WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Thursday evening, March 30, I fished with first-time guests Russell and Kelly Allen, both retirees who travelled in from near Brownwood, TX, to fish with me in celebration of Kelly’s birthday.

Russell retired from the oil and gas industry, and Kelly retired from a career as a court reporter. The two struck me as very humble, godly folks. They appreciated the prayer I always include at the start of my trips, and they asked to pray with me as our trip concluded, which was much appreciated.

As we got to talking, the Allens shared fond memories of a retreat they went to once upon a time in Oklahoma which involved a week’s worth of sleeping on cots under tents and learning to cook with cast iron pots and pans!

Here is how the fishing went…

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PHOTO CAPTION: Retirees Russell and Kelly Allen shook off the drizzle, kept a great attitude, remained coachable, and did well, landing a mixed bag of white bass, hybrid stripers, and a single largemouth bass.



WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday, 30 March 2023 (PM)

HOW WE FISHED:

Although the warm, southerly breeze and occasional drizzle of the morning hours continued into this afternoon’s trip, the wind cut back to a steady 6-7mph and the temperature warmed to about 68F and stayed there all afternoon.

Fishing was just average this afternoon. We found several groups of fish that were relatively inactive which gave up only a few fish each, as well as two areas which produced no fish at all. As we encountered these lethargic fish, the white, 5/8 oz. slab was our tool of choice to provoke a chasing response. Presenting consistently to a large number of fish was the key to getting bit during this tough spell.

The last two hours of the trip were much more productive than the start. We moved up shallower as the light level began to decrease as the sunset (obscured by clouds) neared. A few spurts of topwater feeding and some minor bird activity let us know when we were at least in the right vicinity of catchable fish.

Once we saw this increased activity by the fish, we changed over to MAL Heavy and MAL Dense Lures and began to work them horizontally. We worked the MAL Heavy Lures from the surface downward using a count-down method, and we used the MAL Dense lures from the bottom upwards using the sawtooth method. Of these, the count-down method definitely excelled, as the fish on bottom (those seeing the MAL Dense on the sawtooth presentation) were not nearly as fired up as the fish up higher in the water column. We found both kinds of fish (those which were lethargic and on bottom, and those which were more active and up higher in the water column) both using the same areas at the same times.

In the final 15 minutes of the trip, I moved us up very shallow and we successfully landed both white bass and a few more hybrid in as little at 2 feet of water as we Spot-Locked in 7-9 feet of water and cast up shallower.

Our tally of 77 fish consisted of 4 short hybrid striped bass, 1 largemouth bass, and 72 white bass, of which 4 were short.

TALLY: 77 fish caught and released

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

OBSERVATIONS: The water temperature profile was as follows:

0 feet, 62.3F
5 feet, 62.3F
10 feet, 62.0F
15 feet, 62.0F
20 feet, 61.9F
25 feet, 61.7F
30 feet, 60.9F
35 feet, 60.0F
40 feet, 59.4F
45 feet, 59.2F



WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 3:15P

End Time: 7:45P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 68F

Elevation: 14.32 feet low, 24 CFS flow, .00′ fall over the last 24 hrs.

Water Surface Temp: 59.3F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: SE7 all afternoon

Sky Condition: 100% moderate, grey cloud cover with occasional light drizzle

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 63% illumination.

GT = 45

Wx SNAPSHOT:






AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area B0051C- 22 fish

Area B0020C – 16 fish

Area B0172C – 15 fish

Area 437 – 15 fish

Area 165 – 9 fish (very shallow)





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

Thats a really well done report
& great fishing
at least nobody had to clean 77 fish
cheers

Solid post and fish. Good job.