WHO I FISHED WITH:  On Wednesday, May 31, I fished with returning guests, Dr. Jason Locklin and his two oldest kids, Ava, age 17, and Morgan, age 15.

Jason is a professor at Temple College, and the two of us have not only fished together previously, but also had the opportunity to work together on a study comparing zebra mussel populations in Stillhouse Hollow and Lake Belton.

For sometime now, Jason has wanted to understand what it takes to both capture live shad, and then use them as bait for hybrid striped bass. This season, I chose not to pursue hybrid, both due to low numbers of legal size fish present as our Lake Belton hybrid program is rebuilding, and because I injured my left rotator cuff, thus making throwing a cast net impossible during the early part of the season.

Here is how the fishing went.…

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Here’s an up-to-date calendar so you can check availability: https://holdingthelineguideservice.com/available-dates.php

Next available dates are July 5, 6, 10 (all AM)

 

PHOTO CAPTION: Ava and Morgan Locklin with a few of the white bass they landed by sight-casting to surface feeding white bass with MAL Heavies, and by tightlining live shad off bottom.

PHOTO CAPTION: Ava Locklin with our best fish of the trip.  This bluecat fell for a piece of cut live shad we fished amongst a spread of 5 other rods with live gizzards and threadfins.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday, 31 May 2023 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED: 

Regardless of the whole shoulder thing, I told Jason I would try to figure out a way to at least show him the ropes this season. Unfortunately we had to wait for the kids to be done with school and, as a result, our shad spawn has since ended, so that meant capturing shad the hard way. We met up at 4:45 AM with both a traditional net and a tape net, and proceeded to collect enough bait before sunrise to see us through that portion of our trip dedicated to the pursuit of hybrid.

I covered topics I felt were critical for catching and keeping shad:

• Cast net styles
• Shad tank fundamentals (aeration, filtration, circulation, and insulation)
• Water treatments
• Sorting/transfer bucket use
• Throwing methods
• Deep water throwing vs. shallow water throwing
• Bait net use
• Filter material and cleaning

With a mix of threadfin and gizzard shad now in the bait tank, we got lines in the water just after first light around 6:25 AM.

We hit three areas getting set up and then allowing the baits and splasher to work their magic for about 25 minutes at each location. Although we drew strikes and landed two white bass, neither the strikes, nor the sonar signatures I saw led me to believe we were dealing with hybrid.

The night before this trip, suspecting that the shad and/or the hybrid might be difficult to come by at this point in the season, I asked Jason what he would like to do if we struggled in either regard, and he was open to pursuing other species in other ways.

As we headed to a fourth area to search for hybrid, I spotted some widespread surface activity and was pleased to see that the white bass were feeding on adult threadfin shad. I say “pleased”, because when these fish are feeding on young of the year shad, they are much more difficult to fool, as it is hard to find a lure small enough to imitate these tiny fish.

For about 45 minutes, Morgan, Ava, and Jason sight-cast on one side of the boat or the other, as I maneuvered the boat to keep them with in casting range of the surface feeding fish.

This trio put 68 fish in the boat and made quick work of it. The time was now 9:20 AM, and we had planned to wrap up around 10:20 AM, so we agreed to put in our final hour in pursuit of hybrid once again.

I surveyed a windblown point with sonar, saw activity, and got baits down quickly as everyone was now very familiar with the routine. We fished this area until the bait ran out and wound up with 36 additional fish, including 33 white bass, two blue catfish, and one largemouth bass .

Our grand total for the morning was 106 fish with 68 taken on the MAL Heavy with chartreuse tail sight-cast and/or counted down, and an additional 38 fish taken on live threadfin and gizzard shad using essentially a Carolina rig, suspended vertically off the bottom terminated with a Kahle style hook.

We did not land a single hybrid, but still got to cover the approach to fishing live shad including:

• Shad size
• Shad location
• Shad species
• Hook choice
• Hook positioning
• Hook mono tags
• Tightline setups
• Rod holder positions
• Bite detection
• Bait clicker functions
• Chumming

TALLY: 106 fish caught and released

Find the entire family of MAL Lures  here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS:   With two consecutive days without spawning shad activity despite ideal conditions, I believe “Shad Spawn 2023” is now complete; and, by the looks of the numbers of juvenile shad now showing up, it looks as if it was quite successful.

 

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 4:45A

End Time: 10:20A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 66F

Elevation: 12.63 feet low, 24 CFS flow, a 0.04′ fall over the past 24 hours

Water Surface Temp: ~78.1F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: SE6-8 until ~9:20, then dropping to SE4-5

Sky Condition: Blue skies with under 10% cloud cover all morning.

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 85% illumination.

GT = 50

Wx SNAPSHOT: 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:  

Area vic 1556 – 2 whites on live shad

Area vic 1519 – 68 white sight-casting to fish feeding on adult shad with MAL Heavies (all legal)

Area 297 – 38 fish on live shad (2 blue catfish, 1 largemouth bass, 35 white bass (all legal)

 

 

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

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Tuesday evening, May 30, I fished with the 10-year-old grandson of Dr. Bill Johnston, a retired Scott and White anesthesiologist.

Webb Johnston had a very short window to fish with me during his visit with his grandparents and all I had available during that window was an evening trip, which I normally do not offer this time of year.

Summertime evening bites tend to be very short (but intense), taking place in the last 75 minutes or so of light.  It is difficult to have (kids, especially) out in high heat for 2.75 hours catching very little before the good fishing kicks in.  Fortunately, a nice breeze helped tame the heat.

Here is how the fishing went…

—————————————————————————————————–

Here’s an up-to-date calendar so you can check availability: https://holdingthelineguideservice.com/available-dates.php

Next available dates are July 5, 6, 10 (all AM)

 

PHOTO CAPTION: Webb Johnston with a nice 4.75 pound Lake Belton hybrid striped bass taken on an MAL Heavy raced from the bottom toward the surface while observing LiveScope.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  Bill Johnston treated his grandson, Webb, to an evening fishing trip on Lake Belton.  Webb landed a total of 64 fish.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday, 30 May 2023 (PM)

HOW WE FISHED: 

The plan was for Webb to do all the fishing today as Bill took photos, videos, and helped me help Webb be successful. I explain to Webb that on most evenings on Lake Belton, the vast majority of the fish activity takes place in the last hour or so before dark.

This evening was no exception.

Since this was a “Kids Fish, Too!“ trip, it was scheduled for 3.5 hours. After about two hours, we had managed 17 fish, primarily by downrigging for suspended white bass which were locked in on young of the year shad.

Around 7:35, as the winds, which came up very suddenly around 4:45 PM as a thunderstorm to the northeast fell apart, died down we began to see many schools of white bass churning the surface chasing primarily after young of the year shad.

Using the new MAL Mini Rig to more closely imitate these small shad than the standard MAL Lure does, Webb proceeded to wear out the white bass, taking our final count up to 64 fish landed as the final fish came in the boat at 8:58 PM.

We got into a good rhythm where Webb stood next to me on my boat’s front casting deck; he would cast to a pod of fish, retrieve quickly to keep his lure up high in the water column, hook and land a fish, then hand that rod — with fish still attached —  to me as I handed him an identical rod with the bail already centered and the bait hanging an appropriate distance below the rod tip, absolutely ready for casting.

I would unhook the fish, prepare the second rod, and wait on Webb to hook and land another, and so it went as the two of us worked very efficiently to keep him hooking and landing fish. As fun as this action was, and as appropriate as it was for a young man his age, most of these fish were yearling fish, many of which have already surpassed the 10″ minimum legal size.  Perhaps 1 in every 8 or so was 12″ or better.

TALLY: 64 fish caught and released

Find the entire family of MAL Lures  here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS:   “Offshore” schools of nomadic white bass feeding on the tiny young-of-the-year shad continues to increase in frequency and abundance.

 

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 4:45P

End Time: 9P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 85F

Elevation: 12.59 feet low, 24 CFS flow, a 0.30′ increase over the long Memorial Day weekend

Water Surface Temp: ~79F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: SE16 at trip’s start thanks to collapsing thunderstorms to the NE; then tapering back to SE6 by dark

Sky Condition: Blue skies with under 10% cloud cover all evening.

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 76% illumination.

GT = 50

Wx SNAPSHOT: 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:  

Area vic B0019G – downrigging

Area 1766 to 1641 – topwater sightcasting

 

 

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