Bob Maindelle | Fishing Report

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

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A DADDY-DAUGHTER DAY — 45 FISH @ BELTON

March 11th, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Saturday, 11 March, I fished with guests Dave Knutson and his daughter, Christina Henkel, both from the North Austin area.

Christina is an office manager for a small business in the area. Dave is now retired, but active as a volunteer with the “Forty and Eight Society” called, in French, “La Societe des 40 Hommes et 8 Chevaux”.

During WWI, French boxcars carried American “Doughboy” soldiers to battle. These boxcars held either 40 men or 8 horses and had distinctive “40/8” markings on them. Dave serves as the organization’s publicist.

Here’s 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 22, 29 & 31 March

PHOTO CAPTION: Dave Knutson and his daughter, Christina Henkel, landed 45 fish on white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs this morning.

PHOTO CAPTION: Dave Knutson took our largest fish of the trip, a just-legal 18″ hybrid striper.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Saturday, 11 March 2023 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED:

We experienced a moderately-paced, steady bite throughout the morning.

As the weather warms, there seems to be fewer and fewer birds (gulls and terns) present to help point the way to fish; we experienced no helpful bird activity this morning.

The day started off cool and foggy, but quickly cleared, warmed, and got pretty windy.

With nothing drawing me up shallow, we stayed out deep this morning and targeted bottom-oriented fish which were holding together in large schools — perhaps 100-200 fish in each of the several schools we located.

As has been the case most of the winter and now into the spring, the most consistent presentation for me on these fish has been a slow-smoked white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab. The retrieve speed must vary with fish mood.

Although Christina had never used a spinning rod before, she got the hang of the retrieve (the most important part) early, and then got the hang of hooksetting a bit later on with practice.

Father and daughter landed 45 fish this morning. We wrapped up a bit early so Dave and Christina could make a birthday party commitment, but, by the time we left, the fishing was definitely tapering down.

Our 45 fish tally included 1 largemouth bass, 1 short hybrid striped bass, 1 legal hybrid, and 42 white bass, of which 35 were legal (over the 10″ minimum).

TALLY: 45 fish caught and released

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

OBSERVATIONS: We surpassed that critical 60F mark on the surface temperature on Thursday, 09 March, so, I anticipate a generally more aggressive bite to turn on and stay turned on this week.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:45A

End Time: 11:30A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 63F

Elevation: 13.99 feet low, 24 CFS flow, .01′ fall over the last 24 hrs.

Water Surface Temp: 60.3F on the surface

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE10 at trip’s start, ramping up to SSE15-17 by trip’s end.

Sky Condition: Light fog at trip’s start, then clearing to 40% white cloud cover on a blue sky thereafter

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 85% illumination.

GT = P

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 1079 – 13 fish

Area B0165G – 18 fish

Area B0198G – 14 fish (two hops)

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3FMEQHOMQ

IT’S MAL LURE TIME!!! – 104 FISH @ BELTON

March 10th, 2023March 10th, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Thursday morning, 09 March, I fished with first-time guests Wayne Winekauf and Duane Marvin.

Wayne retired from industry and now resides in Morgan’s Point, and Duane is a farmer from Iowa, where he routinely fishes for walleye on one of the segments of the Mississippi River.

Both were very comfortable with the spinning gear we employed and both quickly got the hang of both the vertical tactics we employed early, as well as the horizontal tactic we employed at trip’s end.

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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 22, 28, and 29 March

Here is how the fishing went …

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Duane Marvin and Wayne Winekauf with a few of the aggressive white bass they took in shallow water as these fish gorged on shad. The MAL Heavy worked like a charm to cast long and imitate mature shad well.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday, 09 March 2023 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED:

The impacts of the previous day’s mild cold front passage still lingered this morning. As we launched, there was a thin blanket of fog over the lake, the air temperature was in the high 50s (the lowest air temperature all week), there was not a breath of wind, and between the fog down low and the thick clouds up higher, it was also very dim. Dark and windless are not good for white bass fishing!

We endured such conditions for 2.75 hours, catching just a few fish at each of the many stops we made as we had no problems finding fish, but found the fish very lethargic. Typically, we’d get a bit of a rise out of the fish as soon as we dropped our slabs to them, but they’d lose interest very soon after. By 10A, we’d managed only 24 fish. This made it the slowest start of the last 2 weeks.

Around 10A, the fog had lifted, and, for the first time, enough sun was coming through the grey cloud cover that required you to squint without sunglasses on. I felt we should move shallower at this point to take advantage of that bit of brightness illuminating the bottom in depths shallower than those we’d been probing. Just as I cranked up to head up shallow, the lightest of ripples began. By the time we got to the area I wished to try, the breeze was blowing ENE and fully rippling the surface. Things were about to get good.

As the weather changed, so did the mood of the white bass we’d been after all morning. The action ramped up very quickly and soon there were fish popping shad on the surface all around us. This drew bird activity. As the birds had their “bird’s-eye view” of what was taking place from above, they moved with the most aggressively feeding fish and helped up stay where the fish were.

I changed everyone over to MAL Heavy Lures fished on long, 7’6″ spinning rods loaded with 15-pound Coastal Camo braid (Sufix 832) and fluorocarbon leaders so they could fling these baits a country mile.

For the next 2 hours Wayne and Duane landed fish after fish, adding exactly 80 more fish to their 24-fish count using the sawtooth method to imitate these adult shad being fed upon by the white bass.

Here is a tutorial video on how to execute the sawtooth method with MAL Lures:

Our 104 fish tally included 1 largemouth bass, 5 short hybrid striped bass, and 98 white bass, of which 89 were legal (over the 10″ minimum).

TALLY: 104 fish caught and released

Find MAL Heavy Lures here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS: We surpassed that critical 60F mark on the surface temperature today; this corresponded with the first aggressive, horizontal bite on the MAL Lure.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:40A

End Time: 12:25P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 57F

Elevation: 13.97 feet low, 24 CFS flow, .01′ fall over the last 24 hrs.

Water Surface Temp: 60.3F on the surface

Wind Speed & Direction: Calm for 2.75 hours, then ENE 5-7

Sky Condition: Light fog at trip’s start, then clearing to 100% heavy grey cloud through the 2.75 hour mark, then thinning to 100% thin grey cloud cover thereafter

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 96% illumination.

GT = 29

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area B0196G – 6 fish
Area vic 294 – 3 fish

Area vic B0041G – 7 fish

Area B1555, two hops – 8 fish

Area B0051G to shoreline – 69 fish

Area B0145C – 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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

PUTTING SOME “SPRING” IN THEIR STEP – 81 FISH @ BELTON

March 9th, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Wednesday, 08 March, I fished with returning guests Tommy and Sylvia Maedgen of Troy, TX.

The Maedgens are both retired but remain very active in their travels, their interactions with grandkids, their outdoor pursuits, and in serving others through the local church they are a part of. This morning we tried to add a little more “spring” to their step, but, winter reminded us it hasn’t gone too far away, yet.

Like most folks who are fishing with me in the month of March, the Maedgens contacted me back in January to get an available weekday morning.

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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 22, 28, and 29 March

Here is how the fishing went …

PHOTO CAPTION: Sylvia and Tommy Maedgen of Troy, TX, with a few of the 81 fish they took on Lake Belton on a morning impacted by a mild cold front’s passage.

PHOTO CAPTION: This pale largemouth has been in deep water for a while now, as seen by its lack of coloration. As spring moves in, fish will move up.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday, 08 March 2023 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED:

This morning’s wrinkle in the weather was fairly accurately forecast. There was some pre-frontal warming with thick, humid, warm air and a nearly calm wind with with some thin fog as we got going this morning. This persisted until around 8:30A, at which time the wind picked up suddenly to NNW12-13, accompanied by a ~6-7F temperature drop, a thickening of the cloud cover, and the disappearance of the fog.

We had already landed exactly 30 fish in under 45 minutes’ time and were searching for more sizeable fish as this front moved in. The fish got very tight-lipped and stayed that way until the wind settled back to a steady NNW9, the clouds thinned, the skies brightened, and the air began to warm once again. During the ~75 minutes it took for this to play out, the fishing remained very tough.

Once these more favorable conditions developed, the bite returned and we were able to put another 50 fish in the boat.

Although we did some testing of the waters with MAL Heavy lures worked horizontally, the fish just aren’t quite there yet (on Belton, although based on incoming MAL Lure orders, other lakes have definitely “turned on”). The last few springs have shown that 60F is the magic number.

Tommy and Sylvia used white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs (only) the entire morning and used them with a slow-smoking tactic.

We had no helpful bird action this morning.

Here is a link to my tutorial on using the Bladed Hazy Eye Slab with a slow-smoking tactic.

Our 81 fish tally included 3 largemouth bass, 4 short hybrid striped bass, 1 freshwater drum, and 73 white bass, of which 32 were legal (over the 10″ minimum).

TALLY: 81 fish caught and released

Find Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs with Stinger Hook here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS: We encountered a much higher ratio of short fish in our catch today than during any other trip in the recent past.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:40A

End Time: 12:20P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 68F, falling to 62F as the cold front came in, then rising back to 64F by trip’s end.

Elevation: 13.96 feet low, 24 CFS flow, .00′ fall over the last 24 hrs.

Water Surface Temp: 58.8F on the surface

Wind Speed & Direction: Calm at trip’s start, then NNW12-13 as the front came in, then scaling back to NNW8-9 thereafter

Sky Condition: Light fog at trip’s start, then clearing to 100% moderate grey cloud cover as the front came in, then thinning to 100% thin grey cloud cover thereafter

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 99% illumination.

GT = 25

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area B0196G – 30 fish
Area vic 717 – 4 fish

Area BG0026 – 4 fish

Area B0171G – 7 fish

Area B0060G/B0050G – 26 fish

Area vic B0031G – 10 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

IT WAS 20 DEGREES WHEN HE LEFT — 69 FISH @ BELTON

March 7th, 2023March 7th, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Tuesday, 07 March, I fished with returning guests Gene Ellis and his grandson, Bryson Ellis. Bryson is down visiting his grandparents from near Colorado Spring, CO — a place still firmly in winter’s grip.

For you local readers, if Gene Ellis sounds familiar it is likely because this two-hat wearing fellow serves as both the Assistant City Manager and Chief of Police for the city of Belton, TX.

Gene was “on the ball” in reserving this date well in advance, knowing that the first few weeks of spring fill my calendar up early in the year thanks to multiple school districts scheduling their spring breaks over a full 3-week span.

We originally planned to fish on Thursday, but an approaching cold front left some uncertainty about that outing, so, even though this morning was limited to 3 hours instead of 4, we put just shy of 70 fish in the boat and returned to the boat ramp as warm and dry as when we launched!

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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

Here is how the fishing went …

PHOTO CAPTION: Bryson Ellis and his grandpa, Gene Ellis, with a few of the 69 fish they landed in right at 3 hours under murky skies and very light winds.

PHOTO CAPTION: Bryson Ellis, age 14, from near Colorado Springs, CO, came to visit his grandparents near Lake Belton. He landed our best fish of the trip as we targeted increasingly aggressive white bass. This hybrid striper went right at 18″ and ~3 pounds.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday, 07 March 2023 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED:

Although the water temperature continues to climb now that we’ve had 9 full days wherein the ambient air temperature has exceeded the water temperature, this morning’s fish activity was a little more subdued than on Monday. I attribute that to the darker, thicker cloud cover keeping it dim most of the morning, and a lack of wind in the first 2 hours of the day.

Regardless, we found and caught fish all morning, but had to move more frequently and bring our offerings past quite a number of disinterested fish to get the attention of a handful of biters.

Both Gene and Bryson have fished with me while using the slow-smoking tactic previously, so the learning curve was all but non-existent — just a quick refresher and they were good to go.

The fellows used white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs (only) the entire morning and used them with a slow-smoking tactic.

While Gene and Bryson worked the slabs vertically with success, I gave the MAL Heavy a few heaves and worked it horizontally to gauge fish interest on a faster, flashier lure/retrieve. Belton’s fish just aren’t quite there yet. 60F is the magic number. I suspect over the course of my next few trips we’ll see that change. Put it this way … I’m certainly am not launching the boat without MAL-rigged rods aboard right now.

Once again this morning, birds (a mix of about 2 dozen gulls and terns) helped point the way to our most productive stop, although as I observed them, I saw them doing much more flying and looking than diving and feeding.

Here is a link to my tutorial on using the Bladed Hazy Eye Slab with a slow-smoking tactic.

Our 69 fish tally included 1 largemouth bass, 5 short hybrid striped bass, 1 legal hybrid and 62 white bass, of which 55 were legal (over the 10″ minimum).

TALLY: 69 fish caught and released

Find Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs with Stinger Hook here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS: Dark skies and light winds made this morning’s fishing a bit tougher today.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:40A

End Time: 10:50A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 66F

Elevation: 13.96 feet low, 24 CFS flow, .01′ fall over the last 24 hrs.

Water Surface Temp: 58F on the surface

Wind Speed & Direction: S4-5 at trip’s start, increasing to S8-9 by ~9:45

Sky Condition: 100% thick grey cloud cover all morning

Moon Phase: Full moon at 100% illumination.

GT = 25

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area B0196G – 14 fish
Area 1552 – 4 fish
Area Vic 1142 (3 hops) – 41 fish (under birds)
Area B0199G – 10 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

SPRING BREAKIN’ WITH MOM — 151 FISH @ BELTON

March 6th, 2023March 6th, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Monday, 06 March, I fished with the Greenwood Family from Allen, TX, just north of Dallas.

Mrs. Cynthia Greenwood treated her four daughters, Jocelyn (age 13), Taylor and Reese (11-year-old twins), and Kendall (age 9) to a multi-day, Spring Break 2023 trip to the north Austin area, which included a morning of fishing with me on the waters of Lake Belton.

Cynthia happens to be a guidance counselor in the same school district in which her girls go to school, so the five of them had the same dates off. No, Mr. Greenwood didn’t get “voted off the island”; he had to keep on working this week!

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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

Here is how the fishing went …

PHOTO CAPTION: That’s mom (Cynthia) in the back, then, from left: Kendall, Taylor, Reese, and Jocelyn enjoying Spring Break 2023 away from Allen ISD up north of Dallas. My five-girl crew landed 151 fish in 4 hour.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday, 06 March 2023 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED:

The fishing is improving with each passing warm spring day now. The surface temperature is now in the high 50’s and climbing. We’ve got another 2 solid days of warming before the next cold front is due in, but, even it is due to be mild.

There are two distinct fisheries now present for white bass. There are fish locked down on bottom on major topographic features and there are large, slowly moving schools of fish wandering in preparation to spawn; these wandering fish tend to be suspended and clearly traveling in a specific direction. Those fish locked on bottom on topography tend to be harder to catch, fewer in number, and less likely to stay interested very long. Due to their position in the water column, these bottom-oriented fish are also in water several degrees cooler than the 20-25 foot water being used by the migratory fish.

My crew this morning had fished before, but really hadn’t caught fish before, with most of their prior experience taking place on municipal park ponds.

We started with the basics and just kept building on those basics until everyone was catching fish consistently and unaided. We began with how to hold a spinning rod, how to open and close the bail, and how to retrieve the bait smoothly and naturally. We then layered in Garmin LiveScope so each of the ladies could see their retrieve and fish response to it. Then we troubleshot kinks in their methodology and introduced a bit of hooksetting, and that was all it took.

The ladies used white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs (only) the entire morning and used them with a slow-smoking tactic.

Here is a link to my tutorial on using the Bladed Hazy Eye Slab with a slow-smoking tactic.

Our 151 fish tally included 1 freshwater drum, 4 largemouth bass, 6 short hybrid striped bass, and 140 white bass, of which 131 were legal (over the 10″ minimum).

TALLY: 151 fish caught and released

Find Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs with Stinger Hook here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS: Temperature profile taken on 04 March:

0 feet, 58.6F
5 feet, 58.3F
10 feet, 58.2F
15 feet, 58.2F
20 feet, 57.8F
25 feet, 57.6F
30 feet, 57.2F
35 feet, 56.6F
40 feet, 56.0F
45 feet, 54.9F
50 feet, 53.9F
55 feet, 53.5F
60 feet 53.2F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:40A

End Time: 11:50A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 58F

Elevation: 13.95 feet low, 24 CFS flow.

Water Surface Temp: 57F on the surface

Wind Speed & Direction: S10 at trip’s start, increasing to S12 by trip’s end

Sky Condition: 100% thin grey cloud cover all morning

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 99% illumination.

GT = 75

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area vic 187 – 22 fish (w/birds)
Area A0160G – 11 fish (w/birds)
Area 294/B0198G – 62 (w/birds)
Area B0021C – 5 fish
Area B0199G – 41 fish (w/birds)
Area 154 – 10 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

HAD TO CALL IN THE RESERVES — 111 FISH @ BELTON

March 4th, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Saturday, 04 March, I fished with Army buddies Taylor Lubigan and Cindy Gore.

Both are medical professionals who have been called away from their civilian employment to serve on active duty as reservists working at Fort Hood helping to medically prepare other soldiers for deployments worldwide.

Taylor was born in the Philippines and moved to New Jersey at age 7; Cindy grew up in Manhattan, NY.

Despite being born on an island, this trip was Taylor’s first time on a boat!

————————————————————————–

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

Here is how the fishing went …

PHOTO CAPTION: U.S. Army Reservists Cindy Gore and Taylor Lubigan landed 111 fish on Lake Belton during their 4-hour morning trip. Warming water and increasing daylength has the fishing now steadily improving!

PHOTO CAPTION: “Two-for-ones” are a sign of very aggressively feeding fish. As the water temperature increases, so does fish metabolism. These fishes’ bodies are demanding more food, more often than just a few days ago.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Saturday, 04 March 2023 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED:

I would now rate the fishing as “good” or “solid”, and know it will be getting better. This lengthy warming trend we’ve experienced (now a week long) raised the water temperature at depth (see below) and the fish have responded positively.

The fish are moving more quickly (as seen on Garmin LiveScope), responding more aggressively, staying interested for longer spans of time, are venturing further from bottom, and are chasing baits longer distances than just a week ago.

Applying the good old Army “KISS” principle (Keep it simple, stupid!) we found what worked early and stuck with it right through the morning. Our method definitely wasn’t broke, so we made no attempt to fix it!! At times we had company nearby and I observed that the snap-jigging tactics being employed were not producing even a fraction of the fish we were catching.

We used a slow-smoking tactic 100% of the time and relied upon the white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs to catch every one of the 111 fish which crossed the gunwale this morning.

We had some “gravy” poured on our already good meal when bird activity erupted at mid-morning, allowing us ~50 minutes of undisturbed catching (9:30 to 10:20AM) during which time we caught a majority of our fish.

Here is a link to my tutorial on using the Bladed Hazy Eye Slab with a slow-smoking tactic.

Our 111 fish tally included 5 freshwater drum, 1 largemouth bass, 4 short hybrid striped bass, and 101 white bass, of which 95 were legal (over the 10″ minimum).

TALLY: 111 fish caught and released

Find Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs with Stinger Hook here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS: Temperature profile taken on 04 March:

0 feet, 58.6F
5 feet, 58.3F
10 feet, 58.2F
15 feet, 58.2F
20 feet, 57.8F
25 feet, 57.6F
30 feet, 57.2F
35 feet, 56.6F
40 feet, 56.0F
45 feet, 54.9F
50 feet, 53.9F
55 feet, 53.5F
60 feet 53.2F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:40A

End Time: 11:50A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 48F

Elevation: 13.92 feet low, 24 CFS flow.

Water Surface Temp: 58.6F on the surface

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE5 at trip’s start, increasing to SSE11 by trip’s end

Sky Condition: Cloudless skies with a light haze making skies light blue

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 92% illumination.

GT = 45

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

B0196C/B0196G – 11 fish
B0013C/1544 – 5 fish
Vic 1144 – 54 fish (2 hops)
Vic B0037C/B0150C – 34 fish
B0150C – 7 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

IT WAS CHILLY, MY BROTHER! — 48 FISH @ BELTON

February 25th, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Saturday, 25 Feb., I fished with the Walthall family from near Lorena.

Jay and Nikkie just came along as spectators on this “Kids Fish, Too!” trip which was just for their boys, Clayton (almost 12), and Levy (age 10). This was in celebration of Clayton’s forthcoming birthday in early March.

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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

Here is how the fishing went …

PHOTO CAPTION: I think this photo perfectly captures the morning. Clayton’s face (front left) communicates some discomfort from the cold, while his brother’s beams with excitement over the fish they worked hard to capture.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Saturday, 25 February 2023 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED:

We are truly on the cusp of the spring fishery really turning on. The primary thing I see happening right now which convinces me of this are the already large schools of white bass “massing” into even larger schools of several hundred fish each and using the edges of the Leon River channel as a migration route. I’ve now witnessed six occurrences of this in my last three outings.

This morning, given the cold conditions (41F when we linked up) and the boys’ limited experience with this sort of fishing, we kept it super-simple and worked white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs vertically 100% of the time using a “slow-smoking” tactic.

All but one of the locations we worked attracted fish by virtue of topography. The one exception was where we found a school of many hundreds of fish suspended over 55+ feet of water moving very slowly upstream along the old river channel. These fish were not really interested in feeding, but, when enough of them were in close proximity to one another and the boys worked their slabs just right, we could provoke “competition bites” or “reflex bites”.

Here is a link to my tutorial on using the Bladed Hazy Eye Slab with a slow-smoking tactic.

Our 48 fish tally included 3 freshwater drum, 1 largemouth bass, 2 legal hybrid striped bass, and 42 white bass, of which 39 were legal (over the 10″ minimum).

TALLY: 48 fish caught and released

Find Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs with Stinger Hook here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS: A flock of ~20 terns led the way to our first area this morning, and a larger flock of ~70 terns pointed the way to the large, migratory school of white bass mentioned above.

Temperature profile taken on 23 Feb:

0 feet, 57.4F
5 feet, 57.4F
10 feet, 56.9F
15 feet, 55.3F
20 feet, 54.3F
25 feet, 53.7F
30 feet, 53.2F
35 feet, 52.5F
40 feet, 52.3F
45 feet, 52.0F
50 feet, 51.9F
55 feet, 51.9F
60 feet, 51.7F
65 feet, 51.7F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 8A

End Time: 11:50A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 41F

Elevation: 13.90 feet low, ~.01′ 24-hour fall, 24 CFS flow.

Water Surface Temp: 54.6F on the surface

Wind Speed & Direction: NNW8-10 all morning

Sky Condition: 100% moderate grey cloud coverage all day

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 32% illumination.

GT = 5

Wx SNAPSHOT:

N/A

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 1552 (2 hops), 17 fish

Area B0197G (large migratory school), 24 fish

Area B0149C, 5 fish

Area vic 717, 2 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

THEY CAME EARLY & STAYED LATE — 155 FISH @ BELTON

February 24th, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Thursday, 23 Feb., I fished a full-day trip with George and Barbara Portele from Montgomery, TX, near Lake Conroe.

The couple are very good temperate bass anglers and have ample opportunity to pursue white bass, yellow bass, and hybrid striped bass on their home lake. George told me he’d always wanted to give Lake Belton a try, and I was honored to be the one he chose to give him and his wife the grand tour.

I couldn’t ask for better clients. They came early, stayed late, willing accepted my coaching, fished hard, and didn’t give up until we’d hit our morning goal of 50 fish, and our afternoon goal of 100 fish!! We fished 4 hours in the morning, took a 2-hour, off-the-water lunch break, and then met up again for another 4 hours in the afternoon, concluding right at dark.

The fishing has begun that sharp increase thanks to a week-long warming trend which looks like it will continue right on into next week with highs in the 70’s called for each of the next 5-6 days.

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

Here is how the fishing went …

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PHOTO CAPTION: George and Barbara Portele traveled in from Montgomery, TX, to spend a full day in pursuit of white bass on Lake Belton. They landed 155 fish.

PHOTO CAPTION: Largemouth bass and freshwater drum served as “bonus fish” throughout the day.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday, 23 February 2023 (Full day)

HOW WE FISHED:

I am excited about what lies ahead after experiencing what we did on Lake Belton today. Things are definitely starting to happen as spring approaches.

AM Summary – As has been the case this winter, the bite started off slowly. We found plenty of fish, but they were not at all enthusiastic. We caught just 12 fish in our first hour, and had to move a lot, catching just a few fish at each location before they lost what little interest they first showed, but the action rose as the light level and winds increased. The AM bite peaked right around 10AM. By 11:45, George and Barbara had landed a total of 55 fish including 51 white bass (all legal), 1 largemouth bass, and 3 freshwater drum. We fished a combination of deadsticked soft plastics when the fish were particularly slow, and changed over to white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs to get the job done when the fish perked up and were willing to chase moving baits. We used a slow-smoking tactic. A tutorial video for that method is found here:

PM Summary – The afternoon bite was longer and stronger than the AM by far. The combination of thin, grey cloud cover, wind, and warmth worked to fire the fish up this afternoon. We found and caught fish all afternoon. They never got “crazy turned-on”, but the fish bit more aggressively than in the morning. Most of our fish were caught on a slow-smoked slab (same one as AM), but, with the fish cooperating so well, we “played around” with ice jigs, deadsticked soft plastics, and even broke out the MAL Heavy (white tail) and caught fish on everything we used. We also benefitted from the assistance of birds (mainly terns) during the middle of the afternoon. As I saw back on Feb. 7th, right at sunset we witnessed birds working along the side of the channel over a large group of slowly migrating white bass. These fish were suspended in a 4-5 foot thick band up as high as 18′ beneath the surface. They were moving slowly and were readily taken working vertically. We fished until we’d landed 100 fish for the afternoon, and then headed in just before sunset.

Our catch in the afternoon consisted of 5 drum, 1 largemouth bass, and 94 white bass, of which 12 were short.

TALLY: 155 fish caught and released

Find Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs with Stinger Hook here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS: A flock of ~40 terns assisted us in finding fish mid-afternoon, and a mixed flock of about 20 gulls and terns assisted in finding a migratory school of fish navigating the channel edge later, toward sunset.

Temperature profile:

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:45A

End Time: 6:25P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 61F

Elevation: 13.87 feet low, 24 CFS flow.

Water Surface Temp: 57.4F on the surface

Wind Speed & Direction: NNE10 at trip’s start, building to NNE14-15 at midday, then tapering back to NNE8 by sunset

Sky Condition: 100% light grey cloud coverage all day

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 14% illumination.

GT = 85

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

AM: Vic 1012, 714, 1483, B0078C, B0149C, 1482, B0005C, 1552/2059

PM: B0193G, B0194G, B0069C, B0195G, mouth of B0097C

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

WARM AIR, COLD WATER –51 FISH @ BELTON

February 20th, 2023February 20th, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This Presidents’ Day morning, Monday, Feb. 20th, I conducted my first fishing trip with clients aboard since rotator cuff surgery back on 13 Jan.

This trip was in celebration of James DuBose’s birthday, and was arranged for by his wife, Ashly. She worked mightily to keep this trip a secret AND coordinate it at a time when James, his dad (Vernon), and his brother (Chris) would all be available and present, as Vernon and Chris live down by Galveston.

If you follow me routinely, you’ll recall I fished a scouting trip back on Feb. 7th, anticipating a crew of clients on Feb. 9th. Well, one of those fellows got sick and the trip didn’t happen. Then, this trip was originally scheduled for last Friday (ambient air temp. 31F, wind chill 22F) and we all felt delaying to this morning was a better bet — and it was!

At this point, I am full re-opened for business and my booking calendar is up-to-date. If a date says “OPEN AM” or “OPEN PM”, I am available. You can always just call or text to check on a date, as well. Here’s that calendar: https://holdingthelineguideservice.com/available-dates.php

Here is how the fishing went …

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PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Chris, James, Ashly, and Vernon DuBose with a few of the 51 fish they landed via slow-smoking slabs and dead-sticking with soft plastics and jigheads.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday, 20 February 2023 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED:

I spoke with a lot of disappointed anglers at the boat ramp today — mainly largemouth bass anglers who were beginning to probe up shallow for black bass. The warm air had everyone hoping that spring was coming on, but, the water temperature told a very different story. It measured only 52.3 on the surface. Bear in mind that during our last cold snap (Thur. thru Sat. last week), the air temp only exceeded the water surface temp. after around 3p on Saturday. Otherwise, that was a full 60 hours of cooling which preceded that.

I started our trip well after sunrise today (at 7:45A) as I’ve found very little in the way of fish or bird activity during the first hour of light since the water temp slipped into the low 50’s earlier this winter.

Even with a later start, we only took 3 fish in the first hour. By 9:15A, as the wind begin to increase and the sun began to shine more brightly (thru a full 100% coverage of thin clouds), the bite began to come on strong. The white bass bite definitely followed “bell-shaped” curve today, peaking around 10A, then dropping off about a half hour later.

As we moved around to several areas looking for aggressive fish, we found the fish most aggressive (though still far from truly aggressive) as soon as we dropped baits down to them. We’d typically take a few fish, then the fish would remain in the area (drawn, no doubt, by the thumper), but turn off to the slab (white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs). Seeing this, we changed over to deadsticking with a jighead and soft plastic, moved the baits much more slowly, and began catching once again. We found any suspended fish MUCH more likely to strike than those fish remaining on, or just barely off, the bottom.

Without Garmin LiveScope, our catch would have been half of what it was this morning, as the detail it provided allowed everyone to present their baits with great precision on a consistent basis to these reluctant, cold fish.

I know everyone, including myself, is getting that spring itch, but that water temperature has to temper our expectations to avoid disappointment.

Our tally of 51 white bass consisted of 3 short fish, and 48 legal-sized fish. This was a 3.25-hour trip.

TALLY: 51 fish caught and released

Find Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs with Stinger Hook here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS: No helpful bird activity. No fish dripping eggs or milt from the 51 whites we landed. No bycatch of other than white bass today.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:45A

End Time: 11:00A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 59F

Elevation: 13.84 feet low, 24 CFS flow.

Water Surface Temp: 52.3F on the surface

Wind Speed & Direction: SSW winds all morning starting at 10, building to 16

Sky Condition: 100% light white cloud coverage all morning. Cloud ceiling was high.

Moon Phase: New moon at 0% illumination.

GT = 45

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 2059 – 33 fish

Area B0165G – 6 fish

Area B0005C- 3 fish

Area 1482 – 3 fish

Area vic B0160G – 6 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