Fishing Report | Holding The Line Guide Service

WHAT IS THAT BLACK BOX ON YOUR HEAD? — 64 FISH

April 8th, 2018April 8th, 2018 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Friday morning, April 6th, I fished with Jim Downing, Coby Whiteside, and Gary Hannemann. Jim has been out with me on a number of occasions. In fact, he and his crew had the single most productive trip of the 2017 season this past December. One of the fellows on the boat with Jim for that spectacular day was Coby on his then-first trip with me. Gary joined me for the first, but hopefully not last, time. He’s an easy going retired pharmacist who now runs a hunting lease in Coryell County.

Coby Whiteside with our longest hybrid of the trip

Gary holds our heaviest fish of the trip. Today’s hybrid bite was slow but steady from 8:45 to around 11:00, then tapered off.

The circle hooks did their job today, not just catching fish, but catching them in the upper left or right lip, thus making for a clean, quick release. Fortunately, Jim, Coby, and Gary got the hang of not setting the hook early on and got to hook and land a majority of the hybrid which struck our baits. And, yes, Jim got it all on camera!

WHAT WE FISHED FOR: This was a multi-species trip targeting hybrid early and white bass in our fifth and final hour.

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED: Friday morning, 05 April 2018

HOW WE FISHED: We fished five different areas targeting hybrid striped bass using live bait suspended near bottom. We found slow but steady action at the middle three of these areas visited. At each location, the bite took some time to develop and, once the first fish came, things never got frenzied as I anticipate they will once the water warms a bit more. After the hybrid fishing had run its course by around 11:15, we spent some time in more turbid water vertically jigging for white bass. Given the favorable wind speed and direction, as well as fair amount of cloud cover, I felt our chances were still pretty good for getting on some schooled fish in deeper water. Indeed, we were able to find two distinct populations of white bass, both eager to feed. We found 1, 2, and 3-year class fish in both groups and enjoyed fast-paced fishing right up until around 12:40p when the bite settled.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES: 1) Once again, no spawning shad after seeing the first spawning activity Monday, despite a warm day yesterday and balmy overnight conditions.

TALLY: 64 FISH, ALL CAUGHT AND RELEASED

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:45a

End Time: 12:45a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 69F

Water Surface Temp: 65.3F

Wind Speed & Direction: SE8-12

Sky Conditions: ~70% cloud cover

Water Level: 2.12 feet low

GT = 60

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 1934/1916 – mixed bag on bait

**Area 1749 – hybrid on live shad

**Area 1284 – hybrid on live shad

**Area vic1384 – hybrid on live shad

**Area B0057C – white bass on slab/Hazy Eye Stinger

**Area B0066C – white bass on slab/Hazy Eye Stinger

Bob Maindelle, Central Texas Fishing Guide

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

MISSED CLASS; LEARNED PLENTY – 48 FISH

April 7th, 2018April 7th, 2018 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Thursday morning I fished with Mr. David McElyea and his 9-year-old grandson, Landyn, as well as David’s friend, Mr. Dennis Fender, and Dennis’ 15-year-old nephew, Rion Pagel, who, by the way, had never been fishing before. With one young angler and one inexperienced angler, I wanted ‘priority one’ to be getting a few fish in the boat, so, we spent about 75 minutes in pursuit of white bass using artificials. Then, our aim was to get Landyn his first hybrid striped bass. As it turned out, everyone caught several hybrid, and some good sized ones, at that.

Mission accomplished! Landyn caught the first hybrid of his life.

Later, Rion, who had never landed a fish before in his life, landed the largest fish of the trip.

WHAT WE FISHED FOR: This was a multi-species trip.

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday morning, 05 April 2018

HOW WE FISHED: We targeted white bass in shallow water (under 26′) during the low-light time from 7:45 to around 9:15a using 3/8 oz. white slabs with Hazy Eye Stinger Hooks attached. Once everyone had landed a handful of fish (20 total), we packed up and headed out in search of hybrid using live threadfin shad. The bite is still far from what it will be once we get warmer water and more stable weather, but, that action was steady if a bit slow.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES: 1) Once again, no spawning shad after seeing the first spawning activity yesterday — likely due to the north wind which once again knocked our temperatures back overnight Wednesday into this Thursday morning – 49F.

TALLY: 48 FISH, ALL CAUGHT AND RELEASED

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:45a

End Time: 12:35a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 49F

Water Surface Temp: 65.3F

Wind Speed & Direction: SE8-13

Sky Conditions: ~70% cloud cover

Water Level: 2.12 feet low

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 164 & 692 for a total of 20 whites on slabs

**Area B0065C – a few whites on livebait while attempting to catch hybrid

**Areas 1280, 1749, and 1378/344 – hybrid (and a few whites, bluecat, and largemouth) on live bait

Bob Maindelle, Central Texas Fishing Guide

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

THEY FISH IN NEW JERSEY, DON’T THEY?? — 109 FISH

April 4th, 2018 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Tuesday morning I fished with a really nice couple, Steve and Erica Allen, from Tuckerton, New Jersey, right on the southern New Jersey Atlantic coastline. The Allen’s son, also named Steve, recently enlisted in the U.S. Army and will be deploying to Europe with his armor unit soon. They came to visit before his departure and decided to come fishing with me while waiting for Steve’s duty day to end on post. Steve and Erica routinely fish in the freshwater ponds and bogs in their area for bass and pickerel with artificial lures, so they were no strangers to most of the tactics we used today.

Got your hybrids?? Check!! With foul weather bearing down on us, the hybrid turned on just long enough for Steve and Erica to catch the first ones of their lives — then we had to bug out!!

WHAT WE FISHED FOR: This was a multi-species trip.

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday morning, 03 April 2018

HOW WE FISHED: We targeted white bass in shallow water (under 26′) during the low-light time from 7:45 to around 9:45a using 3/8 oz. white slabs with Hazy Eye Stinger Hooks attached. Once the bite began to taper off we changed over to horizontally cast bladebaits to cover a bit more water and “mop up”. We landed exactly 100 fish during this time and then decided to pursue fewer, but larger, fish using live bait. Using freshly netted, live threadfin shad, we landed largemouth bass and white bass, but really were gunning for hybrid. We hit our third area and were still “hybrid-free” when a severe thunderstorm warning popped up on my i-Phone. It looked like we were going to be denied a hybrid on this trip, but, I saw fish on sonar which I knew were hybrid, so, I kept chumming and thumping and, just as the breeze began to pick up from the west about 30 minutes in advance of the storm’s arrival, the fish turned on. Erica missed her first one right at the boat and was just about heart-broken. Then Steve got a pulldown and did a very nice job fighting his all the way into the net. Once the pressure was off and we broke the “hybrid-barrier”, Erica relaxed and soon after put her own hybrid in the boat. Both Steve and Erica had now landed the first hybrid striped bass of their lives. Just a few minutes later after we’d re-baited, a loud clap of thunder occurred a bit too close for comfort and we called it done right then. By the time I hopped in the cab of my truck after getting the boat on the trailer, it started pouring with ample thunder and lighting. We landed 111 fish in all.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES: 1) No spawning shad after seeing the first spawning activity yesterday — likely due to the sudden cold spell that took place during the daylight hours yesterday, despite an overnight warmup.

TALLY: 111 FISH, ALL CAUGHT AND RELEASED

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:45a

End Time: 11:35a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 69F

Water Surface Temp: 65.3F

Wind Speed & Direction: SW10-11

Sky Conditions: 100% grey cloud cover as a mild cold front moved in briefly.

Water Level: 2.12 feet low

GT = 70

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 380 – 100 whites on slabs/blades

**Area B0055C – a few whites on livebait while attempting to catch hybrid

**Area vic 1882/1819/2027 – a few whites on livebait while attempting to catch hybrid

**Area B0065C – whites, largemouth, and 2 hybrid on livebait as storm approached

Bob Maindelle, Central Texas Fishing Guide

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

‘Twas a Bit Chilly — 64 Fish @ Belton

April 4th, 2018 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Monday morning I fished for a fifth time with Mr. Rodrick Rhoads, this time accompanied by 2 of his 5 children, 14-year-old April and 12-year-old Oliver. The Rhoads have chosen to home-school their kids, thus they have the flexibility to do things together and at times other than on the ever-crowded weekend, and such was this morning’s trip with all of Lake Belton to ourselves. Although our efforts were hindered a bit by a short-lived cold front which drove the temperature at dawn down to 49F with very little warming the entire morning, the water has warmed into the mid-60’s, so fish were still feeding, albeit not overly-aggressively.

A short-lived, damp cold front pushed morning temperatures to 49F, but the warm water kept fish biting this morning under grey skies and light NE winds. Rodrick Rhoads took this hybrid on a live threadfin shad.

April Rhoads, age 14, caught white bass early and hybrid stripers in the latter half of the trip.

Oliver Rhoads with the last fish of the day — a blue cat that moved in after we’d stayed in one place for a while, thus letting the scent of our livebait and chum draw this species into our livebait spread.

Oliver got a bit of a surprise with the “two-fer”. The smaller white bass is hooked on the lure’s treble, and the larger fish was hooked on the Hazy Eye Stinger Hook I equip all of my slabs with for enhanced hookup percentages.

WHAT WE FISHED FOR: This was a multi-species trip.

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday morning, 02 April 2018

HOW WE FISHED: We targeted white bass in shallow water (under 26′) during the low-light time from 7:20 to around 8:30a using 3/8 oz. white slabs with Hazy Eye Stinger Hooks attached. We landed exactly 30 fish during this time and then decided to pursue fewer, but larger, fish using live bait. Using freshly netted, live threadfin shad, we landed hybrid striped bass, white bass, largemouth bass, and a single blue catfish. Fish were found from 24-33 feet deep at each of the 2 areas we fished. In all, we put an additional 35 fish in the boat. Our final hour on the water was the slowest (as it often is in the morning), thanks not to light level, but to a quirk in the weather. During this time the air felt the most raw and cold at any point during the morning, and a light blanket of fog developed right over the water’s surface.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES: 1) First spawning shad sighted allowing for “one & done” netting.

TALLY: 65 FISH, ALL CAUGHT AND RELEASED

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:25a

End Time: 12:20p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 49F

Water Surface Temp: 65.3F

Wind Speed & Direction: NW7-10

Sky Conditions: 100% grey cloud cover as a mild cold front moved in briefly.

Water Level: 2.15 feet low

GT = 35

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 1024 – smoking for white bass — 31 fish in 90 minutes

**Area 692 – – mixed bag on live bait; mainly keeper hybrid

**Area vic 1882/1819/2027 – mixed bag on live bait; mainly keeper hybrid

Bob Maindelle, Central Texas Fishing Guide

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

FINGER LICKIN’ FISHIN’ – 220 FISH @ BELTON

April 1st, 2018April 1st, 2018 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Saturday morning I fished with Mr. Kelvin Gladden, his son, Kelvin Jr., and two of Kelvin’s neighbors, Mr. Frank Hatcher, and Mr. Terrance Blackmon, all of Harker Heights, TX. This was a great crew, and, they brought great food, featuring buttermilk marinated crispy-fried chicken. We wound up with 220 fish in right at 4 hours of fishing under great conditions (grey skies, breezy S. winds, and in the midst of a warming trend – our 3^rd such Saturday in a row).

Kelvin Gladden, the trip coordinator, with a very healthy Lake Belton hybrid striped bass taken on live shad.

Frank Hatcher of Harker Heights with a 22 3/8″ hybrid taken between 10 and 11 a.m. as we fished live bait successfully for this species, and for largemouth bass.

From left: Kelvin Gladden Jr., Frank Hatcher, Kelvin Gladden, and Terrance Blackmon, all of Harker Heights, each with a 2-year class white bass of the 197 we took in our first 3 hours of fishing with slabs to which I had affixed Hazy Eye Stinger hooks.

WHAT WE FISHED FOR: This was a multi-species trip in which we fished for white bass, hybrid stripers, and largemouth.

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED: Saturday morning, 31 March 2018

HOW WE FISHED: We put in a solid 3 hours in pursuit of white bass and, by 10:15 left them biting to pursue larger fish. The white bass bite was very strong this morning, tapering quickly upward about 30 minutes after sunrise, and strengthening as the wind and grey cloud cover increased. We caught 197 white bass, 2 freshwater drum, and 1 largemouth vertical jigging with slabs to which I attached Hazy Eye Stinger hooks. The fish were all in the lower third of the water column. At 10:15, we “left fish to find fish” and were fortunate to find somewhat active hybrid striped bass, largemouth bass, and white bass, all mixed together and feeding on shad. We suspended our lively threadfin shad baits on circle hooks at both 27’ and 35’ over a deeper bottom and landed another 20 fish in our final hour on the water, including multiple keeper hybrid, multiple keeper white bass, and multiple keeper largemouth bass.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES: 1) Next to zero bird activity. Most all fish-finding now based on sonar use.

TALLY: 220 FISH, ALL CAUGHT AND RELEASED

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:15a

End Time: 11:30a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 54F

Water Surface Temp: 65.3 to 66.7F

Wind Speed & Direction: S9-13

Sky Conditions: Low grey cloud cover obscured the direct sun all morning, but with “squinting” light levels

Water Level: 2.19 feet low

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:

N/A

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area B0066c – smoking white bass (visited twice with bite more solid on second visit)

**Area vic B0054C – smoking white bass

**Area B0067C – live shad for mix of 20 hybrid, largemouth, and white bass

Bob Maindelle, Central Texas Fishing Guide

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Truly Multi-Species — 178 Fish @ Belton

March 30th, 2018 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Friday morning I welcomed back the crew from Pride of Texas Landscape and Irrigation, including Justin Pride, Rob Ramey, and Ricky Guenat. These fellows have fished at least one springtime trip with me for several years now and I always look forward to having them aboard. You can tell they just enjoy being with one another, being away from the stressors of work, and being outdoors.

Justin Pride of Pride of Texas Landscaping and Irrigation holds our largest fish of the trip, a 6.75 pound largemouth that went for a large, live threadfin shad fished down in timber, and mixed in with hybrid stripers.

Ricky Guenat with the first hybrid of the day, taken just off the main river channel with baits set at 30′ over a deeper bottom.

The whole crew with a few of the better sized white bass we landed today. Artificial lures accounted for 145 whites in our first 3 hours. From left: Ricky Guenat, Justin Pride, and Rob Ramey.

WHAT WE FISHED FOR: This was a multi-species trip

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED: Friday morning, 30 March 2018

HOW WE FISHED: Since the hybrid fishery really hasn’t turned on with great consistency yet, I suggested we make this a multi-species trip, which the fellows were agreeable to. We spent our first 3 hours using artificials (3/8 oz. white slabs with Hazy Eye Stinger hooks fish with a smoking tactic) which accounted for 150 fish including 2 drum, 3 largemouth, and 145 white bass. We then hung bait and tried tempting the hybrid for our final 2 hours. This accounted for 28 more fish, including 10 keeper hybrid, 2 white bass, and 16 largemouth bass, including the trip’s largest fish — a 6.75 pound largemouth taken by Justin on a large, live threadfin shad.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES: 1) Next to zero bird activity. Most all fish-finding now based on sonar use.

TALLY: 178 FISH, ALL CAUGHT AND RELEASED

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:20a

End Time: 12:20p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 58F

Water Surface Temp: 65.1 to 65.8F

Wind Speed & Direction: NE9-12 all morning

Sky Conditions: 0% cloud cover; blue sky

Water Level: 2.19 feet low and slowly rising

GT = 235

Wx SNAPSHOT:

N/A

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 1369 – smoking white bass

**Area B0066c – smoking white bass

**Area vic B0062C – live shad for 1 hybrid , 2 whites

**Area B0065C – live shad for 9 hybrid, 16 largemouth

Bob Maindelle, Central Texas Fishing Guide

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Pre-Deployment Daddy-Daughters Trip

March 27th, 2018 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Monday morning I fished with US Army Captain Chris Huggett and his two daughters, just-turned-5-years-old Clara, and 2 1/2-year-old Rosalea. I would not normally take kids so young at this time of year, preferring instead to fishing in the heat of the summer when sunfish are abundant and offer “instant-gratification” fishing just right for youngsters with short attention spans. In this case, however, Chris’ wife, Erin, explained that Chris wanted to do something special with the girls before he deploys as an armor company commander overseas for a number of months. She said they weren’t worried about numbers of fish, nor about the girls lasting for a full 3.5 hours, but just wanted to catch a few fish and have some daddy-daughter time. As it turned out, both girls landed the first fish of their lives and we all had a good time doing it.

US Army Captain Chris Huggett with his girls, Clara and Rosalea, on their big day on the water prior to Chris’ forthcoming deployment. Here, the girls show two of the white bass we landed while trolling with shad-imitating crankbaits.

WHAT WE FISHED FOR: This was a multi-species trip

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday morning, 26 March 2018

HOW WE FISHED: Given the girls’ age and the current fishing scenario, I opted to simply use flatline trolling and downrigging to keep the pace of the fish catching steady and minimize the technical aspects of the fishing as best I could. We landed 8 fish (7 white bass and 1 largemouth) via flatline trolling using the Storm Smash Shad in under 14′. We also landed 5 fish (all white bass) via downrigging with a 3-armed umbrella rig from out of 40′

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES: 1) “Leapfrogging” egrets indicated the presence of spawning shad along 3 unique sections of bank this morning. 2) Credible report from a fellow guide on Belton indicated a tough bite on hybrid today on that body of water.

TALLY: 13 FISH, ALL CAUGHT AND RELEASED

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:20a

End Time: 10:50a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 68F

Water Surface Temp: 64.1 to 66.8F

Wind Speed & Direction: S13 all morning

Sky Conditions: 100% grey cloud cover

Water Level: 3.92 feet low

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic 745 – flatlining cranks

**Area vic 111 to 114 – flatlining cranks

**Area 1500-1977 – downrigging 3-armed umbrellas for whites both suspended and on bottom

Bob Maindelle, Central Texas Fishing Guide

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Buds from the Valley — 134 Fish @ Belton

March 26th, 2018 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Saturday morning I fished with long-time buddies from down in south Texas, Lucas Rodriguez and Chris Dyer. Lucas is the CEO of a medical research company in Dallas, and Chris is in the produce business in the Houston area. The two met half-way and did an overnight camping trip to Dana Peak Park on the north shore of Stillhouse and then met me at Lake Belton for a half-day of fishing the following morning. Under ideal conditions we put together a nice catch of 130 white bass in just under three hours, then shifted gears and went on a hunt for hybrid. That didn’t go nearly so well, yielding just 2 white bass, a largemouth bass and a smallmouth bass, but no hybrid today.

Lucas Rodriguez with a nice Lake Belton smallmouth bass that went for one of the six live shad we had presented in a search for hybrid stripers.

Lucas Rodriguez (left) and Chris Dyer took 130 white bass in just under 3 hours on a combination of slabs fished vertically and bladebaits fished horizontally and via sightcasting.

WHAT WE FISHED FOR: This was a multi-species trip

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED: Saturday morning, 24 March 2018

HOW WE FISHED: We had near-perfect conditions today — “squinting” light levels through grey clouds, a manageable, southerly wind, and another warm overnight on a string of warm days. The fish were in high gear this morning with surface action routinely occurring in the first 90 minutes following the obscured sunrise. We caught white bass for 3 solid hours on slabs and blades, and could have kept right on catching, but decided to shift gears in hopes of getting a few “last hour” hybrid. That didn’t happen this morning, but Lucas got a nice bonus smallmouth bass on the live shad we suspended for hybrid.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES: 1) Perfect conditions matched to a strong bite this morning. 2) Late morning hybrid were hard to find. By the time we quit the white bass and started looking, the clouds had begun clearing and a lot of other boats were starting to run and look for fish.

TALLY: 134 FISH, ALL CAUGHT AND RELEASED

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:20a

End Time: 11:50a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 68F

Water Surface Temp: 63.3F

Wind Speed & Direction: S12-13 all morning

Sky Conditions:100% grey cloud cover

Water Level: 2.42 feet low and falling

GT = 70

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic 380 for white bass on slabs

**Area B0063/4C – for white bass sight casting with blades

**Area vic 692 for white bass on slabs

Bob Maindelle, Central Texas Fishing Guide

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

The Archies from Oregon — 54 Fish

March 25th, 2018 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Friday morning I fished with Chancellor Archie, his wife, Karah, and their two daughters, 14-year-old Gabrielle and 9-year-old Katelin. Chancellor and his family are moving to the Leander area from Oregon. Most of the family’s recent fishing experiences have centered around trout and salmon in the Pacific Northwest. Today, we primarily pursued white bass to keep the girls engaged, while leaving just a bit of time near trip’s end to get a hybrid or two.

From left: Katelin, Chancellor, Karah, and Gabrielle Archie with a few of the 52 white bass we landed on slabs on a cool, breezy morning on Lake Belton.

Gabrielle had all she could handle when this 3.25 pound, 19″ hybrid grabbed the live shad on the rod she was tending.

WHAT WE FISHED FOR: This was a multi-species trip focused on both white bass and hybrid striper

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED: Friday morning, 23 March 2018

HOW WE FISHED: We experienced a white bass bite of average intensity this morning, allowing us to fish vertically for them with a smoking tactic using 3/8 oz. slabs fitted with Hazy Eye Stinger hooks. When the fish cooled down, we changed over to downrigging which Chancellor and Katelin really took a liking to. With the day being a bit damp, cloudy and breezy, and the girls dressed a bit lightly, they got cold pretty easily, so, we curtailed the white bass fishing which would have produced more fish, and changed over to hybrid fishing with live bait for just 10 or 15 minutes. Fortunately, the hybrid cooperated in a timely fashion, allowing each of the girls to land a hybrid of their own. We then wrapped it up about 70 minutes early and headed for the warmth of their family car.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES: Although we had both a southerly wind and cloud cover, the cloud cover was thick enough to keep one from having to squint; the fishing was a good bit slower than last Saturday when we had similar conditions, but with more brightness coming through the clouds.

TALLY: 54 FISH, ALL CAUGHT AND RELEASED

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:50a

End Time: 10:20a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 64F

Water Surface Temp: 62.4F

Wind Speed & Direction: S13 all morning

Sky Conditions:100% grey cloud cover

Water Level: 2.41 feet low and falling

GT = 70

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic 380 for white bass on slabs and blades

**Area B0062C – live shad & cutbait for 15 hybrid

Bob Maindelle, Central Texas Fishing Guide

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)