WHO I FISHED WITH:

This morning, Thursday, April 11, I fished with father and son team, Adam and Gabriel Lee from Troy, Texas, just outside the city of Temple.

Adam‘s wife, Dianna, set the whole thing up in celebration of Adam’s 33rd birthday. Adam makes a living running his own dumpster rental business named “Bin There, Dump That”, with locations spread throughout Texas and into Louisiana.

Thanks to maintaining all A’s and B’s in his seventh grade classes, Gabriel got to enjoy a morning off from school to spend with his dad on the water.

My next open dates are: 16 & 24 April, and 03 May (AMs)

Here is how the fishing went…





PHOTO CAPTION: From left, Adam Lee and his 13-year-old son, Gabriel, with just a few of the 166 fish the two of them landed in right at 4 hours’ time using Hazy Eye Slabs and MAL Original Lures worked straight up off the bottom.




PHOTO CAPTION: On one of the hundreds of drops Gabriel made to the bottom this morning, his lure stopped dead on bottom before he could crank it up through the white bass. That’s because this 5.25-pound blue catfish had grabbed it!

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday, 11 April 2024 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED:

With winds sufficiently high to ripple and move the water blowing prior to sunrise and high-pressure still building in, the situation was right for a good day on the water following several days of much more turbulent weather.



This morning‘s report is quite simple… Father and son caught white bass for four hours straight from but three locations using white, Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs when we first arrived at each area, then, once the fish began to turn off to the slabs, they used MAL Originals vertically with a smoking tactic to continue catching those fish which had begun to refuse a slab.



The locations these fish came from were all identical and that they were in 34 to 36 feet of water and on underwater slopes which faced into the direction of the northwest wind.



Despite the presence of many flocks of laughing gulls, I spotted no fish-related bird activity this morning .



As we wrapped up at 11:20 AM, Adam and Gabriel had landed exactly 166 fish, including 164 white bass, 1 hybrid striped bass, and a 5.25 pound blue catfish.



Find the MAL Original and the Bladed Hazy Eye Slab at the Liberty Mart on Adams Ave. uphill from Temple Lake Park, or here: https://whitebasstools.com/



TALLY: 166 fish caught and released



OBSERVATIONS: Despite the 09 April deluge and local flooding, Lake Belton is still surprisingly clear. Here is the water temperature profile for Lake Belton, measured before sunrise on April 10th …

0 feet 68.1F
5 feet 68.1F
10 feet 68.1F
15 feet 66.1F
20 feet 65.6F
25 feet 65.1F
30 feet 64.9F
35 feet 64.5F
40 feet 64.1F
45 feet 63.7F
50 feet 60.9F


WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:10A

End Time: 11:35A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 529F

Elevation: 9.41 feet low, 33 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 65.3F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: NW11 at trip’s start, slowly climbing to NW13.

Sky Condition: Clear, “bluebird”, cloudless skies this morning.

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 10% illumination.

GT = 60



Wx SNAPSHOT:






AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Areas 2059/1012 (36 fish), B0052G/787 (62 fish), vic B0251G (68 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

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Great day & a bunch of fish catch'in for 2 guy's in 4 hour span.

T Bird, as I mentioned in the post, I was really surprised how good the fishing was given all the churn that has taken place since Tuesday's flooding rains. Not complaining, mind you!!

Nice post and fish. Good job as always.