Fishing Report | Holding The Line Guide Service

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

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GO HORIZONTAL, YOUNG MAN! – 145 FISH @ BELTON

April 11th, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH:This morning, Tuesday, April 11th, I fished with members of the Oliver family – – some of my oldest clients in terms of years they’ve been coming out with me.

This morning, Jack Oliver coordinated the trip for his three adult boys, Asa, Isaac, and Eli, as well as for two of his three brothers – – Joe and Jamie (we’re gonna get Jeff out before long!!).

As it turned out, a family emergency arose just as we begin fishing our first spot. I took Joe back in so he could tend to that at the same time Isaac, who was arriving an hour late, was just pulling up. So, I only had a net of five people aboard at any given time this morning.

Here is how the fishing went.…

————————————————————————–

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

Next available dates are June 01, 06-08 (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION: From left Jamie, Asa, Jack, Isaac, and Eli Oliver with a sampling of the nice fish they caught and released on Lake Belton using the MAL Heavy with a sawtooth tactic.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday, 11 April 2023 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED:

This morning’s conditions were the toughest I’ve faced in quite some time. The cold front, which came in late last week, had its high pressure fully built in this morning, meaning, no cloud cover, bright sunshine, and calm conditions. Accordingly, we struggled not to find fish, but to get fish we found to get excited about chasing and biting our lures.

I found that parking right on top of the most dense schools of fish I could possibly find and using an easing tactic with 5/8 oz. white Bladed Hazy Eye Slab at least began to put fish in the boat as one in perhaps every 15 to 25 fish would begin swimming upwards after the lure with enough gusto to overtake it and bite.

Things stayed tough until right around 10 AM when a light northeast breeze begin to move the water and puffy white clouds begin to move in from the southwest.

Things started happening quickly at this point. I combed over an area with sonar and found fish blanketing the bottom, yet not very far up off of it, for a span of about 100 yards. Seeing there was no brush in the area, I moved shallower than, and parallel to, this group of fish hanging on the 28 foot contour mark. I Spot-Locked, put everyone abreast of one another on the starboard gunwale, and had them cast out horizontally using MAL Heavies with chartreuse tails using the sawtooth method.

Immediately, we started boating fish after fish as they came over the side as singles, doubles, and even a few triples. We worked that area thoroughly with two “short hops” after the initial anchorage for about 90 minutes picking up 51 fish there.

Around 11:45, those fish gave out and I made a move and found a nearly identical scenario some distance away. We did the same thing using the MAL heavies with a sawtooth method, and put a final 16 fish in the boat.

Here is a video I put together on the Sawtooth Method: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3FMEQHOMQ

One huge take away today was how much more interested these fish were in a horizontal retrieve than in a vertical retrieve.

Included in our tally of 145 fish this morning were four short hybrid stripers, two freshwater drum, one flathead catfish, one largemouth bass, and 137 white bass, of which approximately 27 were short.

TALLY: 145 fish caught and released

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

OBSERVATIONS: Here is the water temperature profile down to 45’…

0 feet, 63.8F
5 feet, 63.9F
10 feet, 64.1F
15 feet, 63.9F
20 feet, 63.8F
25 feet, 63.7F
30 feet, 63.5F
35 feet, 62.8F
40 feet, 61.7F
45 feet, 61.2F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 8A

End Time: 12:30P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 52F

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

Water Surface Temp: 63.8F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: NE4-5 after the first 2 hours’ calm conditions

Sky Condition: Clear skies for the first 2 hours, then puffy white clouds at 25% coverage moved in from the SW

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 80% illumination.

GT = 65

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 1819 – 7 fish under low-light conditions on smoked MAL Heavies

Area B0016C – 18 fish on eased 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

Area B0184C – 12 fish on eased 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

Area 0149 – 41 fish on eased 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

Area B0066G – 51 fish on sawtoothed MAL Dense

Area vic 0141 – 16 fish on sawtoothed MAL Dense

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

THAT’S WHAT DADS DO! — 102 FISH, LAKE BELTON

April 10th, 2023April 10th, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Monday, April 10th, I fished with father-and-son team Joey and Wyatt Sapien.

The fishing was solid this morning after a topsy-turvy weather run over the past 5 days. Thanks to grey cloud cover and a gentle breeze, the fish bit well for the last three hours of our four hour trip.

As we wrapped things up at the close of the trip, Joey semi-exaggerated the events which played out, saying, “Yep, we caught 102 fish, and I landed about 12 of those and also managed to get both of the two snags we had to go get with the trolling motor.”

I told 12-year-old Wyatt, “See that’s the kind of things that dads to to make their sons look good!”.

Here is how the fishing went…

————————————————————————–

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

Next available dates are June 01, 06-08 (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION: Father-and-son time for Joey Sapien and 12-year-old Wyatt. These fellows took 102 fish on MAL Heavy and MAL Dense Lures this morning on Lake Belton.

PHOTO CAPTION: Wyatt landed the first smallmouth bass of his life this morning, then landed another one about 20 minutes later. Both took the MAL Heavy with chartreuse tail counted down to a 6-count.

PHOTO CAPTION: If it eats shad, it ate the MAL Heavy Lure this morning. This largemouth bass and four others like if fell for this threadfin shad imitator; a few others were lost “on the jump” before the made it over the gunwale.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday, 10 April 2023 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED:

Our first hour was a bit slow as it was pretty gloomy thanks to thick, grey cloud cover and light winds. In our second hour, winds picked up and the sky brightened, although still fully greyed over, and the bite began to develop.

We took 47 of our first 49 fish under birds working bait with white bass and schoolie-sized largemouth below them. When we actually saw fish boiling on shad, Joey and Wyatt cast just beyond them and immediately began to retrieve; otherwise, they counted their MAL Heavy Lures (w/ chartreuse tails) down for 4 to 6 seconds and then began a moderate retrieve straight back to the boat.

This catch included 2 smallmouth bass and 5 largemouth bass.

After this action died we moved on and found another school of white bass well-spread across the bottom in ~28′ adjacent to the channel. I Spot-Locked in deep water and we cast shallower, toward the shoreline using MAL Dense Lures (chartreuse tails) with a sawtooth method.

Here is a video I put together on the Sawtooth Method: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3FMEQHOMQ

We repositioned on these fish three separate times and took our final tally up to exactly 102 fish.

Of the 102 fish we landed, 5 were largemouth bass, 4 were hybrid striped bass, 2 were smallmouth bass, and the remaining 91 fish were white bass, all of which were legal-sized fish including one white bass landed by Wyatt which measured 14 7/8-inches.

TALLY: 102 fish caught and released

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

OBSERVATIONS: The laughing gulls now make up the majority of the population of gulls still inhabiting Lake Belton. These are not as credible as ringbills and terns.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:35A

End Time: 11:50A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 57F

Elevation: 14.32 feet low, 24 CFS flow, .02′ rise over the last 24 hrs. thanks to 3 days of light rain (which produced very little runoff).

Water Surface Temp: 64.6F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: NE4-5 after the first hour’s calm conditions

Sky Condition: Moderate grey cloud cover all morning.

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 80% illumination.

GT = 45

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area B0076C – 49 fish on MAL Heavy Lures sight-cast or counted down

Area B0067C – 53 fish on sawtoothed MAL Dense; 3 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

REFRESHING RAIN, REFRESHING CLIENT — 122 FISH @ BELTON

April 6th, 2023April 6th, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Thursday, April 6, I fished with Mr. Shawn Ely from near Moody, TX.

Shawn was the perfect fit for this day of pretty crummy weather. I was originally scheduled to have a dad and his three kids on the water this morning, and, although they would have most certainly caught fish, the conditions they’d have to endure to do it would likely have dampened the enjoyment of that trip.

On short notice Shawn stepped in. He grew up in the outdoors, owns two boats of his own, is a student of white bass fishing, can handle a rod well, and knew enough to dress appropriately for both the wet and the cold.

Here is how the fishing went…

————————————————————————–

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

Next available dates are June 01, 06-08 (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION: Shawn Ely with a pair of Lake Belton white bass which went right at 14″ and fell for an MAL Dense worked “sawtooth-style”.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday, 06 April 2023 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED:

As we got going, I knew Shawn’s goal was more to learn about approaches to finding and catching white bass than to actually reel in hooked fish. I asked him before we ever wetted a line, “How can I help scratch where you itch when it comes to white bass?”.

As we spoke about this, I listened and tried to come up with a plan on how best help given the weather conditions we faced, and the point of the season we are in.

The first thing I knew I could accomplish was introducing Shawn to the “Sawtooth Method” of working an MAL Lure.

Indeed, we worked MAL Dense Lures (white body, chartreuse tail) for a full 3.5 hours of our 4 hours on the water. We covered every aspect: from fighting slack, to hooksetting, to boat positioning, to reading birds, to spinner startup, to speed control, and more. One of the big lessons Shawn came away with on this topic was how little I rely on sonar for fishing horizontally after initially finding fish.

Here is a video I put together on the Sawtooth Method: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3FMEQHOMQ

Another area we touched on addressed the question: How few fish is too few to stop and fish for? On this matter I tried to point out both large and small schools of white bass and the thought process I went through on deciding whether or not to stop based on what I observed.

We got to compare notes on side-imaging from my Humminbird Solix 15 with his Garmin unit.

Finally, in our final half-hour on the water, we really shifted gears as the fish were wrapping up their morning feed and getting sluggish. I introduced Shawn to the use of a slab in conjunction with the “easing” tactic, which is something I’ll use through the end of May for very stubborn fish, typically right at the beginning and end of a morning trip. This was very sonar intensive, as Garmin LiveScoped helped advise us when to keep the slab moving upwards as fish were chasing, and when to stop lifting and allow the lure to return to bottom.

It was a real joy to have an experienced angler on the boat who could appreciate little technique nuances as Shawn did, and who could make small, on-the-spot technique adjustments to enhance success.

If there was one odd thing we agreed upon it was this: today’s fishing was almost too easy in that because we did not struggle to find fish, Shawn didn’t get to really see what ferreting out the locations of active fish looked like — they were just everywhere!!. But, neither of us complained about that!

When all was said and done, we landed 122 fish, including 2 largemouth bass and 120 white bass with about 20% of those whites running short.

TALLY: 122 fish caught and released

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

OBSERVATIONS: The cold front which passed yesterday morning stalled to our SE and occluded. It then generated rain all day today.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:25A

End Time: 11:55A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 52F and falling to 48F

Elevation: 14.28 feet low, 24 CFS flow, .01′ rise over the last 24 hrs. thanks to passage of a violent, albeit brief, thunderstorm right at sunset Monday night and additional rains on Wednesday and this morning.

Water Surface Temp: 63.4F on the surface. (a ~2.4 degree drop from yesterday)

Wind Speed & Direction: NW6-8 most of the morning (and significantly less than the NW14-18 called for)

Sky Condition: Moderate grey cloud cover all morning with one ~25 minute round of rain at mid-morning with a light sprinkle falling in our final 40 minutes on the water, as well.

Moon Phase: Full moon at 100% illumination.

GT = 55

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 01899 thru 2029 – 111 fish over 3.5 hours all on sawtoothed MAL Heavy

Area 817 – 11 fish easing slabs for demo purposes as fish were getting lethargic

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

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

April 5th, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

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

Here is how the fishing went…

————————————————————————–

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

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

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

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

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

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

HOW WE FISHED:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

TALLY: 144 fish caught and released

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

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

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:50A

End Time: 11:50A

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

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

Water Surface Temp: 65.8F on the surface.

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

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

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 99% illumination.

GT = 105

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 817 – 57 fish early

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

Bob Maindelle

Full-time, Professional Fishing Guide and Owner of Holding the Line Guide Service

Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide

254.368.7411 (call or text)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

…MOST SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT… — 126 FISH @ BELTON

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

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

————————————————————————–

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

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

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

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

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

HOW WE FISHED:

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

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

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

TALLY: 126 fish caught and released

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

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

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 8:15A

End Time: 12:30P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 70F

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

Water Surface Temp: 62.9F on the surface.

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

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

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 93% illumination.

GT = 55

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area B0051C- 22 fish

Area B0020C – 16 fish

Area B0172C – 15 fish

Area 437 – 15 fish

Area 165 – 9 fish (very shallow)

Bob Maindelle

Full-time, Professional Fishing Guide and Owner of Holding the Line Guide Service

Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide

254.368.7411 (call or text)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

CAST-IRON CASTERS – 77 FISH @ BELTON

March 31st, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

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

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

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

Here is how the fishing went…

————————————————————————–

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

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

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

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

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

HOW WE FISHED:

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

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

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

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

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

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

TALLY: 77 fish caught and released

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

OBSERVATIONS: The water temperature profile was as follows:

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

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 3:15P

End Time: 7:45P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 68F

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

Water Surface Temp: 59.3F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: SE7 all afternoon

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

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 63% illumination.

GT = 45

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area B0051C- 22 fish

Area B0020C – 16 fish

Area B0172C – 15 fish

Area 437 – 15 fish

Area 165 – 9 fish (very shallow)

Bob Maindelle

Full-time, Professional Fishing Guide and Owner of Holding the Line Guide Service

Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide

254.368.7411 (call or text)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

SNOWBIRD WHITE BASSIN’ — 155 FISH @ BELTON

March 30th, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

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

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

Here is how the fishing went…

————————————————————————–

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

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

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

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

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

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

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

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

HOW WE FISHED:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

TALLY: 155 fish caught and released

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

OBSERVATIONS: The water temperature profile was as follows:

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

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:45A

End Time: 11:55A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 59F

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

Water Surface Temp: 59.3F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: SE8-9 all morning

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

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 63% illumination.

GT = 50

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

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

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

Bob Maindelle

Full-time, Professional Fishing Guide and Owner of Holding the Line Guide Service

Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide

254.368.7411 (call or text)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

FUTURE WHALER OPERATORS — 100 FISH @ BELTON

March 29th, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

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

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

Here is how the fishing went…

————————————————————————–

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

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

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

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

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

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

HOW WE FISHED:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

TALLY: 100 fish caught and released

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

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

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:45A

End Time: 12:05A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 50F

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

Water Surface Temp: 59.3F on the surface.

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

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

Moon Phase: First quarter moon at 54% illumination.

GT = 205

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

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

Area 1679 – 33 fish smoking slabs

Area B0082G – 12 fish on slabs by sniping with LiveScope

Bob Maindelle

Full-time, Professional Fishing Guide and Owner of Holding the Line Guide Service

Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide

254.368.7411 (call or text)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here is how the fishing went…

————————————————————————–

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

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

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

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

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

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

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

HOW WE FISHED:

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

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

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

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

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

TALLY: 88 fish caught and released

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

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

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:45A

End Time: 11:55A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 55F

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

Water Surface Temp: 59.9F on the surface.

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

Sky Condition: 90% white-grey cloud cover.

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 44% illumination.

GT = 150

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

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

Bob Maindelle

Full-time, Professional Fishing Guide and Owner of Holding the Line Guide Service

Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide

254.368.7411 (call or text)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com