Day: July 22, 2015

Belton Bouncing Back — 47 Fish, 21 July 2015

by Bob Maindelle
This past Tuesday afternoon I fished Belton Lake for the first time since the recent flooding.
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From left: Jase Mayo and his Papaw, Phil Moore pose with our largest fish of the trip, a hybrid striper in the 3 pound class.

 

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Phil’s older grandson, Avery Moore of Dawson, TX, grins as he displays his 14″ white bass — quite a large white bass for Belton these days.

As my guests tonight, I took long-time Killeen resident Phil “Papaw” Moore and his two grandsons, Jase Mayo and Avery Moore.

The afternoon was hot as we began our trip around 4:30pm, with no evidence of fish life on the surface. Our first hour on the water gave up only sunfish and shiners as we targeted these shallow-water species with bait on bream poles.

By 5:30p, we began to see white bass coalescing on the bottom in 20-23 feet of water, but still behaving sluggishly, allowing only single fish to be caught on occasion as we precisely presented our artificial baits using downriggers.
By 6:30p, the first surface activity erupted, albeit briefly and sporadically, as shad began skipping across the surface while white bass grew more active and fed on them from below. Our catch rate increased, and doubles (catching two fish on one rod at the same time) became common.

By 7:30p, there was an all-out assault as hundreds of hungry white bass drove thousands of shad to the surface and fed upon them at will, allowing us to cast into the fray and hook a fish on nearly every cast until the boys ran out of steam around 8:15p.

 

TALLY = 47 FISH, all caught and released

 

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TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 4:30p

End Time:  8:15p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  97F

Water Surface Temp:  86.0F

Wind Speed & Direction: S11-13

Sky Conditions:  5%  cloud cover under a strong high pressure dome making hot, dry conditions for the past several days

Note: Lake has dropped 0.31 feet in the last 24 hours and now stands at 2.30 feet above full pool.

Other: GT= 0

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 185, 184, and 663 panfishing with slipfloats

**Area 164, 165, 788 downrigging & sight casting for white bass

 

 

Bob Maindelle

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Salado, TX

www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Ft. Hood SKIES Program Trip for the Trejo Family — 32 Fish, 20 July 2015

by Bob Maindelle
This afternoon I met up with the Trejo family on Stillhouse Hollow for an evening of multi-species fishing.  The Trejo’s recently signed up for a “Fishing 101” trip through the Fort Hood SKIES program.  I fished with the oldest three of Staff Sergeant and Mrs. Trejo’s four children, Natalie, Marlon, and Amare.
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From left: Marlon, Natalie, and Amare with a few of the white bass we landed using downriggers set around 18 feet deep.

Joining me on this trip was Natalie, age 16, and her two younger brothers, Marlon, and Amare, aged 8 and 6 respectively.

We split our time on the water evenly between catching the more numerous, but smaller, sunfish, largemouth bass, and blacktail shiners up in shallow brush, and pursuing the fewer, but larger white bass out in open water.

By the time our trip concluded, the kids had boated a total of 32 fish.

 

SKIES Unlimited stands for School of Knowledge, Inspiration, Exploration and Skills.  SKIES Unlimited classes are open to children of active duty military personnel, retirees, Department of the Army civilians, and to Department of Defense contractors.
To enroll in SKIES Unlimited activities, children must be registered with CYSS at Building 121 on 761st Tank Destroyer Avenue (right across from the Chili’s restaurant). There is no charge for registration; parents must bring an ID that shows their affiliation with the military, the child’s shot records, and the report from a recent physical exam.  While the SKIES Unlimited programs are not free, many military families are eligible for sizeable credits toward SKIES Unlimited activities. There is a $300 “Army Strong” credit available to each child when their parent is deployed.

 

TALLY = 32 FISH, all caught and released

 

CLICK TO RETURN TO FISHING GUIDE’S HOME PAGE

CLICK TO RETURN TO FISHING GUIDE’S FACEBOOK PAGE

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 4:00p

End Time:  8:00p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  97F

Water Surface Temp:  86.0F

Wind Speed & Direction: S12

Sky Conditions:  <5%  cloud cover under a strong high pressure dome making hot, dry conditions for the past several days

Note: Lake has dropped 0.02 feet in the last 24 hours and now stands at 622.35 above sea level, with 622.00 being full pool

Other: GT= 0

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 1513/568 downrigging

**Area 142/1146 downrigging

**Area 1572 & 832 panfishing with slipfloats

 

Bob Maindelle

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Salado, TX

www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com