March | 2023 | Fishing Report

PUTTING SOME “SPRING” IN THEIR STEP – 81 FISH @ BELTON

March 9th, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

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

#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

IT WAS 20 DEGREES WHEN HE LEFT — 69 FISH @ BELTON

March 7th, 2023March 7th, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Tuesday, 07 March, I fished with returning guests Gene Ellis and his grandson, Bryson Ellis. Bryson is down visiting his grandparents from near Colorado Spring, CO — a place still firmly in winter’s grip.

For you local readers, if Gene Ellis sounds familiar it is likely because this two-hat wearing fellow serves as both the Assistant City Manager and Chief of Police for the city of Belton, TX.

Gene was “on the ball” in reserving this date well in advance, knowing that the first few weeks of spring fill my calendar up early in the year thanks to multiple school districts scheduling their spring breaks over a full 3-week span.

We originally planned to fish on Thursday, but an approaching cold front left some uncertainty about that outing, so, even though this morning was limited to 3 hours instead of 4, we put just shy of 70 fish in the boat and returned to the boat ramp as warm and dry as when we launched!

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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

Here is how the fishing went …

PHOTO CAPTION: Bryson Ellis and his grandpa, Gene Ellis, with a few of the 69 fish they landed in right at 3 hours under murky skies and very light winds.

PHOTO CAPTION: Bryson Ellis, age 14, from near Colorado Springs, CO, came to visit his grandparents near Lake Belton. He landed our best fish of the trip as we targeted increasingly aggressive white bass. This hybrid striper went right at 18″ and ~3 pounds.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday, 07 March 2023 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED:

Although the water temperature continues to climb now that we’ve had 9 full days wherein the ambient air temperature has exceeded the water temperature, this morning’s fish activity was a little more subdued than on Monday. I attribute that to the darker, thicker cloud cover keeping it dim most of the morning, and a lack of wind in the first 2 hours of the day.

Regardless, we found and caught fish all morning, but had to move more frequently and bring our offerings past quite a number of disinterested fish to get the attention of a handful of biters.

Both Gene and Bryson have fished with me while using the slow-smoking tactic previously, so the learning curve was all but non-existent — just a quick refresher and they were good to go.

The fellows used white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs (only) the entire morning and used them with a slow-smoking tactic.

While Gene and Bryson worked the slabs vertically with success, I gave the MAL Heavy a few heaves and worked it horizontally to gauge fish interest on a faster, flashier lure/retrieve. Belton’s fish just aren’t quite there yet. 60F is the magic number. I suspect over the course of my next few trips we’ll see that change. Put it this way … I’m certainly am not launching the boat without MAL-rigged rods aboard right now.

Once again this morning, birds (a mix of about 2 dozen gulls and terns) helped point the way to our most productive stop, although as I observed them, I saw them doing much more flying and looking than diving and feeding.

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 69 fish tally included 1 largemouth bass, 5 short hybrid striped bass, 1 legal hybrid and 62 white bass, of which 55 were legal (over the 10″ minimum).

TALLY: 69 fish caught and released

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

OBSERVATIONS: Dark skies and light winds made this morning’s fishing a bit tougher today.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:40A

End Time: 10:50A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 66F

Elevation: 13.96 feet low, 24 CFS flow, .01′ fall over the last 24 hrs.

Water Surface Temp: 58F on the surface

Wind Speed & Direction: S4-5 at trip’s start, increasing to S8-9 by ~9:45

Sky Condition: 100% thick grey cloud cover all morning

Moon Phase: Full moon at 100% illumination.

GT = 25

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area B0196G – 14 fish
Area 1552 – 4 fish
Area Vic 1142 (3 hops) – 41 fish (under birds)
Area B0199G – 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

SPRING BREAKIN’ WITH MOM — 151 FISH @ BELTON

March 6th, 2023March 6th, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Monday, 06 March, I fished with the Greenwood Family from Allen, TX, just north of Dallas.

Mrs. Cynthia Greenwood treated her four daughters, Jocelyn (age 13), Taylor and Reese (11-year-old twins), and Kendall (age 9) to a multi-day, Spring Break 2023 trip to the north Austin area, which included a morning of fishing with me on the waters of Lake Belton.

Cynthia happens to be a guidance counselor in the same school district in which her girls go to school, so the five of them had the same dates off. No, Mr. Greenwood didn’t get “voted off the island”; he had to keep on working this week!

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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

Here is how the fishing went …

PHOTO CAPTION: That’s mom (Cynthia) in the back, then, from left: Kendall, Taylor, Reese, and Jocelyn enjoying Spring Break 2023 away from Allen ISD up north of Dallas. My five-girl crew landed 151 fish in 4 hour.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday, 06 March 2023 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED:

The fishing is improving with each passing warm spring day now. The surface temperature is now in the high 50’s and climbing. We’ve got another 2 solid days of warming before the next cold front is due in, but, even it is due to be mild.

There are two distinct fisheries now present for white bass. There are fish locked down on bottom on major topographic features and there are large, slowly moving schools of fish wandering in preparation to spawn; these wandering fish tend to be suspended and clearly traveling in a specific direction. Those fish locked on bottom on topography tend to be harder to catch, fewer in number, and less likely to stay interested very long. Due to their position in the water column, these bottom-oriented fish are also in water several degrees cooler than the 20-25 foot water being used by the migratory fish.

My crew this morning had fished before, but really hadn’t caught fish before, with most of their prior experience taking place on municipal park ponds.

We started with the basics and just kept building on those basics until everyone was catching fish consistently and unaided. We began with how to hold a spinning rod, how to open and close the bail, and how to retrieve the bait smoothly and naturally. We then layered in Garmin LiveScope so each of the ladies could see their retrieve and fish response to it. Then we troubleshot kinks in their methodology and introduced a bit of hooksetting, and that was all it took.

The ladies used white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs (only) the entire morning and used them with a slow-smoking tactic.

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 151 fish tally included 1 freshwater drum, 4 largemouth bass, 6 short hybrid striped bass, and 140 white bass, of which 131 were legal (over the 10″ minimum).

TALLY: 151 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: 58F

Elevation: 13.95 feet low, 24 CFS flow.

Water Surface Temp: 57F on the surface

Wind Speed & Direction: S10 at trip’s start, increasing to S12 by trip’s end

Sky Condition: 100% thin grey cloud cover all morning

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 99% illumination.

GT = 75

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area vic 187 – 22 fish (w/birds)
Area A0160G – 11 fish (w/birds)
Area 294/B0198G – 62 (w/birds)
Area B0021C – 5 fish
Area B0199G – 41 fish (w/birds)
Area 154 – 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

HAD TO CALL IN THE RESERVES — 111 FISH @ BELTON

March 4th, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

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!

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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

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

Fishing Report

Holding The Line Guide Service

Month: March 2023

PUTTING SOME “SPRING” IN THEIR STEP – 81 FISH @ BELTON

IT WAS 20 DEGREES WHEN HE LEFT — 69 FISH @ BELTON

SPRING BREAKIN’ WITH MOM — 151 FISH @ BELTON

HAD TO CALL IN THE RESERVES — 111 FISH @ BELTON