WORE OUT BOTH ARMS! — 160 FISH @ LAKE BELTON

WHO I FISHED WITH:  On Friday, 03 June 2022, I fished with first-time guests Amanda and Logan Winkler, a mother and son pair who are Central Texas natives.

Amanda and her husband, Justin, bid on a fishing gift certificate I had provided to the Ralph Wilson Youth Club some time ago, and today was the day they chose to redeem it.

Here is how the fishing went …

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My next openings will be on July 12th – 14th.  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: Logan and Amanda fished until Amanda, literally, could not reel in any more fish because her arms hurt!  We worked MAL Dense Lures (with white tails) very successfully for fish in 42-52 feet of water.

 

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Friday (AM), 03 June 2022

HOW WE FISHED:

Despite the abnormally warm May, I have yet to see any ill effects of the heat impacting the normally excellent late-spring fishery.  Yes, the threadfin shad spawn is over, but that is normal for this time of year.  And, yes, I’m beginning to see white bass suspend more off of steep slopes, but, that is also typical for this time of year.  Other things in the natural, annual cycle are also falling in line now, like the presence of young of the year shad and the start of open-water topwater feeding.

As we got going, I spent a bit of time looking for topwater action, but, with a north wind blowing following the arrival of a mild cold front yesterday, I knew our chances of finding anything worth fishing for for any length of time were slim.

We went a good 30 minutes scrubbing the bottom with sonar (relying most heavily on the far-reaching side-imaging for this work) before we came upon our first sizeable school of fish.

We got a very positive reaction from these fish (which were in 42 feet of water) as they perked up immediately as Amanda and Logan’s baits reached bottom on their first drop.

We stayed on these fish for one hour and forty minutes, catching fish at a rate of one fish per minute, with a total of exactly 100 fish taken without moving the boat one iota between 7:00 AM and 8:40 AM.

With the bite fading to nil by 8:40, we headed in for a “bio-break”, and then went back out in search of more catchable fish.

By this time, Amanda’s right arm was sore from the catching, and, after switching her reel’s handle to the opposite side, she proceeded to wear out her left arm as well!  Even Logan, a 4-sport athlete, said he was really feeling it in his right bicep after landing more fish during this trip than he had during all the trips in the rest of his life, combined!!

We found another, totally suspended group of fish holding at 30-40 feet in a horizontal band over 52 feet of water and, greatly aided by Garmin LiveScope, were able to present our MAL Dense Lures very effectively and efficiently to these fish.

Between 9AM and 10AM, Amanda and Logan continued to catch fish at a furious pace, landing another 60 fish before they decided to call it quits with Amanda scarcely able to reel in any more fish with either arm.

The sole tactic we relied upon today was “smoking” MAL Dense Lures (chartreuse body, white tail) up off the bottom repeatedly.

A complete description of the vertical “smoking:” method is found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE

Our catch included 158 white bass, 1 short hybrid striped bass, and 1 largemouth bass.

The entire family of MAL Lures is found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY:  160 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:  Topwater action was hindered by a continuing north wind following a cold front’s passage on the morning of 02 June.   Here was the temperature profile down to 60 feet:

0 feet 80.1F
5 feet 80.1F
10 feet 79.9F
15 feet 79.6F
20 feet 79.2F
25 feet 78.8F
30 feet 78.2F
35 feet 76.1F
40 feet 72.1F
45 feet 67.4F
50 feet 64.7F
55 feet 62.2F
60 feet 60.8F

 

 WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:30A

End Time:  10:00A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 66F

Elevation: 4.45 feet low,  0.03’ fall in last 24 hours, 32 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 80.1F

Wind Speed & Direction:  NNE5-8 all morning

Sky Condition: Blue skies with wispy, white, thin cloud cover at ~60%

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 14% illumination.

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT: 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 714/B0041G (100 fish), Area B0094G (60 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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