WHO I FISHED WITH: Today, Thursday, March 16, I fished with returning guests Doug Streater and his grandkids, Colby Anthony, age 14, and Camryn Anthony, age “almost 11”.

If one were to believe the weatherman, this trip should not have happened, however, with Frog Toggs already donned, my trio joined me just prior to 8 AM for a morning spent in pursuit of white bass.

Here is 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 23 March & 4, 24 (PM), and 21 April.






PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Doug Streater, Colby Anthony, and Camryn Anthony landed exactly 200 fish before heading to What-A-Burger under dreary, pre-frontal conditions.






PHOTO CAPTION: This 6.00-pound largemouth bass was a personal best for Camryn Anthony. She hooked, fought, and brought the fish to net entirely on her own. This fish fell for a 5/8 oz. white Bladed Hazy Eye Slab.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday, 16 March 2023 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED:

The air temperature this morning was 64F and we had very heavy cloud cover with very fine precipitation falling the entire time we were on the water. This was a classic “pre-frontal warming” meteorological setting.

The fishing followed a normal, bell-shaped curve this morning, ramping up from zero in the first hour, climbing to a plateau and peaking in the middle two hours, then falling off in the final 75 minutes or so. By 12:25, the fish were back to having lockjaw.

We fished one area during that first hour up shallow in 20 feet of water and found mostly small fish behaving very sluggishly, despite being suspended as much as 6 to 8 feet off bottom. We fished those until they quit, then went looking once again.

It was then that encountered some inexplicable trolling motor issues which cost us a few minutes of downtime, but we got right back in the saddle and found a school of, literally, hundreds of white bass, most of which were tied to the bottom, with additional small schools moving just off bottom while chasing shad.

Long story short, we caught a total of 200 fish this morning, of which 184 were caught within a 75 yard radius of one another. As we sat on Spot-Lock catching fish, I observed side-imaging. When the fishing waned, I would just “jog” to the location of a larger group of nearby fish using the i-Pilot Link Spot-Locking function.

100% of our fish were taken using a slow-smoking tactic with white, 5/8-ounce Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs tied on to our lightweight spinning outfits.

Our final tally was exactly 200 fish, of which 11 were short hybrid stripers, 1 freshwater drum, 2 largemouth bass, and 186 white bass.

TALLY: 200 fish caught and released

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

OBSERVATIONS: Fewer and fewer fish are lingering in deep water (over 30′) as the water warms and daylength increases. Many caught fish were oozing eggs or milt once again today.



WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:50A

End Time: 12:30P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 64F

Elevation: 14.13 feet low, 24 CFS flow, .02′ fall over the last 24 hrs.

Water Surface Temp: 59.6F on the surface

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE16 all morning

Sky Condition: 100% moderate grey cloud cover with a fine mist falling nearly 100% of the time

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 34% illumination.

GT = 130

Wx SNAPSHOT:






AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 387/2041 – 16 fish

Area B0185C – 184 fish (3 hops)





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

Nice post and fish. Good job.