HE TIPPED ME WITH WAGYU STEAK!! YUM!! — 120 FISH (PRE-FLOODING)

by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH:

On Friday, May 3, I fished with returning guests, Bill York and Gardiner Henderson, joined by Bill‘s friend and my first time guest, Dale Love.

 

Bill and Dale are both graduates (Classes of ’81 and ’82, respectively) of the US Military Academy and played college football for Army there back in the day.

 

Since Bill and Gardiner had fished with me previously and caught a great number of white bass doing so, Bill wanted to target the larger, hybrid striped bass on today’s trip. We did that using live threadfin shad.

 

Here is how the fishing went…

 

PHOTO CAPTION:   From left, Bill York, Gardiner Henderson, and Dale Love with Lake Belton hybrid striped bass taken on either cut or live treadfin shad.  Dale’s fish, our largest of the morning, went 5.75 pounds on a certified scale.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:   I did not practice catch-and-release in this situation.

Find MAL Lures and Hazy Eye Slabs here: https://whitebasstools.com/

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Friday, 03 May 2024 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED: 

The shad spawn is in full swing right now and catching bait was a very simple matter.
I welcomed everyone aboard at 7:15 AM, went over some of the fine points on how to drop a bait to bottom without getting it tangled, how to position a rod in a rod holder, and how to go about setting a hook after a bite is recognized.
So equipped, we headed out to the first of four areas we would fish.  All morning we enjoyed steady action and landed a variety of species, including hybrid striped bass, white bass, freshwater drum, blue catfish, and a single largemouth bass thrown in for good measure with another single smallmouth bass missed right at boatside as it jumped.
As has been the case since mid-April when I begin fishing live shad for hybrid once again, all of the legal hybrid we caught came in the first two hours. During this time we managed a total of seven legal hybrid landed with another three short hybrid landed.
The final two hours produced only two short hybrid and a mix of the other species aforementioned.
All of our fish came in 36 to 40 feet of water. The legal hybrid we caught came on a variety of shad sizes with no clear preference. Two of the legal hybrid came on fresh cut bait .
By the 4.5 hour mark my crew of three had landed exactly 120 fish for their efforts.

As we wrapped up, Gardiner motioned for me to meet him at the cooler he had in the back of his vehicle.  He and his wife run a Wagyu beef operation near Iola, TX, and he was kind enough to bring me with some  burgers and nicely marbled ribeye and chuck eye roll!!

TALLY: 120 fish caught and released 

 

OBSERVATIONS:

Here was the water temperature profile for Lake Belton, measured before sunrise on April 30th …

0 feet 73.4F
5 feet 72.0F
10 feet 71.3F
15 feet 70.7F
20 feet 70.0F
25 feet 70.0F
30 feet 69.9F
35 feet 68.6F
40 feet 67.6F
45 feet 66.8F
50 feet 64.3F

 

 

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:15A

End Time: 11:45A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 70F

Elevation: 6.62 feet low and rising, 33 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 70.5F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: SE8-9 all morning

Sky Condition: 100% grey skies all morning with light, occasional mist, followed by a light rain beginning as we departed.

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 28% illumination.

GT = 50

 

Wx SNAPSHOT:  N/A

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:  

Area vic 344 – 62 fish incl. 7 legal hybrid stripers & 3 shorts

Area vic B0019G – 11 fish, no hybrid

Area 1743 – 27 fish incl. 1 short hybrid

Area 477 – 20 fish, no hybrid

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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