WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Thursday, April 27, I fished with returning guests Stiles and Sarah Parker from Liberty Hill, Texas. The Parkers have been clients for many years and have brought parents, relatives, and business clients out with them on my boat through the many seasons they’ve been with me.
Now the parents of two kiddos not yet in school, a day without babies was pretty appealing, and Lake Belton was the place Stiles and Sarah chose to spend it.
I enjoy fishing with all my clients, but, when I have clients who are already knowledgeable anglers, it makes the day less demanding and more enjoyable.
Couple with that the ideal weather scenario we happened into today, and the stage was set for a wonderful result.
Here is how the fishing went…
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PHOTO CAPTION: Stiles and Sarah Parker on a parents’ day out fishing trip on Lake Belton. Good skills and good weather equaled a 117 fish catch.
PHOTO CAPTION: Stiles picked up this pretty bit of bycatch as more than white bass cashed in on the threadfin shad buffet in shallow water right as the sun was coming up.
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday, 27 April 2023 (AM)
HOW WE FISHED:
We got going at 7:05 this morning just as the last gray cloud cover from last night’s violent cold front was about to clear from west to east. As the clouds moved on, the skies brightened and the wind slowly but steadily increased. This all made for a very cool, dry, pleasant spring morning.
I was uncertain as to what the overnight cold front was going to do in regards to this morning‘s threadfin shad spawn, so I planned for most of our trip to involve vertical work.
Thus, I was pleasantly surprised when I spotted a flock of Franklin’s gulls accompanied by blue herons and white herons all gorging themselves on the strongest batch of threadfin shad I’ve seen spawning thus far this spring. These shad were in at least a 6 foot band from the shoreline outward, and the entire cove we found them in had the shoreline covered in this manner – – about an eighth of a mile worth of millions of bait fish.
Long story short, we sight-cast to these fish for an incredible 2.5 hours. After the sun brightened the sky and the fish left the bank, the white bass continued to herd them toward the surface in open water just yards offshore from where the spawning had occurred. Stiles and Sarah cast MAL Heavy Lures with chartreuse tails directly into the visible commotion, let the lure fall a few seconds by counting to between four and six, and then began a moderate to fast plain-Jane retrieve.
In addition to white bass of all sizes and a few small hybrid stripers, they also landed a largemouth bass and a smallmouth bass during this time.
This action ended right at 9:30.
From that point until we wrapped up at 11:15 AM, we hopped to five different open water areas where side imaging revealed large concentrations of white bass. We fished the same lure vertically using a smoking tactic in conjunction with Garmin LiveScope. We watched as the fish got increasingly reluctant in terms of their willingness to chase a lure any distance off the bottom. We wrapped up with 117 fish landed, including 103 white bass, 12 hybrid, striped bass (all short), one largemouth, bass, and one smallmouth bass.
As we departed, the straight line winds were pushing 16 to 17 mph with gusts over 20.
Here is a video I put together on the Smoking Tactic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE
And, here is a video I put together on the Sawtooth Method: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3FMEQHOMQ
TALLY: 117 fish caught and released
Find the entire family of MAL Lures here: https://whitebasstools.com/
OBSERVATIONS: I observed the strongest threadfin shad spawning activity of the spring to date this morning. The temperature profile was as follows:
0 feet, 68.4F
5 feet, 68.2F
10 feet, 68.1F
15 feet, 67.2F
20 feet, 66.6F
25 feet, 66.3F
30 feet, 66.0F
35 feet, 65.3F
40 feet, 63.2F
45 feet, 61.9F
50 feet, 60.8F
55 feet, 59.8F
60 feet, 58.9F
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 7:05A
End Time: 11:15A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 61F
Elevation: 14.40 feet low, 24 CFS flow, 0.06′ rise over the last 24 hrs.
Water Surface Temp: 68.4F on the surface.
Wind Speed & Direction: NW6 at trip’s start, ramping up to NW16-17 by trip’s end.
Sky Condition: Bright blue skies all morning.
Moon Phase: First quarter moon at 46% illumination.
GT = 65
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
Area 389 to 1021 – 81 fish on MAL Heavies counted down both near spawning shad and under birds (2.5 hours)
Area vic 1482 – 13 fish on smoked MAL Heavies
Area B0075C – 6 fish on smoked MAL Heavies
Area B0043G – 4 fish on smoked MAL Heavies
Area B0069G – 13 fish on smoked 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)
Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle
Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle
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