CHICK-FIL-A vs. FISH FILLET – 53 FISH @ BELTON

WHO I FISHED WITH: This afternoon, Tuesday, March 14, I fished with Steve Niemeier, his grandson, Caleb Fowler, and Caleb‘s girlfriend, Abbi Corder.

Although Steve and Caleb have fished with me since Caleb was just starting elementary school (he’s now an 18-year-old high school senior), this was Abbi‘s first time out with me, and her first time fishing for white bass.

Caleb and Abby first got to know one another through participation in high school band.

Here’s how the fishing went …

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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 21, 22, 29 & 31 March

 

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Caleb Fowler, Abbi Corder, and Steve Niemeier with handfuls of Lake Belton white bass taken over Spring Break 2023.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED:  Tuesday, 14 March 2023 (PM)

HOW WE FISHED: 

This afternoon’s fishing was the toughest of the week thus far, as the north winds from the cold front  which came in early Sunday morning, finally began to subside. Additionally, the temperatures stayed in the 50s today making it a little bit tougher on hands and feet for folks not used to being out in the elements.

We fished for right at 3.25 hours before the thought of a Chick-Fil-A took priority over the thought of a fish fillet.

The fish were definitely harder to find and more finicky this evening. Although we found fish all afternoon, they tended to be in small schools, and those schools only stayed interested in our offerings for a few minutes after we first began fishing for them.

Interest in our presentations waned very quickly all afternoon. Regardless, we landed 53 fish, including 2 largemouth bass, 1 freshwater drum, 2 short hybrid, striper, and 48 white bass.

100% of our fish came on the white, 5/8 ounce, Bladed Hazy Eye Slab, and all of those fish were taken with a slow-smoking tactic. In all but one instance, we caught our fish from off the bottom.   In one instance, we found suspended, mobile fish, which we used LiveScope to reel our slabs past the fish, so as to place the lure to the front of the fish, and just above high-level to try to provoke a following strike.

TALLY: 93 fish caught and released

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

OBSERVATIONS: Temperature profile taken mid-day, Monday, 13 March:

0 feet 62.9F
5 feet 62.9F
10 feet 62.8F
15 feet 62.3F
20 feet 62.2F
25 feet 61.9F
30 feet 60F
35 feet 58.2F
40 feet 57.5F
45feet 55.9F
50 feet 54.7F
55 feet 54.3F
60 feet 54.2F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 3:30P

End Time: 6:45P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 57F

Elevation: 14.05 feet low, 24 CFS flow, .04′ fall over the last 24 hrs.

Water Surface Temp: 59.6F on the surface

Wind Speed & Direction: NNE11 at trip’s start through ~4:30pm, then backing off to NE6-7

Sky Condition: Moderately grey clouds at 100% coverage all day.

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 56% illumination.

GT = 80

Wx SNAPSHOT: 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:  

Area B0013C – 9 fish (2 hops)

Area 2038 – 20 fish

Area vic B0202G – 4 fish

Area 1934 – 10 fish

Area 0403 – 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

#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

HOG WILD FISHING! — 93 FISH WITH THE BYRD BOYS @ BELTON

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Tuesday, March 14, I fished with three young men from Gause, Texas. Mrs. Brittany Byrd brought her three sons, Tucker, Tuff, and River, out for some spring break white bass fishing on Lake Belton in celebration of River’s birthday.

I meet people from all walks of life in this fishing business, but I’ve never met anyone before who does what Brittany does. She supplies live, wild hogs to game ranches. She buys these animals from trappers, then turns around and sells them (boars only).  I’m a fan of win-win solutions, so, I thought this was pretty neat.

I was a little concerned when everyone showed up this morning as the boys were dressed a little lightly for the chilly conditions our most recent cold front brought to Central Texas. For a second day in a row, the air temperature was 48F, and the winds were northerly at around 12 mph.  Unlike yesterday, we had thick cloud cover, which endured all day, and which prevented any significant warm-up. River (age 7) actually stayed wrapped up in a blanket during our first stop or two, while his older brothers braved the elements and began fishing and catching.

Here’s 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 21, 22, 29 & 31 March

 

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Tucker, Tuff, River, and Brittany Byrd with a few of the plump, egg- and milt-filled, pre-spawn white bass they caught on Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs during Spring Break 2023.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday, 14 March 2023 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED: 

The fishing followed a bell-shaped curve today ramping up, peaking, plateauing, then dropping off. At our first two areas fished we found fish on bottom in moderately sized schools of a few dozen fish each. These fish were generally disinterested and so it took a good bit of work to put our first 14 fish in the boat. I decided to head elsewhere both to escape the biting wind and to find larger concentrations of fish.

Fortunately, we found two groups of mobile, suspended fish under birds, about an eighth of a mile apart from one another, and spent the remainder of the trip catching these fish on white, 5/8 ounce bladed Hazy Eye Slabs.

By using the thumper as both an attractor and as a metronome, I helped the boys keep their retrieve speed exactly right, which was key for these fish in 60° water.

We used a slow-smoking tactic the entire morning.  By the time four hours had passed, the boys landed a total of 93 fish, including, 1 hybrid striped bass (short), 4 largemouth bass, 1 white crappie, 2 freshwater drum, and 85 white bass, of which 11 were short.

TALLY: 93 fish caught and released

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

OBSERVATIONS: Temperature profile taken mid-day, Monday, 13 March:

0 feet 62.9F
5 feet 62.9F
10 feet 62.8F
15 feet 62.3F
20 feet 62.2F
25 feet 61.9F
30 feet 60F
35 feet 58.2F
40 feet 57.5F
45feet 55.9F
50 feet 54.7F
55 feet 54.3F
60 feet 54.2F

 

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 8:15A

End Time: 12:20P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 48F

Elevation: 14.05 feet low, 24 CFS flow, .05′ fall over the last 24 hrs.

Water Surface Temp: 59.6F on the surface

Wind Speed & Direction: NNE11 at trip’s start through ~4:30pm, then backing off to NE6-7

Sky Condition: Moderately grey clouds at 100% coverage all day.

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 56% illumination.

GT = 40

Wx SNAPSHOT: 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:  

Area B0005C – 13 fish

Area 2062 – 40 fish

Area B0203G (2 hops) – 40 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