March | 2023 | Fishing Report

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

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SNOWBIRD WHITE BASSIN’ — 155 FISH @ BELTON

March 30th, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Thursday, March 30, I fished with returning guests, brothers Steve and Dave Wise.

Dave, who lives near Mankato, MN (home of the Minn Kota trolling motor), makes an annual trek south down to the Georgetown area to live in his RV near his brother and dad during the winter storm season. Once the spring thaw arrives, he heads back north.

Here is how the fishing went…

————————————————————————–

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

Next available dates are April 20 (PM), May 15 (AM), 30 (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION: Minnesota snowbird Dave Wise took our largest fish of the trip this morning as this 5.75 pound hybrid striper crushed his MAL Heavy (chartreuse tail) as we hovered in ~13 feet of water and cast out toward fish working bait over deeper water.

PHOTO CAPTION: Steve Wise of Georgetown took this mature hybrid striped bass on the MAL Heavy, as well. We watched closely for white bass chasing shad and breaking the surface in the chop to know where to cast and get bit.

PHOTO CAPTION: Whites and hybrid weren’t the only fish on tap this morning. This smallmouth jumped Dave’s MAL Heavy, as did five largemouth bass.

PHOTO CAPTION: And our target species, the good ol’ white bass. The largest three of these four measured 14+ inches. Solid fish with healthy proportions.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday, 30 March 2023 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED:

Thanks to excellent conditions for white bass fishing, we enjoyed a solid 3.5 hours of catching this morning. We had southeasterly winds at ~9-11mph, grey skies, an occasional light drizzle, warm overnight temperatures no lower than the surface temperature of the water, and a warm front moving into the area from the south.

Once we got on fish today, we never had to move more than a total of about an eighth of a mile to keep up with fish, bait, and birds as all three moved around the area, with the fish often making their presence known as they popped adult threadfin shad on the surface.

Before this action broke out, we spent about 20 minutes working white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs for heavily congregated fish holding tight to bottom, catching three.

Once the action broke out, we used the MAL Heavy with chartreuse tail for the remainder of the trip to take 152 additional fish by either sight-casting to them if they were visible, or by casting out and counting this same bait down to a 6-count and then doing a plain-Jane, steady retrieve back to the boat.

Long spinning rods with light line and full spools made for maximum casting distance, thus allowing the fellows to cover a lot of water with each cast.

If the area upwind of the boat stopped producing, we’d observe for other nearby bird and/or fish activity, head to it, Spot-Lock downwind from it, and continue catching. By 11:15 the pace was slowing, and by the time we wrapped up a few minutes prior to noon, the catching had slowed to a trickle.

Our tally of 155 fish consisted of 5 hybrid striped bass, 5 largemouth bass, 1 smallmouth bass, and 144 white bass with only 6 short fish landed.

TALLY: 155 fish caught and released

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

OBSERVATIONS: The water temperature profile was as follows:

0 feet, 62.3F
5 feet, 62.3F
10 feet, 62.0F
15 feet, 62.0F
20 feet, 61.9F
25 feet, 61.7F
30 feet, 60.9F
35 feet, 60.0F
40 feet, 59.4F
45 feet, 59.2F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:45A

End Time: 11:55A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 59F

Elevation: 14.32 feet low, 24 CFS flow, .00′ fall over the last 24 hrs.

Water Surface Temp: 59.3F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: SE8-9 all morning

Sky Condition: 100% moderate, grey cloud cover with occasional light drizzle

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 63% illumination.

GT = 50

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 1371 – 18 fish (3 on slabs, 15 on horizontal MALs)

Area B0051C through B0213G – 137 fish sight casting and counting MAL Heavies down to a 6-count

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

FUTURE WHALER OPERATORS — 100 FISH @ BELTON

March 29th, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Wednesday, March 29, I fished with returning guests Gary Jones, a retired banker, and Guy Fowler, who works in real estate. The two have been buddies since they were kids here in the Belton-Temple area.

Not only were the two interested in catching fish, but in observing how I used my boat and equipment as fish-catching tools. The driver behind this was Gary‘s recent purchase of a center-console Boston Whaler which he intends to fish from. Having fished with me several times in the past, he invested in some of the very same equipment I rely on day in and day out to make a living. Guy has been nominated to be Gary’s “first mate” on this Whaler venture.

Here is how the fishing went…

————————————————————————–

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

Next available dates are April 21 (PM), May 15 (AM), 30 (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION: This fat and sassy Lake Belton hybrid was a welcome sight. It was in great shape and slammed Guy’s MAL Heavy with chartreuse tail.

PHOTO CAPTION: The white bass cooperated well this morning, save for a roughly 30-40 minute span where it got bright at a time when the winds were also still light. Once that thin, grey cloud cover moved in, it was game on — 100 fish on the dot this morning.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday, 29 March 2023 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED:

The fishing, once again, followed a normal, bell-shaped curve with the first hour, and the last hour being slower than the peak time span from 9 to 11 AM. A little disturbance in the weather brought some thunder and lightning with an all-night, sparse sprinkle of rain, which dissipated right around sunrise, but left fairly thick, cloud cover in its wake. This caused the fishing to get off to a slow start, but as soon as the sky brightened through breaks in the clouds the fish responded positively.

As we got on top of our first school of fish, we used slabs to catch a mixed bag, including one white bass, one freshwater drum, and one short hybrid, striped bass. Fishing was slow, but Garmin LiveScope revealed a lot of shad in the area, and it was clear the shad were getting more skittish as time went on.

Very suddenly, just as we began to see fish and bait pick up the pace of their movement as we observed them on LiveScope, fish also began to break the surface sporadically around us, and birds immediately queued in on this. We enjoyed a 45-minute run of fish catching, aided by bird activity.

As has been the case in the past few days, we cast MAL Heavy Lures with chartreuse tails out horizontally and counted them down to a six-count before retrieving them directly back to the boat with a plain-Jane, moderately paced retrieve. The only exception to this was if the fellows saw fish within casting range actually busting shad as they were getting ready to cast. When this occurred, Gary and Guy cast just past the fish and immediately started to retrieve without counting down first. This whole scenario accounted for an additional 52 fish in very short order.

After that, the skies began to clear rapidly and the fishing fell off for a bit. After the winds picked back up and some gray cloud cover completely covered the sky, the fishing rebounded. Although the fishing never bounced back as strong as we encountered under birds, the vertical fishing with slabs was very productive, especially for small groups of suspended fish which moved in directly under the boat as we used the splasher, something which I generally switch over to after the water has hit the 60° mark for good.

While fishing for individual suspended fish using Garmin LiveScope like this, it was important to recognize which direction the fish was headed and to get our lures moving right past their noses before they passed by. After Guy and Gary got the hang of this, they went strong for the final 25 minutes of our trip, taking our count of 88 fish up to exactly 100 before we stopped at exactly 12:02 PM following our 7:45 AM start.

In all, we landed exactly 100 fish of which four were hybrid stripers (one legal), one freshwater drum, one largemouth, bass, one crappie, and the remainder white bass up to 13.5 inches.

TALLY: 100 fish caught and released

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

OBSERVATIONS: The surface temperature slid a bit further overnight from 59.9F to 59.3 after rising above 60F for the second time this spring back on Monday.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:45A

End Time: 12:05A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 50F

Elevation: 14.32 feet low, 24 CFS flow, .02′ fall over the last 24 hrs.

Water Surface Temp: 59.3F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: NNE2 at trip’s start building to NNE8 by trip’s end

Sky Condition: 100% thin, grey cloud cover, dropping to 70% between 9:15 & 10A, then going back to 100% white-grey cloud cover.

Moon Phase: First quarter moon at 54% illumination.

GT = 205

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area B0212G – 55 fish casting & sight casting to whites under birds with MALs

Area 1679 – 33 fish smoking slabs

Area B0082G – 12 fish on slabs by sniping with LiveScope

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

EXACTLY 88 FISH IN A WIND OF APPROXIMATELY 88 MPH — LAKE BELTON

March 28th, 2023March 28th, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Tuesday, March 28, I fished with returning guest Sonny Monroe, a retired educator now residing in Nolanville. Accompanying him were two first time guests, Jerry Vaughn, of Taylor, TX, and Garland Tiner from near Odessa, TX. The two men are also retired educators and friends of Sonny’s

The status of this trip was in question right up to the moment I arrived at the boat ramp, due to very high winds, following the passage of a cold front in the overnight hours.

An area to the south of us, between Georgetown and Fredericksburg, was actually under an NOAA high wind warning for most of the day today.

We were able to fish some protected areas today and still manage to put together a pretty good catch. I just hated to cancel the trip, as Garland had driven in all the way from Odessa to participate.

Here is how the fishing went…

————————————————————————–

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

Next available dates are April 21 (PM), May 15 (AM), 30 (AM), 31 (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION: Garland Tiner from the Odessa area traveled in the day before, lodged locally, and fished with me this morning. He landed the largest of the 88 fish we caught and released today. This hybrid fell for an MAL Heavy with chartreuse tail.

PHOTO CAPTION: My windy-day crew of Garland Tiner, Jerry Vaughn, and Sonny Monroe with a few of the 88 fish they landed following a strong cold front’s passage.

PHOTO CAPTION: This is what caught all of our quality fish today. The MAL Heavy with chartreuse tail was either counted down 6 or 8 seconds and then retrieved straight back through fish pushing shad to the surface, or reeled straight up off bottom when active fish were suspending off bottom.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday, 28 March 2023 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED:

As has been the case over the past few weeks, we had a slow first hour, and a slowing of action in the final hour, with peak activity in the middle, roughly between 9 and 11 AM.

During the slow times at the beginning and end of the trip, we worked slabs slowly, using a slow,-smoking tactic fishing the white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab vertically for white bass, which were heavily grouped together and clinging tightly to bottom.

During the more productive mid part of the trip, birds pointed the way to active fish, consuming shad throughout the water column, and in some cases all the way up to the surface. These fish were much more aggressive, thus we fished the faster moving MAL Heavy with chartreuse tail both vertically and horizontally.

When fished vertically, we used a smoking tactic; when fished horizontally, we counted the lure down using a six or eight count, and then begin a plain-Jane, steady retrieve all the way back to the boat. Although there were certainly exceptions, generally speaking, the fish we caught early (which were hugging bottom) tended to be smaller fish, whereas the fish we caught under birds with the more active tactics tended to be better quality fish.

When all was said and done, we landed 88 fish, including four hybrid, of which three were of legal size.

TALLY: 88 fish caught and released

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

OBSERVATIONS: The surface temperature slid back to 59.9F after rising above 60F for the second time this spring yesterday.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:45A

End Time: 11:55A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 55F

Elevation: 14.30 feet low, 24 CFS flow, .03′ fall over the last 24 hrs.

Water Surface Temp: 59.9F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: NNW18-22 all morning with higher gusts

Sky Condition: 90% white-grey cloud cover.

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 44% illumination.

GT = 150

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 1916 – 4 fiag
Area 1909/308 – 16 fish
Area B0210G – 14 fish
Area B0009C (2 hops) 4 fish
Area B0082G – 47 fish
Area 387 – 3 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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

WE WERE ON THE RIGHT “TRACK” — 106 FISH, MAL HEAVY LURES

March 27th, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Monday, March 27, I fished with first time guests Levi and Brant Bybee. This father-and-son team drove about two hours south from near Azle, TX, where they normally fish on Eagle Mountain Lake to link up with me at 7:45 AM for a morning spent in pursuit of white bass.

Levi, originally from Missouri, retired from a career with the railroad, and Brant is now 28 years into a railroad career of his own. We were definitely on the right “track” this morning after the skies brightened up and the wind started to blow and got the fish into a feeding mood.

Here is how the fishing went…

————————————————————————–

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

Next available dates are April 13 (PM), May 15 (AM), 30 (AM), 31 (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION: Brant Bybee of Azle, TX, landed our best fish of the trip. This solid, 19-inch hybrid took an MAL Heavy with chartreuse tail as he cast it out and counted it down 6 seconds before retrieving.

PHOTO CAPTION: Father-and-son team Levi and Brant Bybee scored a 106-fish morning working baits both vertically when the fishing was slower, and horizontally when birds and sonar indicated fish were more aggressive.

PHOTO CAPTION: This is what caught all of our quality fish today. The MAL Heavy with chartreuse tail was counted down 6 or 8 seconds and then retrieved straight back through fish pushing shad to the surface.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday, 23 March 2023 (PM)

HOW WE FISHED:

Fishing followed a normal, bell-shaped curve this morning, with a slow first hour, a plateau of peak activity in the middle two hours, and a gradual slowdown in the final hour. During the first hour fish were tight to the bottom and at first we had to entice them with the white, 5/8 ounce bladed Hazy Eye Slabs.

With the water now once again above 60°, the fish began to respond well to the commotion we made with the thumper. We found these fish would pull up off bottom and would suspend about 6 to 7 feet away from bottom. These fish were more aggressive than those remaining on bottom, and responded well to a smoking tactic with a MAL Heavy Lure (chartreuse tail). By the end of our first hour we had landed 20 fish, but most of these fish were small.

The middle two hours started as I spotted about 15 gulls working along a 100 yard stretch of shoreline with some timber sprinkled along it. As we drew closer, I could see shad popping out of the water trying to escape the whites beneath them, and the occasional swirl of a white bass on the surface. We threw MAL Heavies with chartreuse tails to these fish, using a countdown method, and found letting the lure drop to a six-count after it hit the water and then retrieving it straight back to the boat made for a very effective presentation. We took an additional 40 fish in this matter, all of which were solid 12 to 13 inch fish.

After this action died, I did not immediately spot any birds, and so went back to using sonar to find fish. I found a group of several hundred bottom-dwelling white bass and the fishing that ensued was much like that in the first hour, although the fish were more aggressive. We caught them equally well on slabs and MALs worked vertically. Although this fishing was productive, about half of these fish were undersized. We left these fish still biting with 20 landed after I spotted more bird action.

As we approach these birds, we found much the same scenario as we had at the previous location under birds. This group of fish was in a bit deeper water, and so we experimented with eight, nine, ten, and twelve counts after the cast to get our lures to optimum depth. We found an eight-count worked best and stayed on these fish until we landed a total of 24 and Levi and Brent decided to call it a good morning around 11:30A.

Our tally totaled 106 fish with one largemouth, bass, one short hybrid, one legal hybrid, and 103 white bass caught and released.

TALLY: 106 fish caught and released

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

OBSERVATIONS: After hitting 60F+ a few weeks back, the water surface temperature dropped back below the 60F mark up until this past weekend.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:45A

End Time: 11:30A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 55F

Elevation: 14.26 feet low, 24 CFS flow, .01′ fall over the last 24 hrs.

Water Surface Temp: 62F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: NNW8 all morning

Sky Condition: 90% white-grey cloud cover.

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 35% illumination.

GT = 35

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area B0014C/B0192C – 20 fish (most small) on smoked slab/MAL Heavy

Area 0154 – 42 quality fish under birds taken by counting down MAL Heavies

Area 0149/0151 – 23 fish, mixed size, on smoked slab/MAL Heavy

Area 0403 – 10 fish, mixed size, on smoked slab/MAL Heavy

Area B0068C – 11 quality fish under birds taken by counting down MAL Heavies

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

THEY WOULDN’T BE WEARING SHORTS IN PHILLY – 89 FISH @ BELTON

March 25th, 2023March 27th, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Thursday evening, March 23^rd, I fished with first-time guests Greg and Ethan Nordick, father-and-son team from Georgetown, TX.

Ethan is working his way through school and enjoys playing soccer, while Greg makes a living as a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) after recently moving to Texas from the Northeast where most of Greg’s prior fishing experience came fishing from the bank along area rivers.

Here is how the fishing went…

————————————————————————–

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

Next available dates are April 13 (PM), May 9 (AM), 15 (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION: Father-and-son team Greg and Ethan Nordick took 89 fish in 3.5 hours on Lake Belton this past Thursday evening. When the fish cranked up, the MAL Heavy (chartreuse tail) was a faultless performer, putting 55 of their 89 fish in the boat in about a 45 minute span.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday, 23 March 2023 (PM)

HOW WE FISHED:

The weather remained stable this afternoon with SSE winds at 15-16 tapering down to SSE11-12 over the course of our 3.5 hours on the water.

The catching was moderately-paced at first with fish generally holding tight to bottom and taking a good bit of convincing to follow and strike the Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs we were using at that time. It was really a numbers game — the more fish I could find concentrated in one area and the more fish we got exposed to the moving slab, the more fish we caught. Fortunately both father and son picked up on the necessity of reeling smoothly and continuously (even when their lure was being pursued by a fish) early on, and benefited from that for the remainder of the evening.

At one point during mid-afternoon we were taking fish steadily from off bottom when a small flock of gulls and terns (about 12-14 in number) began to act “fishy” a few yards from us. We trolled into the activity (and thus avoided using the outboard so as not to spook any fish) and found a very active feed going on. White bass were densely packed into this area and occupied the water column from the bottom in about 30′ up to about 14′ beneath the surface — there were, literally, hundreds of fish in this area.

Since the fellows already had slabs on and were already familiar with using them, we started off with them, but, when I experimented with a faster, flashier MAL Heavy (with chartreuse tail) and got multiple hits and three hooked fish on three drops of the lure to the bottom, I quickly changed Greg and Ethan over to the MAL Heavy and they went on a fish-catching spree which lasted about 45 minutes, during which time they took their fish count from 26 fish to 81 fish landed — a 55 fish haul in a short period of time.

That seemed to be the real peak feed for the afternoon, as we never saw another strong feed by fish either on sonar nor indicated by birds from that time (around 6p) until we wrapped up at 7p.

I normally fish right at 4 hours, but this evening we stopped at about the 3.5 hour mark as Greg had to get dinner for he and Ethan taken care of, and drive back to Georgetown, and get ready for an early day at the hospital the next day.

We ended up with a total of 89 fish landed, of which 86 where white bass, with 2 freshwater drum and 1 largemouth bass thrown in for good measure.

TALLY: 89 fish caught and released

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

OBSERVATIONS: Water temperature profile:

0 feet, 64.1F
5 feet, 62.6F
10 feet, 61.1F
15 feet, 60.3F
20 feet, 60.1F
25 feet, 60F
30 feet, 59.4F
35 feet,59.2F
40 feet, 58.9F
45 feet, 58.7F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 3:30P

End Time: 7P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 78F

Elevation: 14.24 feet low, 24 CFS flow, .01′ fall over the last 24 hrs.

Water Surface Temp: 64.1F on the surface thanks to warmth and mixing by wind overnight

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE15-16 at trip’s start, slowly falling off to SSE10-12 by trip’s end

Sky Condition: 60% white cloud cover on a blue sky for ~75 minutes, transitioning to 80+% grey clouds thereafter

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 4% illumination.

GT = 50

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 1909 – 1 fish

Area B0015C/B0178C – 9 fish

Area 2052 – 2 fish

Area B0064G – 14 fish

Area 0141 – 55 fish

Area B0057C – 5 fish

Area B0086C – 3 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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

1 MAN, 2 LIMITS, 3 HOURS — 50 FISH @ BELTON

March 23rd, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Thursday, March 23^rd, I fished with first-time guest Spencer Brown Jr. of Waco.

Spencer is self-employed with his kids all through college and working now, and he just decided to take a break from the daily routine to come out and wet a line and enjoy the early spring weather.

He wasn’t out to break any records or land any trophies, so, he requested a start time of 9AM to make the drive to Lake Belton a bit more leisurely. So, we had from our 9AM start to about noon (when the fish have been shutting down following the morning feed) to catch what we were going to catch.

Here is how the fishing went…

————————————————————————–

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

Next available dates are April 13 (PM), 26 (AM), and 27 (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION: Spencer Brown Jr. of Waco came out with me solo this morning. We fished at a leisurely pace for just 3 hours (9 to noon) and landed 50 fish on both the MAL Lure and the Bladed Hazy Eye Slab.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday, 23 March 2023 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED:

Our weather today was pretty decent – we had grey cloud cover and a stiff SSE breeze at 16-17. There was, once again, a definite “peak bite” this morning around 10-11A. During this time the fishing was easy as the fish positioned up off the bottom by several feet and aggressively chased both the Bladed Hazy Eye Slab and the MAL Heavy with chartreuse tail. This was my very first attempt at the use of the MAL vertically so far this calendar year since the water chilled to below 60F back in December.

Outside of this peak time, the fishing was more demanding, and the use of a smooth, continuous retrieve was critical. At first, Spencer was having a hard time getting his retrieve smoothed out enough to keep his bait from surging and slowing repeatedly on its way up off the bottom. I just sat and watched him do what he was doing for several iterations and identified the problem. Not only was he turning the reel’s handle with his left hand, he was also moving the rod slightly forward and backward with his right hand as he reeled. This combination caused the rod tip to bob up and down and his presentation to go largely ignored. As soon as we identified and corrected that, his catch rate increased immediately.

There was some bird action, but in each case I found very sparse (but very aggressive) fish under the birds pushing bait to the surface. The number of fish under the birds was generally not sufficient to stop for with expectations of catching quite a number of fish beneath them.

We wrapped up right at noon with exactly 50 fish, including 2 freshwater drum, 1 hybrid striped bass (short), and 47 white bass.

TALLY: 50 fish caught and released

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

OBSERVATIONS: Water temperature profile:

0 feet, 64.1F
5 feet, 62.6F
10 feet, 61.1F
15 feet, 60.3F
20 feet, 60.1F
25 feet, 60F
30 feet, 59.4F
35 feet,59.2F
40 feet, 58.9F
45 feet, 58.7F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 9A

End Time: 12 Noon

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 72F

Elevation: 14.24 feet low, 24 CFS flow, .01′ fall over the last 24 hrs.

Water Surface Temp: 64.1F on the surface thanks to warmth and mixing by wind overnight

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE10 at trip’s start, increasing steadily to SSE16-17 with higher gusts by trip’s end.

Sky Condition: 100% heavy grey cloud cover with “squinting” level of light coming thru the clouds

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 4% illumination.

GT = 50

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area B0121C – 6 fish

Area B0056G – 7 fish

Area B0009C – 2 fish

Area B0208G – 20 fish

Area B0064G – 15 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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

ACOUSTIC GUYS GIVE FISH A “SOUND” WHOOPING — 106 FISH @ BELTON

March 22nd, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Wednesday, 22 March, I fished with brothers-in-law, Ronnie Everett and Terry Shumate. The two are also partners in the same small business – – Everett’s Acoustics LLC, which specializes in acoustical ceilings, commercial doors, bathroom partitions, interior demo, metal stud framing, and drywall.

I happened to meet Ronnie at the Harker Heights Neighborhood Walmart Market while fueling up my boat. We struck up a fishing conversation and, as a result, he came out fishing for white bass with me today, and now plans to bring his grandkids out, as well.

Here is how the fishing went…

————————————————————————–

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

Next available dates are April 13 (PM), 26 (AM), and 27 (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION: Brothers-in-law and business partners Ronnie Everett (left) and Terry Shumate boated 106 fish on Lake Belton under classic spring weather conditions this morning.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday, 22 March 2023 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED:

Our weather situation was much improved this morning, in that we still had gray skies, but with ample light coming through the cloud cover, and we had a continuing south-southeast wind, which eventually got up to 16 mph with stronger gusts.

That is a very good weather set up for spring time white bass. We found and caught fish steadily over the entire four hours on the water, but that span from 9:45 through 10:45 was a definite peak with a higher catch rate.

Birds were present, and in some cases, helpful, although you really needed to study their behavior to help you get on fish, as many of these birds are distracted by shad now rising up near the surface as they begin to prepare for spawning.

All but a handful of our fish were taken on the white, 5/8-ounce Bladed Hazy Eye Slab for fish in 25 to 30 feet of water. These fish were tightly schooled together and fairly obvious on well-tuned side-imaging sonar.

Once we found them, I used the i-Pilot Link interface with my trolling motor to park on top of the fish. We then proceeded to fish for them vertically using Garmin LiveScope to track fish response to our presentations.

We did a good bit of moving around today, finding that the fish would only stay interested for perhaps 10-15 minutes at a clip. Even though fish would still be present after this span of time, they only half-heartedly followed the lure upwards, if that. Moving frequently helped us stay on fresh, aggressive fish.

When all was said and done, Terry and Ronnie landed exactly 106 fish, including 6 freshwater drum, 2 largemouth bass, and 98 white bass. Our 100th fish came aboard at exactly 11:57, and the fellows managed the last six fish as I was prepping the boat to head in.

TALLY: 106 fish caught and released

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

OBSERVATIONS: We took as many fish this morning in 4 hours as we did in 5 hours the day before, thanks to brighter and breezier conditions today. We had to move frequently — as soon as the fish indicated a loss of interest in chasing our baits.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 8A

End Time: 12 Noon

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 68F

Elevation: 14.23 feet low, 24 CFS flow, .01′ fall over the last 24 hrs.

Water Surface Temp: 58.3F on the surface

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE8 at trip’s start, increasing steadily to SSE16 with higher gusts by trip’s end.

Sky Condition: 100% heavy grey cloud cover with “squinting” level of light coming thru the clouds

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 1% illumination.

GT =65

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 1000 – 8 fish

Area B0064G – 9 fish

Area 1917 – 7 fish

Area 1934 – 7 fish

Area 2027 – 2 fish

Area B0009C – 44 fish

Area vic B0199C – 5 fish

Area 0147 – 7 fish

Area vic B0187C – 17 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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

CONTINUING EDUCATION – 100 FISH @ BELTON

March 21st, 2023March 22nd, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Tuesday, 21 March, I fished with long-time Lake Belton anglers, Sam Simon and Ron Clark.

Although both men own their own boats and are very capable white bass fisherman, they, like me, try to remain intentionally open to coaching and improvement.

For me, that involves taking time away from my own fishing schedule twice a year to go fishing with other guides in other fisheries for other species in order to ask a lot of questions, pick their brain on equipment, observe them in their element, and hopefully catch a few fish while I’m at it.

For Ron and Sam, they wanted to compare my own approach to white bass fishing with their typical approach in order to glean what they could and become better white bass anglers as a result.

I shared with them right up front about my concerns about them being 1) older men and 2) experienced anglers. It has been my experience as a guide that those fitting such a description typically do NOT do well because they fish their way instead of using the time-tested, species-specific approaches I try to introduce my clients to. Both men acknowledged my concerns and assured me they were coachable … and they were!!!

Here is how the fishing went…

————————————————————————–

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

Next available dates are March 23 (AM) and April 6 (PM), 13 (PM), and 26 (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION: Long-time Lake Belton anglers and U.S Army veterans Ron Clark (left) and Sam Simon came out with me today to sharpen their own white bass fishing skills

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday, 21 March 2023 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED:

I knew we were in for a tough time this morning, and shared this openly with Ron and Sam. The reason for my concern was the foggy conditions which persisted all morning, and the initial lack of wind we experienced in our first hour on the water.

We kept waiting and waiting on the drizzle to stop and the fog to lift while experiencing a slow bite by lethargic fish as we did.

Three hours into the trip, we had only landed 29 fish, but, persistence paid off.

Around 11 AM, the wind had picked up to around 9 mph (nowhere near the 16 to 17 mph wind that was forecast all morning), and the skies, although still drizzly and foggy, had definitely brightened some.

As we observed our surroundings, we could see increasing bird activity, and, as we studied sonar, we could see fish no longer glued to bottom, but rather spreading out in horizontal coverage, and lifting up off bottom vertically. All of these things bode well for us.

I extended the trip for one hour, and in our final two hours we caught three times as many fish as we did in our first three hours. By 12:57 PM our 100th fish came over the gunwale, and we decided to call it a good trip right then and there.

As for tactics, with the slow bite this morning, we used the Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs (5/8 ounce, white) to catch 87 of our 100 fish in 22-30 feet of water. The remaining 13 fish were taken on MAL Original Lures as we Spot-Locked in 10 feet of water and cast up toward the shore on a slow tapering, wind blown point, where side imaging had revealed a few scattered white bass around 9:45 AM.

One of the biggest tips Ron and Sam picked up on was the use of my thumper not only as a fish attractor, but as a metronome to keep a steady retrieve consistently. They also picked up on how effective the slow-smoking tactic is versus the typically erratic snap jigging tactics they typically employ.

In all, this was a very enjoyable and productive trip with these two (still-coachable!!!) US Army veterans, husbands, and fathers.

Our tally of 100 fish consisted of 2 freshwater drum, 3 largemouth bass, and 95 white bass.

TALLY: 100 fish caught and released

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

OBSERVATIONS: The grey skies and southerly winds are a wonderfully productive combination for producing white bass. These conditions are forecast to persist all week!!

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 8A

End Time: 1P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 54F

Elevation: 14.22 feet low, 24 CFS flow, .02′ fall over the last 24 hrs.

Water Surface Temp: 58.0F on the surface

Wind Speed & Direction: Calm winds at trip’s start slowly creeping up to SSE7-8 by trip’s end

Sky Condition: 100% heavy grey cloud cover, drizzle the entire trip, and a persistent, thin fog.

Moon Phase: New moon at 0% illumination.

GT = 5

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area B0064G – 13 fish

Area B0185C – 3 fish

Area B0114C – 13 fish (shallow MAL bite)

Area 211 – 13 fish

Area B0015C/B0178C – 58 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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

GREY SKIES, SOUTHERLY BREEZE, GAME ON — 105 FISH @ BELTON

March 20th, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Monday, March 20, I fished with returning guests Joe Adcock, a retired U.S. Army veteran, and his 11-year-old son, Dawson. Joe’s wife, Danna, gave him a fishing gift certificate for Fathers’ Day last year and, with Dawson enjoying an extended spring break as Killeen ISD teachers had a workshop today, the two of them cashed that certificate in and enjoyed very solid fishing this morning.

Here is how the fishing went…

————————————————————————–

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

Next available dates are March 23(AM) & April 4(AM), 6(PM), 13(PM), 24(AM), and 26(AM)

PHOTO CAPTION: Joe Adcock and his 11-year-old son bundled up well for this 20 March 39F start and wound up putting 105 fish in the boat in right at 3.5 hours.

PHOTO CAPTION: As we fish near bottom for shad-eating white bass, other shad-eating species are often caught, as well. Today, Dawson landed this 4 3/8-pound blue catfish. The pair also landed hybrid stripers, a largemouth bass, and a freshwater drum.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday, 20 March 2023 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED:

The mild cold front, which came in last Thursday with a bit of violent weather on its lead edge, dropped our weekend temperatures substantially. This morning’s predawn ambient air temperature was 39°F.

The winds began to shift back out of the south just before sunset last night, and the southerly wind continued to build this morning from a start around 6 mph up to about 11 mph by trip’s end. The first hour saw a steady increase in activity up to a two hour plateau, beginning around 9A and lasting until around 11A, followed by a dropping off of fish activity in the fourth hour.

Our fishing divided neatly into two segments this morning. As the fish were ramping up and were a bit sluggish and inclined to hug bottom, we used white, 5/8 ounce Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs with a slow smoking tactic to land our first 50 fish. By 9:30, fish were much more active, moving more quickly, parallel to the bottom, and were positioned much further up off the bottom. Occasional fish could you be seeing popping shad on the surface, and gulls & terns were working routinely.

At this point, I reposition the boat so my two-man crew could cast up shallower, and, for the next hour plus, they worked MAL Heavy Lures with white bodies and chartreuse tails to boat an additional 40 fish using the sawtooth method.

By 11A, the fishing was slowing back down. We moved back out deeper, found a nice cluster of bottom-oriented fish, and worked them until they quit with Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs. We added a final 15 fish to our count for a grand total of 105 fish.

Joe and Dawson landed 2 hybrid striped bass, a 4 3/8 pound blue cat, 1 freshwater drum, and 101 white bass, of which 88 were of legal size.

TALLY: 105 fish caught and released

Find Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS: The grey skies and southerly winds are a wonderfully productive combination for producing white bass. These conditions are forecast to persist all week!!

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 8A

End Time: 11:30A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 39F

Elevation: 14.2 feet low, 24 CFS flow, .02′ fall over the last 24 hrs.

Water Surface Temp: 58.5F on the surface

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE6 at trip’s start, slowly building to SSE12 by trip’s end

Sky Condition: 100% moderate grey cloud cover.

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 2% illumination.

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area B0135C – 8 fish

Area 1000 – 2 fish

Area 2014 – 40 fish

Area B0184C – 40 fish

Area 0149 – 15 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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com