WHO I FISHED WITH:

This morning, Thursday, April 18, I fished with a five man crew in what would be my first intentional effort to catch hybrid striped bass in several years. Lake Belton's hybrid fishery struggled for several years with poor recruitment of the stocked hybrid TPWD placed in the reservoir each spring. Things appear to be looking up now.



I welcomed aboard returning guests Joey Sapien, Danny Marriott, and Tim Long, as well as first time guests, Craig Hunter, and Harris Young.



Next available date: Tuesday, 28 May (AM)



Here’s how the fishing went…






PHOTO CAPTION: From left, Danny Marriot, Joey Sapien, Tim Long, and Craig Hunter with a few of the 42 legal (18″ minimum) hybrid striped bass they caught and released as we employed live shad under ideal weather conditions.






PHOTO CAPTION: A few of the 42 legal hybrid went as much at 5.25 pounds. Here, Texas’ top game warden, retired Colonel Craig Hunter, hoists one of the beefy white bass/striped bass crosses.






PHOTO CAPTION: Although longer and leaner than Craig’s fish, this Lake Belton hybrid also went 5.25 pounds. Large, healthy shad did the trick.






PHOTO CAPTION: Conditions were right for a strong white bass bite, as well. From left, Danny Marriot, Joey Sapien, Harris Young, Tim Long, and Craig Hunter. The white bass came on Hazy Eye Slabs (white, 5/8 oz.)

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday, 18 April 2024 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED:

Thanks to gray skies and breezy conditions from before sunrise through to the end of our trip at 11:30, there was both a strong shad spawn and a strong morning bite.



We split the trip into two 2-hour blocks with the first half dedicated to fishing live shad for hybrid striped bass, and the second half dedicated to chasing higher numbers of smaller white bass using a vertical approach with slabs.



In our first two hours we landed 59 fish including 2 blue catfish, 1 yellow, catfish, 1 channel catfish, 7 white bass, 2 freshwater drum, 4 short hybrid, and the balance of 42 legal hybrid with the largest right at 5.25 pounds. The timeframe from 7:30 through 8:40 was the best, with a slow taper to nil by 9:30.



In the final two hours from 9:30 AM to 11:30 AM, we put an additional 143 fish in the boat including 4 more freshwater drum with the remaining 139 fish consisting solely of white bass.



Fishing vertically with three-quarter ounce Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs using a smoking tactic turned out very well with five anglers as their baits constantly racing upward and fluttering back downward did a great job of imitating a school of shad directly beneath the boat and created constant commotion.



I helped keep everyone’s retrieve at just the right speed by way of the use of an onboard metronome, and we churned the water to imitate the sound of schooling fish using a splasher .



Three of the five had never used LiveScope before, and everyone found it very engaging and entertaining to be able to see fish response to their presentations.



We ended the morning right at 11:30 AM with exactly 202 fish landed.



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

TALLY: 202 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 18th …

0 feet 69.8F
5 feet 69.6F
10 feet 69.4F
15 feet 69.1F
20 feet 68.6F
25 feet 68.5F
30 feet 67.8F
35 feet 66.6F
40 feet 65.1F
45 feet 63.9F
50 feet 62.4F
55 feet 61.5F




WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:15A

End Time: 11:30A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 73F

Elevation: 9.37 feet low, 33 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 68.9F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE9-11 all morning

Sky Condition: 100% thin grey clouds for 3 hours, with slow clearing to 80% white cloud cover thereafter.

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 75% illumination.

GT = 240



Wx SNAPSHOT:






AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Areas B0089C – 59 fish (including all hybrid)

Area 2059 – 9 fish

Area B0089G – 35 fish

Area vic B0274G – 99 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

Looking up indeed!

Very nice !!

Looks like an awesome fishing trip...

They keep on smiling. Great post as always.