WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Friday morning, April 20th, I fished with father and son Jim and Peyton Mason, and family friends of theirs, Jimmy and Linda Ray, of Shreveport, LA. Jim is from Waco and Peyton flew in from Colorado for a visit after getting his dad a fishing gift certificate for Christmas 2017.
From left: Linda and Jimmy Ray with two solid hybrid stripers taken in our first 20 minutes on the water.
From left: Jim Mason with a hybrid striper and Linda Ray with a comparably-sized largemouth, both taken on live shad just seconds apart in about 38′.
Peyton Mason with a well-proportioned hybrid that took his large, live gizzard shad.
WHAT WE FISHED FOR: This was a multi-species trip focused primarily on hybrid striped bass.
WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake
WHEN WE FISHED: Friday morning, 20 April 2018
HOW WE FISHED: The late-arriving spring, still-cold water, and tremendous instability in our weather have resulted in a lack of consistency with the fishery thus far this spring. On this morning, we had a wind just north of east with a chilly bite to it and really didn’t do well until the low, grey, murky clouds thinned and began to let some sun through to brighten the skies and water. Our last 2 hours was considerably better than our first 2 hours, but we’re still not seeing anywhere near the numbers of fish, nor the consistency in the fishery, that is normal for this time of year. Our better fish (hybrid) all came on live and cut baits, and we spent about a 20 minute window slabbing for whites with a smoking tactic when the opportunity presented itself.
OBSERVATIONS/NOTES: 1) Due to the strong E. wind I did not search for shad. Others who did were unsuccessful in finding spawning threadfin this morning.
TALLY: 68 FISH, ALL CAUGHT AND RELEASED
TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 7:15a
End Time: 11:45a
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 50F
Water Surface Temp: 65.2F
Wind Speed & Direction: We launched into a stiff ENE breeze that never let up from 14-15mph the entire morning.
Sky Conditions: Grey, murky skies, thinning and brightening after 9:30a
Water Level: 2.05 feet low and slowly falling
GT = 100
Wx SNAPSHOT: N/A
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area vic 1749 – several hybrid right off the bat, but no sustained bite
**Area vic 1294 – several hybrid right off the bat, but no sustained bite
**Area vic B0068C – a mixed bag on bait, then whites via slabbing when they showed up “in force” around 38-41′ over a 44′ bottom.
**Area vic B0077C – a mixed bag on bait, composed of hybrid, largemouth, and white bass
Bob Maindelle, Central Texas Fishing Guide
Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service
254.368.7411 (call or text)
Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
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