WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Tuesday morning, April 19th, I fished with first time guests Mike and Randall Stone, and returning guest Shawn DeJournett.
All three men are U.S. Army veterans, and both Shawn and Randall now continue to serve as police officers — Shawn in Killeen and Randall in San Antonio. Mike, who retired as a Field Artillery First Sergeant, now makes a living selling real estate.
Here is how the fishing went …
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My next openings will be on May 11th and June 21st. Weekday mornings are always best. Saturdays are available for on-the-water sonar training sessions (only) until after Labor Day when I’ll again offer Saturday morning fishing trip (until mid-March 2023).
PHOTO CAPTION: From left: New boat record-holders for most fish caught on a half-day trip – Mike Stone, Randall Stone, and Shawn DeJournett, all U.S. Army veterans. Yes, Mike looks like the not-so-handsome brother on the old TV show Simon & Simon!!
PHOTO CAPTION: Although I’m pretty careful about getting my fingers dinged up as I unhook and release fish, things happen when handling 392 of them in a short span of time.
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday (AM), 19 April 2021
HOW WE FISHED:
As the winds turned back out of the south following a northerly blow yesterday, those winds were accompanied by grey cloud cover and humid conditions — a perfect spring weather setup.
We caught fish continuously from start to finish this morning — 4+ hours of solid catching.
I welcomed the three men aboard at 6:50AM; by 7:45AM we had already boated 70 fish. This was just the start of a phenomenal day.
As I searched our first area I intended to fish, I noted the fish were moving very fast — they were obviously frenzied and chasing shad which were headed up shallow to spawn.
Although I brought my slab rods, they never got touched all trip. Instead, after seeing the results I’d experienced with some relatively inexperienced clients both before and after the Easter weekend, I brought rods rigged with MAL Heavy Lures with barbless hooks to make the catching easier on both me and the fish. The speed at which I saw the fish moving on Garmin LiveScope let me know they would be keen on chasing the MAL.
The fishing played out identically at each of the five areas we fished. I initially spotted fish with side-imaging, Spot-Locked atop of them, got baits down and working, then observed the fish rise up off bottom and begin to fill the lower third of the water column. As we caught fish, the commotion those hooked fish created drew more fish, and the whole thing snowballed.
We took 70 fish at our first area, 15 fish at our second stop, 16 fish at our third stop, 75 fish at our fourth stop, and then we really hit it big as the wind ramped up so high that the handful of smaller boats on the water headed for more protected areas. Our final stop produced an incredible 216 fish. We fished that area for over two solid hours.
Our final count was 392 fish. Congratulations, fellows!!
My previous boat record, taken by a party of five anglers on May 25th, 2021, was 389 fish landed on a half-day trip by Joe and Jeff Oliver, Donna Hine, Larry Lattimer and Larry Haynes.
During both record-setting trips, we used MAL Heavy Lures exclusively, and used only a “smoking” tactic fully described here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE
Our final tally of 392 fish consisted of 7 short hybrid striped bass, and 385 white bass.
Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs and MAL Lures are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/
TALLY: 392 fish caught and released
OBSERVATIONS: This has been a windy spring. I’ve had to recalibrate my own tolerance of wind in order to run trips this spring. I’ve had to get accustomed to boat spray by dressing for it and having clients do the same. I’ve had to become okay with the trolling motor occasionally popping out of the water and making a racket. I’ve had to be okay with excessive boat movement even while on Spot-Lock, etc. The bite is definitely not hindered by the wind, in fact, strong wind enhances fish feeding. If you run from the wind, your results will suffer.
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 6:50A
End Time: 11:35A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 57F
Elevation: 3.62 feet low, 0.01’ fall in last 24 hours, 31 CFS flow
Water Surface Temp: 66.9F
Wind Speed & Direction: SE16 at trip’s start (much higher than forecast), settling down to SE13-14 by trip’s end
Sky Condition: 50-60% light grey clouds on a hazy white sky most of the morning.
Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 90% illumination.
GT = 45
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
Area B0194C, 187, B0118C, 081, 953
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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