2024 Fishing Reports

WHOA! LOOK AT THE TV!! — 111 FISH

by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH:

This morning, Friday, April 12, I conducted a “Kids Fish, Too!” trip for the Guerrero brothers — Isaac (13), Micah (9), and Matias (6). The boys’ grandfather, Gary Emory, coordinated the trip, and the boys’ mom, Kate, came along for moral support and crowd control.

Gary sold his roofing company and retired so as to be able to enjoy his grandkids, and Kate homeschools the boys, hence giving them the flexibility to enjoy adventures like this morning’s without competing with the rest of America to do so on Saturdays.

My next open dates are: 16 & 24 April, and 03 May (AMs)

Here is how the fishing went…

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left, Matias, Kate, and Micah Guerrero, Gary Emory, and Isaac Guerrero.  These three boys landed 111 fish in right at three hours — pretty impressive given that six-year-old Matias had never caught a fish before!!

 

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Friday, 12 April 2024 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED: 

With warming water — and about three additional feet of it coming into the lake since Tuesday — fishing both yesterday and today was a whole lot easier than I thought it might be given all of the environmental change that has taken place in such a short period of time.

 

I was concerned because as my crew showed up at around 7:15, the winds were flat calm, but, just as we began heading out to our first spot after my pre-trip briefing, an 8 mph northwest wind began to blow, both moving and rippling the water enough to really fire the fish up.

 

This boosted the boys confidence early and allowed them to make rookie mistakes without those being too costly.

 

In under an hour’s time, the three boys had landed exactly 35 fish before the winds began to taper down in advance of a wind shift; the fish activity tapered down with it.

 

The weather forecast called for southerly winds to start and build to about 13 mph by 11 a.m., so, we pushed through the more difficult 30 or so minutes of calm until that wind shift finally did materialize.

 

During this time, as I often do when conditions get tough, I moved out to as deep water as I could find fish in (in this case, 42 feet), and allowed depth to serve as a buffer to the tough conditions we faced.

 

While on this same deep water spot, the south winds began making their way to us from the southeast.  As the ripple started, and the water began to move once again, the bite fired up greatly. We never moved off that area until 10:20 when all three boys had had enough. By this time, they had put exactly 111 fish in the boat.

 

At one point in time, Micah saw the Garmin LiveScope monitor he was watching come alive with a school of fish covering an area from the bottom up to 8 feet off of it, moving quickly from one side of the screen to the other.  Wanting everyone else to see what he was seeing, he just blurted out, “Whoa! Look at the TV!”.  His brothers knew exactly what he was talking about.

 

I found that we could extend the time over which the white bass would stay interested enough to bite by starting off with slabs and, once interest in the slabs began to wane, switching over to MAL Lures.

 

I had the boys work both of these vertically with a smoking tactic in rhythm with a metronome going 80 to 90 BPM, depending on how aggressive the fish appeared on Garmin LiveScope.

 

This catch of 111 fish included 110 white bass, and 1 just-short hybrid striper.

 

Find the MAL Original and the Bladed Hazy Eye Slab at the Liberty Mart on Adams Ave. uphill from Temple Lake Park, or here: https://whitebasstools.com/

 

TALLY: 111 fish caught and released 

 

OBSERVATIONS: Despite the 09 April deluge and local flooding, Lake Belton is still surprisingly clear.  Here is the water temperature profile for Lake Belton, measured before sunrise on April 10th …

0 feet 68.1F
5 feet 68.1F
10 feet 68.1F
15 feet 66.1F
20 feet 65.6F
25 feet 65.1F
30 feet 64.9F
35 feet 64.5F
40 feet 64.1F
45 feet 63.7F
50 feet 60.9F

 

 

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:20A

End Time: 10:20A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 52F

Elevation: 9.41 feet low, 33 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 65.7F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: NW8 at trip’s start and for ~1 hour, then going slack for ~30 minutes, then changing to SE and quickly building to SE12

Sky Condition: Clear, pale blue, cloudless skies this morning.

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 12% illumination.

GT = N/A

 

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:  

Areas B0037C (35 fish), B0168G (76 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)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle

 

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide #BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing #bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport #fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday #Fitec #austinsubaru

Bin There, Dump That! — 166 Fish on Hazy Eye Slabs & MAL Lures

by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH:

This morning, Thursday, April 11, I fished with father and son team, Adam and Gabriel Lee from Troy, Texas, just outside the city of Temple.

Adam‘s wife, Yvette, set the whole thing up in celebration of Adam’s 33rd birthday. Adam makes a living running his own dumpster rental business named “Bin There, Dump That”, with locations spread throughout Texas and into Louisiana.
Thanks to maintaining all A’s and B’s in his seventh grade classes, Gabriel got to enjoy a morning off from school to spend with his dad on the water.

My next open dates are: 16 & 24 April, and 03 May (AMs)

Here is how the fishing went…

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left, Adam Lee and his 13-year-old son, Gabriel, with just a few of the 166 fish the two of them landed in right at 4 hours’ time using Hazy Eye Slabs and MAL Original Lures worked straight up off the bottom.

PHOTO CAPTION:  On one of the hundreds of drops Gabriel made to the bottom this morning, his lure stopped dead on bottom before he could crank it up through the white bass.  That’s because this 5.25-pound blue catfish had grabbed it!

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday, 11 April 2024 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED: 

With winds sufficiently high to ripple and move the water blowing prior to sunrise and high-pressure still building in, the situation was right for a good day on the water following several days of much more turbulent weather.

 

This morning‘s report is quite simple… Father and son caught white bass for four hours straight from but three locations using white, Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs when we first arrived at each area, then, once the fish began to turn off to the slabs, they used MAL Originals vertically with a smoking tactic to continue catching those fish which had begun to refuse a slab.

 

The locations these fish came from were all identical and that they were in 34 to 36 feet of water and on underwater slopes which faced into the direction of the northwest wind.

 

Despite the presence of many flocks of laughing gulls, I spotted no fish-related bird activity this morning .

 

As we wrapped up at 11:20 AM, Adam and Gabriel had landed exactly 166 fish, including 164 white bass, 1 hybrid striped bass, and a 5.25 pound blue catfish.

 

Find the MAL Original and the Bladed Hazy Eye Slab at the Liberty Mart on Adams Ave. uphill from Temple Lake Park, or here: https://whitebasstools.com/

 

TALLY: 166 fish caught and released 

 

OBSERVATIONS: Despite the 09 April deluge and local flooding, Lake Belton is still surprisingly clear.  Here is the water temperature profile for Lake Belton, measured before sunrise on April 10th …

0 feet 68.1F
5 feet 68.1F
10 feet 68.1F
15 feet 66.1F
20 feet 65.6F
25 feet 65.1F
30 feet 64.9F
35 feet 64.5F
40 feet 64.1F
45 feet 63.7F
50 feet 60.9F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:10A

End Time: 11:35A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 529F

Elevation: 9.41 feet low, 33 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 65.3F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: NW11 at trip’s start, slowly climbing to NW13.

Sky Condition: Clear, “bluebird”, cloudless skies this morning.

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 10% illumination.

GT = 60

 

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:  

Areas 2059/1012 (36 fish), B0052G/787 (62 fish), vic B0251G (68 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)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle

 

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide #BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing #bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport #fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday #Fitec #austinsubaru

HAIL YEAH THEY CAUGHT FISH! — 51 FISH @ BELTON

by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH:

This morning, Wednesday, April 10, it was a whole new ball game thanks to torrential rains dropping 5+ inches of water on the area yesterday resulting in minor flooding in Belton and Temple.

 

I welcome to board Jonathan Briscoe a new vice president for commercial banking with Extraco Banks, and brothers Bobby and David Spradley, each of whom are involved in local real estate, both residential and commercial.

 

My next open dates are: 16 & 24 April, and 03 May (AMs)

 

Here is how the fishing went…

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left, a mighty chilly and slightly damp Jonathan Briscoe, David Spradley, and Bobby Bradley with a portion of their hard-earned catch of 51 fish after local flooding boosted the lake level by over 2 feet in under 24 hours.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday, 10 April 2024 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED: 

After rounds of training rain storms yesterday which dropped over 5 inches of rain right on top of both Belton and Stillhouse, both reservoirs are now rapidly rising.

 

Belton rose over 2 feet in under 24 hours.  Despite this, the water was not as badly discolored as I thought it might be.

 

We got going around 7:20A. My plan was to fish any open areas I felt would hold fish early on, as the winds were forecast to be manageable (under 15 mph) through around 11 AM. After that, I was planning to seek the protection of the Leon River arm if need be, as the wind was blowing straight down the Cowhouse Creek arm.

 

That plan lasted all of about an hour when the northwest winds ramped up easily to 20 mph with higher gusts by 8:20.

 

My crew managed to land a handful of fish in open water before the winds picked up, and, if nothing else, got the hang of the Hazy Eye Slab using a smoking tactic during this first stop.

 

With the wind forcing a change of plans, we headed into more sheltered water and, to my surprise, we found fish rather easily, albeit at glued to the bottom in 32 to 36 feet of water.

 

These fish demonstrated the typical bottom-hugging behavior with a reluctance to chase and strike shortly after the novelty of our baits appearing among them wore off, as they often do when environmental conditions are not favorable.

 

Despite this reluctance, my crew of three was still able to catch fish consistently, mainly because the sheer numbers of fish we found created a bit of competition, and because the nearly ideal water temperature has fish active and occasionally suspended and patrolling for food.

 

We fished at four different areas after leaving open water, finding nearly identical scenarios at each.

 

Right at the four hour mark, the fish we were on had about given up and I was planning to make one more move before calling it a good morning.

 

Before moving, I checked weather radar and it clearly revealed an organized cell of thunderstorms from Gatesville up to the Granbury area all moving north. It appeared we were in the clear for quite some while to come.

 

Well, I’ll bet I had not moved the boat 100 yards before a light sprinkle materialized out of nowhere. That turned into rain, rain turned into a downpour, and the downpour included marble-sized hail. I had to turn the face of each of my sonar units toward the floor of the boat to keep them from getting pelted by the hail.

 

I surveyed the crew and we all agreed we were happy with the 51 fish they had landed, thus, we would make a run to the boat ramp as soon as the rain relented.

 

We finished up the morning with exactly 51 fish landed, including 4 drum and 47 white bass.

 

100% of our catch came using the slow-smoking tactic with the 5/8 oz. white, Bladed Hazy Eye Slab.

 

Find the MAL Original and the Bladed Hazy Eye Slab at the Liberty Mart on Adams Ave. uphill from Temple Lake Park, or here: https://whitebasstools.com/

 

TALLY: 51 fish caught and released 

 

OBSERVATIONS: Multiple large flocks of laughing gulls are now present on Lake Belon.  Here is the water temperature profile for Lake Belton, measured before sunrise on April 10th …

0 feet 68.1F
5 feet 68.1F
10 feet 68.1F
15 feet 66.1F
20 feet 65.6F
25 feet 65.1F
30 feet 64.9F
35 feet 64.5F
40 feet 64.1F
45 feet 63.7F
50 feet 60.9F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:20A

End Time: 11:20A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 59F

Elevation: 9.39 feet low, 33 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 68.1F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: NW14 at trip’s start, ramping up quickly to NW18-20 by 8:20 with higher gusts.

Sky Condition: 90-100% grey cloud cover with occasional light rain over the course of the morning, with a harder, brief rain mixed with small hail at ~11:15-11:20A

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 4% illumination.

GT = 55

 

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:  

Areas 294/1012, 1916, 2052/1934, B0184G, B0066G

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

 

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide #BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing #bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport #fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday #Fitec #austinsubaru

SLOW-SMOKING FOR FAST CATCHING — 133 FISH ON HAZY EYE SLABS

by Bob Maindelle
WHO I FISHED WITH: 

This morning, Friday, April 5, I fished with first time clients David Myers, and his friend of more than 60 years, Brian Kanzaki.

 

The men first got to know each other in kindergarten back in California and grew up together, even some spending some time working on salmon and king crab boats together up in Alaska as young men.

 

David is now semi-retired working in the geology field, and Brian has served with the Plano Fire Department for many years.

 

David is touring the United States and Canada in his RV and was in the area to visit his sister near Austin while taking in the eclipse.  He reached out to me to do some fishing while laying over on one of Lake Belton’s campgrounds.

 

Here is how the fishing went…

My next open dates are: 12 & 16 April, and 03 May (AMs)

PHOTO CAPTION:  With a relatively warm overnight period and a stiff southerly breeze, the fish really turned on this morning, allowing David and Brian a 133 fish catch on their first outing targeting white bass.

PHOTO CAPTION: Here is the bait 100% of the men’s 133 fish catch came on this morning … the white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab.  The stinger on the front means very few missed strikes whether the bait is rising or falling, and the spinning willowleaf blade adds flash, vibration, and shine which slabs generally lack.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  This small metronome helps me help my clients control the speed of their retrieve.  When conditions are tough, white bass can be very choosy about the speed at which a lure is moving.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Friday, 05 April 2024 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED: 

It has been since mid-March (the 13th and 14th, to be exact), when we have had a combination of wind and rising temperatures with air temps close to that of the water surface temperature overnight. This combination bodes very well for springtime fishing.

 

We experienced those weather conditions from Thursday into this morning, and the fishing really turned on well.

 

Although the first hour and a quarter of this morning‘s trip were slow due to nearly windless conditions, a  southeasterly ripple quickly ramped up into a south wind at 11 to 13 mph. Within 20 minutes of the wind starting, the fish turned on and stayed on until about 12:15 PM. Over this span of time, David and Brian landed exactly 133 fish using one bait and one technique.

 

That bait was the white, 5/8 ounce Bladed Hazy Eye Slab, and the tactic they used it with was a slow-smoking tactic , in which they let the bait fall to bottom, and then cranked it upwards, keeping in cadence with a small metronome I now keep on the boat. They defaulted to five cranks unless Garmin LiveScope revealed they were getting chased, in which case they would keep right on cranking until the fish either caught up with the bait, or turned back toward the bottom.

 

We fished a total of 4 areas in this manner.

 

The men’s 133 fish catch consisted of 3 largemouth bass, 6 freshwater drum, and 124 white bass.

 

Thanks to these ideal conditions, the fish moved faster horizontally, and swam more aggressively upward through the water column from off of bottom than I have seen thus far this spring.

 

Find the MAL Original and the 3/4-ounce Bladed Hazy Eye Slab at the Liberty Mart on Adams Ave. uphill from Temple Lake Park, or here: https://whitebasstools.com/

 

TALLY: 133 fish caught and released 

 

OBSERVATIONS: The first flocks of laughing gulls have begun to arrive on Lake Belton.  Here is the water temperature profile for Lake Belton, measured before sunrise on April 3rd …

0 feet, 63.8F
5 feet, 63.8F
10 feet, 63.8F
15 feet, 63.8F
20 feet, 63.8F
25 feet, 63.8F
30 feet, 63.8F
35 feet, 63.8F
40 feet, 63.7F
45 feet, 62.9F
50 feet, 58.9F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:15A

End Time: 12:15P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 56F

Elevation: 11.50 feet low, 33 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 63.5F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: Calm at trip’s start and for ~70 minutes, then a SSE breeze picked up and quickly build to S11-13 for the remainder of the trip

Sky Condition:<5% wispy white clouds on a pale blue skies

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 15% illumination.

GT = 50

 

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:  

Areas B0078C, 755, B0274G, 2033

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

 

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide #BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing #bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport #fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday #Fitec #austinsubaru

REALLY WORKIN’ THAT HAZY EYE SLAB — 58 FISH

by Bob Maindelle
WHO I FISHED WITH: 

This morning, Thursday, April 4, I fished with first time guests, Matt Harper, and Joe Souza.

 

Matt is a builder in the north Austin area, whose employees thought enough of him to purchase a fishing gift certificate for him to enjoy. With his wife unavailable on the date he had reserved, Matt invited his friend, Joe, who runs a machine shop in the Georgetown area and another in the Temple area.

 

Here is how the fishing went…

 

 

My next open dates are: 12 & 16 April, and 03 May (AMs)

 

PHOTO CAPTION: Matt Harper (L) and Joe Souza first got to know one another through their church in Georgetown.  The men really worked their slabs today under bright, low-wind conditions to land 58 fish.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday, 04 April 2024 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED: 

We had yet another morning right at 45°F before sunrise.  This morning winds were light and from the west at sunrise, thus there was not as much of a chilly bite in the air as we had yesterday morning. With decreased wind velocity, fish interest was also decreased as compared to yesterday.

 

Still, we enjoyed a low-light bite in the first hour following sunrise, after which things got a bit tougher as the winds went slack prior to shifting out of the southeast on the lead edge of a warm-up.

 

We struggled a bit both finding and catching fish during this calm, but, as soon as the slightest ripple began from the southeast, the fish turned on and kept getting more aggressive right up until the winds peaked around 10:30 AM. During this time I hit two distinct areas several hundred yards apart and in similar terrain in about 30 feet of water.

 

I thoroughly coached Matt and Joe on using the white, 5/8 ounce, Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs they were using with a slow-smoking tactic in conjunction with Garmin LiveScope. The harder the wind blew, the faster the fish moved horizontally, the more willing they were to chase vertically, and the higher they would suspend off of the bottom. It is really amazing how white bass activity coincides with wind velocity.

 

These three areas I described gave up all of the 58 fish, Joe and Matt would catch this morning. That catch included 4 freshwater drum, 1 hybrid, striped bass, and 53 white bass.

 

100% of today’s catch was made on the white, 5/8 ounce Bladed Hazy Eye Slab used with a slow-smoking tactic.

 

Find the MAL Original and the 3/4-ounce Bladed Hazy Eye Slab at the Liberty Mart on Adams Ave. uphill from Temple Lake Park, or here: https://whitebasstools.com/

 

TALLY: 58 fish caught and released 

 

OBSERVATIONS: The first flocks of laughing gulls have begun to arrive on Lake Belton.  Here is the water temperature profile for Lake Belton, measured before sunrise on April 3rd …

0 feet, 63.8F
5 feet, 63.8F
10 feet, 63.8F
15 feet, 63.8F
20 feet, 63.8F
25 feet, 63.8F
30 feet, 63.8F
35 feet, 63.8F
40 feet, 63.7F
45 feet, 62.9F
50 feet, 58.9F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:20A

End Time: 11:45A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 45F

Elevation: 11.46 feet low, 33 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 63.5F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: W5 at trip’s start and for 90 minutes, then calm for 60 minutes, then shifting SSE then S at 2-7

Sky Condition: Cloudless blue skies

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 25% illumination.

GT = 100

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:  

Areas 1482, B0274G, B0275G

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

 

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide #BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing #bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport #fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday #Fitec #austinsubaru

WILLING TO LEARN, AND WILLINGLY COACHED — 60 FISH

by Bob Maindelle
WHO I FISHED WITH: 

This morning, Wednesday, April 3, I fished with first time guest  Joseph Lewis from the small town of Rogers, Texas, just outside of the city of Temple.

 

Joseph is a US Navy submarine service veteran, who currently works entirely from home in the tech industry. He spoke proudly and often about his 16 and 18-year-old daughters.

 

Joseph’s goal was not so much to catch fish as to understand an approach to finding and catching them in the spring months. Joseph has his own Kenner center-console with trolling motor and Humminbird electronics and desired to be able to put them to better use in pursuit of white bass.

 

Here is how the fishing went…

My next open dates are: 12 & 16 April, and 03 May (AMs)

 

PHOTO CAPTION: Look at those high blue skies following a cold front that pushed in two nights ago!  Despite the post-frontal scenario we put 60 fish over the side of the boat thanks to Joseph’s willingness to learn and be coachable.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday, 01 April 2024 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED: 

Today was the second full day of a northerly blow following a cold front which passed through late Monday night dropping our morning low temperature to just 45° this morning.

 

Although we faced post-frontal conditions, we still had enough wind to keep the fish stirred up.

 

We experienced a solid low-light bite for the first hour following sunrise, putting 20 fish in the boat, rather easily, using a combination of easing and slow-smoking with a white, 5/8 ounce Bladed Hazy Eye Slab.

 

As we were catching fish, about 20 birds were working a different school of fish nearby.

 

As we stopped catching fish where we were, the bird stopped working where they were, and the fishing got slower for about 90 minutes. During this time, we found fish, albeit in rather small schools, caught , one or two or three fish, and then had to move after these fish remained visible on sonar, but refused to chase and bite.

 

Around 9:45 or so the bite began to bounce back, and we began to put more fish in the boat with each of the last three stops we would make. Our last area produced 18 fish, which came out of 46 feet of water, the deepest I’ve caught fish in over six weeks.  We changed over to 3/4 oz. slabs for this deeper work to cut the wait time as the slab sank toward bottom.

 

We wrapped up the trip with exactly 60 fish landed, including 57 white bass and three freshwater drum.

 

Find the MAL Original and the 3/4-ounce Bladed Hazy Eye Slab here: https://whitebasstools.com/

 

TALLY: 60 fish caught and released 

 

OBSERVATIONS: Here is the water temperature profile for Lake Belton, measured before sunrise on April 3rd …

0 feet, 63.8F
5 feet, 63.8F
10 feet, 63.8F
15 feet, 63.8F
20 feet, 63.8F
25 feet, 63.8F
30 feet, 63.8F
35 feet, 63.8F
40 feet, 63.7F
45 feet, 62.9F
50 feet, 58.9F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:20A

End Time: 12:30P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 45F

Elevation: 11.44 feet low, 33 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 63.8F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: Steady NW12-14 shifting slowly to WSW12-14

Sky Condition: Cloudless blue skies

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 35% illumination.

GT = 25

Wx SNAPSHOT:

  

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:  

Areas 1298, 1371, and 0013/1469

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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THE BITE WAS HOT … UNTIL IT WASN’T — 44 FISH

by Bob Maindelle
WHO I FISHED WITH: 

This morning, Monday, April 1, I fished with first-time guests, Byron Hudson, and his eight-year-old son, Cyrus.

 

Byron and Cyrus drove in from Austin, but keep their own boat at one of the Lake Belton marinas. Thus, Byron had previous Lake Belton fishing experience, but not a lot of success. So, in addition to catching fish, I tried to help Byron understand the approach we were taking, and also tried to answer all of his questions, most of which appropriately centered around fish location.

 

My next open dates are: 12 & 16 April, and 03 May (AMs)

 

Here’s how the fishing went…

 

PHOTO CAPTION: Byron and Cyrus Hudson had a personal best high catch of 44 fish on this grey, blustery day on Lake Belton catching white bass by casting MAL Original Lures in 16-20′ of water.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday, 01 April 2024 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED: 

We had lines in the water this morning by 7:45 AM and enjoyed a strong bite through 9:35 AM.

 

During this time, Byron and Cyrus landed 37 white bass and missed additional fish as they worked MAL original lures along the bottom, using a sawtooth method. I was pretty impressed with Cyrus in that he did not know how to cast with spinning gear prior to the trip .

 

With just a brief lesson near the boat ramp before we set off to find fish, he was casting close to the maximum distance the rod/reel/line/lure combination would allow for, was controlling his slack well, and was very consistently working his bait correctly . He reaped the benefits of this by landing just as many fish as his dad.

 

Around 9:40 AM, the winds really ratcheted up very suddenly, and the fish we were on simply quit biting, despite being present. In hindsight, the bite actually all but ended around that time, but we did not realize it at that point.

 

I spent a fruitless 35 minutes searching for the next group of fish we would present lures to, only to have them refuse to approach the baits horizontally and refuse to rise off bottom to chase after them vertically.

 

Realizing that we were going to be fighting an uphill battle from this point, I tried to find fish as deep and as heavily schooled as I could, as these fish always seem to be more approachable when fish up shallow turn off. We did locate one such school and Byron and Cyrus very much enjoyed watching the schools of fish pass under the boat, watch their lures rise and fall, and watch the fish response to their lures as they used Garmin LiveScope for the first time.

 

I coached them through the use of a slow-smoking tactic using the three-quarter ounce, white bladed Hazy Eye Slab to tempt these fish.

 

This would be the final fish we would fish for, as this school gave up seven fish over the span of about 50 minutes.

 

I would have to say this was one of the most striking changes of attitude I have observed in white bass given that the only weather change was the spike in wind speed we experienced.

 

When all was said and done, Byron and Cyrus landed 44 fish, including 43 white bass, and 1 short hybrid striped bass.

 

Find the MAL Original and the 3/4-ounce Bladed Hazy Eye Slab here: https://whitebasstools.com/

 

TALLY: 44 fish caught and released 

 

OBSERVATIONS: Here is the water temperature profile for Lake Belton, measured before sunrise on March 26 …

0 feet, 62F
5 feet, 62F
10 feet, 62F
15 feet, 62F
20 feet, 62F
25 feet, 62F
30 feet, 62F
35 feet, 62F
40 feet, 61.9F
45 feet, 61.4F
50 feet, 56.0F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:30A

End Time: Noon

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 72F

Elevation: 11.47 feet low, 33 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 63.5F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: Steady S12-13 all afternoon

Sky Condition: Grey skies all morning, just shy of misting

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 57% illumination.

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:     

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:  

Area 691 and B0015G

 

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

 

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide #BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing #bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport #fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday #Fitec #austinsubaru

SO, WHAT’S IN YOUR SNACKLEBOX? — 89 FISH

by Bob Maindelle
WHO I FISHED WITH: 

On Thursday afternoon, March 28, I fished with a pair of fathers and sons from the Salado area. Joining me, were Mike Splawn, and his son, Josh, and J.J. Peckham and his nine-year-old son, Declan.

 

As many clients do, these fellows brought along some snacks, including crackers.  And, as many boys do, they attacked these snacks no sooner than I came off plane and began searching over our first fishing area with sonar.  Fearing consumption of all of the snacks within minutes of the trip’s start, the dads requested the boys scale back on the eating to ensure food was left for the latter hours of the trip.  Obeying, the boys put some provisions back into what they nicknamed the “snacklebox”.

My next open dates are: 2, 5, & 11 April (AMs)

Here is how the fishing went…

 

PHOTO CAPTION: Back row from left: Mike Splawn and J.J. Peckham and their sons, Josh Splawn (left) and Declan Peckham, with 8 of the 89 fish they landed as conditions improved this past Thursday evening, 28 March.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday, 28 Mar. 2024 (PM)

HOW WE FISHED: 

Thanks to a nice warm-up into the low 70s, and winds which were steady at S 12–13, fishing was better this afternoon then I have seen in over a week’s time. Although the fish were still not aggressive, they were fairly easily found, and, with enough schools yielding 10 to 20 fish each, we were able to put together a catch of 89 fish with two rather inexperienced boys, who only stayed hard after it for about three of the four hours.

 

For the first half of the trip, while the fish were less aggressive, we relied on working white, three-quarter ounce slabs vertically with a slow smoking tactic.

 

By the trip’s halfway point, fish were beginning to chase farther off the bottom and more quickly upwards, thus indicating an increase in their energy level. As I saw this happening, and as fish presented themselves off the port or starboard side of the boat as seen on side imaging, I had , Michael and J..J use the sawtooth method with MAL Original lures to present baits to a greater number of fish by reaching out horizontally.

 

This trend of increasing aggressiveness continued right up to sunset, allowing us to jump right into horizontal presentations at the last two areas we fished .

 

Since the boys were not all that focused at this point, I had them use the MAL Lures vertically since their main interest was now in watching fish follow their baits on the Garmin LiveScope.

 

The 89 fish catch this afternoon consisted of 88 white bass and 1 white crappie.

Find the MAL Original and the 3/4-ounce Bladed Hazy Eye Slab here: https://whitebasstools.com/

 

TALLY: 89 fish caught and released 

 

OBSERVATIONS: Here is the water temperature profile for Lake Belton, measured before sunrise on March 26 …

0 feet, 62F
5 feet, 62F
10 feet, 62F
15 feet, 62F
20 feet, 62F
25 feet, 62F
30 feet, 62F
35 feet, 62F
40 feet, 61.9F
45 feet, 61.4F
50 feet, 56.0F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 3:45P

End Time: 7:45P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 72F

Elevation: 11.53 feet low, 33 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 62.0F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: Steady S12-13 all afternoon

Sky Condition: Cloudless, pale blue skies

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 91% illumination.

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:    N/A

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:  

B0009C, 0151, 1140, B0066G, 387, and B0057C

 

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

 

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide #BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing #bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport #fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday #Fitec #austinsubaru

KEYED IN TO THE WIND – 76 FISH

by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: 

This morning, Wednesday, March 27, I fished with returning guest, James Copeland, accompanied by first time guests, Ben and Evan Hayes.

James is in the mortgage business and did business with Ben and Evans father who was in the title business, eventually working with Ben and Evan as they grew into the family business.

 

My next open dates are: 2, 5, & 11 April (AMs)

Here is how the fishing went…

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  Ben Hayes took our largest fish this morning, just a few minutes after the first winds of the morning began to blow.  This fish inhaled his 3/4 oz. white Bladed Hazy Eye Slab.

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left: Ben Hayes, James Copeland, and Evan Hayes with a few of the 76 fish they landed, mainly on MAL Originals worked with a sawtooth method.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday, 27 Mar. 2024 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED: 

For the second consecutive morning, the air temperature at sunrise was 45° and the winds were calm. The winds stayed calm until around 10 AM. There was a low deck of gray clouds during this time.

 

I moved the trip start time back to 8 AM to eliminate waiting through some of the cold, calm conditions, but we still had to bide our time until the wind kicked in.

 

Prior to 10:10 AM, my crew of three had landed only seven fish, but ended up with a total of 76 fish in five hours’ time — a testament to just how keyed these fish are to wind.

 

During the slow two hours, fish were still able to be found, but simply would hardly budge for any presentation, vertical or horizontal.  Those fish we did catch fell for the white, 3/4-ounce Bladed Hazy Eye Slab.

 

Once the wind began to blow, the fishing picked up very rapidly with horizontal presentations outproducing vertical presentations from that point on.

 

The vast majority of our fish today were taken on MAL Original lures with both white tails and with chartreuse tails. James, Ben, and Evan used the sawtooth method with a total of seven turns of the reels handle per iteration. I had the metronome set to an 80 BPM setting in order to keep them from reeling too fast or too slow.

 

Our 76 fish consisted of exactly 74 white bass, 1 hybrid striped bass, and 1 freshwater drum.

 

Fish are definitely re-populating on topographic features and are using the 29-34 foot depth range quite consistently.

Find the MAL Original and the 3/4-ounce Bladed Hazy Eye Slab here: https://whitebasstools.com/

 

TALLY: 76 fish caught and released 

 

OBSERVATIONS: Here is the water temperature profile for Lake Belton, measured before sunrise on March 26 …

0 feet, 62F
5 feet, 62F
10 feet, 62F
15 feet, 62F
20 feet, 62F
25 feet, 62F
30 feet, 62F
35 feet, 62F
40 feet, 61.9F
45 feet, 61.4F
50 feet, 56.0F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 8A

End Time: 1:15P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 45F

Elevation: 11.59 feet low, 33 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 62.0F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: Calm thru 10A, then slowly picking up from the south, peaking at S8 by 10:40A

Sky Condition: Low, thin grey cloud layer at 80% slowly clearing to cloudless by 1P

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 99% illumination.

GT = 55

Wx SNAPSHOT:    

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:  

Best areas were B0064G and B0066G

 

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

 

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide #BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing #bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport #fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday #Fitec #austinsubaru

When Texas is Colder than Minnesota — 42 Fish

by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: 

This morning, Tuesday, March 26, I fish with returning guest Doug Fornfeist of Morgan’s Point, TX, joined by first time guests, Landon and Levi Fries.

 

Doug‘s wife is an aunt to Landon‘s wife.  With eight-year-old Levi on spring break from up in Minnesota, the Fries family paid a visit to Texas, and today was the day Doug had planned for a fishing trip for father and son.

 

My next open dates are: 2, 5, & 11 April (AMs)

 

Here is how the fishing went…

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left: Doug Fornfeist and his nephew-in-law, Landon Fries, landed 42 fish on a blustery, late March morning trip using a combination of MAL Original Lures and Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday, 265 Mar. 2024 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED: 

The impact of yesterday‘s cold front passage was certainly felt this morning with a low of 45° at sunrise, only rising to 55° well into the afternoon time as high blue skies, a northerly wind, and high-pressure conditions built in.

 

Such weather never bodes well for fishing, and this morning was no exception.  Fish took a little bit of effort to find, but were especially difficult to convince to bite this morning through about 10:30 when the sun took the bite out of the wind, and the wind velocity flattened out at around 13 mph.

 

Expecting warmer weather in Texas,  Landon and Levi did not bring a whole lot of cold weather clothes and wound up underdressing for the conditions. They lasted about an hour and a half, after which we had to go back in to get Landon some more clothes and drop little Levi off to stay in a warm house.

 

Doug and Landon caught back up with me around 10:30 and we fished until 12:50. Before the break, we’d put seven fish in the boat. The two men wound up adding 35 fish to that tally during the late morning. Fish were still sluggish but, I was able to find enough groups of them with enough consistency to pluck a few from each school and put together a decent catch given the conditions.

 

We relied on a three-quarter ounce, white Bladed Hazy Eye Slab for all but the last 45 minutes. In those last 45 minutes, I began to see fish spread across the bottom in about 32 feet of water on the port side of the boat, drawn in by the splasher. Seeing this, I switched Doug and Landon over to MAL Lure (the Original with chartreuse tail) after catching two fish on two consecutive cast as I checked my hunch.

 

I had Doug and Landon throw short casts, working the bait using the sawtooth method with four iterations over that short distance before reeling back in and executing another short cast. This accounted for our last nine fish of the morning.

 

The tally of 42 fish consisted of 2 hybrid striped bass, 1 yellow catfish, and 39 white bass.

Find the 3/4-ounce Bladed Hazy Eye Slab here: https://whitebasstools.com/

 

TALLY: 42 fish caught and released 

 

OBSERVATIONS: Here is the water temperature profile for Lake Belton, measured before sunrise on March 26 …

0 feet, 62F
5 feet, 62F
10 feet, 62F
15 feet, 62F
20 feet, 62F
25 feet, 62F
30 feet, 62F
35 feet, 62F
40 feet, 61.9F
45 feet, 61.4F
50 feet, 56.0F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:45A

End Time: 12:50P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 45F

Elevation: 11.60 feet low, 33 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 62.0F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: NW 12-14 all morning

Sky Condition: Cloudless “bluebird” skies on a cold front’s passage

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 99% illumination.

GT = 105

Wx SNAPSHOT:    

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:  

Best areas were 0010, B0082G, B0272G, 2028, and B0056G

 

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

 

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide #BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing #bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport #fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday #Fitec #austinsubaru