WHO I FISHED WITH:

This morning, Monday, April 15, I hosted a father and son crew – – Jeff and Drew Cizek.

Both men are U.S. military veterans, with Jeff having retired after 31 years in the Navy, and Drew having served, among other things, as a US Army air traffic controller.

Jeff is now retired, and Drew sells vehicles at the Garlyn Shelton dealership in Temple and also works as a volunteer fireman on his “spare time“.

Here is how the fishing went…






PHOTO CAPTION: From left, Jeff Cizek and his son, Drew, caught fish from start to finish this morning, catching and releasing 110 fish using a combination of Hazy Eye Slabs and MAL Originals fished vertically.



WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday, 15 April 2024 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED:

Thanks to a full weekend of warmth, and an overnight air temperature of 70F (more than 4 degrees warmer than the water’s surface temperature), the threadfin shad spawn has reached the main lake and with it, some pre-dawn, shallow water fishing opportunities.



I planned to be on the water quite early this morning in advance of meeting the Cizeks in order to get a feel for how the shad netting situation might be for forthcoming spring hybrid trips.



I met up with the Cizeks at 7:10 AM , and they proceeded to catch fish for a full four hours. Our first hour and our last 30 minutes were the taper up and the taper down from the morning’s peak fishing in between.



During the taper up and taper down, we found fish fairly sluggish, glued to bottom, and willing only to chase halfheartedly.



During the peak, it was as if these white bass were an entirely different animal. They moved energetically, both horizontally and vertically, came as much as 12 to 14 feet off the bottom to chase a bait, and were more than willing to strike both Hazy Eye Slabs and MAL Originals vertically with a smoking tactic. We found all of our fish during this peak in 28-32 feet of water along south-facing shorelines being impacted by the SE wind.



My two guests landed 14 fish during the taper up to the peak, then another 5 fish during the taper down, with a grand total of 110 fish caught over the course of the entire four hour morning, hence a catch of 91 fish during the 2.5 hour peak of activity.



Oddly enough, as ideal as the conditions were, and as aggressive as the fish were, I saw no open water bird activity, nor any topwater activity.



Of the 110 fish landed, 4 were freshwater drum, and the remaining 106 were all white bass.



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: 110 fish caught and released



OBSERVATIONS: Light shad spawning activity has reached the main basin. 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: 11:30A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 70F

Elevation: 9.40 feet low, 33 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 65.5F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: SE12-14 all morning

Sky Condition: 100% grey clouds all morning, with a fine mist falling until ~8:20A

Moon Phase: First quarter moon at 47% illumination.

GT = 15



Wx SNAPSHOT:






AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Tapering up: Area 294 – 8 fish, Area 2059 – 6 fish
Peak: Areas B0280G – 52 fish, Area B0281G (2 hops) – 39 fish
Taper down: Area vic B0150C – 5 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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Nice post and fish. Good job as always.