WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Wednesday, 18 May 2022, I fished with returning guests Tom and Tracie Byrd, and Tom’s sister, Patty Williams. This trip was arranged by Tom in celebration of Tracie’s birthday. Tom, a former USAF fighter pilot, and Tracie live “in the country” near Georgetown, TX, where they grow hay and have owned and boarded horses. Patty is enjoying retirement after being a long-time Frost Bank employee.

How old will Tracie be turning on this birthday? Well, I can’t say exactly, but, I can tell you that when she landed our 73rd fish of the morning, there was a lot of cheering and picture-taking going on!

These are super folks and I look forward to fishing with them each spring!


Here is how the fishing went …

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My next openings will be on July 7th and 12th. Weekday mornings are always best. Saturdays are available for on-the-water sonar training sessions (only) until after Labor Day when I’ll again offer Saturday morning fishing trips (until mid-March 2023).




PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Tom and Tracie Byrd and Patty Williams with a portion of their 106-fish catch. As the shad spawn appears to be waning, these fish were all taken in deep water on MAL Dense Lures with chartreuse tails.




PHOTO CAPTION: Every one of the 106 fish we landed this morning was landed on the MAL Dense Lure with chartreuse tail. Even though Lake Belton’s water is clear, I choose the chartreuse tail over the white tail during cloudy conditions and during the shad spawn when the yellow tails of the spawning threadfin shad are a brighter yellow than during the rest of the year.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday (AM), 18 May 2022

HOW WE FISHED:

I had to adjust my launch location this morning due to the forecast for high winds. That turned out to be a good call, because we got every bit of the wind that was forecast, and then some, and, it blew up earlier than forecast.

My plan was to fish open water as long as possible and then fish more sheltered water if/when the wind dictated. As it turned out, we were able to hang with the wind until around 9:40A, then got to shelter while the getting was good.

Once again this morning, despite wind and cloud cover, I found little in the way of shallow/topwater action in conjunction with the shad spawn, and what spawning I did witness was not as expansive as what I’ve witnessed over the past 3 weeks. I think it is fair to say we are “past peak” on the Lake Belton shad spawn at this point, thanks, in part, to the unseasonably warm temperatures these past 10 days.

It only made sense, then, that all of our fish were taken in deep water today, from 36-42 feet. All the fish we caught were seen with sonar first, then we Spot-Locked atop of them and worked MAL Dense Lures from the bottom, upwards using a “smoking” tactic while watching Garmin LiveScope to gauge fish reaction to our baits.

Peak time for catching was ~8:35 to 10:00A. The fish really got reluctant after 10A, allowing only 7 fish to be caught in our final 45 minutes on the water.

A complete description of the vertical “smoking:” method is found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE

Our 106 fish catch included 104 white bass, and 2 sub-legal hybrid striped bass.

The entire family of MAL Lures is found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 106 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: For a second day in a row, the shad spawn was present, but much weaker than in the last 2-3 weeks. Given today’s grey skies and wind (normally conducive to heavy spawning), I suspect we are now “past peak” on the spawning here at Lake Belton.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:30A

End Time: 10:50A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 72F

Elevation: 4.15 feet low, 0.04’ fall in last 24 hours, 36 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 76.3F

Wind Speed & Direction: S12 at trip’s start, building quickly to S17 by 9:40, then gusting higher from that point on.

Sky Condition: A thin, grey cloud layer kept the sun’s heat off all morning.

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 92% illumination.

GT = 30

Wx SNAPSHOT:





AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Areas 1374, B0042G/083, B0171G (2 visits), 354



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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Good times. Nice post.