Fishing Report | Holding The Line Guide Service

PRAIRIE DOG RACING – 48 FISH @ BELTON

March 12th, 2018 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Saturday afternoon I was joined by two couples: Shannon Bradshaw and Brandon Parr and their friends, Andrew Baker and Chelsy Richardson. Andrew and Brandon serve in the same infantry unit on Fort Hood The ladies went in together to get the fellows a fishing gift certificate for Valentines’ Day in 2017 and redeemed it today. We faced some tougher conditions this afternoon as the sky brightened and the wind calmed over the midday period. As it turned out, we were able to use a variety of tactics including snap-jigging for whites and tight-lining with live shad for hybrid to catch a variety of fish. Along the way we all got a good chuckle when I told the group I was looking forward to a prairie dog hunt in late May. While picturing a not a prairie dog but a greyhound in her mind, Shannon asked of the prairie dogs I’d just mentioned, “Aren’t those the ones they race?”. There was a split second of silence and then laughter erupted.

Shannon Bradshaw with our longest hybrid of the trip. This fish aggressively took a live shad suspended at mid-depth over a 34′ bottom.

Chelsy Richardson and Andrew Baker with a nice pair of hybrid. Andrew’s fish was our heaviest of the trip, weighing 4.125 pounds. Both came on live shad suspended off a 34′ bottom.

Did ya’ll know the Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer Co. has a fishing team?

From left, Chelsy Richardson, Andrew Baker, Shannon Bradshaw, and Brandon Parr, each with a 2 year class white bass caught off bottom in 25-28′ along a blunt point under tough, bright, calm conditions.

WHAT WE FISHED FOR: This was a multi-species trip during which we caught a mix of white bass and hybrid stripers

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED: Saturday evening, 10 March 2018

HOW WE FISHED: Fishing was much tougher this afternoon than this morning. Our conditions were just what you don’t hope for — bright and calm — but, we persisted and put together a nice catch aided by a grand finale of nearly 20 keeper hybrid (18″ or greater). We kicked off the afternoon snap-jigging near bottom while we still had a bit of a ripple. Multiple “short hop” around the same location got us 27 white bass and a single largemouth in our first two hours. Our third hour was slow as we searched multiple locations finding little and catching nothing. We made a move to another segment of the lake in our final 80 minutes. As I searched with sonar, side imaging revealed scattered but abundant hybrid holding along a steep bank over 34′. I hovered the boat in one spot using Spot Lock, got live bait down, sweetened the deal with a steady flow of chum, and we began to pull hybrid stripers steadily for the remainder of the trip, right up until dark around 6:45. Although these fish were definitely more aggressive than those we encountered the previous evening, we still had plenty of refusals where we watched fish on sonar as they stalked a bait, rose to it, then turned away without making contact. During this last span of time, we landed 18 legal hybrid, 1 short hybrid, and 1 largemouth bass around 2 pounds.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES: 1) The hybrid we encountered were definitely more aggressive than those we encountered the previous evening, but we still had plenty of refusals where we watched fish on sonar as they stalked a bait, rose to it, then turned away without making contact.

TALLY: 48 FISH, ALL CAUGHT AND RELEASED

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 2:30 pm

End Time: 6:50 pm

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 85F

Water Surface Temp: 60-62F

Wind Speed & Direction: SSW2-4 most of the trip.

Sky Conditions: <10% cover with white clouds on a blue sky by trip’s end.

Water Level: 2.43 feet low

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 381 to B0050C — 28 fish snap-jigging

**Area B0051C – 20 fish on live shad in last 75 minutes of light

Bob Maindelle, Central Texas Fishing Guide

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

I’M GONNA TEACH MY KIDS THIS TECHNIQUE — 105 FISH @ BELTON

March 12th, 2018March 12th, 2018 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Saturday morning I was joined by Mr. Frank “Big Dad” Ellis, his step-son, Richard Garrison, and four of Frank’s grandchildren — Alexis (age 12) and Aubrey (age 10) Mikeska, and Eliana (age 11) and Janessa (age 8) McKee, all of Copperas Cove. The girls all fished while Frank and Richard helped me help the girls with technique, taking off fish, untangling lines, and more. The girls are all on spring break and this was the first of a few big events they had planned for the week. Aubrey, the only “morning person” in the bunch, really warmed my heart when, in the middle of the white bass feeding frenzy tells her grandpa, “Man, this works great. I’m gonna teach my kids this technique when they go fishing.”

From left, Aubrey Mikeska, Richard Garrison, Alexis Mikeska, Janessa McKee, Frank Ellis, and Eliana McKee with a few of the 105 fish they landed as the opening act of their Spring Break 2018.

WHAT WE FISHED FOR: This was a multi-species trip during which we caught white bass (primarily), as well as crappie, largemouth, and drum.

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED: Saturday morning, 10 March 2018

HOW WE FISHED: Fishing got off to a bit later start this morning thanks to some heavy grey cloud cover which obscured sunrise, and thanks to very light winds. By 7:30am things started to happen as nature came alive, fish began biting, and birds started flying and feeding. We fished only two areas this morning. The first half of the trip, while the bite was more subdued, we used a snap-jigging tactic for smaller white bass holding very tightly to the bottom. During the second half of the trip we witnessed the most aggressive white bass feed I have seen so far this year. Hundreds of white bass were feeding in an area of about 2 acres in size and in about 25 feet of water. The fish were primarily in the middle third of the water column with individual fish occasionally breaking the surface as they chased shad. Fishing was super easy with a smoking tactic and the trusty 3/8 oz. slab with Hazy Eye Stinger hook affixed. This aggressive feed lasted about 75 minutes. Afterwards, fish were still catchable, but were on bottom and much less aggressive, thus requiring that we go back to snap-jigging. At this point anything short of another frenzy would have been anticlimactic. As this was a “Kids Fish, Too!” package trip, we wrapped up right around the 3.5 hour mark with exactly 104 fish landed. I think Aubrey would have fished ’til midnight if we let her, Alexis could have hung a bit longer, and Eliana and Janessa were ready for an early lunch.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES: 1) A number of the larger white bass we landed from out of the suspended school we smoked for were males dripping milt. That was the first time I’ve observed that on either Belton or Stillhouse this season.

TALLY: 105 FISH, ALL CAUGHT AND RELEASED

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:30 am

End Time: 10:00 am

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 66F

Water Surface Temp: 60-62F

Wind Speed & Direction: S3 at trip’s start, building to S7 by 9:00am, then shifting suddenly to WSW9-10.

Sky Conditions: 100% grey cloud cover, tapering off to 30% cover with white clouds on a blue sky by trip’s end.

Water Level: 2.43 feet low

GT = 50

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic 382 – snap-jigging for small white bass hugging bottom

**Area 617 to 378 to 380 – frenzied white bass caught via slow-smoking

Bob Maindelle, Central Texas Fishing Guide

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

HYBRID ON THE BRINK – 104 FISH @ BELTON

March 11th, 2018March 11th, 2018 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Thursday evening I fished Lake Belton with Mr. Lin McCraw and four teenagers, including Lin’s two sons, Cole and Wil, and family friends Marvin Jordan and Jace Sims. I came prepared for both white bass which I felt confident we would catch, as well as for hybrid striper, which I was less confident about based on recent, spotty fishing for that species in the still-cold water. Lin makes his living as an attorney up in the McKinney area in north Texas and came down for a visit to his ranch near Gatesville.

From left, Jace Sims and Cole McCraw handle a nice pair of hybrid that fell for cutbait as a large school of fish fed on shad in 25′ over a 40′ bottom.

Wil McCraw with one of ten hybrid we landed in a short, intense feed which took place under birds around 5pm. That’s his dad in the background.

Marvin Jordan calmly listed to my coaching and did a great job boating our largest fish of the trip, a 4.125 pound hybrid striped bass, also taken on cutbait.

WHAT WE FISHED FOR: This was a multi-species trip during which we caught both hybrid stripers and white bass.

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED: Friday evening, 09 March 2018

HOW WE FISHED: As most afternoon trips do, today’s trip started slow and ended better. For our first two hours we vertically jigged for smaller white bass holding tight to bottom in 22-35′ with 3/8 oz. slabs with Hazy Eye Stingers affixed. During our third hour we encountered quickly moving schools of fish pushing bait toward the surface from beneath. Most of the action was in 25′ over a 40-45′ bottom. We found hybrid willing to take cutbait (but not live shad) and put 10 in the boat with a few more missed before this action under birds died down to nil. Our final hour was spent slow-smoking slabs in 26′ at a breakline. Birds got us close and sonar closed the deal.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES: 1) The hybrid bite is “teetering” on the brink of taking off. The bite over the past 10 days has been spotty, but a few more degrees of water temperature rise should see a big improvement. 2) Chunk bait far outperformed live bait for the hybrid we encountered.

TALLY: 104 FISH, ALL CAUGHT AND RELEASED

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 2:30 pm

End Time: 6:40 pm

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 68F

Water Surface Temp: 59-61F

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE13-15

Sky Conditions: 65-80% grey clouds

Water Level: 2.44 feet low

GT = 15

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic 788 to 382 (with 3 short hops) vertical jigging with 3/8 oz. slabs in 25-35′

**Area vic 1024 vertical jigging with 3/8 oz. slabs in 22′

**Area B0049C – fishing under birds with cutbait for 10 hybrid holding at 25′ over 40-45′

**Area B0052C – slow smoking slabs for white bass in ~26′ during last-light bite

Bob Maindelle, Central Texas Fishing Guide

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

THROWING BLADES & TROLLING CRANKS — 47 FISH @ STILLHOUSE

March 11th, 2018 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Thursday morning I fished with Mike and Gail Klosterhoff of Georgetown, TX, on Stillhouse Hollow. Gail got Mike a fishing gift certificate for Christmas and today was when they chose to redeem it. Based on recent scouting efforts I’d made on Stillhouse, I knew the use of bladebaits would figure heavily into our approach, so, I did some dockside coaching on the use of these lures before we encountered fish so Mike and Gail would be more capable when we got into white bass. Because the Klosterhoffs recently bought a pontoon boat of their own and desire to get better at catching fish on their own, I tried to explain why we did what we did as the morning went along so they could apply such lessons to their own efforts going forward. Thank you for the referral, Dan Marriott!!

Mike and Gail Klosterhoff of Georgetown, TX, put 46 white bass and 1 largemouth in the boat under warming, cloudy conditions on Stillhouse Hollow throwing bladebaits.

WHAT WE FISHED FOR: This was a multi-species trip focused on catching white bass.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: Friday morning, 09 March 2018

HOW WE FISHED: All fish caught today were taken in under 20′ of water and primarily using bladebaits. We used 3/8 oz. Cicadas in shallower water (<10′) and 3/4 oz. Binsky blades in water over 10′. A lift-drop retrieve did the trick. We also put a few fish in the boat via flatline trolling. The fish showed a definite preference for the Storm Smash Shad over the Wiggle Wart I had on the other line. The trolling targeted scattered fish whereas the bladebaits were thrown at congregated fish as seen on sonar.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES: 1) Despite our decent catch, there still seems to be a scarcity of both fish and bait in the areas traditionally holding fish under current water conditions and in this season as compared to seasons past. 2) The “bridge tree” I watch each time of year for a gauge of spring’s progress began greening this week. 3) Sandhill cranes have migrated beyond us now.

TALLY: 47 FISH, ALL CAUGHT AND RELEASED

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:30 am

End Time: 10:30 am

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 53F

Water Surface Temp: 58-59F

Wind Speed & Direction: S5-7 then increasing sharply to S14 around 9:30

Sky Conditions: 100% grey clouds

Water Level: 3.72 feet low

GT = 40

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area SH0011C to SH0014C – blade baits in under than 12′

**Area SH0012C – flatline trolling

**Area 091 to SH0013C

Bob Maindelle, Central Texas Fishing Guide

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

TWINS CATCH FIRST FISH OF THEIR LIVES – 6 FISH @ BELTON

March 6th, 2018 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Monday morning I fished with Leslie Hancock, Willie Gill, and their two girls, Ellie and Emmie Gill. The girls are 5-year-old twins and had never before caught a fish in their lives. Although I don’t normally prefer to take kids this young out until the summer month (when sunfish are abundant and easily caught), the girls had tried for several days in a row to catch fish from the bank during their campout in Cedar Ridge Park on Belton without a single fish to show for it, so, we headed out to clear that “first fish hurdle”.

Leslie Hancock with her 5-year-old twin daughter, Emmie, and the 17.25″ bass which was our first fish caught of the morning and, more importantly, of Emmie’s life!

Willie Gills and his 5-year-old twin daughter, Ellie, with her first fish of the trip and of her life, a nice 3-year class white bass that taped 13.25 inches.

WHAT WE FISHED FOR: This was a multi-species trip focused on catching each child’s first fish.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday morning, 05 March 2018

HOW WE FISHED: Given the girls’ age and lack of experience, I tried to get us on some fish that would provide some “instant gratification” on what turned out to be a tough fishing day. We did not stay long at any one area, and I came prepared to do a lot of different things to give the girls lots of transitions to maintain their interest and enthusiasm. So, we cast, jigged, reeled, used live bait, downrigged, etc. In the end, each young lady caught not one, but three fish and had a fun time doing it. Emmie caught the first fish, a 17.25″ largemouth bass. Ellie got the next fish, a nice 13.25″ white bass. Then, both girls landed 2 more smaller white bass via jigging and downrigging.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES: 1) The fishing was very spotty today with some early sub-surface action under birds with hybid forcing bait to the surface (vicB0046C); I also got credible reports of hybrid taking live shad near this area during a wind shift which occurred after our trip concluded. 2) Sandhill cranes continue migrating.

TALLY: 6 FISH, ALL CAUGHT AND RELEASED

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:15 am

End Time: 10:30 am

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 67F

Water Surface Temp: 58.4F

Wind Speed & Direction: S5-7, then a windshift to W13 around 10:30A

Sky Conditions: Partly cloudy @ 60%

Water Level: 2.41 feet low and rising slowly

GT = 5

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic B0046C/B0047C

**Area vic B0015C

**Area 437

Bob Maindelle, Central Texas Fishing Guide

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

IF HE HITS IT BIG IN VEGAS — 63 FISH @ BELTON

March 4th, 2018March 4th, 2018 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Saturday afternoon I fished with U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Army veteran Harry Payne of Kempner and his two adult sons, Matt Payne of Killeen, and Brian Payne of Harker Heights. Harry gave the boys a fishing gift certificate as a Christmas present so they could all do something in the outdoors together. Harry occasionally fishes Lake Belton, typically heading to one particular spot to fish for whatever bites there. His personal best day was 36 fish. Harry took note of the way my boat is laid out and how I make use of my electronics and told Matt and Brian, “If I hit it big in Vegas I’m getting us a boat like this.” So, Matt and Brian, I’m putting this in writing for you, just in case!

From left: Brian, Matt, and Harry Payne with a sampling of the larger white bass we found just prior to sunset. Smaller white bass were most common earlier in the trip as we jigged in deeper, clearer water. We put a total of 63 fish in the boat this evening.

WHAT WE FISHED FOR: This was a multi-species trip focused on white bass using artificial lures.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Saturday evening, 04 March 2018

HOW WE FISHED: Fishing started well and ended well today, but we had a tough “middle”, thanks to nearly calm conditions. We began vertical jigging in 48′ with 3/8 oz. slabs equipped with Hazy Eye Stinger hooks. Everyone got hit and hooked up routines, taking our fish count to 24 in the first hour. As the bite was waning, we pulled off to chase some birds, but that did not result in finding active fish. For the middle two hours of the trip (~3:45 – 5:45) we looked over multiple parts of 7 different areas and only put another 11 fish in the boat during this time. Based on observations made while fishing this past Tuesday evening, I relocated us for the final hour of our trip. Fortunately, the winds picked up from jsut south of east during this time and added fuel to the low-light bite fire. As I began glassing, I found 3 terns in the distance acting “fishy” over a small patch of water. We ran there, found fish, and began sacking them up. Our last 50 minutes on the water saw another 28 fish come over the gunwale with several more lost at the boat. We used a variety of tactics, all successfully, for these fish, including snap-jigging, slow smoking, and easing, as the fish were found from bottom, up to within about 12 feet of the surface.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES: 1) The fishing rose and fell with wind today. 2) The season’s first migrating Sandhill cranes were witnessed headed north over the past 2 days. 3) At dusk, some very light, occasional surface action was witnessed as the most aggressive of the white bass population near us pushed shad all the way to the surface.

TALLY: 63 FISH, ALL CAUGHT AND RELEASED

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 2:30p

End Time: 6:45p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 67F

Water Surface Temp: 58.2-58.6F

Wind Speed & Direction: SE7 for the first hour, going calm for the next two hours, then returning to ESE7-9 in advance of drizzling rain just after nightfall.

Sky Conditions: 100% grey the entire trip.

Water Level: 2.46 feet low and rising slowly thanks to abundant, but light and well-spaced, rainfall.

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic B0026C – 24 fish snap-jigging 3/8 oz. slabs in 48′

**Area vic 1941-1942 – 11 fish snap-jigging 3/8 oz. slabs in 32-36′

**Area B0045C – 28 fish in last 50 minutes of light with 3/8 and 3/4 oz slabs in 20-24′ with snap-jigging, easing, and slow smoking (easing best)

Bob Maindelle, Central Texas Fishing Guide

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)