Fishing Report

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Wednesday, March 24th, I fished with first-time guest Mr. Rob Keeney of Harker Heights, TX.

Rob was to fish with his wife, Prudence, but she was called out of town on a family emergency, so Rob fished solo with me this morning.

The two of them previously competed in BBQ cookoff events in the Kansas City and Charleston areas, so, we had that interest in common and got to compare a lot of notes on the topic during our trip.

Rob works remotely in the information technology field for his company based back in South Carolina.  The work-from-home option suited him and Prudence well, allowing them to work and still be near their grandkids (and son and daughter-in-law!) here in central Texas.

Rob has his own 16′ stick-steer Tracker-style panfish boat and is looking to exercise it a bit more as the weather warms.  He was treated to landing his first ever hybrid striped bass on this morning’s trip.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:   Rob Keeney landed a boatload of white bass and his first hybrid striped bass on today’s spring fishing trip to Lake Belton.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday (AM), 24 March 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

I know many folks would like to see warmer weather just move right in for good, but, I am very partial to a steady, slow spring warmup as it keeps the fishing steadily improving over a longer span.

We have now been hovering just at or above the 55-57F water surface temperature mark for nearly three weeks now and the fish are right at the simmering point about ready to boil.  The fishing is good and it will get better.

We headed out right at sunrise this morning and caught fish non-stop from then until 11:45 when they tapered to nil.

We put a bit more hustle in our slab presentation this morning, and continued on with the larger 3/4 oz. Hazy Eye slabs with stinger hooks in white.  These were a nearly-identical match for the forage we found many of our fish regurgitating this morning.  The slabs and LiveScope were a deadly combination this morning.

We never ventured shallower than 34 feet this morning.  Fish may have been there, but the bright skies early on were my indicator to stay deep and on the several recent occasions when I’ve gone shallow, the fish have seemed smaller and highly mobile.

Hazy Eye Slabs, MAL Lures, and Stinger Hooks are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 119 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:  7:30A

End Time: 11:50A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 46F

Elevation:  0.80′ low with a 0.00’ 24-hour change and 26 CFS flow thru the dam.

Water Surface Temp: 57.4F

Wind Speed & Direction: Winds were WNW6-8 at sunrise, swinging northerly and picking up to 10-11 after 8:45AM

Sky Condition: Light blue sky with building white haze in advance of grey cloud cover building in after the trip’s conclusion.

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent at 78% illum.

GT = 119 fish caught and released including 1 drum, 1 hybrid, and 117 white bass

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area B0189C at first light with fish slowly migrating out to B0076G by 9:15 – 42 fish (S)

**Area 1859 (end of the shallow water bite took place here around 10:30A) – 26 fish (S)

**Area 1552 (just north of this point) – most productive area – 51 fish in our final 90 minutes

 

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

WHO I FISHED WITH: Yesterday morning, Monday, March 22nd, I fished with members of the Killeen-based Salas Team Realtors, including Luis Salas, his 15-year-old son, Michael, Dex Manguerra who coordinated the trip, Michael Green, and Mallory Benham.

Dex brought his daughters out with me a few weeks back, did quite well, and booked another date with his co-workers on the spot.

The weather, although not overly comfortable, was made-to-order for fishing — grey cloud cover and a steady wind with a southerly component.

 

 

PHOTO CAPTION:    From left: Dex Manguerra, Luis Salas, Mallory Benham, Michael Green, and Michael Salas with a sampling of the 121 fish they caught and released this past Monday on Lake Belton.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday (AM), 22 March 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

As spring slowly progresses and the day length increases, the fishing just keeps on improving.

This morning we experienced feeding fish keeping us steadily catching from 7:30 through 11:10 when things shut down pretty quickly.

We fished only three areas and with only a single tactic using a single bait.  We found fish in 32-38 feet of water, we used a slow-smoking retrieve in conjunction with Garmin LiveScope, and closed the deal with the white, 3/4 oz. Hazy Eye Slab with stinger hook.  This bait choice was confirmed as the right one many times over as the fish we landed regurgitated freshly swallowed shad exactly the size of this shad-imitating bait.

Everyone was coachable, did well coming out of the chute, and then followed my suggestions on small technique improvements thereafter, and this positively impacted their results.

With the water firmly in the mid-50’s now, fish movement is faster, the chases longer, and the bites and fights harder than just a week ago.

Hazy Eye Slabs, MAL Lures, and Stinger Hooks are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 121 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:  On several occasions in the first 2 hours following sunrise (obscured) I observed white bass feeding for prolonged period of time at the surface as the forced shad upward in the water column and into the wind.  Due to a fairly rough surface, birds, although present, did not capitalize on this action.   Temperature profile was as follows:

0 feet 56.6
5 feet 56.5
10 feet 56.5
15 feet 56.5
20 feet 56.3
25 feet 56.3
30 feet 56.3
35 feet 56.1
40 feet 56.0
45 feet 55.5
50 feet 53.7
55 feet 53.9
60 feet 53.1
65 feet 51.6

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:  7:30A

End Time: 11:30A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 55F

Elevation:  0.78′ low with a 0.01’ 24-hour change and 26 CFS flow thru the dam.

Water Surface Temp: 56.5F

Wind Speed & Direction: Winds were SSE13-15 all morning

Sky Condition: Moderately heavy grey cloud cover all morning; no precipitation.

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent at 59% illum.

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area B0198C

**Area 593/097

**Area 1336 – B0145C

 

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

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Saturday morning, March 20th, I conducted what was both the final Spring Break trip of the week, as well as the first SKIFF trip of the 2021 season.

SKIFF is an acronym for Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun. It is a program now in its 12th year, sponsored by the Austin Fly Fishers, and supported by individuals and entities, all of whom desire that kids separated from a parent by that parent’s military duty, be given an opportunity to experience the outdoors through fishing during that time of separation, free of charge.  The program offers a time of respite for the home-front parents who made need a short break from single-parenting.

This morning I welcomed the Maness brothers aboard.  Jayden, age 9, and Elijah, age 8, are the sons of U.S. Army Sergeant First Class Jamal Maness and his wife, Nicole (who is herself a veteran).

SFC Maness has been in the military for 11 years and serves as the acting First Sergeant in an aviation maintenance unit.  His unit is undergoing intensive field time in preparation for a rotation to Germany by year’s end.

PHOTO CAPTION:   From left:  Elijah (8) and Jayden (9), were treated to a SKIFF trip, free of charge, as they face separation from their father during train-ups in advance of his unit’s rotation to Germany.

PHOTO CAPTION: Big brother, big fish.

PHOTO CAPTION: Elijah with a Stillhouse largemouth which fell for his crankbait worked at 2.6 mph.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: Saturday (AM), 20 March 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

The boys had limited prior experience in fishing saltwater down in Florida prior to this trip, but, they were both enthusiastic and willing to listen.

Given their age and experience, I tried to “mix it up” the best I could given the weather conditions and fish mood.  We alternated back and forth between flat-line trolling and vertical jigging with 3/4 oz. white Hazy Eye Slabs.

The flat-lining gave us a steady feed of fish from start to finish and allowed me to slowly, effectively sweep large areas of bottom with side-imaging.  When I spotted what I thought would be a “can’t miss” opportunity for white bass, based on school size and location, we brought in the trolling rods, quickly switched over to slabs and used a slow-smoking tactic in combination with Garmin LiveScope to add fish to our tally more quickly than the flat-lining allowed for.

In this way, we put a total of 34 fish in the boat in 3.5 hours, including 32 white bass up to 14.25″, and 2 largemouth bass, one for each boy.

Hazy Eye Slabs, MAL Lures, and Stinger Hooks are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 34 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:  7:30A

End Time: 11:00A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 43F

Elevation:  0.34 feet high, .04 foot 24-hour drop, 1 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 56.6 F

Wind Speed & Direction: Winds were calm the entire morning

Sky Condition: Cloudless, bright skies

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent at 40% illum.

GT = 20

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 730 to 764 to 733 to 374 in a circuit for flatlining; 733 to 374 end of the circuit was best and also offered one shot at slab work.

**Area SH0075C with slabs

 

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

WHO I FISHED WITH: On Friday, March 19th, I fished with first-time guests Brian, Kelvin, and Will Reinhardt, referred my way by Mr. Doug Streater.  This was an afternoon trip.

Brian works for Doug in the management of Extraco Bank in Temple, and took some downtime to get his son, Will, age 9, out for a Spring Break trip in conjunction with his birthday.  This was Will’s first time to catch a fish (although he’d made a few unsuccessful attempts previously while bank fishing).

This was a multi-generational trip as Kelvin is Brian’s father, and Brian is Will’s father.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:   From left: Kelvin, Will, and Brian Reinhardt — 3 generations of anglers aboard for a combination Spring Break/Happy Birthday trip for Will.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Friday (PM), 19 March 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

Having learned a few lessons about fish location and water conditions on this morning’s trip, I put those things to use in choosing locations for us to search for the fish we would catch this afternoon.  The break in between my AM and PM trip afforded me an opportunity to do some scouting which actually revealed where I would not go in the afternoon, thus, it was still time well spent as I was able to ascertain that without clients on board.

We caught all of our fish at just two locations, the first in 52 feet of water with 4 “short hops” made while there in order to keep up with fish as they moved about (fairly routinely) to feed in the first 2.75 hours of the trip.  Each of the 46 fish we landed at that area came on the heavier 3/4 oz., white Hazy Eye Slab with stinger hook, which I had very good results on in the morning.

Around 6:45P, these fish we’d been on in deep water let up fairly quickly and the handful of birds which had been flitting around in the area (not in any helpful way) disappeared.  This was my signal to head shallow.

We moved to fish water under 25 feet through the close of the trip and, after looking over three areas with minimal results, found willing white bass at what would be the final stop of the trip.  We added another dozen fish to the count at this location, including one largemouth bass which we sight-cast to as it pursued a shad on the surface and gave his location away.

We wound up with 58 fish this evening, including 1 drum, 1 largemouth, and 56 white bass from various year classes.  We took all of the white bass on the 3/4 oz. Hazy Eye Slab using a moderate smoking tactic.

Hazy Eye Slabs, MAL Lures, and Stinger Hooks are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 58 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:  There comes a point each spring as the water temperature begins to rise where the fishes’ metabolism takes over and they must feed.  Today was evidence of that.  With high pressure, clear blue skies, and cold temperatures, white bass would normally be much more reluctant to hit, yet, despite all that, we enjoyed a good catch today.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:  3:30P

End Time: 7:40P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 59F

Elevation:  0.78′ low with a 0.01’ 24-hour change and 26 CFS flow thru the dam.

Water Surface Temp: 58 F

Wind Speed & Direction: Winds were NNW13-14 at trip’s start, tapering down to NNW8-9 by sunset

Sky Condition: Cloudless, bright skies

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent at 40% illum.

GT = 60

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area  B0151C – 4 short hops for 46 fish

**Area B0061C/B0126C at sunset – 12 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

WHO I FISHED WITH: Yesterday morning, Friday, March 19, I fished with long-time client Steve Niemeier and his five-year-old granddaughter, Zoey Haberer.

The wind kept me grounded for three planned trips this week, and we were not certain until last night that we would be able to get this one in.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:   Foxy fishing partner you’ve got there, Steve!

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Friday (AM), 19 March 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

Although our starting temperature was 43F with a 13 mph wind, that was better than no wind at all.

The water temperature at the surface was right around 55 Fahrenheit and some of the windblown southerly exposures were noticeably silty due to the high, sustained winds since Tuesday. I marked fish in as little as 12 feet, and we caught fish in as much as 70 feet today. The fish are definitely on the move as the bulk of the white bass begin to head towards spawning areas.

Today’s fishing was fairly straightforward. We had no assistance from birds until our final 45 minutes, so, our first three hours necessitated the use of sonar to find fish. Because the fish were hunkered down on bottom, they did not show well on side-imaging, therefore, I had to go nearly directly over top of them to find them with colored sonar and down-imaging.

The presentation was the same regardless of depth or location – – we used a slow smoking retrieve with a three-quarter ounce Hazy Eye Slab with stinger hook to work for fish that were unwilling to move more than about 2 or 3 feet from the bottom. This was the first time since the fall cool down I used the larger profile three-quarter ounce bait to get the job done over the course of the entire trip. Last week’s warm-up got fish metabolism rising, and although the water temperatures plateaued this week, the fish remain active.

The three-quarter ounce bait shows up a good bit better on Garmin LiveScope than my smaller 3/8 ounce bait, so it was easy to observe both lure and fish response to it.

We fished only four areas of the six we searched to put together our total catch of 77 fish, including three freshwater drum, one largemouth bass, and 73 white bass.

Hazy Eye Slabs, MAL Lures, and Stinger Hooks are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 77 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:  There comes a point each spring as the water temperature begins to rise where the fishes’ metabolism takes over and they must feed.  Today was evidence of that.  With high pressure, clear blue skies, and cold temperatures, white bass would normally be much more reluctant to hit, yet, despite all that, we enjoyed a good catch today.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:  7:40A

End Time: 11:40A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 43F

Elevation:  0.78′ low with a 0.01’ 24-hour change and 26 CFS flow thru the dam.

Water Surface Temp: 55.5 F

Wind Speed & Direction: Winds were WNW12 for our first hour, shifting and increasing to NNW15 by trip’s end

Sky Condition: Cloudless, bright skies

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent at 40% illum.

GT = 95

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area B0138C/B0198C (7 fish early)

**Area 753 – count to 51

**Area 717- count to 77

 

 

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

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This morning I fished with Mr. Dan Stooksberry, his wife Cori, and their son, Jacob.  The Stooksberrys were joined by Mr. Isaac Wankerl and his son, Cooper.

I’d fished previously with Cooper when Mr. Steve Murphy (his grandfather) brought him and two buddies out on a summer outing.  He had a good time and, when the whole family was looking to do something to celebrate his birthday, they gave me a shout.

Dan is into commercial construction consulting, Cori works for Dell, and Isaac works for Apple.  The boys have been friends since they first started going to school.

PHOTO CAPTION:   From left: Isaac and Cooper Wankerl, Cori, Jacob, and Dan Stooksberry each with white bass in hand.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:    Dan with one of the few hybrid which have shown up as by-catch as we’ve been targeting spring time white bass.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday (AM), 16 March 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

Of all the days of this Spring Break 2021 week, this was the most ideal weather-wise with a manageable WSW wind, overcast skies, and a front due in during the overnight hours to come.

Job One was to get everyone, and especially the boys, trained up on properly presenting their lures.  We did this before we left the launch site so when we encountered fish, their learning curve would not be too steep.

I launched with only 2 sets of rods rigged up today: 3/8 oz. Hazy Eye Slabs with Stinger Hooks, and MAL Lures.  Both are simple to use and effective.

Long story short, we never even got a chance to try the MAL’s, although the water temp was just nipping at the magic 58F mark when the efficacy of the MAL dropped off as the water cooled in December.

We caught fish from our first stop, non-stop right up to exactly 11:07AM.

Each fish-catching scenario was the same … we’d find fish tightly schooled on bottom (with some bird assistance early on, then relying solely upon sonar in the latter half of the morning), Spot-Lock atop them, use Garmin LiveScope to precisely present our Hazy Eye Slabs to the fish, and kept the magic going at each stop for as long as we could by avoiding breaks in the action.

Over time, the length of time the fish stayed active after we initially excited them grew shorter and shorter until it finally was non-existent.

We fished three distinct areas this morning with three short-hops at the second area fished.

A slow-smoking retrieve with the white bait really did the trick on these fish today. The thumper definitely drew fish in and kept them in range.

I adjusted my approach a bit versus yesterday by NOT chasing birds up in shallow water.  We learned yesterday these birds were working fast moving fish which were working fast moving shad.  This scenario made it difficult to catch more than a few fish at a time.

We landed exactly 121 fish, including 1 largemouth bass, 1 hybrid striped bass, 2 freshwater drum, and 117 white bass of which 90% were of legal length.

Hazy Eye Slabs, MAL Lures, and Stinger Hooks are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 121 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:  I adjusted my approach a bit versus yesterday by NOT chasing birds up in shallow water.  We learned yesterday these birds were working fast moving fish which were working fast moving shad.  This adjustment paid off well.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:  7:40A (Daylight Saving Time began yesterday)

End Time: Noon

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 68F

Elevation:  0.75′ low with a 0.00’ 24-hour change and 26 CFS flow thru the dam.

Water Surface Temp: 57.4 F

Wind Speed & Direction: Winds were WSW8-10 all morning

Sky Condition: Moderate grey skies the entire trip.

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent at 9% illum. (3  days past new moon)

GT = 60

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area B0002C

**Area  B0145C (3 hops)

**Area B0074G

 

 

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

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This morning I fished with father-and-son team Michael and Ben Crabtree from The Woodlands, TX, near Houston.  They came down to visit grandparents and show off Ben’s newborn brother.

We postponed this trip to this morning after our originally chosen date (this past Saturday) turned out to be a 4-hour rain event during which I fished instead with a hearty all-adult crew to avoid the wet, damp conditions for Michael and Ben.

This turned out well for them, as we had dry, bearable conditions this morning after a cool start around 46F.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:   Michael Crabtree and his 10-year-old son, Ben, enjoyed a “personal best” day of fishing this morning, landing 50 fish in just a tad under 4 hours.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday (AM), 15 March 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

Last week’s warm rains, warm temperatures, and high, steady winds significantly warmed Lake Belton.  We now sit at 57F from the surface down to ~20 feet deep.  This has fish and bait up in the water column (not necessarily over shallow bottoms, but up high in the water column).

We spent our first hour or so chasing birds which were chasing bait begin chased by gamefish.  These fish showed themselves in about three distinct locations, but, in all three scenarios were moving pretty quickly, so pinning them down long enough to catch more than a few was not all that likely.

I took a few swats at these, landed a few, but then decided we’d look for larger, less mobile schools using sonar.  I believe this worked to our benefit as we were able to “camp out” on three groups of fish and enjoy consistent fishing.

The first group of fish we found held the greatest number of fish and these fish were of the best average size, but, these fish were also the most lethargic.  We worked our tails off with 3/8 oz. Hazy Eye Slabs for these fish when they first presented on bottom, then with MAL Lures when they began to suspend, all for just 17 fish landed.  Granted, Michael and Ben were still working through a learning curve here on hook-setting and fish-landing, but we missed just a few others – these fish were just not really turned on.

The second area gave up mostly small fish and the fishing lasted only 20 minutes or so before the fish turned off.  This was in ~34′

Our last area was the best producer numbers-wise, and gave up a mixed bag on quality.  It was also the deepest area we probed this morning, at about 50′ (again, we caught fish up off bottom).

Hazy Eye Slabs, MAL Lures, and Stinger Hooks are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 50 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:    Temperature profile:

0 feet 57.5F

5 feet 57.5F

10 feet 57.5F

15 feet 57.4F

20 feet 56.9F

25 feet 55.4F

30 feet 54.5F

35 feet 53.9F

45 feet 53.7F

45feet 53.2F

50 feet 52F

55feet 51.6F

60 feet 50.2F

65 feet 48.3F

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:  7:40A (Daylight Saving Time began yesterday)

End Time: 11:30A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 46F

Elevation:  0.77′ low with a 0.00’ 24-hour change and 26 CFS flow thru the dam.

Water Surface Temp: 57.5 F

Wind Speed & Direction: Winds were SSE7-11 the entire trip.

Sky Condition: Murky grey skies with light to moderate rainfall 100% of the trip.

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent at 4% illum. (2 days past new moon)

GT = 40

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area  1859  (under birds)

**Area  V B0111C

**Area 737

**Area  B0150C/B0037C

 

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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WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Monday, March 8th, I fished with John Reed and Chad Makosky.

John retired as a senior non-commissioned officer in the U.S. Army, then went to work for Walmart, opening the Harker Heights main store (Sporting Goods Dept., of course), where he then stayed on for 13 years before retiring for good at age 62.

Chad is John’s neighbor and works for Frito-Lay doing truck deliveries in Coryell and Lampasas counties.

Being the frugal sort of fellow I am, I asked Chad if he got a good employee discount on chips, etc.  He said no, but, that employees do occasionally get to dine on expired goods.  I don’t know if you’d call that a silver lining kind of deal, or not!

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left: John Reed and Chad Makosky with a few of the stubborn white bass we boated today on Lake Belton.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday (AM), 08 March 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

Fishing was pretty one-dimensional and tedious today.  Although fish were not all that tough to find, only a single school we located ever really fired up and bit consistently, and even that school did so for just a short while.

We encountered very few suspended fish today.  Rather, LiveScope revealed fish traveling very tight to the bottom.  It was kind of funny because these fish were definitely moving, but only horizontally.  Generally speaking, they were reluctant to cant skyward and chase a bait any distance.

We tried snap-jigging, snap-jigging with a slow lift added in, and slow-smoking.  The slow-smoking is what caught the fish today, but we had to watch 40 or 50 other disinterested fish go by to get that one over-achiever to fire up and come after us.

We had post-frontal, calm, bright conditions yesterday, with radiational cooling due to clear skies overnight, and, although this was the first day of returning southerly winds, those calm, clear skies and cool temperatures are what started this day off.

At the one area where we did have fish fire up briefly, we also had fish moving horizontally in the lower third of the water column and up off the bottom.  I tried using an MAL Lure, and, although we caught a few on it, the results were no better or worse than the slab produced, so, we stuck with the 3/8 oz. white Hazy Eye Slab since it could be moved more slowly than the MAL.

We put together a catch of 43 fish today, including 39 white bass and 4 drum.  Hybrid, even undersized ones, have been curiously absent from the catch for quite some time now.

By 11AM we’d landed the last fish we would catch, although we searched a while longer at various depths and locations.

Hazy Eye Slabs, MAL Lures, and Stinger Hooks are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 43 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:   All of the areas we fished produced best in the first few minutes following our arrival, and then fell of sharply thereafter.

Temperature profile:

0 feet 52.9F

5 feet 52.9F

10 feet 52.6F

15 feet 52.2F

20 feet 51.9F

25 feet 51.7F

30 feet 51.1F

35 feet 50.2F

40 feet 49.5F

45 feet 49F

50 feet 48.7F

55 feet 48.4F

60 feet 47.9F

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:  6:40A

End Time: 11:55A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 43F

Elevation:  0.72′ low with a 0.00’ 24-hour change and 26 CFS flow thru the dam.

Water Surface Temp: 51.5 F 

Wind Speed & Direction: Winds were calm at trip’s start, and then started SSE around 8:15A, tapering up to SSE6-7 for about 90 minutes, then settling back to SSE5 for remainder of trip.

Sky Condition: Cloudless sunrise, slowing increasing to 40% light white cover

Moon Phase: Waning crescent at 24% illum.

GT = 40

Wx SNAPSHOT:  

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**vic 1738/B0013G, B0151C, 1859, B0145C (best producer with 3 short hops), B0050G

 

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

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Saturday, March 6th, I fished with Michael Hoyson, his son, Jack Hoyson (age 11), and Jack’s cousin, Layton Macha, age 13 (the son of Michael’s sister).

Michael is the owner of Hoyson Auto Care LLC off of Business 190 in Killeen, right near Tightlines Premium Fishing Tackle.  This is where I take my guide service tow vehicle and my wife’s vehicle for preventive maintenance.

It was during one of my recent visits to Michael’s business that he and I discussed the possibility of getting Jack out on the water under conditions where he could really catch a bunch of fish.

Today was the day!  The boys stayed very focused and did very well even though we had to grind it out with but a single technique all morning.

Around 9:40, Layton decided to take a break, shake out his wrist, and have a seat.  Since I now had only two anglers to assist, I decided to sneak in a quick snack — a granola bar and a piece of string cheese.  Well, you’d think I’d violated Layton’s constitutional rights when I bit that string cheese crossways.  He half yelled, “What are you doing that for?”   I asked him what he was referring to and he pointed to my sting cheese.  He told me I am supposed to peel it length-wise AND that it tastes better that way!

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left: Layton Macha, Michael Hoyson, and Jack Hoyson each with a pair of white bass taken from over 50 feet of water on a still-chilly Lake Belton with surface temperatures around 50F.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Saturday (AM), 06 March 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

I was excited as far back as Tuesday of this week to see this morning’s weather shape up as it did — with the passage of a mild, dry cold front, complete with us finishing our trip before the winds fell from peak velocity.

The fishing followed a bell-shaped curve this morning, with a tapering up beginning at sunrise, to a peak around 8:40 which extended to around 10:40, then sharply tapered back to nil by 11:00AM.

As has been the case on my previous two morning trips on Lake Belton, we caught our first fish of the morning shallow, and they were a good bit smaller than the deeper fish we would catch the remainder of the trip.

Regardless of time or depth, we took 100% of our catch on my 3/8 oz., white Hazy Eye Slab with stinger hook.  We had numerous fish regurgitate whole or partially digested shad at boatside this morning, and these slabs were a dead-on match size-wise for the bait these fish were eating.

We used a very straight-forward slow-smoking tactic.

Yes, it takes a bit of patience to wait on a 3/8 oz. slab to fall through 50 or 60 feet of water, but “it’s worth the wait”!

Because the boys caught so many fish this morning, they had the opportunity to learn a lot via repetition.  Some of the “rookie” mistakes they made at the start of the trip (poor hooksetting, retrieving too fast/too slow, reeling hooked fish up too far toward the rod tip, etc.) were things of the past by trip’s end.  These will be lasting lessons learned for them going forward.

Come on spring time!!

We ended our morning with 128 fish, including 1 largemouth bass, 4 freshwater drum, and 123 white bass.

Hazy Eye Slabs, MAL Lures, and Stinger Hooks are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 128 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:  1) As a mild, dry cold front which arrived mid-afternoon yesterday continued to blow in, the fish were energized and stayed fairly aggressive (given the ~50F water temperature) through around 10:20AM. 2) Suspended fish showed up routinely this morning.  Almost all were moving faster than the bottom-huggers, chasing shad, and were willing to bite.  They were far fewer in number than those on bottom, however. 3) No helpful bird activity.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:  6:45A

End Time: 11:00A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 46F

Elevation:  0.71′ low with a 0.03’ 24-hour rise and 26 CFS flow thru the dam.

Water Surface Temp: 49.9 F 

Wind Speed & Direction: Winds were NNW11 at sunrise, peaking at NNW14 between 8-10AM, then settling back to NNW12 thereafter.

Sky Condition: Cloudless all trip

Moon Phase: Last quarter moon at 45% illum.

GT = 30

Wx SNAPSHOT:  

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

** vic B0096C, 472, 1945

 

 

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