White Bass Run 2024

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Thursday, March 7, I fished with long-time clients and friends Tommy and Sylvia Maedgen of Troy, TX.

Aside from our shared interest in fishing, we also enjoy following Christ, doing right by our spouses, raising dogs and plants, and eating good food. These things we have in common led us to grab a meal together once a month — something we’ve been doing for quite a while now.

Here is how the fishing went…

Next available dates are 28 March, 2, 4 April. (AMs)

PHOTO CAPTION: Sylvia Maedgen with a 4.75 pound Stillhouse Hollow largemouth bass which stopped her MAL Lure dead in its tracks as she was casting up shallow targeting white bass.

PHOTO CAPTION: Not to be outdone, Tommy Maedgen took this 4.75 pound largemouth as we sat in 11′ of water, casting downslope toward the river channel, again, as we were targeting white bass. This fish also fell for an MAL Lure (Original) with chartreuse tail worked with a sawtooth method.

Find the Bladed Hazy Eye Slab here: https://whitebasstools.com/

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday, 07 March. 2024 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED:

If I could custom-order fishing weather in the spring, this is the kind of weather I would order. We had completely greyed over skies, but with clouds thin enough to let enough sun through that you still had to squint without sunglasses on. The air temperature did not change much overnight due to cloud cover, and the starting temperature at sunrise was 64F. We had a light southeast breeze all morning, and the air was just a bit humid, so, wearing a long-sleeved shirt felt just right.

We started our morning up shallow and rode the shallow water bite as long as it lasted, then moved out to deeper water in the last 75 minutes of the trip.

We searched for topographic anomalies adjacent to the river channel in water under 22 feet in hopes of finding white bass staging for their spawning run (weather or not one actually happens this year).

I started both Sylvia and Tommy off using cut down 3 inch, white, curl tail grubs on 3/8 ounce jig heads. I noted their strike to land ratio was not what I wanted it to be on these lures, so, I experimented with an Mal original with chartreuse tail, got bit immediately, and switch them over to the same. Because this lure throws farther and sticks closer to bottom, it was ideal as long as we did not run into hydrilla.

We landed 6 fish at the first shallow water area we finished in this matter, 31 fish at the 2nd shallow water spot, and another six fish at the last shallow water stop.

After the shallow water bite tapered to nothing, I went and begin searching in over 25 feet of water looking for schooled fish on the bottom, or a collection of suspended fish.

We found a bottom oriented school of fish in right at 31 feet of water and begin using white, 5 eighth ounce bladed hazy eye slabs to catch these fish with a slow smoking tactic. The action here was slower than I felt the weather conditions would allow for, so, we left this slower than expected bite to search for more aggressive fish, and, finding none in several key areas, we returned to this area and continued to catch fish slowly until they quit right around noon.

When all was said and done, Tommy and Sylvia brought 64 fish over the gunwales.

TALLY: 64 fish caught and released

Here is a tutorial on the slow-smoking tactic we used… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIPopSLUYoQ

OBSERVATIONS: Here was the water temperature measured in 5′ increments from the surface to the bottom in 50′ on the morning of 05 March…

0 feet, 64.4F

5 feet, 64.3F

10 feet, 63.5F

15 feet, 62.3F

20 feet, 61.2F

25 feet, 59.0F

30 feet, 57.2F

35 feet, 55.2F

40 feet, 53.9F

45 feet, 53.1F

50 feet, 52.8F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:15A

End Time: 12:00P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 63F

Elevation: 16.92 feet low, 1 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 63.1F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE 4-5 at trip’s start, increasing to SSE 13 by trip’s end.

Sky Condition: Light grey cloud cover all morning.

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 12% illumination.

GT = 45

Wx SNAPSHOT:

Bob Maindelle

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

Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide 254.368.7411 (call or text)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle

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

WHO I FISHED WITH: This Presidents’ Day Monday I set aside both my morning and evening trips to take soldiers’ kids out on the water fishing through the SKIFF program.

This afternoon I welcomed aboard Sebastian Quintana (age 17). Sebastian is a junior at one of Killeen’s high school and has plans to pursue veterinary science in college following graduation. He is the currently the proud owner of two turtles, a dog, and a bird.

Sebastian’s father, U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 William Quintana, has served for 18 years. He is currently deployed within the Americas in the aviation maintenance field on a year-long mission. Sebastian’s younger brother, Mateo, was slated to join us, but wasn’t feeling well. Mrs. Farah Quintana, Sebastian’s mom, and a native of the Dominican Republic, joined us.

ABOUT SKIFF: SKIFF trips have been provided to military families at no charge since May of 2009. SKIFF is funded by donations from Austin Fly Fishers, The McBride Foundation, & Austin Subaru. S.K.I.F.F. provides children of military personnel separated from their families by duty commitments with the opportunity to fish. SKIFF trips are also provided to Gold Star families who have lost their service member. In mid-2019, SKIFF began providing trips to kids of bona fide disabled veterans. I conduct these 3.5 hour adventures on Belton Lake and Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir year ’round. Call or text 254.368.7411.

Next available dates are 26-29 Feb. (AMs)

Here is how the fishing went…

PHOTO CAPTION: The white bass were pretty “perky” this afternoon and readily chased Sebastian’s well-presented slab.

PHOTO CAPTION: From October through early March, largemouth bass and freshwater drum are a consistent bycatch as we target white bass. Today proved no different.

PHOTO CAPTION: Oddly, despite pursuing white bass, our first three fish landed this afternoon were all drum (and the only drum we would land).

Find the Bladed Hazy Eye Slab here: https://whitebasstools.com/

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday, 19 Feb. 2024 (PM)

HOW WE FISHED:

I opted to take Sebastian to Lake Belton this afternoon because Stillhouse typically does not fish well in the afternoon, and that is especially true if it has produced well in the morning, which it did today.

I arrived well in advance of our start time to give myself some time to do a little scouting to see if I could find fish and/or bait. I was able to locate two small groups of fish in about 27 feet of water. The fact that they were both in the same depth of water was, in itself, helpful as it gave me a starting point for my search for fish for the remainder of the trip.

As we got underway, I returned to these two areas, finding nothing still present at the 1st and catching 3 drum at the 2nd, while also seeing a few small, suspended schools of white bass zip by.

We would go on to fish 4 additional areas, each progressively further up one of Lake Belton’s tributaries

At each of the four locations I found tightly grouped white bass on a “shoulder” area and found these fish were already up off the bottom and in a feeding posture when we found them. Such an appearance on sonar typically means very easy fishing. Indeed, Sebastian simply dropped a white, 5/8-ounce Bladed Hazy Eye Slab to the bottom and began cranking it upwards keeping beat with the rhythm created by the thumper. The fish just drilled his bait repeatedly.

By the time the fish played out at the final area we would fish, it was 4:45 PM. Although the air temperature was in the high 60s, the water temperature was in the low 50s, thus it was chilly on the surface, and both Farah and Sebastian had dressed a bit lightly. They had both had enough of the outdoors by this time, and we rode back in well before the sun began to set, which would only serve to make it even cooler.

For his efforts, we boated 59 fish including three freshwater drum, one short hybrid, one largemouth bass and 54 white bass. Although most of these white bass were legal, many were barely so.

A note: we witnessed no helpful bird activity, despite literally hundreds of ring-billed gulls rafted and resting on the surface between Frank’s Marina and Westcliff Park.

Here is a tutorial on the snap-jigging method … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGtrnAQ_T94&t=55s

Here is a tutorial on the slow-smoking tactic we used… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIPopSLUYoQ

TALLY: 59 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: I spotted the first mosquito hawk of the spring this morning, and the first red-winged blackbird just showed up at our bird feeder.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 2:15P

End Time: 4:45P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 66F

Elevation: 12.48 feet low, 1 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 52.1 F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: SSW 11 all afternoon

Sky Condition: Cloudless, pale blue skies

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 78% illumination.

GT = N/A

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 472/B0042C (3 drum), Area 714 (3 fish), Area B0120C/B0169G (24 fish), Area B0118C (17 fish), Area vic B0186C (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

Fishing Report

Holding The Line Guide Service

WEATHER JUST RIGHT FOR FISHING — 64 FISH @ STILLHOUSE

PRESIDENTS’ DAY AFTERNOON – 59 FISH WITH CHIEF WARRANT OFFICER QUINTANA’S SON