THE CALM BEFORE THE PROM – 133 FISH @ BELTON

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This past Friday morning, April 15th, I fished with the Shevlin family of San Antonio.

Anne Shevlin and her two kids, Daniel (age 17) and Rose (age 9) camped out at one of the Corps of Engineers parks on Lake Belton overnight before coming aboard this morning.

Daniel has his sights set on studying finance at Texas Tech in Lubbock in the autumn, after wrapping up his Eagle Scout project and graduating high school this spring.

We’d originally scheduled the trip for April 16th, but, after we’d done so, Daniel’s senior prom was scheduled for the same date, so, we bumped the fishing up a day and had a great time together on the water.

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

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: Anne Shevlin and her kids, Rose and Daniel, with a handful of the 133 fish they landed under grey skies this Good Friday morning.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Friday (AM), 15 April 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

With a fully greyed-over sky, the fishing eased to a start this morning, with our first hour providing just a few fish here and there before things got going with a brightening sky and increasing breeze.

We enjoyed our first bit of success beginning in about 28’ off a blunt point.  I could see small groups of 6-8 fish here, there, and everywhere.  They weren’t banded together in a large school, but, I felt there was enough potential here to give it a try.

We did a lot of changing up between casting horizontally with the MAL Dense lures and fishing vertically with a “smoking” tactic using 5/8 oz. white Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs as fish began to chase shad to the surface around the boat and within casting range, only to sound, thus requiring us to fish near bottom.

Gradually, the whites nudged the shad toward the shoreline, thus using both the water’s surface and the bank as edges against which to corral the bait.  Once they moved shallow, I once again switched everyone over, this time to MAL Originals due to their lighter weight so they would stay up off bottom during the retrieve.  This fishing was solid until around 9:30 when the skies got a bit too bright and the fish moved off to deep water.

We moved deep, as well.  In the 90 minutes which followed, we took our tally from 40 fish up to 133 fish as we worked 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs vertically through very aggressive, deep water fish in 35-40 feet of water.  All three of my crew quickly got the hang of using the Garmin LiveScope to enhance their efforts.   Particularly productive, because many (the majority) of these fish were suspended, was singling out one fish and presenting to it in such a way that the bait rose upward directly in front of the fish’s direction of travel.  When this scenario plays out, it is as close to a “gimme” as there is in white bass fishing.

As has been the case all week, the fish quickly began shutting down in the 11 o’clock hour.

Our final tally of 133 fish consisted of 3 freshwater drum, 4 short hybrid striped bass, and 126 white bass.

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

TALLY:  133 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: An occluded front stalled just to our NW providing a cool, grey morning with fairly high humidity, as we were still on the warm side of the front.  This also made the weekend weather very hard to predict.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:00A

End Time:  11:10A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 64F

Elevation: 3.6 feet low, 0.03′ fall in last 24 hours, 34 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 66.5F

Wind Speed & Direction:   SSE6 at start, gently tapering up to SSE11 by trip’s end

Sky Condition: Light grey skies all morning

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 98% illumination.

GT = 130

Wx SNAPSHOT: 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 365 to shore, B0098G, 1544

 

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

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide #BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing #bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport #fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday #Fitec #mepps

COLTON STARTS EASTER BREAK A BIT EARLY – 120 FISH @ BELTON

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This past Thursday evening, April 14th, I fished with returning guest Cooper Rogers from the Georgetown area.  Cooper had previously come out with me for on-the-water sonar training.  Joining Cooper on this adventure was his 9-year-old son, Colton.

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

My next 2 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 trips (until mid-March 2023).

 

PHOTO CAPTION:   Colton Rogers stands by his dad, Cooper, who holds a sweet 5.50-pound Lake Belton hybrid striped bass taken in under 15′ just before sunset on an MAL Dense with chartreuse tail.

PHOTO CAPTION:   A dry, NE breeze at ~13mph moved the water and cranked up the afternoon bite on deep water white bass.  We landed a total of 100 fish from across four different areas, all on white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs, before heading up shallow for our final hour.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday (PM), 14 April 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

With a clearing, drying NE wind now blowing at ~13mph this afternoon and rising water temperatures, the fish were turned on real well.

Due to his age, we did a pre-fishing trial run at the vertical “smoking” tactic I intended to use for the majority of the trip with Colton until I was confident that the smoothness of his retrieve and cadence of his retrieve was sufficient to draw fish attention.  Once that was accomplished, we set out in search of fish.

We were very fortunate to find fish at each of the first four locations I searched, landing 25 fish at the first location in only 23 feet of water, 28 fish at the first location in 31 feet of water, 7 fish at the third location in  33 feet of water, and 40 fish in the fourth location in 28 feet of water.

All of these fish were taken on the white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab fished with a smoking tactic used in conjunction with Garmin LiveScope.   Each location fished similiarly with an immediate, strong response, followed by steady catching for a while, then followed by a slow down, indicating the time had come to move on.

By 6:40, we’d already amassed a catch of 100 fish, and I could tell young Colton’s interest was waning.  He took frequent “breaks”, and his technique was becoming less and less consistent.

Observing this, I suggested we spend the remainder of our trip up in shallower water, seeking white bass moving up shallow to feed on shad prior to sunset, and attempting to catch them casting horizontally using MAL Dense lures brought back to the boat with a “sawtooth” retrieve.

Both fellows were up for that, so, we headed up shallow.  The first 20 minutes or so produced fish slowly but steadily; in the last 40 minutes the fish really put on a show as they began to feed near (not at) the surface, thus occasionally showing themselves and/or chasing bait such that the bait leapt out of the water allowing us to see their exact location.  This allowed for a mix of blind casting with sight casting and really topped the evening off.  Cooper landed a 5.5 -pound hybrid striper, the first legal hybrid I’ve had landed in over a month (although I am not specifically targeting them this year).

Our final tally of 120 fish consisted of 3 freshwater drum, 4 short hybrid striped bass, 1 legal hybrid striped bass, and 112 white bass.

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

TALLY:  120 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: The water temperature profile this afternoon was as follows:

0 feet 68.6F
5 feet 68.6F
10 feet 68.4F
15 feet 67.8F
20 feet 66.4F
25 feet 64.7F
30 feet 64.4F
35 feet 63.7F
40 feet 62.3F
45 feet 60.8F
50 feet 59.6F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 3:45P

End Time:  7:55P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 71F

Elevation: 3.57 feet low, 0.03′ rise in last 24 hours, 34 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 68.6F

Wind Speed & Direction:   ENE13 at trip’s start, tapering down to ENE6 by sunset.

Sky Condition: Clear, light blue skies following the arrival of a mild, dry cold front overnight

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 93% illumination.

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT: 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area vic 1000, 1819/1934, 327, 412, and 527

 

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

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide #BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing #bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport #fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday #Fitec #mepps

SHAD SPAWN BUILDS – 141 FISH @ BELTON (AM TRIP)

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This past Thursday morning, April 14th, I fished with first-time guests Gardiner and Terri Henderson, and their friend, Belton resident and fellow West Pointer (Class of 1981), Bill York.

Gardiner works in management at Newpark Resources, a company focused on the oil and gas industry, located in The Woodlands.

Bill is the founder of Tudor Lewis, an executive recruiting firm.

The Henderson’s traveled in from the Houston area the night prior to be prepared for our 7A start.

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

My next 2 openings will be on May 11th and June 20th.  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:  Gardiner and Terri Henderson and Bill York caught and released 141 fish on Lake Belton as the annual threadfin shad spawn gains momentum.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday (AM), 14 April 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

Although dribs and drabs of threadfin shad spawning have been noticeable all week, this morning’s activity was pronounced both because of a greater number of shad moving up shallow to spawn, and because the calm conditions (the first in over a week) allowed for easier spotting of them.

As I waited for my clients to arrive, I did some scouting, throwing an MAL Original into areas where I spotted spawning shad.  I took numerous white bass easily (which are not included in the fish tally for this report).  I felt I could get my crew onto the same fish in the same way, so, when they arrived, we gave this a try.  With three folks casting shallow, snags soon became a bit frustrating, and therefore inefficient, in this limited window of time before the fish pushed out deeper as the sky brightened, so, I left that scenario behind and we pursued fish elsewhere, after landing 4 fish.

I quickly found a nice school of several hundred fish in ~18 feet of water holding tightly on bottom in a pocket being impacted by the very light breeze.  We took another 18 fish from this area before those fish dissipated.  We caught these fish by casting MAL Dense lures to them and fishing them with a sawtooth pattern.

We hit two additional areas less than 24’ deep and fished in a similar manner, taking our tally up to 44 by 9:30A.  At this time a beneficial NE breeze began to blow at about 9mph, rippling the entire lake’s surface.

It did not take long for this breeze to spark a deep water bite.  We checked 3 areas, found fish at the last area we checked, and stayed on those fish for the remainder of our trip – about a full hour’s worth of catching, taking our tally from 44 fish, up to 141 fish with near-constant action for everyone using white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs in a moderately-paced smoking tactic.

Our final tally of 141 fish consisted of 4 freshwater drum, 6 short hybrid striped bass, and 131 white bass.

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

TALLY:  141 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: Increasing shad spawning noted in this morning’s calm conditions. Despite a mild cold front’s passage overnight, and a 48F start to the morning, these shad were putting on a show.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:05A

End Time:  11:20A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 48F

Elevation: 3.57 feet low, 0.03′ rise in last 24 hours, 34 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 65.6F

Wind Speed & Direction:   NE3-4 at trip’s start, picking up and shifting ENE9 around 9:30, then increasing to ENE13 by trip’s end

Sky Condition: Clear, light blue skies following the arrival of a mild, dry cold front overnight

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 93% illumination.

GT = 50

Wx SNAPSHOT: 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 615, 415, vic B0116C, and 327/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

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide #BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing #bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport #fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday #Fitec #mepps

TO OPA’S FOR EASTER – 142 FISH @ BELTON

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This past Wednesday morning, April 13th, I fished with Mr. Leonard Nu’uhiwa (retired U.S. Army) of Killeen, his son-in-law, James Snyder, James’ son, Simon, and a family friend of the Nu’uhiwas, Mr. Phil Moore (a U.S Army veteran), also of Killeen.

Leonard’s daughter, Janice, a nurse who now resides in the Chicago area, traveled with her family to celebrate Easter with her dad and mom (Ruth Nu’uhiwa) back here in Texas while Simon, age 12, was on spring break.

Janice arranged all of the trip’s details many weeks in advance, and, fortunately, the weather cooperated to provide us with excellent spring time white bass fishing.J

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

My next openings will be on 11 May and 20 June.  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: James Snyder, Leonard Nu’uhiwa, Simon Snyder, and Phil Moore

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday (AM), 13 April 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

After riding a weather roller coaster the previous evening, complete with violent thunderstorms, large hail, heavy rain and no less than two tornados in the county, things settled down a bit overnight, although the wind velocity remained in the teens all night and into the morning.

We experienced a very dim light scenario in our first hour on the water; we actually commented how, at 8:05AM, an hour into our trip, the light level was lower than it was at the 7:05AM start.

With the winds at about 12-13mph from the SW, and with Leonard and Phil being solid fisherman already, I decided to start us off up shallow given the nice warming trend we’ve been experiencing, and the beginnings of the annual spring threadfin shad spawn.

This turned out to be a solid decision as everyone caught multiple fish in short order, even as Simon and James learned to cast horizontally and work the MAL Dense lures I had tied on for everyone just for this situation.

These lures are the heaviest in the MAL Lure family.  The lead body really cuts the wind, gets deep quickly, and allows even beginning casters to get sufficient distance to reach well beyond the boat where the fish are.

We landed our first 22 fish on the MAL Dense lures before increasing light levels drove the fish deeper.

We moved with the fish and, once situated atop of them, I retooled everyone with longer rods for fishing the white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs vertically.  My two rookies did best at this method, mainly because they did not have a reflexive hookset response which is detrimental to landing fish while using this no-slack tactic coupled with no-stretch braided line.

As fish filled in to the port and starboard sides of the boat, I kept Simon and James working vertically, and transitioned Leonard and Phil to casting the MAL Dense lures horizontally.  This got everyone in their “sweet spot” just as the fishing was peaking in advance of a minor wind shift to the west and the arrival of clearing skies.

By the time we departed our second area of the morning, the crew had amassed a catch of 93 fish.

Fishing got instantly tougher as the skies cleared and brightened, and as the atmosphere heated up rapidly.

I searched a few areas without success, then found an area with fish holding very tight to bottom – definitely not in a feeding posture.  We fished them anyway, as I wasn’t sure at this point that we’d find any more aggressive fish.  We put another 14 fish in the boat here, thus breaking the 100 fish mark around the 10 o’clock hour, all on Bladed Hazy Eyes.

We made one final move to deeper water and windier, more open terrain in hopes of finding dimmer bottom conditions keeping the fish in a feeding mode just a bit longer.

We found what we were after in about 32 feet of water.  We took a final 35 fish at this area, all on Bladed Hazy Eyes, until the fishing ground to a halt just after 11AM, just as it had done at nearly the exact same time on Monday and Tuesday.

Our final tally of 142 fish consisted of 1 freshwater drum, 6 short hybrid striped bass, and 135 white bass.

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

TALLY:  142 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: Saw fish chasing spawning shad in shallow water for the first time this spring.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:05A

End Time:  11:10A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 73F

Elevation: 3.60 feet low, 0.11’ rise in last 24 hours, 34 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 66.3

Wind Speed & Direction:   SSW13 at trip’s start, gradually tapering up to WSW16 by trip’s end

Sky Condition: 100% grey cloud cover thru 10:15, then clearing to 20% white clouds on a hazy blue sky

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 87% illumination.

GT =  35

Wx SNAPSHOT: 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

B0014G, B0071G (2 hops), B0004G, vic 327

 

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

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide #BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing #bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport #fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday #Fitec #mepps

PA’S 92nd BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION – 242 FISH @ BELTON

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This past Tuesday morning, April 12th, I fished with a portion of the Oliver clan – longtime clients from the Temple/Belton area.

With me today was Pa Oliver and three of his four adult sons, Joe, Jamie, and Jack.

Pa celebrates his 92nd birthday this month and this trip, as well as the lunch to follow, was in celebration of that milestone.

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

My next opening will be on Monday morning, June 20th.  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: Joe, Jamie, Pa, and Jack Oliver with Lake Belton white bass taken under classic white bass conditions – a grey, windy morning in advance of storm activity. Pa is definitely grinning the most!!!

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday (AM), 12 April 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

The catching followed a bell-shaped curve this morning, with a slow start, a ramp-up of activity, a plateau of heavy action, followed by a slowdown to a final stoppage just after the 11 o’clock hour.

With high winds impacting us once again, four anglers aboard, and Pa needing to remain seated, I looked specifically for scenarios where we could fish vertically, to the exclusion of working shallow water under low light conditions, which has been producing well of late.

The murky start to the morning kept the light level unusually low (it actually drizzled for much of our first hour on the water) and so the fishing was spotting until the skies brightened up a bit.

We found groups of fish and caught them well, but did not draw other fish in to us from the surrounding area until the still fully-grey sky brightened and the fish turned on.

We fished only three areas this morning, with our second stop producing the lion’s share (195 of 242 fish).

Because Jamie was willing to experiment for variety’s sake, I put an MAL Dense (chartreuse tail) on his rod, while everyone else fished a white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab.  I thought, if anything, his fish might be a tad larger on average, just due to the lure’s larger profile.  His results were identical to everyone else’s, however.

All of our fishing was vertical using a moderate “smoking” retrieve in conjunction with Garmin LiveScope.

As good as LiveScope is, there are a few things which can prove counterproductive – not with the Garmin technology, but, rather, with angler response to what they are seeing.  These are things I find myself having to try to coach folks through.  The first is the temptation to alter retrieve cadence once a fish shows itself on sonar.  Some folks speed up, others slow down, yet others stop their retrieve altogether.  When it comes to white bass, all of these are “deal breakers”.  The fish will simply turn away and no longer pursue the bait.  Keeping the bait moving at the same speed which attracted the fish in the first place is critical.

The Oliver crew has experienced this with me first hand previously, so, their results were atypically positive for the conditions today because there was next to no learning curve for them to get through.

Our final tally of 242 fish consisted of 1 freshwater drum, 9 short hybrid striped bass, and 232 white bass.

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

TALLY:  242 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: Very light, sporadic threadfin shad spawning witnessed for the first time this spring.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:05A

End Time:  11:15A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 72F

Elevation: 3.73 feet low, 0.03′ fall in last 24 hours, 34 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 62.70F

Wind Speed & Direction:   SSE13 at trip’s start, gradually tapering up to SSE16-17 by trip’s end

Sky Condition: 100% grey cloud cover all morning with drizzle in the first hour

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 80% illumination.

GT =  55

Wx SNAPSHOT: 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

B0100G thru B0026G (3 hops), vic 812, and 354/1177

 

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

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide #BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing #bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport #fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday #Fitec #mepps

MIKE & WANESSA RAISED THE ROOF – 143 FISH @ BELTON

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This morning, Monday, April 11th, I fished with first-time guests Mike Winot and his fiancee Wanessa Skowronski who travelled in from near Rockdale, TX, to fish with me for white bass on Lake Belton.

Mike and Wanessa run both a roofing business (NewRuf.com) and the Why Not? Ranch, growing both whitetail deer and Wagyu beef cattle.

Mike is a native of Vermont, and Wanessa is a native of Brazil.

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

My next opening will be on Thursday morning, June 16th.  Weekday mornings are always best.  Saturdays are available for on-the-water sonar training sessions (only) until after Labor Day (and then until mid-March 2023).

 

PHOTO CAPTION:   Mike Winot and Wanessa Skowronski took these nice white bass casting MAL Dense lures up shallow, just after sunrise, although the majority of our catch came vertically on slabs.  The high winds made presenting baits horizontally tough to the point I felt it was negatively impacting our results, so, we went vertical instead.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday (AM), 11 April 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

I probably don’t need to tell you this, but, if this spring has been one thing, that thing is: windy.

This morning was no exception.  After NOAA’s high wind advisory expired at midnight, the winds, although out of the 20-30mph range, were still high.

This makes boat control an issue, limits fishing area selection, and impacts presentation choice and execution.

We found our first fish up shallow, but the cross-wind casting didn’t go well.  I repositioned the boat so we could cast downwind from off of the stern, and that still wasn’t to my liking, so, we went vertical after the horizontal efforts did not pan out well.  Although we caught fish, we were definitely not reaching our full potential in this way.

With wind and grey cloud cover increasing, the bite was definitely on.  The question was: how long could we hang over top of the fish in open water before the rising winds pushed us off.  Well, we were able to fish three areas very successfully up until 9:55A.  At that point, Wanessa expressed some concerns about the wind and waves, so, with Mike’s consent, we pulled off of our fish as they were still biting to search for more fish in more protected terrain.  By this time we had already landed 105 fish, mostly on the white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab.

We found more fish where the swells were not so high, and these fish stayed active until just after 11AM.  There was a definite tapering off of results between 10:05 and 11:20, during which time we added a final 38 fish to our count, again, on the white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab.

Our final tally of 143 fish consisted of 1 freshwater drum, 4 short hybrid striped bass, and 138 white bass.

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

TALLY:  143 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: Very light, sporadic threadfin shad spawning witnessed for the first time this spring.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:05A

End Time:  11:20A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 68F

Elevation: 3.7 feet low, 0.00′ change in last 24 hours, 34 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 62.0F

Wind Speed & Direction:   SSE13 at trip’s start, gradually tapering up to SSE17 by trip’s end

Sky Condition: 40% clouds on blue sky at start, quickly going 100% grey as the morning moved on

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 71% illumination.

GT =  25

Wx SNAPSHOT: 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Shallow on MAL Dense fished horizontally: B0100G

Deep on 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab fished vertically: 2055, vic 1805, 1731, 1177

 

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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JUSTICE OF THE PISCES — 115 FISH @ BELTON

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This past Thursday evening, Thursday, April 7th, I fished with first time guests Brian Moody and Larry Wilkey, both of the Criminal Investigations Division (CID) of the Temple Police Department.

Brian is a police lieutenant and Larry is a police sergeant and soon-to-be Justice of the Peace for the Bell County precinct where Judge Ivey will be retiring from shortly.

Thanks to very high winds earlier in the week, we rescheduled for this afternoon.  My preference is always to fish in the morning, as the bite tends to be longer and stronger, but, in this excellent spring season, evening results can be solid, too.

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

My next opening will be on Monday morning, June 6th.  Weekday mornings are always best.  Saturdays are available for on-the-water sonar training sessions.

PHOTO CAPTION:   From left: Larry Wilkey and Brian Moody with a mess of chunky Lake Belton white bass caught under a “red flag warning” with very high winds, and very low humidity this past Thursday evening.  The men caught & released 115 fish in just under 4 hours.

PHOTO CAPTION:   So aggressive was the bite in our final 45 minutes that Brian Moody had a second fish attack his slab as the first fish was being fought back to the boat.  He landed both of them!

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday (PM), 07 April 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

We did not decide to make this trip a go, literally, until the final hour before our scheduled meeting time.  There was a “red flag” warning due to high winds and dry conditions.  Following my morning trip, I grabbed lunch and then “camped out” at the boat ramp just keeping an eye on the wind which was forecast to rise from 17mph before noon to 22mph from 2-6pm, then die back to 17 around sunset.

The winds did, indeed, follow the forecast.  I made a final call around 2:30P after observing the strength and direction of the wind, and determining that there was a sufficient number of protected areas we could both travel to and catch fish at, so, we went.

As is typical on afternoon trips, the first two hours were slow, with increasing action, and the final two hours is when we landed the majority of our fish.  This afternoon played out in that manner.

The first three areas I searched revealed no fish which got me a bit nervous, as I did not have the “run of the lake” to search for fish due to the high winds.

I found a handful of fish at the fourth area I checked and it was there that I got Brian and Larry familiarized with vertical jigging a slab in conjunction with Garmin LiveScope.  Once they got the cadence of the retrieve down, we started pulling fish.

Brian found it a bit tough to overcome his largemouth bass fishing hookset reflex, which cost him some fish until we specifically addressed that issue.  Fortunately, we iron that out before the fishing really took off around 6:15pm.

100% of our fishing this afternoon involved the use of my white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye slabs.  The slabs sink quickly and the fish are still very turned on by them, so we’ll continue to use them vertically until the fish indicate otherwise.

Shallow fish are already very responsive to the MAL Heavy Lure, but today’s high winds would have made line management and bite detection a real challenge, so, we skipped the shallow fishing, although I felt it was there for the taking in our final 30-45 minutes if we cared to seek it out.

A moderate “smoking” tactic did the trick all afternoon today.

In all, we landed exactly 115 fish, including 2 short hybrid, 4 freshwater drum, and 109 white bass.

If you follow my posts, you’ll know I frequently mention that, all else being equal, afternoon trips typically produce about 70% of the catch versus a morning trip conducted that same day.  Doing the math, 115 fish caught this afternoon divided by 150 fish caught this morning, equates to a 76% afternoon yield.

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

TALLY:  115 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: No helpful evening bird action, although birds are present.  The black-headed laughing gulls are beginning to show up as they pass through as usual this time of year.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 3:45P

End Time:  7:25P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 71F

Elevation: 3.56 feet low, 0.03′ fall in last 24 hours, 30 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 62.4F

Wind Speed & Direction:   NW21 at trip’s start and for 2.5 hours, then easing back to NW17 for the balance of the trip.

Sky Condition: Clear blue skies.

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 34% illumination.

GT =  85

Wx SNAPSHOT: 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Areas fished successfully today:  Areas vic 376 (2 hops), B0082C (3 hops), and B0062C, all fished with 5/8 oz. white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab

 

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

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide #BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing #bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport #fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday #Fitec #mepps

 

OLD TIMERS’ DAY – 150 FISH @ BELTON

WHO I FISHED WITH:

This past Thursday morning, Thursday, April 7, I fished with long time friends and fellow Belton Lake anglers Rodney Tyroch and George O’Connor.

Rodney, age 71, is a retired railroad man. George, age 84, retired from the security department at Wilsonart in Temple Texas, and is a veteran of the US Army from the Korean war era.

Due to the current state of the hybrid fishery, we focused strictly on white bass.

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

My next opening will be on Monday morning, June 6th.  Weekday mornings are always best.  Saturdays are available for on-the-water sonar training sessions.

PHOTO CAPTION:   From left: Retired Lake Belton fishing guide George O’Connor and long-time Lake Belton multi-species angler Rodney Tyroch stepped aboard this morning for a wonderful trip.  We caught fish from start to finish this morning, wrapping up a bit shy of 4 hours with exactly 150 fish caught and released.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday (AM), 07 April 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

Whenever wind and weather conditions, and all of the other variables which influence fish behavior, come together to allow a full four hours of catching from the start of a trip to the end, that is a fairly remarkable day and one that let’s you breathe easy as a guide.

Although clients often catch more than the 150 fish that George and Rodney did this morning, those fish so often come in spurts – a strong start with a slower finish or vice versa, or a peak of activity at mid-morning, etc.

Today, was one of those days where the fish were on a solid, steady feed all morning with a slight uptick in our final 35 minutes on the water as the northwest wind’s velocity increased.

We fished only three areas this morning. Helpful bird activity led us to our first fish up shallow. We targeted those fish using MAL Heavy lures with silver blades and chartreuse tails and cast to whichever side of the boat side-imaging indicated held the most fish. By the time that shallow water bite concluded, we had already landed 28 fish.

By now, the sun was at a much higher angle, shining through the cloudless sky, and so the remainder of our fishing was in much deeper water and was vertical.

We moved out into 35 to 41 foot water and used white, 5/8 ounce Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs to fish for tightly grouped fish along two different breaklines.

Although the action ebbed and flowed, it never stopped all morning, and there was never a time when fish would not aggressively chase a “smoked” bait up off the bottom.

We experimented successfully with using the MAL Heavy lures vertically in deep water, but, since George was already more familiar with using a slab, I decided to go that route.  No need to fix what ain’t broke.

We landed our 100th fish of the morning at 9:42 AM and went on to catch our 150th fish at 10:46, at which time we wrapped it up a bit early, left the fish biting, and headed out for a tasty lunch of Chinese food before the wind made the water too choppy for a comfortable ride back to the courtesy dock.

In all, we landed exactly 150 fish, including 2 short hybrid, and 148 white bass.

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

TALLY:  150 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:  Still no threadfin shad spawning observed, although since I’m not trying to net them for hybrid fishing, I’m not looking for them as hard as I otherwise would be.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:05A

End Time:  10:45A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 54F

Elevation: 3.56 feet low, 0.03′ fall in last 24 hours, 30 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 61.1F

Wind Speed & Direction:   NW9 at trip’s start, gradually increasing to NW14

Sky Condition: Clear blue skies.

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 34% illumination.

GT =  N/A

Wx SNAPSHOT: 

 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Areas fished successfully today:  Areas vic B0100G with MAL Lures

Areas fished successfully today:  Areas vic B0199C and 1743 on white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab

 

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

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide #BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing #bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport #fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday #Fitec #mepps

 

 

FATHER & SON FISHING THANKS TO AUDRA — 85 FISH @ BELTON

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This morning, Monday, April 4th, I fished with first-time guests father-and-son team Cody and Ron Stanley.

Cody now lives in Belton, TX, and runs his own construction company; Ron, in for a visit from Comanche, TX, operates heavy equipment for another small construction company.

Cody’s wife, Audra, contacted me back around the holidays to purchase a gift certificate for this trip.  Our first attempt was foiled by winter weather, our second attempt was foiled by the flu bug which visited Cody’s home, and, the third time was a charm this morning.

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

My next opening will be on Tuesday morning, May 17th.  Weekday mornings are always best.  Saturdays are available for on-the-water sonar training sessions.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:   From left: Cody Stanley and his father, Ron, each grip a pair of the white bass they took from Lake Belton this morning.  The water has now warmed to ~60F from 30′ deep to the surface and spring is progressing rapidly.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday (AM), 04 April 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

We got off to a bit of a rocky start this morning.  Cody had to return some rental equipment and was delayed over 30 minutes.  This cost us a good bit of low-light fishing for white bass up shallow, as well as the opportunity to hit a few choice areas in advance of any other fishing pressure arriving.

We worked through that and, in the 9 o’clock area began to settle in to catching fish which were a bit sluggish due to turbulent weather in advance of storms due in late tonight and fairly dark skies.

The majority of the fish we took in the first half of the trip came on MAL Heavy Lures (silver blade, chartreuse tail) fished horizontally with a sawtooth tactic in under 22 feet of water.  Around 10AM, we noted that the fish were just as present and abundant as they had been when we were doing well, but our catch rate began to drop off.  The fish were getting reluctant to chase long or hard.

At this point, we changed over to a vertical tactic using white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs with a moderately-paced smoking tactic.  The fish definitely responded more positively to that approach, but only for about an hour.  By 11AM, although we continued to successfully find fish, we had to work through quite a number of them to get one to perk up and bite.  So it went until ~11:55 when I found a more aggressive (but also smaller-sized) white bass in 12-15′.  We tossed the same MALs we’d used earlier and put a final 15 fish in the boat this way, of which only ~25% were of legal size, whereas the rest of the morning we ran ~90% legal.

In all, we landed 85 fish, including 4 short hybrid, 4 freshwater drum, and 77 white bass.

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

TALLY:  85 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:  I half-expected to witness some early threadfin shad spawning this morning, but saw none.  Here is the temperature profile I measured this morning:

0 feet 65.1F
5 feet 65.0F
10 feet 64.7F
15 feet 64.1F
20 feet 63.1F
25 feet 61.1F
30 feet 59.8F
35 feet 58.4F
40 feet 58.0F
45 feet 57.4F
50 feet 57.2F
55 feet 57.1F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:40A

End Time:  12:30P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 64F

Elevation: 3.52 feet low, 0.04′ fall in last 24 hours, 30 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 65.1F

Wind Speed & Direction:   SE6-9 all morning

Sky Condition: Moderate, 100% grey cloud cover all morning

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 10% illumination.

GT =  100

Wx SNAPSHOT: 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Areas fished successfully today:  Areas vic 169,  1659 with MAL Lures

Areas fished successfully today:  Area vic B0179C, 169, B0082G, 1845, on white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab

 

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

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide #BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing #bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport #fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday #Fitec #mepps

NO APRIL FOOLING AROUND — 138 FISH @ BELTON

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This past Friday morning, April 1st, I fished with returning guest Josh Pearson, accompanied by a business associate of his, and first-time guest of mine, Boyd Matthews.

Josh is an attorney and escrow officer at Texas Title here in the Belton area, and Boyd, a Salado resident, is in the construction trade.

Illness caused a previously scheduled client to have to back out of his booking which, in turn, caused a bit of a schedule-shuffle for me.  My wife and I bumped our “Marriage Maintenance Day”, which is normally on Fridays, up to Thursday, and I conducted my final fishing trip of the week with Josh and Boyd aboard on Friday.

I’m no longer booking trips on the weekends until after Labor Day … I’m just not able to provide productive and enjoyable trips for my clients with the increased weekend traffic on the water which the warm season brings with it.

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

My next opening will be on Monday morning, June 6th.  Weekday mornings are always best.  Saturdays are available for on-the-water sonar training sessions.

PHOTO CAPTION:   From left: Boyd Matthews and Josh Pearson took a nice mix of both pre- and post-spawn, mature white bass today using MAL Heavy Lures horizontally early and up shallow, then using 5/8 oz. Hazy Eye Slabs in the last half of the morning out in deeper water.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Friday (AM), 01 April 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

Once again we caught fish for the full 4-hours on the water today.  We, literally, hooked and landed a white bass on this morning’s first cast, and never quit catching them until around 11:30AM.

The previous Tuesday we saw a 4-day warming trend come to an end during which time the air temperature was at or above the water temperature, including during the overnight hours.  On Wednesday, a north wind began to blow with a mild, incoming cold front.  This dropped overnight temps into the 50’s.

By Friday, we had southerly winds return before another mild front came into our airspace just after noon on Saturday.  As this south wind ramped up, the bite ramped right up with it.

We fished in under 22′ with MAL Heavy Lures (silver blades, chartreuse tails) fished horizontally with a sawtooth pattern for the first two hours of the morning, while the light level was low, while the wind speed was down, and while a few gulls and terns worked over bait, white bass, and cormorants.

By 10AM, we’d landed 42 fish following a 7:05 start.  In the 90 minutes which followed the start of the south wind, we landed another 96 fish.  If that is not proof-positive of the impact which wind has on white bass fishing, I don’t know what is!

The fish we found as the wind began were out deeper and they were tightly bunched together, so, I opted for a vertical presentation with the Bladed Hazy Eye Slab in 5/8 oz. (white color).

We fished only 4 areas this morning.

When all was said and done, we caught 138 white bass.  It was actually a bit odd not to have a single drum, hybrid, or largemouth landed, but, that’s how it went.

One of the reasons the men did so well this morning is that they were willing to be coached.  When I saw something in their presentation which I felt was costing them fish, I mentioned it to them, and they adjusted well.  One example, which I see often when we use Garmin LiveScope, is an angler’s subconscious tendency to alter the cadence of their retrieve as they see an aggressive fish approach their lure.  I pointed this observation out to both Josh and Boyd.  Then, being aware of it, they intentionally worked to avoid that issue and their catch rate increased nicely from that point on.

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

TALLY:  138 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:  Given the current water temperature and long range forecast, it now appears we will not slip back under the “magic” 58F mark until the autumn cool down.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:05A

End Time:  11:30A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 45F

Elevation: 3.44 feet low, 0.01′ fall in last 24 hours, 30 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 60.1F

Wind Speed & Direction:   Light and variable breeze until 10A, then picking up to SSE11 quickly

Sky Condition: Bright, near-cloudless conditions all morning.

Moon Phase: New moon at 0% illumination.

GT =  45

Wx SNAPSHOT: 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Areas fished successfully today:  Areas vic B0170C, and B0063C/B0064C with MAL Lures for 42 fish

Areas fished successfully today:  Area vic 381 and  B0082G for 96 fish on white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab

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

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide #BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing #bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport #fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday #Fitec #mepps