WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Thursday, 23 Feb., I fished a full-day trip with George and Barbara Portele from Montgomery, TX, near Lake Conroe.
The couple are very good temperate bass anglers and have ample opportunity to pursue white bass, yellow bass, and hybrid striped bass on their home lake. George told me he’d always wanted to give Lake Belton a try, and I was honored to be the one he chose to give him and his wife the grand tour.
I couldn’t ask for better clients. They came early, stayed late, willing accepted my coaching, fished hard, and didn’t give up until we’d hit our morning goal of 50 fish, and our afternoon goal of 100 fish!! We fished 4 hours in the morning, took a 2-hour, off-the-water lunch break, and then met up again for another 4 hours in the afternoon, concluding right at dark.
The fishing has begun that sharp increase thanks to a week-long warming trend which looks like it will continue right on into next week with highs in the 70’s called for each of the next 5-6 days.
Peak spring dates are just about gone. Here’s an up-to-date calendar so you can check availability: https://holdingthelineguideservice.com/available-dates.php
Here is how the fishing went …
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PHOTO CAPTION: George and Barbara Portele traveled in from Montgomery, TX, to spend a full day in pursuit of white bass on Lake Belton. They landed 155 fish.
PHOTO CAPTION: Largemouth bass and freshwater drum served as “bonus fish” throughout the day.
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday, 23 February 2023 (Full day)
HOW WE FISHED:
I am excited about what lies ahead after experiencing what we did on Lake Belton today. Things are definitely starting to happen as spring approaches.
AM Summary – As has been the case this winter, the bite started off slowly. We found plenty of fish, but they were not at all enthusiastic. We caught just 12 fish in our first hour, and had to move a lot, catching just a few fish at each location before they lost what little interest they first showed, but the action rose as the light level and winds increased. The AM bite peaked right around 10AM. By 11:45, George and Barbara had landed a total of 55 fish including 51 white bass (all legal), 1 largemouth bass, and 3 freshwater drum. We fished a combination of deadsticked soft plastics when the fish were particularly slow, and changed over to white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs to get the job done when the fish perked up and were willing to chase moving baits. We used a slow-smoking tactic. A tutorial video for that method is found here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIPopSLUYoQ
PM Summary – The afternoon bite was longer and stronger than the AM by far. The combination of thin, grey cloud cover, wind, and warmth worked to fire the fish up this afternoon. We found and caught fish all afternoon. They never got “crazy turned-on”, but the fish bit more aggressively than in the morning. Most of our fish were caught on a slow-smoked slab (same one as AM), but, with the fish cooperating so well, we “played around” with ice jigs, deadsticked soft plastics, and even broke out the MAL Heavy (white tail) and caught fish on everything we used. We also benefitted from the assistance of birds (mainly terns) during the middle of the afternoon. As I saw back on Feb. 7th, right at sunset we witnessed birds working along the side of the channel over a large group of slowly migrating white bass. These fish were suspended in a 4-5 foot thick band up as high as 18′ beneath the surface. They were moving slowly and were readily taken working vertically. We fished until we’d landed 100 fish for the afternoon, and then headed in just before sunset.
Our catch in the afternoon consisted of 5 drum, 1 largemouth bass, and 94 white bass, of which 12 were short.
TALLY: 155 fish caught and released
Find Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs with Stinger Hook here: https://whitebasstools.com/
OBSERVATIONS: A flock of ~40 terns assisted us in finding fish mid-afternoon, and a mixed flock of about 20 gulls and terns assisted in finding a migratory school of fish navigating the channel edge later, toward sunset.
Temperature profile:
0 feet, 57.4F
5 feet, 57.4F
10 feet, 56.9F
15 feet, 55.3F
20 feet, 54.3F
25 feet, 53.7F
30 feet, 53.2F
35 feet, 52.5F
40 feet, 52.3F
45 feet, 52.0F
50 feet, 51.9F
55 feet, 51.9F
60 feet, 51.7F
65 feet, 51.7F
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 7:45A
End Time: 6:25P
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 61F
Elevation: 13.87 feet low, 24 CFS flow.
Water Surface Temp: 57.4F on the surface
Wind Speed & Direction: NNE10 at trip’s start, building to NNE14-15 at midday, then tapering back to NNE8 by sunset
Sky Condition: 100% light grey cloud coverage all day
Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 14% illumination.
GT = 85
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
AM: Vic 1012, 714, 1483, B0078C, B0149C, 1482, B0005C, 1552/2059
PM: B0193G, B0194G, B0069C, B0195G, mouth of B0097C
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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