exist until Wednesday afternoon.

So, despite the cold this morning, I welcomed the wind and cloud cover, and we did well cashing in on quality white bass at Stillhouse Hollow, as “dribs and drabs” of fish in small schools begin to fin their way to the spawning grounds thanks to last week’s nice warmup.

Well-tuned side-imaging helped us focus on productive areas this morning. My plan (derived during my scouting last week when I had a chance to offer multiple presentations to gauge fish preference) was to fish horizontally by positioning to the side (crosswind) of the fish we were targeting, instead of positioning atop them as we would for vertical presentations.

This is a bit tricky, and requires that you “read” the wind.

Once we positioned the boat crosswind from the fish, we cast perpendicular to the port or starboard side of the boat so we could fish for fish we knew were present, as seen on side imaging.

After picking up three solid fish on slabs fished vertically, we relied on horizontal presentations for the next several hours.

Tommy and Sylvia were the first to use the newest member of the MAL Lure family, the MAL Dense, which is designed to sink the fastest of all MAL Lures, thanks to a lead body in lieu of the brass body found on the original and heavy versions.

We worked these baits back to the boat with a sawtooth pattern using small diameter, low (5.2:1) gear ratio spinning reels to achieve a slow retrieve, reeling just fast enough to keep the blade spinning. In years past I would normally rely upon a bladebait for this work, but, the MAL fills the bill nicely.

Birds were somewhat helpful in the first 90 minutes, then slacked off. Although they never really pointed the way to fish directly, their presence gave me some clues as to where bait fish were and were not.

Tommy had recently gone through some surgery on his back and, after standing for 3/4ths of the trip, he started feeling it a little bit. At this time, I chose to make a transition from horizontal fishing to vertical fishing in deeper, clearer water. This coincided with a slowdown in the action, right around 10:45.

The deepwater bite was very slow, and, it didn’t help that we were trying to get bit late in the morning. We added only 2 more fish to our count on slabs fished vertically at this point in the trip.

We caught 42 white bass this morning, 37 of which came on MAL Dense Lures with white body and chartreuse tail.

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

TALLY: 42 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: Given the weather we’ve just experienced, and the weather forecast for the remainder of this week, it looks like another 10+ days before real evidence of white bass migration becomes a reality.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:15A

End Time: 12:00 Noon

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 41F

Elevation: 3.10 feet low, 0.02′ rise in last 24 hours, 1 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 53.6F

Wind Speed & Direction: N12-15 all morning

Sky Condition: 100% grey cloud cover all morning

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 23% illumination.

GT = 25

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Areas SH0099C, SH0071G, SH0072G, SH0073G

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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com