ON THE CUSP OF SPRINGTIME FISHING — 38 FISH

by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH:  On the afternoon of Tuesday, March 12, I fished with returning guests, Rick Snelgrooes, and Brad Messner.

Both fellows are experienced anglers with freshwater, saltwater, and fly fishing experience under their belts.
Here is how the fishing went…
Next available dates are 28 Mar., 2 & 4 Apr. (AMs)

PHOTO CAPTION: From left, Brad Messner and Rick Snelgrooes with a few of the fish they caught using MAL Original Lures with chartreuse tails worked with a sawtooth method.

 

Find the Bladed Hazy Eye Slab here: https://whitebasstools.com/

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday, 12 Mar. 2024 (PM)

HOW WE FISHED: 

As we got going this afternoon, I shared with Rick and Brad how I felt we were right on the cusp of seeing the wonderfully productive springtime fishing kick in, but, that we weren’t quite there, meaning we’d have to work to find ’em, and then work to catch ’em.

We fished this afternoon‘s trip just the opposite as compared to the morning in that we started in deeper, clearer water, while the sun was high and bright, and moved up shallower as sunset approached.
In our first 2.5 hours, the fishing was slow but steady for suspended, migrating fish slowly working their way along the river channel in 20 to 28 feet of water over a deeper bottom.
I did not see opportunities to use the countdown method with an MAL Lure for these fish, so, we went vertical with the white, 5/8 ounce Bladed Hazy Eye Slab to single out individual, moving, suspended fish, and “snipe” them by reeling the lures right in front of their noses.
This accounted for 16 fish.  I noted that a fairly low percentage of fish expressed interest at this time of day (meaning, we saw way more fish swim by than the number which chased our baits).
In the last 90 minutes before sunset, we tried fishing up shallow in less than 16 feet of water. We struck out at the first area and then wound up more than doubling our catch in the final hour of fishing at the second shallow water area we visited.
Using a sawtooth method with an MAL Original was the key to catching these fish. We found seven cranks off the bottom with a 5.2 to 1 gear ratio reel was sufficiently fast and took the lure far enough off the bottom to interest these fish routinely.
We ended the evening with 38 fish landed, including 37 white bass, 1 largemouth bass, 1 blue cat, and 36 white bass.

 

TALLY: 38 fish caught and released 

 

OBSERVATIONS:  This was the first day this spring where a countdown method was useful because suspended fish were aggressive enough to chase horizontally.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 3:45P

End Time: 7:55P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 76F

Elevation: 12.20 feet low, 33 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 62.4F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE 8-9mph

Sky Condition: 80% white cloud cover with occasional breaks of sun

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 7% illumination.

GT = 105

Wx SNAPSHOT:    

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:  

Area vic 0158 (5 fish), B0253G (3 fish), B0268G (8 fish), 380 (22 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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