WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Saturday, 04 March, I fished with Army buddies Taylor Lubigan and Cindy Gore.
Both are medical professionals who have been called away from their civilian employment to serve on active duty as reservists working at Fort Hood helping to medically prepare other soldiers for deployments worldwide.
Taylor was born in the Philippines and moved to New Jersey at age 7; Cindy grew up in Manhattan, NY.
Despite being born on an island, this trip was Taylor’s first time on a boat!
————————————————————————–
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 …
PHOTO CAPTION: U.S. Army Reservists Cindy Gore and Taylor Lubigan landed 111 fish on Lake Belton during their 4-hour morning trip. Warming water and increasing daylength has the fishing now steadily improving!
PHOTO CAPTION: “Two-for-ones” are a sign of very aggressively feeding fish. As the water temperature increases, so does fish metabolism. These fishes’ bodies are demanding more food, more often than just a few days ago.
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
WHEN WE FISHED: Saturday, 04 March 2023 (AM)
HOW WE FISHED:
I would now rate the fishing as “good” or “solid”, and know it will be getting better. This lengthy warming trend we’ve experienced (now a week long) raised the water temperature at depth (see below) and the fish have responded positively.
The fish are moving more quickly (as seen on Garmin LiveScope), responding more aggressively, staying interested for longer spans of time, are venturing further from bottom, and are chasing baits longer distances than just a week ago.
Applying the good old Army “KISS” principle (Keep it simple, stupid!) we found what worked early and stuck with it right through the morning. Our method definitely wasn’t broke, so we made no attempt to fix it!! At times we had company nearby and I observed that the snap-jigging tactics being employed were not producing even a fraction of the fish we were catching.
We used a slow-smoking tactic 100% of the time and relied upon the white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs to catch every one of the 111 fish which crossed the gunwale this morning.
We had some “gravy” poured on our already good meal when bird activity erupted at mid-morning, allowing us ~50 minutes of undisturbed catching (9:30 to 10:20AM) during which time we caught a majority of our fish.
Here is a link to my tutorial on using the Bladed Hazy Eye Slab with a slow-smoking tactic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIPopSLUYoQ
Our 111 fish tally included 5 freshwater drum, 1 largemouth bass, 4 short hybrid striped bass, and 101 white bass, of which 95 were legal (over the 10″ minimum).
TALLY: 111 fish caught and released
Find Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs with Stinger Hook here: https://whitebasstools.com/
OBSERVATIONS: Temperature profile taken on 04 March:
0 feet, 58.6F
5 feet, 58.3F
10 feet, 58.2F
15 feet, 58.2F
20 feet, 57.8F
25 feet, 57.6F
30 feet, 57.2F
35 feet, 56.6F
40 feet, 56.0F
45 feet, 54.9F
50 feet, 53.9F
55 feet, 53.5F
60 feet 53.2F
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 7:40A
End Time: 11:50A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 48F
Elevation: 13.92 feet low, 24 CFS flow.
Water Surface Temp: 58.6F on the surface
Wind Speed & Direction: SSE5 at trip’s start, increasing to SSE11 by trip’s end
Sky Condition: Cloudless skies with a light haze making skies light blue
Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 92% illumination.
GT = 45
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
B0196C/B0196G – 11 fish
B0013C/1544 – 5 fish
Vic 1144 – 54 fish (2 hops)
Vic B0037C/B0150C – 34 fish
B0150C – 7 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
#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