WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Monday, March 18, I fished with returning guests Dave and Steve Wise. Dave is a Minnesota-based snowbird who makes his way down to Texas about twice a year to visit with his dad and his brother, Steve, who reside in the north Austin area.
Here is how the fishing went…
PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Brothers Steve and Dave Wise paired up on Lake Belton for a 2-man catch of 55 white bass despite the cold front conditions they faced this morning.
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
WHEN WE FISHED: Monday, 18 Mar. 2024 (AM)
HOW WE FISHED:
After a nice four-day long, midweek warm-up last week, which really nudged the white bass fishing in the right direction, we lived through a three-day cold snap with the coldest of the weather occurring this morning.
It was only 48° at the end of the boat ramp on Lake Belton as we launched this morning, although tomorrow morning is supposed to be even colder due to limited cloud cover overnight . Last Thursday saw the very first threadfin shad spawning, but there was no such activity this morning. In fact, there was not much shallow water activity at all. We caught only 3 fish in under 17 feet of water today, whereas the majority of the 280 fish caught last Wednesday and Thursday mornings came in under 15 feet of water.
Today, we had to go “low and slow“, with vertical use of slabs, using a slow-smoking tactic.
One productive adjustment I made today was to upsize to the white, three-quarter ounce, Bladed Hazy Eye Slab. Last week’s start of spawning activity and abundant shallow water white bass activity showed me that the fish were willing to go after meals quite a bit larger than the 5/8 ounce presentation I had been defaulting to over the winter.
Although we found fish in 22 to 35 feet of water just about everywhere I looked, the group size of these fish was not massive, so, we picked up a few fish, then moved, picked up a few more fish, then moved, and so on.
As is often the case when fish are sluggish, as they were this morning, the fish typically flared up and expressed interest in the first few minutes we made our presentations, and then grew indifferent to our presentations soon thereafter. Our peak activity came between 9:30 and 10:45 this morning. After 10:45, the skies began to clear significantly with the first direct sunlight of the morning shining on the water , and the fish just seemed to begin to really slack off after that.
For their efforts, Dave and Steve wound up with 55 fish — all white bass and still more than a limit’s worth, but not near the kind of tallies we saw during the ideal weather conditions late last week.
Find the 3/4-ounce Bladed Hazy Eye Slab here: https://whitebasstools.com/
TALLY: 55 fish caught and released
OBSERVATIONS: No spawning activity observed this morning thanks to a cold front over the weekend dropping this morning’s low to 48F.
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 7:40A
End Time: 12:15P
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 48F
Elevation: 12.01 feet low, 33 CFS flow
Water Surface Temp: 61.3F on the surface.
Wind Speed & Direction: NNE 8-13 mph
Sky Condition: 80% grey cloud cover at trip’s start, clearing to 60% high, thin, white cloud cover by trip’s end.
Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 63% illumination.
GT = 50
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
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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