Bob Maindelle | Fishing Report

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

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IF HE SAID IT ONCE, HE SAID IT A DOZEN TIMES — 144 FISH @ BELTON

April 5th, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Wednesday, April 5, I finished with first time guests Richard and Al Eyster. These cousins are both retired from careers in the oil and gas industry and grew up with both freshwater and saltwater fishing experience. Al, however, didn’t do much fishing after boyhood, and estimated it had been over 30 years since he had touched a rod and reel prior to this morning’s trip.

Here is how the fishing went…

————————————————————————–

Peak spring dates are just about gone. Here’s an up-to-date calendar so you can check availability: https://holdingthelineguideservice.com/available-dates.php

Next available dates are June 01, 05-08 (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Al and Richard Eyster enjoyed the typically above-average fishing which takes place immediately following a cold front’s passage as the north winds begin to ramp up. The pair took 144 fish today using multiple MAL Lure types with a variety of retrieves.

PHOTO CAPTION: Many folks would wake up to this and think, “Forget it!”, but, at the storm’s rate of progress west, its passage coincided with sunrise, giving us improving conditions through the morning hours.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday, 05 April 2023 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED:

We planned to start at 7:40 AM and were delayed just a few minutes as the trailing edge of a cold front passed through the area. Wind, rain, thunder, and lightning all moved from west to east, and as it did, I provided my safety talk and tactics orientation inside Richard‘s Chevy Suburban, so we would be ready to fish as soon as the rain let up and the lightning moved safely past us.

Although the action was slower in the first and last hours, we caught fish consistently from start to finish for a full four hours this morning. The fishing was made simple by the presence of shad-eating birds, including terns and a variety of gulls. Where the gulls were circling over the lake, baitfish were being driven to the surface by aggressively feeding gamefish below. Even when the birds quit, the fish, although less aggressive, still remained in the area and were easily caught. We used three different retrieves all employing, the Heavy, and the Dense versions of the MAL Lure.

When the fish were less aggressive at the beginning and end of the trip, we used the MAL Heavy vertically, and in conjunction with Garmin LiveScope by dropping to the bottom, then cranking it upward off the bottom 5 to 6 cranks while watching LiveScope for a chase.

Later, but still under dark skies, the fish begin to chase bait in the lower half of the water column. At this time, we used MAL Heavy Lures, cast them out, let them sink to bottom, and brought them back with a straight, plain-Jane retrieve at a moderate cadence.

Once the skies brightened, the fish moved out deeper but were still feeding aggressively and were covering a large area of bottom, as seen on side-imaging. With this scenario, we cast the heaviest MAL, the MAL Dense, out horizontally, allowed it to sink with an open bail and worked it back to the boat using the sawtooth method.

If he said it once, he said it about a dozen times … Richard stated, “I really need to get one of these LiveScopes.” We then consider the major events lying ahead such as Fathers’ Day, his birthday, Christmas, etc. You can put two and two together.

By 11:50 AM we were headed back to the dock with 144 fish landed, including eight hybrids, striped bass, one blue, catfish, and 135 white bass with several fish right at the 14 inch mark

TALLY: 144 fish caught and released

Find the entire family of MAL Lures here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS: As the north winds increased following the front’s wet, stormy passage, the bite also increased.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:50A

End Time: 11:50A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 57F (falling from 76F at 5AM, just hours before the front moved in)

Elevation: 14.27 feet low, 24 CFS flow, .01′ rise over the last 24 hrs. thanks to passage of a violent, albeit brief, thunderstorm right at sunset Monday night.

Water Surface Temp: 65.8F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: NW4 at trip’s start after the cold front’s passage, building up to NW14 as we left the lake

Sky Condition: Slowly decreasing cloud cover going from 100% grey to 30% white by noon.

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 99% illumination.

GT = 105

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 817 – 57 fish early

Area B0067G – 57 fish in 2 short hops adjacent to river channel

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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

…MOST SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT… — 126 FISH @ BELTON

April 3rd, 2023April 3rd, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Monday, April 3, I fished with returning guests, Kelvin Gladden Sr., and his two adult sons, Kelvin Jr., and Tevin. Kelvin Sr. is a retired U.S. Army veteran, Kelvin works for Walmart, and Tevin signed on with a tech company based in Temple back in 2020. Here is how the fishing went…

————————————————————————–

Peak spring dates are just about gone. Here’s an up-to-date calendar so you can check availability: https://holdingthelineguideservice.com/available-dates.php

Next available dates are 27 April (PM), May 15 (AM), and June 01, 05-08 (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Kelvin Gladden Sr., and his sons Tevin and Kelvin Jr. landed 126 fish working MAL Heavy Lures with chartreuse tails using a vertical smoking tactic in conjunction with Garmin LiveScope.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday, 03 April 2023 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED:

We got off to a slightly later than intended start, with lines in the water around 8:25, but thanks to calm winds and dark gray skies, the fishing was still pretty slow even then. As soon as the clouds begin to thin, the bite picked up, and the bite improved even more after we got some wind moving and the brightening of the skies continued.

The lengthy warming trend we have enjoyed made what I feel is the most significant improvement in the fishing so far this spring over this past weekend. Every group of fish we found, although their energy level certainly differed from school to school, was energized enough to aggressively pursue a quickly retrieved MAL Heavy Lure used with a smoking (not slow-smoking) tactic. Additionally, each school readily pulled up off the bottom, whereas less aggressive schools right up until late last week would often stayed glued to the bottom, no matter what.

Fishing was pretty straightforward after we figure it out what these aggressive fish were willing to do. I found the fish, put us on Spot Lock over top of them, made sure that my crew knew how to get the MAL Lures’ blades spinning early in the retrieve, and the rest was gravy. The Gladden family put 126 fish in the boat this morning including 3 hybrid stripers, 1 yellow cat, 1 freshwater drum, 1 smallmouth buffalo, and 120 white bass.

TALLY: 126 fish caught and released

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

OBSERVATIONS: The first whiporwills showed up in the cedar breaks this weekend and the first of the spawning threadfin shad were spotted running along the bank this morning.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 8:15A

End Time: 12:30P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 70F

Elevation: 14.28 feet low, 24 CFS flow, .04′ fall over the last 24 hrs. thanks to passage of a violent, albeit brief, thunderstorm right at sunset last night.

Water Surface Temp: 62.9F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: SE3 at trip’s start, rising to SE 9 by mid-morning, then dropping off again toward noon.

Sky Condition: Slowly decreasing cloud cover going from 100% grey to 30% white by noon.

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 93% illumination.

GT = 55

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area B0051C- 22 fish

Area B0020C – 16 fish

Area B0172C – 15 fish

Area 437 – 15 fish

Area 165 – 9 fish (very shallow)

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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

CAST-IRON CASTERS – 77 FISH @ BELTON

March 31st, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Thursday evening, March 30, I fished with first-time guests Russell and Kelly Allen, both retirees who travelled in from near Brownwood, TX, to fish with me in celebration of Kelly’s birthday.

Russell retired from the oil and gas industry, and Kelly retired from a career as a court reporter. The two struck me as very humble, godly folks. They appreciated the prayer I always include at the start of my trips, and they asked to pray with me as our trip concluded, which was much appreciated.

As we got to talking, the Allens shared fond memories of a retreat they went to once upon a time in Oklahoma which involved a week’s worth of sleeping on cots under tents and learning to cook with cast iron pots and pans!

Here is how the fishing went…

————————————————————————–

Peak spring dates are just about gone. Here’s an up-to-date calendar so you can check availability: https://holdingthelineguideservice.com/available-dates.php

Next available dates are May 15 (AM), May 30 (AM), June 01 (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION: Retirees Russell and Kelly Allen shook off the drizzle, kept a great attitude, remained coachable, and did well, landing a mixed bag of white bass, hybrid stripers, and a single largemouth bass.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday, 30 March 2023 (PM)

HOW WE FISHED:

Although the warm, southerly breeze and occasional drizzle of the morning hours continued into this afternoon’s trip, the wind cut back to a steady 6-7mph and the temperature warmed to about 68F and stayed there all afternoon.

Fishing was just average this afternoon. We found several groups of fish that were relatively inactive which gave up only a few fish each, as well as two areas which produced no fish at all. As we encountered these lethargic fish, the white, 5/8 oz. slab was our tool of choice to provoke a chasing response. Presenting consistently to a large number of fish was the key to getting bit during this tough spell.

The last two hours of the trip were much more productive than the start. We moved up shallower as the light level began to decrease as the sunset (obscured by clouds) neared. A few spurts of topwater feeding and some minor bird activity let us know when we were at least in the right vicinity of catchable fish.

Once we saw this increased activity by the fish, we changed over to MAL Heavy and MAL Dense Lures and began to work them horizontally. We worked the MAL Heavy Lures from the surface downward using a count-down method, and we used the MAL Dense lures from the bottom upwards using the sawtooth method. Of these, the count-down method definitely excelled, as the fish on bottom (those seeing the MAL Dense on the sawtooth presentation) were not nearly as fired up as the fish up higher in the water column. We found both kinds of fish (those which were lethargic and on bottom, and those which were more active and up higher in the water column) both using the same areas at the same times.

In the final 15 minutes of the trip, I moved us up very shallow and we successfully landed both white bass and a few more hybrid in as little at 2 feet of water as we Spot-Locked in 7-9 feet of water and cast up shallower.

Our tally of 77 fish consisted of 4 short hybrid striped bass, 1 largemouth bass, and 72 white bass, of which 4 were short.

TALLY: 77 fish caught and released

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

OBSERVATIONS: The water temperature profile was as follows:

0 feet, 62.3F
5 feet, 62.3F
10 feet, 62.0F
15 feet, 62.0F
20 feet, 61.9F
25 feet, 61.7F
30 feet, 60.9F
35 feet, 60.0F
40 feet, 59.4F
45 feet, 59.2F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 3:15P

End Time: 7:45P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 68F

Elevation: 14.32 feet low, 24 CFS flow, .00′ fall over the last 24 hrs.

Water Surface Temp: 59.3F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: SE7 all afternoon

Sky Condition: 100% moderate, grey cloud cover with occasional light drizzle

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 63% illumination.

GT = 45

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area B0051C- 22 fish

Area B0020C – 16 fish

Area B0172C – 15 fish

Area 437 – 15 fish

Area 165 – 9 fish (very shallow)

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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

SNOWBIRD WHITE BASSIN’ — 155 FISH @ BELTON

March 30th, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Thursday, March 30, I fished with returning guests, brothers Steve and Dave Wise.

Dave, who lives near Mankato, MN (home of the Minn Kota trolling motor), makes an annual trek south down to the Georgetown area to live in his RV near his brother and dad during the winter storm season. Once the spring thaw arrives, he heads back north.

Here is how the fishing went…

————————————————————————–

Peak spring dates are just about gone. Here’s an up-to-date calendar so you can check availability: https://holdingthelineguideservice.com/available-dates.php

Next available dates are April 20 (PM), May 15 (AM), 30 (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION: Minnesota snowbird Dave Wise took our largest fish of the trip this morning as this 5.75 pound hybrid striper crushed his MAL Heavy (chartreuse tail) as we hovered in ~13 feet of water and cast out toward fish working bait over deeper water.

PHOTO CAPTION: Steve Wise of Georgetown took this mature hybrid striped bass on the MAL Heavy, as well. We watched closely for white bass chasing shad and breaking the surface in the chop to know where to cast and get bit.

PHOTO CAPTION: Whites and hybrid weren’t the only fish on tap this morning. This smallmouth jumped Dave’s MAL Heavy, as did five largemouth bass.

PHOTO CAPTION: And our target species, the good ol’ white bass. The largest three of these four measured 14+ inches. Solid fish with healthy proportions.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday, 30 March 2023 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED:

Thanks to excellent conditions for white bass fishing, we enjoyed a solid 3.5 hours of catching this morning. We had southeasterly winds at ~9-11mph, grey skies, an occasional light drizzle, warm overnight temperatures no lower than the surface temperature of the water, and a warm front moving into the area from the south.

Once we got on fish today, we never had to move more than a total of about an eighth of a mile to keep up with fish, bait, and birds as all three moved around the area, with the fish often making their presence known as they popped adult threadfin shad on the surface.

Before this action broke out, we spent about 20 minutes working white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs for heavily congregated fish holding tight to bottom, catching three.

Once the action broke out, we used the MAL Heavy with chartreuse tail for the remainder of the trip to take 152 additional fish by either sight-casting to them if they were visible, or by casting out and counting this same bait down to a 6-count and then doing a plain-Jane, steady retrieve back to the boat.

Long spinning rods with light line and full spools made for maximum casting distance, thus allowing the fellows to cover a lot of water with each cast.

If the area upwind of the boat stopped producing, we’d observe for other nearby bird and/or fish activity, head to it, Spot-Lock downwind from it, and continue catching. By 11:15 the pace was slowing, and by the time we wrapped up a few minutes prior to noon, the catching had slowed to a trickle.

Our tally of 155 fish consisted of 5 hybrid striped bass, 5 largemouth bass, 1 smallmouth bass, and 144 white bass with only 6 short fish landed.

TALLY: 155 fish caught and released

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

OBSERVATIONS: The water temperature profile was as follows:

0 feet, 62.3F
5 feet, 62.3F
10 feet, 62.0F
15 feet, 62.0F
20 feet, 61.9F
25 feet, 61.7F
30 feet, 60.9F
35 feet, 60.0F
40 feet, 59.4F
45 feet, 59.2F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:45A

End Time: 11:55A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 59F

Elevation: 14.32 feet low, 24 CFS flow, .00′ fall over the last 24 hrs.

Water Surface Temp: 59.3F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: SE8-9 all morning

Sky Condition: 100% moderate, grey cloud cover with occasional light drizzle

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 63% illumination.

GT = 50

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 1371 – 18 fish (3 on slabs, 15 on horizontal MALs)

Area B0051C through B0213G – 137 fish sight casting and counting MAL Heavies down to a 6-count

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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

FUTURE WHALER OPERATORS — 100 FISH @ BELTON

March 29th, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Wednesday, March 29, I fished with returning guests Gary Jones, a retired banker, and Guy Fowler, who works in real estate. The two have been buddies since they were kids here in the Belton-Temple area.

Not only were the two interested in catching fish, but in observing how I used my boat and equipment as fish-catching tools. The driver behind this was Gary‘s recent purchase of a center-console Boston Whaler which he intends to fish from. Having fished with me several times in the past, he invested in some of the very same equipment I rely on day in and day out to make a living. Guy has been nominated to be Gary’s “first mate” on this Whaler venture.

Here is how the fishing went…

————————————————————————–

Peak spring dates are just about gone. Here’s an up-to-date calendar so you can check availability: https://holdingthelineguideservice.com/available-dates.php

Next available dates are April 21 (PM), May 15 (AM), 30 (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION: This fat and sassy Lake Belton hybrid was a welcome sight. It was in great shape and slammed Guy’s MAL Heavy with chartreuse tail.

PHOTO CAPTION: The white bass cooperated well this morning, save for a roughly 30-40 minute span where it got bright at a time when the winds were also still light. Once that thin, grey cloud cover moved in, it was game on — 100 fish on the dot this morning.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday, 29 March 2023 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED:

The fishing, once again, followed a normal, bell-shaped curve with the first hour, and the last hour being slower than the peak time span from 9 to 11 AM. A little disturbance in the weather brought some thunder and lightning with an all-night, sparse sprinkle of rain, which dissipated right around sunrise, but left fairly thick, cloud cover in its wake. This caused the fishing to get off to a slow start, but as soon as the sky brightened through breaks in the clouds the fish responded positively.

As we got on top of our first school of fish, we used slabs to catch a mixed bag, including one white bass, one freshwater drum, and one short hybrid, striped bass. Fishing was slow, but Garmin LiveScope revealed a lot of shad in the area, and it was clear the shad were getting more skittish as time went on.

Very suddenly, just as we began to see fish and bait pick up the pace of their movement as we observed them on LiveScope, fish also began to break the surface sporadically around us, and birds immediately queued in on this. We enjoyed a 45-minute run of fish catching, aided by bird activity.

As has been the case in the past few days, we cast MAL Heavy Lures with chartreuse tails out horizontally and counted them down to a six-count before retrieving them directly back to the boat with a plain-Jane, moderately paced retrieve. The only exception to this was if the fellows saw fish within casting range actually busting shad as they were getting ready to cast. When this occurred, Gary and Guy cast just past the fish and immediately started to retrieve without counting down first. This whole scenario accounted for an additional 52 fish in very short order.

After that, the skies began to clear rapidly and the fishing fell off for a bit. After the winds picked back up and some gray cloud cover completely covered the sky, the fishing rebounded. Although the fishing never bounced back as strong as we encountered under birds, the vertical fishing with slabs was very productive, especially for small groups of suspended fish which moved in directly under the boat as we used the splasher, something which I generally switch over to after the water has hit the 60° mark for good.

While fishing for individual suspended fish using Garmin LiveScope like this, it was important to recognize which direction the fish was headed and to get our lures moving right past their noses before they passed by. After Guy and Gary got the hang of this, they went strong for the final 25 minutes of our trip, taking our count of 88 fish up to exactly 100 before we stopped at exactly 12:02 PM following our 7:45 AM start.

In all, we landed exactly 100 fish of which four were hybrid stripers (one legal), one freshwater drum, one largemouth, bass, one crappie, and the remainder white bass up to 13.5 inches.

TALLY: 100 fish caught and released

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

OBSERVATIONS: The surface temperature slid a bit further overnight from 59.9F to 59.3 after rising above 60F for the second time this spring back on Monday.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:45A

End Time: 12:05A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 50F

Elevation: 14.32 feet low, 24 CFS flow, .02′ fall over the last 24 hrs.

Water Surface Temp: 59.3F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: NNE2 at trip’s start building to NNE8 by trip’s end

Sky Condition: 100% thin, grey cloud cover, dropping to 70% between 9:15 & 10A, then going back to 100% white-grey cloud cover.

Moon Phase: First quarter moon at 54% illumination.

GT = 205

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area B0212G – 55 fish casting & sight casting to whites under birds with MALs

Area 1679 – 33 fish smoking slabs

Area B0082G – 12 fish on slabs by sniping with LiveScope

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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

EXACTLY 88 FISH IN A WIND OF APPROXIMATELY 88 MPH — LAKE BELTON

March 28th, 2023March 28th, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Tuesday, March 28, I fished with returning guest Sonny Monroe, a retired educator now residing in Nolanville. Accompanying him were two first time guests, Jerry Vaughn, of Taylor, TX, and Garland Tiner from near Odessa, TX. The two men are also retired educators and friends of Sonny’s

The status of this trip was in question right up to the moment I arrived at the boat ramp, due to very high winds, following the passage of a cold front in the overnight hours.

An area to the south of us, between Georgetown and Fredericksburg, was actually under an NOAA high wind warning for most of the day today.

We were able to fish some protected areas today and still manage to put together a pretty good catch. I just hated to cancel the trip, as Garland had driven in all the way from Odessa to participate.

Here is how the fishing went…

————————————————————————–

Peak spring dates are just about gone. Here’s an up-to-date calendar so you can check availability: https://holdingthelineguideservice.com/available-dates.php

Next available dates are April 21 (PM), May 15 (AM), 30 (AM), 31 (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION: Garland Tiner from the Odessa area traveled in the day before, lodged locally, and fished with me this morning. He landed the largest of the 88 fish we caught and released today. This hybrid fell for an MAL Heavy with chartreuse tail.

PHOTO CAPTION: My windy-day crew of Garland Tiner, Jerry Vaughn, and Sonny Monroe with a few of the 88 fish they landed following a strong cold front’s passage.

PHOTO CAPTION: This is what caught all of our quality fish today. The MAL Heavy with chartreuse tail was either counted down 6 or 8 seconds and then retrieved straight back through fish pushing shad to the surface, or reeled straight up off bottom when active fish were suspending off bottom.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday, 28 March 2023 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED:

As has been the case over the past few weeks, we had a slow first hour, and a slowing of action in the final hour, with peak activity in the middle, roughly between 9 and 11 AM.

During the slow times at the beginning and end of the trip, we worked slabs slowly, using a slow,-smoking tactic fishing the white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab vertically for white bass, which were heavily grouped together and clinging tightly to bottom.

During the more productive mid part of the trip, birds pointed the way to active fish, consuming shad throughout the water column, and in some cases all the way up to the surface. These fish were much more aggressive, thus we fished the faster moving MAL Heavy with chartreuse tail both vertically and horizontally.

When fished vertically, we used a smoking tactic; when fished horizontally, we counted the lure down using a six or eight count, and then begin a plain-Jane, steady retrieve all the way back to the boat. Although there were certainly exceptions, generally speaking, the fish we caught early (which were hugging bottom) tended to be smaller fish, whereas the fish we caught under birds with the more active tactics tended to be better quality fish.

When all was said and done, we landed 88 fish, including four hybrid, of which three were of legal size.

TALLY: 88 fish caught and released

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

OBSERVATIONS: The surface temperature slid back to 59.9F after rising above 60F for the second time this spring yesterday.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:45A

End Time: 11:55A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 55F

Elevation: 14.30 feet low, 24 CFS flow, .03′ fall over the last 24 hrs.

Water Surface Temp: 59.9F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: NNW18-22 all morning with higher gusts

Sky Condition: 90% white-grey cloud cover.

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 44% illumination.

GT = 150

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 1916 – 4 fiag
Area 1909/308 – 16 fish
Area B0210G – 14 fish
Area B0009C (2 hops) 4 fish
Area B0082G – 47 fish
Area 387 – 3 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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

WE WERE ON THE RIGHT “TRACK” — 106 FISH, MAL HEAVY LURES

March 27th, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Monday, March 27, I fished with first time guests Levi and Brant Bybee. This father-and-son team drove about two hours south from near Azle, TX, where they normally fish on Eagle Mountain Lake to link up with me at 7:45 AM for a morning spent in pursuit of white bass.

Levi, originally from Missouri, retired from a career with the railroad, and Brant is now 28 years into a railroad career of his own. We were definitely on the right “track” this morning after the skies brightened up and the wind started to blow and got the fish into a feeding mood.

Here is how the fishing went…

————————————————————————–

Peak spring dates are just about gone. Here’s an up-to-date calendar so you can check availability: https://holdingthelineguideservice.com/available-dates.php

Next available dates are April 13 (PM), May 15 (AM), 30 (AM), 31 (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION: Brant Bybee of Azle, TX, landed our best fish of the trip. This solid, 19-inch hybrid took an MAL Heavy with chartreuse tail as he cast it out and counted it down 6 seconds before retrieving.

PHOTO CAPTION: Father-and-son team Levi and Brant Bybee scored a 106-fish morning working baits both vertically when the fishing was slower, and horizontally when birds and sonar indicated fish were more aggressive.

PHOTO CAPTION: This is what caught all of our quality fish today. The MAL Heavy with chartreuse tail was counted down 6 or 8 seconds and then retrieved straight back through fish pushing shad to the surface.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday, 23 March 2023 (PM)

HOW WE FISHED:

Fishing followed a normal, bell-shaped curve this morning, with a slow first hour, a plateau of peak activity in the middle two hours, and a gradual slowdown in the final hour. During the first hour fish were tight to the bottom and at first we had to entice them with the white, 5/8 ounce bladed Hazy Eye Slabs.

With the water now once again above 60°, the fish began to respond well to the commotion we made with the thumper. We found these fish would pull up off bottom and would suspend about 6 to 7 feet away from bottom. These fish were more aggressive than those remaining on bottom, and responded well to a smoking tactic with a MAL Heavy Lure (chartreuse tail). By the end of our first hour we had landed 20 fish, but most of these fish were small.

The middle two hours started as I spotted about 15 gulls working along a 100 yard stretch of shoreline with some timber sprinkled along it. As we drew closer, I could see shad popping out of the water trying to escape the whites beneath them, and the occasional swirl of a white bass on the surface. We threw MAL Heavies with chartreuse tails to these fish, using a countdown method, and found letting the lure drop to a six-count after it hit the water and then retrieving it straight back to the boat made for a very effective presentation. We took an additional 40 fish in this matter, all of which were solid 12 to 13 inch fish.

After this action died, I did not immediately spot any birds, and so went back to using sonar to find fish. I found a group of several hundred bottom-dwelling white bass and the fishing that ensued was much like that in the first hour, although the fish were more aggressive. We caught them equally well on slabs and MALs worked vertically. Although this fishing was productive, about half of these fish were undersized. We left these fish still biting with 20 landed after I spotted more bird action.

As we approach these birds, we found much the same scenario as we had at the previous location under birds. This group of fish was in a bit deeper water, and so we experimented with eight, nine, ten, and twelve counts after the cast to get our lures to optimum depth. We found an eight-count worked best and stayed on these fish until we landed a total of 24 and Levi and Brent decided to call it a good morning around 11:30A.

Our tally totaled 106 fish with one largemouth, bass, one short hybrid, one legal hybrid, and 103 white bass caught and released.

TALLY: 106 fish caught and released

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

OBSERVATIONS: After hitting 60F+ a few weeks back, the water surface temperature dropped back below the 60F mark up until this past weekend.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:45A

End Time: 11:30A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 55F

Elevation: 14.26 feet low, 24 CFS flow, .01′ fall over the last 24 hrs.

Water Surface Temp: 62F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: NNW8 all morning

Sky Condition: 90% white-grey cloud cover.

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 35% illumination.

GT = 35

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area B0014C/B0192C – 20 fish (most small) on smoked slab/MAL Heavy

Area 0154 – 42 quality fish under birds taken by counting down MAL Heavies

Area 0149/0151 – 23 fish, mixed size, on smoked slab/MAL Heavy

Area 0403 – 10 fish, mixed size, on smoked slab/MAL Heavy

Area B0068C – 11 quality fish under birds taken by counting down MAL Heavies

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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

THEY WOULDN’T BE WEARING SHORTS IN PHILLY – 89 FISH @ BELTON

March 25th, 2023March 27th, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Thursday evening, March 23^rd, I fished with first-time guests Greg and Ethan Nordick, father-and-son team from Georgetown, TX.

Ethan is working his way through school and enjoys playing soccer, while Greg makes a living as a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) after recently moving to Texas from the Northeast where most of Greg’s prior fishing experience came fishing from the bank along area rivers.

Here is how the fishing went…

————————————————————————–

Peak spring dates are just about gone. Here’s an up-to-date calendar so you can check availability: https://holdingthelineguideservice.com/available-dates.php

Next available dates are April 13 (PM), May 9 (AM), 15 (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION: Father-and-son team Greg and Ethan Nordick took 89 fish in 3.5 hours on Lake Belton this past Thursday evening. When the fish cranked up, the MAL Heavy (chartreuse tail) was a faultless performer, putting 55 of their 89 fish in the boat in about a 45 minute span.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday, 23 March 2023 (PM)

HOW WE FISHED:

The weather remained stable this afternoon with SSE winds at 15-16 tapering down to SSE11-12 over the course of our 3.5 hours on the water.

The catching was moderately-paced at first with fish generally holding tight to bottom and taking a good bit of convincing to follow and strike the Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs we were using at that time. It was really a numbers game — the more fish I could find concentrated in one area and the more fish we got exposed to the moving slab, the more fish we caught. Fortunately both father and son picked up on the necessity of reeling smoothly and continuously (even when their lure was being pursued by a fish) early on, and benefited from that for the remainder of the evening.

At one point during mid-afternoon we were taking fish steadily from off bottom when a small flock of gulls and terns (about 12-14 in number) began to act “fishy” a few yards from us. We trolled into the activity (and thus avoided using the outboard so as not to spook any fish) and found a very active feed going on. White bass were densely packed into this area and occupied the water column from the bottom in about 30′ up to about 14′ beneath the surface — there were, literally, hundreds of fish in this area.

Since the fellows already had slabs on and were already familiar with using them, we started off with them, but, when I experimented with a faster, flashier MAL Heavy (with chartreuse tail) and got multiple hits and three hooked fish on three drops of the lure to the bottom, I quickly changed Greg and Ethan over to the MAL Heavy and they went on a fish-catching spree which lasted about 45 minutes, during which time they took their fish count from 26 fish to 81 fish landed — a 55 fish haul in a short period of time.

That seemed to be the real peak feed for the afternoon, as we never saw another strong feed by fish either on sonar nor indicated by birds from that time (around 6p) until we wrapped up at 7p.

I normally fish right at 4 hours, but this evening we stopped at about the 3.5 hour mark as Greg had to get dinner for he and Ethan taken care of, and drive back to Georgetown, and get ready for an early day at the hospital the next day.

We ended up with a total of 89 fish landed, of which 86 where white bass, with 2 freshwater drum and 1 largemouth bass thrown in for good measure.

TALLY: 89 fish caught and released

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

OBSERVATIONS: Water temperature profile:

0 feet, 64.1F
5 feet, 62.6F
10 feet, 61.1F
15 feet, 60.3F
20 feet, 60.1F
25 feet, 60F
30 feet, 59.4F
35 feet,59.2F
40 feet, 58.9F
45 feet, 58.7F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 3:30P

End Time: 7P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 78F

Elevation: 14.24 feet low, 24 CFS flow, .01′ fall over the last 24 hrs.

Water Surface Temp: 64.1F on the surface thanks to warmth and mixing by wind overnight

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE15-16 at trip’s start, slowly falling off to SSE10-12 by trip’s end

Sky Condition: 60% white cloud cover on a blue sky for ~75 minutes, transitioning to 80+% grey clouds thereafter

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 4% illumination.

GT = 50

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 1909 – 1 fish

Area B0015C/B0178C – 9 fish

Area 2052 – 2 fish

Area B0064G – 14 fish

Area 0141 – 55 fish

Area B0057C – 5 fish

Area B0086C – 3 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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

1 MAN, 2 LIMITS, 3 HOURS — 50 FISH @ BELTON

March 23rd, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Thursday, March 23^rd, I fished with first-time guest Spencer Brown Jr. of Waco.

Spencer is self-employed with his kids all through college and working now, and he just decided to take a break from the daily routine to come out and wet a line and enjoy the early spring weather.

He wasn’t out to break any records or land any trophies, so, he requested a start time of 9AM to make the drive to Lake Belton a bit more leisurely. So, we had from our 9AM start to about noon (when the fish have been shutting down following the morning feed) to catch what we were going to catch.

Here is how the fishing went…

————————————————————————–

Peak spring dates are just about gone. Here’s an up-to-date calendar so you can check availability: https://holdingthelineguideservice.com/available-dates.php

Next available dates are April 13 (PM), 26 (AM), and 27 (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION: Spencer Brown Jr. of Waco came out with me solo this morning. We fished at a leisurely pace for just 3 hours (9 to noon) and landed 50 fish on both the MAL Lure and the Bladed Hazy Eye Slab.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday, 23 March 2023 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED:

Our weather today was pretty decent – we had grey cloud cover and a stiff SSE breeze at 16-17. There was, once again, a definite “peak bite” this morning around 10-11A. During this time the fishing was easy as the fish positioned up off the bottom by several feet and aggressively chased both the Bladed Hazy Eye Slab and the MAL Heavy with chartreuse tail. This was my very first attempt at the use of the MAL vertically so far this calendar year since the water chilled to below 60F back in December.

Outside of this peak time, the fishing was more demanding, and the use of a smooth, continuous retrieve was critical. At first, Spencer was having a hard time getting his retrieve smoothed out enough to keep his bait from surging and slowing repeatedly on its way up off the bottom. I just sat and watched him do what he was doing for several iterations and identified the problem. Not only was he turning the reel’s handle with his left hand, he was also moving the rod slightly forward and backward with his right hand as he reeled. This combination caused the rod tip to bob up and down and his presentation to go largely ignored. As soon as we identified and corrected that, his catch rate increased immediately.

There was some bird action, but in each case I found very sparse (but very aggressive) fish under the birds pushing bait to the surface. The number of fish under the birds was generally not sufficient to stop for with expectations of catching quite a number of fish beneath them.

We wrapped up right at noon with exactly 50 fish, including 2 freshwater drum, 1 hybrid striped bass (short), and 47 white bass.

TALLY: 50 fish caught and released

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

OBSERVATIONS: Water temperature profile:

0 feet, 64.1F
5 feet, 62.6F
10 feet, 61.1F
15 feet, 60.3F
20 feet, 60.1F
25 feet, 60F
30 feet, 59.4F
35 feet,59.2F
40 feet, 58.9F
45 feet, 58.7F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 9A

End Time: 12 Noon

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 72F

Elevation: 14.24 feet low, 24 CFS flow, .01′ fall over the last 24 hrs.

Water Surface Temp: 64.1F on the surface thanks to warmth and mixing by wind overnight

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE10 at trip’s start, increasing steadily to SSE16-17 with higher gusts by trip’s end.

Sky Condition: 100% heavy grey cloud cover with “squinting” level of light coming thru the clouds

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 4% illumination.

GT = 50

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area B0121C – 6 fish

Area B0056G – 7 fish

Area B0009C – 2 fish

Area B0208G – 20 fish

Area B0064G – 15 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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com