WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Wednesday, 08 March, I fished with returning guests Tommy and Sylvia Maedgen of Troy, TX.
The Maedgens are both retired but remain very active in their travels, their interactions with grandkids, their outdoor pursuits, and in serving others through the local church they are a part of. This morning we tried to add a little more “spring” to their step, but, winter reminded us it hasn’t gone too far away, yet.
Like most folks who are fishing with me in the month of March, the Maedgens contacted me back in January to get an available weekday morning.
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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 22, 28, and 29 March
Here is how the fishing went …
PHOTO CAPTION: Sylvia and Tommy Maedgen of Troy, TX, with a few of the 81 fish they took on Lake Belton on a morning impacted by a mild cold front’s passage.
PHOTO CAPTION: This pale largemouth has been in deep water for a while now, as seen by its lack of coloration. As spring moves in, fish will move up.
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday, 08 March 2023 (AM)
HOW WE FISHED:
This morning’s wrinkle in the weather was fairly accurately forecast. There was some pre-frontal warming with thick, humid, warm air and a nearly calm wind with with some thin fog as we got going this morning. This persisted until around 8:30A, at which time the wind picked up suddenly to NNW12-13, accompanied by a ~6-7F temperature drop, a thickening of the cloud cover, and the disappearance of the fog.
We had already landed exactly 30 fish in under 45 minutes’ time and were searching for more sizeable fish as this front moved in. The fish got very tight-lipped and stayed that way until the wind settled back to a steady NNW9, the clouds thinned, the skies brightened, and the air began to warm once again. During the ~75 minutes it took for this to play out, the fishing remained very tough.
Once these more favorable conditions developed, the bite returned and we were able to put another 50 fish in the boat.
Although we did some testing of the waters with MAL Heavy lures worked horizontally, the fish just aren’t quite there yet (on Belton, although based on incoming MAL Lure orders, other lakes have definitely “turned on”). The last few springs have shown that 60F is the magic number.
Tommy and Sylvia used white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs (only) the entire morning and used them with a slow-smoking tactic.
We had no helpful bird action this morning.
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 81 fish tally included 3 largemouth bass, 4 short hybrid striped bass, 1 freshwater drum, and 73 white bass, of which 32 were legal (over the 10″ minimum).
TALLY: 81 fish caught and released
Find Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs with Stinger Hook here: https://whitebasstools.com/
OBSERVATIONS: We encountered a much higher ratio of short fish in our catch today than during any other trip in the recent past.
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 7:40A
End Time: 12:20P
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 68F, falling to 62F as the cold front came in, then rising back to 64F by trip’s end.
Elevation: 13.96 feet low, 24 CFS flow, .00′ fall over the last 24 hrs.
Water Surface Temp: 58.8F on the surface
Wind Speed & Direction: Calm at trip’s start, then NNW12-13 as the front came in, then scaling back to NNW8-9 thereafter
Sky Condition: Light fog at trip’s start, then clearing to 100% moderate grey cloud cover as the front came in, then thinning to 100% thin grey cloud cover thereafter
Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 99% illumination.
GT = 25
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
Area B0196G – 30 fish
Area vic 717 – 4 fish
Area BG0026 – 4 fish
Area B0171G – 7 fish
Area B0060G/B0050G – 26 fish
Area vic B0031G – 10 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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