WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Tuesday, March 14, I fished with three young men from Gause, Texas. Mrs. Brittany Byrd brought her three sons, Tucker, Tuff, and River, out for some spring break white bass fishing on Lake Belton in celebration of River’s birthday.

I meet people from all walks of life in this fishing business, but I’ve never met anyone before who does what Brittany does. She supplies live, wild hogs to game ranches. She buys these animals from trappers, then turns around and sells them (boars only). I’m a fan of win-win solutions, so, I thought this was pretty neat.

I was a little concerned when everyone showed up this morning as the boys were dressed a little lightly for the chilly conditions our most recent cold front brought to Central Texas. For a second day in a row, the air temperature was 48F, and the winds were northerly at around 12 mph. Unlike yesterday, we had thick cloud cover, which endured all day, and which prevented any significant warm-up. River (age 7) actually stayed wrapped up in a blanket during our first stop or two, while his older brothers braved the elements and began fishing and catching.

Here’s how the fishing went …

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Peak spring dates are just about gone. Here’s an up-to-date calendar so you can check availability: https://holdingthelineguideservice.com/available-dates.php

Next available dates are 21, 22, 29 & 31 March






PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Tucker, Tuff, River, and Brittany Byrd with a few of the plump, egg- and milt-filled, pre-spawn white bass they caught on Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs during Spring Break 2023.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday, 14 March 2023 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED:

The fishing followed a bell-shaped curve today ramping up, peaking, plateauing, then dropping off. At our first two areas fished we found fish on bottom in moderately sized schools of a few dozen fish each. These fish were generally disinterested and so it took a good bit of work to put our first 14 fish in the boat. I decided to head elsewhere both to escape the biting wind and to find larger concentrations of fish.

Fortunately, we found two groups of mobile, suspended fish under birds, about an eighth of a mile apart from one another, and spent the remainder of the trip catching these fish on white, 5/8 ounce bladed Hazy Eye Slabs.

By using the thumper as both an attractor and as a metronome, I helped the boys keep their retrieve speed exactly right, which was key for these fish in 60° water.

We used a slow-smoking tactic the entire morning. By the time four hours had passed, the boys landed a total of 93 fish, including, 1 hybrid striped bass (short), 4 largemouth bass, 1 white crappie, 2 freshwater drum, and 85 white bass, of which 11 were short.

TALLY: 93 fish caught and released

Find Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS: Temperature profile taken mid-day, Monday, 13 March:

0 feet 62.9F
5 feet 62.9F
10 feet 62.8F
15 feet 62.3F
20 feet 62.2F
25 feet 61.9F
30 feet 60F
35 feet 58.2F
40 feet 57.5F
45feet 55.9F
50 feet 54.7F
55 feet 54.3F
60 feet 54.2F



WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 8:15A

End Time: 12:20P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 48F

Elevation: 14.05 feet low, 24 CFS flow, .05′ fall over the last 24 hrs.

Water Surface Temp: 59.6F on the surface

Wind Speed & Direction: NNE11 at trip’s start through ~4:30pm, then backing off to NE6-7

Sky Condition: Moderately grey clouds at 100% coverage all day.

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 56% illumination.

GT = 40

Wx SNAPSHOT:






AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area B0005C – 13 fish

Area 2062 – 40 fish

Area B0203G (2 hops) – 40 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

Good times. Nice post as always.