WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Wednesday morning, March 13, I fished with returning guests, Trey, Ann, and Jon Barfield.
Trey is a small businessman specializing in fire suppression and air filtration. Ann works with Trey on the filtration side of the business, and Jon is in his plebe year at the Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, New York.
Here is how the fishing went.
Next available dates are 28 Mar., 2 & 4 Apr. (AMs)
PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Trey, Ann, and Jon Barfield with a portion of their 150-fish catch taken primarily in shallow (<15′) water, and using the MAL Original with chartreuse tail or white tail.
Find the Bladed Hazy Eye Slab here: https://whitebasstools.com/
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday, 13 Mar. 2024 (AM)
HOW WE FISHED:
For the last few posts I’ve been talking about the fishing being “on the cusp” of turning on, or “simmering” just waiting to boil over. Well, today was the day!!
What a huge turnaround in the fishing overnight. This was the first night in several weeks where the air temperature overnight was higher than the water temperature.
I have noted many years now that this event often spurs the white bass fishing, the hybrid striped bass fishing, and the threadfin shad spawn.
After having to really work to find and catch fish for the last several weeks since February‘s premature warm-up, things really turned around this morning. We enjoyed gray skies and wind from the south all morning , and caught fish, literally, from start to finish. My three angler crew landed a total of exactly 150 fish.
The vast majority of these fish were taken in under 20 feet of water using the MAL Original with chartreuse tail or white tail (fish were indifferent to the color), and using a sawtooth tactic.
From time to time we saw small schools of white bass force shad to the surface, and a fast, accurate cast with an immediate retrieve to such activity was often met with a strike.
We fished this way through 10:50 AM when I suggested to the group that we leave fish to find fish in order to allow me to demonstrate how LiveScope is so effective in vertical jigging for fish in deep water, all because Trey had expressed extreme interest in this.
Even though the fish were winding down by this time, we were able to quickly locate two schools of fish in 23 feet of water and plucked four or five fish from each one of them– – definitely enough for Trey to see how the football-shaped fish moved from side to side, how his lure’s signature moved up and down, and how chasing fish were readily visible on the screen, thus informing the angler on when to keep reeling, or when to let his or her lure return to the bottom.
The Barfield’s 150 fish catch consisted of 149 white bass and 1 largemouth bass.
TALLY: 150 fish caught and released
OBSERVATIONS: This was the first day time this spring I witnessed repeated efforts by white bass to herd shad to the surface and then actually break the surface while feeding upon them over an extended period of time.
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 7:35A
End Time: 11:45A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 68F
Elevation: 12.11 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 14% illumination.
GT = 40
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
Area 380 (41 fish), B0001G (46 fish), B0063C (43 fish), 382 (9 fish), vic 0187 (11 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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