Lake Belton Fishing Tour | Fishing Report

WHAT’S THE GOOD WORD?? — 108 FISH @ BELTON

August 14th, 2020August 14th, 2020 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Friday, August 14th, I fished with Bob “Paw Paw” Word, and his three grandsons, Justin Word, Jordan Word, and Travis Scott.

Bob retired from civil service as a welder and resides south of Killeen.

Justin and Jordan are brothers, and Travis married their sister.

All of the grandsons live around Austin where Jordan works as a building inspector, Justin works for the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA), and Travis is a K-9 police officer.

PHOTO CAPTION #1: From left: Travis Scott, and Jordan, Bob, and Justin Word, all with 2-year old white bass taken with a combination of downrigging and vertical work with MAL Lures.

WHEN WE FISHED: 14 August, 2020, AM

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

HOW WE FISHED: We looked for “easy” topwater action this morning but found none, thanks to the heavy chop on the surface. So, we downrigged for the fish that were still there and feeding, but not showing themselves on the surface. We wound up with 8 fish and moved on just as the sun rose.

I spotted multiple occasions of “popcorn” schooling as I surveyed calmer waters, but these fish did not stay up long, so, we passed on them.

We eventually found fish in 25-29 feet of water, and they “carpeted” the bottom, a good sign of their willingness to strike lures presented vertically. Indeed, the fish were willing to strike, but, they were also very prone to moving.

Seeing this, we simply bounced back and forth for the remainder of the morning between downrigging to both find and catch fish, and then stopping on top of any large (100+ fish) schools we found in order to work MAL Lures vertically. We’d catch a few before the school moved on using the MAL Lures, then, it was back to downrigging to repeat the process.

A mixed presentation of white/silver #12 Pet Spoons on one 3-armed umbrella rig and yellow/silver #13 Pet Spoons on the other 3-armed rig worked equally well.

We wound up with 108 fish landed in right at 4 hours. This included fish in the 0, 1, and 2 year classes. Looks like a great crop of white bass was spawned this year based on the size of fish I’m seeing from this spring’s spawn (we caught ~10-12 of them, all right about the same size and looking plump).

TALLY: 108 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: Low-light topwater fish were definitely “off” this morning, thanks to a heavy chop created by the 13+ mph wind we experienced. Fish were present, but did not pop up on top for an extended period of time. After sunrise, “popcorn” schooling took place briefly through about 8AM, then the fish went down for good.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:30A

End Time: 10:45A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 79F

Elevation: 2.09′ low, -0.12′ 24-hour change, 51 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 83.5F

Wind Speed & Direction: S13-14 before sunrise, dropping off to S11 right around sunrise. Sky Condition: No cloud cover, with light blue skies and low humidity

Moon Phase: Waning crescent with 24% illumination

GT = 50

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic 813 – downrigging in under 20′ on wind-impacted shoreline for low-light white bass action hindered by strong wave action.

**Area vic 1024 – back and forth between downrigging to catch and find fish, and then dropping MAL Lures on active fish to take advantage of what we’d found.

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

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide

#BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing

#bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport

#fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday

#Fitec

SUNFISH SANDWICH ON WHITE BASS BREAD! — 153 FISH @ BELTON

August 5th, 2020August 5th, 2020 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Wednesday, August 5th, I welcomed aboard the Puente family who signed up for a family fishing trip through the Fort Hood SKIES Program. Joining me was Mrs. Denise Puente and her three children, Mario (age 13), Cecilia (age 7), and Pablo (age 5).

The kids’ father, U.S. Army Master Sergeant Mario Puente is a combat engineer with 18 years in the military. SKIESUnlimited stands for Schools of Knowledge, Inspiration, Exploration, and Skills.

SKIESUnlimited offers dozens of activities for military and Department of Defense kids of all ages, ranging from gymnastics to piano lessons, from academic tutoring to various forms of dance, and more. To participate in such courses, children must first be registered with Child and Youth Services. Registration is free and is accomplished by contacting Parent Central Services at 254-287-8029. Once registered, parents may go online to enroll their children for the myriad courses available, including my own “Fishing 101”.

PHOTO CAPTION #1: From left: Cecilia, Mario Jr., and Pablo Puente with three of the 153 fish they landed on a trip which saw each youngster catch the first fish of his/her life.

WHEN WE FISHED: 05 August, 2020, AM

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

HOW WE FISHED:

This morning, we began and ended with white bass, and fished for sunfish in the middle … a sunfish sandwich on white bass bread!

Since I had two young children aboard, and since none of the kids had previous fishing experience, I opted not to use any tactics involving casting this morning. So, when the white bass began to feed on topwater as I anticipated they would on a southerly wind, we ran twin downriggers each equipped with 3-armed umbrella rigs in and around the schools to take singles, doubles, and triples for the first 50 minutes of the morning. Once the sun’s rays struck the water, the topwater action was over. By this time, the kids had landed 34 fish, including the first fish each had ever caught.

We moved on to deeper water and found sparse action near Area 313/B0186C, and picked up 6 more fish here. By now, Pablo was “spoiled” by the easy, early fishing, and was getting pretty antsy pretty quickly. I decided to head up shallow and target sunfish. Mario got the hang of this instantly, then Cecilia got to where she could present to and land fish independently, which left Denise to work one-on-one with Pablo, and me to untangle lines, unhook fish, and re-bait hooks. We parked in one boat-sized area, fishing within 20 feet of the boat on the port and starboard sides, and landed exactly 101 sunfish here before the bite waned, the air heated up, and Pablo needed another change of venue.

I suggested since we’d begun the trip with downrigging, and then got to experience sunfishing, that we might now once again use downriggers to find more white bass, but, this time, to fish for them vertically using spinning gear and MAL Lures, once (if!) a school of this species was found on bottom using sonar. Fortunately, we made a move to the right place at the right time and were able to put a final 12 fish in the boat, including one fish per child using the MAL Lures retrieved straight up off the bottom in about 32 feet of water. Pablo’s statute of limitation expired at the 3.5 hour mark, and we called it a great morning right at 10AM with 153 fish landed for our efforts.

TALLY: 153 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: Southerly breezes had the fish back in a feeding mode and making up for lost time from yesterday.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:30A

End Time: 10:00A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 75F

Elevation: 1.62′ low, -0.04′ 24-hour change, 51 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 83.4F

Wind Speed & Direction: S6-8 the entire morning

Moon Phase: Full moon +2 today

GT = N/A

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 018 to 811 – downrigging in and around topwater schools for singles, doubles and triples (36 fish in 50 minutes)

**Area vic 313 to B0186C – another half-dozen fish on ‘rigger from out of smaller, suspended, roaming schools **Area B0032G – sunfish galore **Area vic 1576 – late morning white bass; downrigged to find; MAL Lures worked vertically to catch

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

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide

#BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing

#bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport

#fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday

#Fitec

ALL ABOUT EATER CATFISH – 21 FISH @ BELTON

May 3rd, 2020 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Friday evening, May 1st, I welcomed returning guests Rick Powell and Ricardo Cisneros aboard. During the Coronavirus shutdown, I took my wife, Rebecca, and a handful of friends out fishing specifically for blue catfish on Lake Belton. Ricardo, who regularly follows my Facebook posts, saw this and hoped to duplicate the effort on occasions where he hoped to catch a few “eating-sized” catfish (12+ inches).

He requested I take he and his friend (and boss) Rick Powell out to show them what I’d learned.

No, I’m not starting to guide for catfish and don’t intend to do so in the future, but, as the fishery offers consistency and as the quality of these fish continue to improve on Lake Belton (due to zebra mussel consumption, I suspect), I will no doubt routinely mix in some catfishing in my multi-species trips. Additionally, my 100% C&R policy still pertains to this species.

PHOTO CAPTION: This is what the methods I’ve pieced together (with a good bit of help from Steve Webb) typically produce – smaller “eater-sized” blue catfish, two of which provide 4 fillets — just enough for a 1-person serving if kept and cleaned properly. Most fish are 12-15 inches, like this one held by Ricardo Cisneros.

WHEN WE FISHED: 01 May, 2020, PM

HOW WE FISHED: First, I search for blue catfish concentrations on sonar. Next, I Spot-Lock and chum with range cubes, then get right down to fishing vertically with my “Catfish Plumb” bait holders tipped with fresh, dead shad or non-stink doughbait. To enhance things, I’ve brought Garmin LiveScope to bear, which allows slightly suspended fish to be targeted. Otherwise, the default bait position is just inches off bottom.

Concentration is a must, as the catfish typically take only one swipe at the bait, during which time a quick, hard hookset is a must.

In 3.5 hours’ time, some of which was set aside for Humminbird side-imaging explanation and Garmin LiveScope explanation, we put 22 blue cat over the side of the boat with just as many missed on the hookset.

TALLY: 22 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: As I searched for spawning shad, a definite, shallow-water and shad-oriented fishery is also ripe for picking, albeit short-lived with the action drying up about the time the direct sun peeks over the eastern horizon.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 4:00P

End Time: 7:30P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 82F

Elevation: 0.77′ high, 0.06 foot 24-hour rise, 17 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 70F

Wind Speed & Direction: S17 at trip’s start, tapering to S14 by trip’s end

Sky Conditions: 30% high white haze on blue skies

GT =28

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic B0073C (fished it at start of trip and end of trip with 2 other non-productive stops in between)

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)

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide

#BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing

#bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport

#fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www/twitter.com/bobmaindelle

THE FISH WENT TO T.O.W.N. –55 FISH @ BELTON

February 4th, 2020 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Saturday afternoon I fished with Beverly Travis of Belton and Alex Castillo of Austin on Lake Belton following a tough morning of fishing on Stillhouse. Beverly tried to get her and her grandkids out with me last year, but foul weather prevented. After visiting my booth at the Central Texas Boat and Outdoor Show the week before, we made plans to try again today.

I offered the option of more, but smaller fish at Belton, or fewer, but larger, white bass at Stillhouse. Beverly, who coordinated the trip, opted for greater action at Lake Belton.

This time, Beverly brought Alex Castillo. The two ladies met through a Texas Parks and Wildlife Department program called Texas Outdoors-Woman Network (T.O.W.N.). The mission of T.O.W.N. is to provide all women the opportunity to experience outdoor activities in a safe, non-threatening, and supportive environment. The program was started by several graduates of TPWD’s Becoming an Outdoors-Woman (BOW) workshop.

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Beverly Travis, a Christian counselor from Belton, and Alex Castillo, who works in the environmental field in Austin, teamed up through TPWD’s Texas Outdoors-Woman Network (T.O.W.N.) to split a half-day white bass fishing trip on Lake Belton, landing 55 fish on a tough day of fishing.

WHEN WE FISHED: Saturday, 01 February 2020, PM

HOW WE FISHED: I was prepared for a tough afternoon today. As I rolled into the launch area, long-time Belton multi-species angler Mike P. was on his way out after having fished a long morning and into the afternoon for just 24 fish as he chased white bass, resulting in just 2 legal fish in his catch. I had similar difficulties not finding fish, but getting them to bite, over at Stillhouse, landing just 20 fish between 7:15 and noon.

Before we left the launch area I provided a thorough explanation on the very slow, methodical tactic of “easing” we would rely on to catch our fish this afternoon, emphasizing how important very slow movement was, and demonstrating it for Bev and Alex.

The ladies got the hang of the tactic very quickly. As was the case on Stillhouse this morning, finding fish was not all that challenging, but getting them to bite was another story. Routinely, when I found fish on an area, there were several dozen fish in the schools I Spot-Locked atop of. Such a school would typically yield 2-4 fish fairly soon after we began jigging, and then the fish, though still present, would shut down. Seeing this trend develop, we adjusted our approach and moved very readily to new “batches” of fish soon after a given school would shut down.

We did well, given the conditions, boating a total of 55 fish, including 3 drum and 52 white bass. One interesting note was the intensity of this evening’s low-light bite. As we used the trolling motor to ease into our final area of the trip, I saw fish suspended in the water column from halfway to bottom, all the way to the bottom. This was the first time I’d seen fish more than a foot off bottom all day (Belton or Stillhouse). As we fished for these fish and began catching them, the fish suddenly turned on well. We took our tally from 36 fish to a final count of 55 fish (hence, 19 fish caught) in the last 20 minutes of the trip.

We relied on the very reliable white, 3/8 oz. Hazy Eye Slab, with stinger hook attached. Roughly 80% of the fish caught today (Belton and Stillhouse) came on the stinger hook, as has been my experience for several years now when the water temperatures reach near annual lows.

TALLY: 55 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: Experienced a hard low-light feed at and just following sunset tonight, following a day of tough fishing. 19 fish in 20 minutes from fish all throughout the lower half of the water column.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 2:00P

End Time: 6:15P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 66F

Elevation: 3.00 low, -0.02′ 24-hour change, 17 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 53.2F

Wind Speed & Direction: NW7-0

Sky Conditions: Clear, cloud-free, blue skies

GT = 30

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area B0113C to 1671 to 565 : 3 short hops early, then one final stop near sunset

**Area 1845 to 1619: 3 short hops early, then 2 short hops later on second visit here

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

REAL NICE FOLKS FROM MINNESOTA — 223 FISH @ BELTON

December 2nd, 2019December 2nd, 2019 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning I fished with 4 members of the Kovar family from just west of St. Paul, Minnesota. Mr. Dale Kovar, his wife, Linda, and their daughter, Chelsea Rademacher, all flew down to Texas to see their son, Rhett, before he deploys to Iraq as a member of the Minnesota National Guard. Rhett only recently completed basic training and AIT, then got called up and has now been at Fort Hood living in the barracks since October. Two other siblings were unable to make the trip.

PHOTO CAPTION #1: From left, that’s Linda, Chelsea, Dale, and Rhett with a few of the 223 fish they landed under breezy, post-frontal conditions.

PHOTO CAPTION #2: Linda landed the top two fish of the trip this morning, including this nice hybrid and a freshwater drum which went 4.75 pounds.

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday, 02 December 2019, AM

HOW WE FISHED: Fishing was easy this morning. Birds started feeding and leading the way to fish just a few minutes after sunrise. The bird action was most intense in the first hour after sunrise, but did not quit entirely until around 10AM. We used two different methods this morning, depending on how the fish were presenting on sonar. If the fish were very active and chasing bait throughout the water column, we used a slow version of a smoking tactic to cover the water column; and, if the fish were less aggressive and holding on bottom, we used a slower, lower easing tactic. We used a stinger-hook equipped 3/8 oz. Hazy Eye Slab in white color for both jobs.

While the birds worked, we made 4 stops under them as they moved about feeding, and typically began by using a smoking retrieve until the fish settled, then mopped up with an easing retrieve, and then moved to a new bunch of fish once the easing slowed down. We boated our first 100 fish by 9:19AM.

After the birds quit, we spent our final hour atop a school of white bass holding on a breakline. I layered in Garmin LiveScope at this point to help keep everyone engaged. These fish quit just a few minutes before 11AM. We finished up with 223 fish including white bass, hybrid striped bass, freshwater drum, and largemouth bass.

On two separate occasions the fish fed so aggressively that Rhett and Chelsea wound up catching two fish on their slabs at the same time — one fish on the treble, and one fish on the stinger hook.

Of course, when all was said and done, I directed them to the good care of Mr. Dirk over at Miller’s Smokehouse for lunch. I just wouldn’t be right to come all the way from Minnesota and not dine there.

TALLY: 223 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: I noted that in ~23 feet of water or less, even when birds were working fish and bait aggressively, my outboard would spook fish from directly beneath the boat. Therefore, I used side-imaging to find large concentrations of fish, then put my cursor on the H’bird Solix on those fish and let the i-Pilot Link system take us more stealthily to those fish instead of running over them with the outboard. It seemed that only those suspended fish were negatively impacted in this way.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:00A

End Time: 11:00A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 40F

Elevation: 2.69 feet low, 0.01′ 24-hour fall, 34 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 57.4

Wind Speed & Direction: NW11 at sunrise and tapering off just a bit to NW8 by trip’s end

Sky Conditions: Post-frontal bluebird skies

GT = 70

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Areas B0153C, vic 1804, vic B0159C, B0197C – 4 stops along a line connecting these areas, all with bird-assist

**Area vic B0118C

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

Windy and Windy, with a Chance of Wind!! — 114 Fish, Lake Belton

November 20th, 2017November 20th, 2017 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Saturday I fished with Mr. Matt Laakso and his adult son, Mitch, both from the north Austin area. Matt did a sonar training with me soon after getting his own boat which is now about 3 months old. After experiencing the sonar training, he decided to come fishing with me, as well.

From left: Father and son Matt and Mitch Laakso with a sampling of the white bass we caught on what turned out to be an extremely windy morning as a dry cold front moved into the area.

Matt took our largest fish of the trip, a nice 20″ hybrid, just before the waves began to whitecap as straight-line windspeed reached 13mph.

WHAT WE FISHED FOR: This was a multi-species trip focused on white bass.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Saturday morning, 18 November 2017

HOW WE FISHED: There were quite a few predictions as to the timing of the dry cold front’s arrival this morning, based on various meterological models. We experienced near-calm conditions with a solid “pre-frontal” bite for nearly two full hours, the first hour of which took place under helpful gull activity. Once the wind began to increase and shift through the west toward the north, the bite moderated. We had 87 fish landed through 10:20, then worked another hour and twenty minutes to reach and exceed the 100 fish mark. All of our fishing was done vertically using 3/8 oz. slabs before the heavy winds began around 10:30. Once the winds peaked, we bumped up to 3/4 oz. slabs in order to maintain good contact with bottom and to effect good line control. Before the front hit we used a smoking tactic; after the front began racing in, we used an easing tactic.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES: 1) Boat traffic this morning was unusually light due, in part, to “the weatherman’s” prediction of high winds this morning. 2) I noted that as the wind ramped up rapidly from 9:45 to 10:30, the bite went soft, but, once it reached peak velocity, the fish turned on again.

TALLY: 114 FISH, all caught and released

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:45a

End Time: 11:45a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 70F

Water Surface Temp: 68.3F

Wind Speed & Direction: SSW under 5mph for first 90 minutes; wind shifted to W, then WNW, then NNW by 9:45 all around 9mph; wind began to ramp up quickly and steadily to NNW18 by 10:30 and was blowing NNW20 with higher gusts by trip’s end at 11:45.

Sky Conditions: 10% cloud cover

Water Level: 2.36 feet low

GT = 10

Wx SNAPSHOT: N/A

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 2035 thru 592 — fastest fishing of the morning under birds in low light conditions, smoking with 3/8 oz. slab with Hazy Eye Stinger Hook

**Area 593 – smoking with 3/8 oz. slab with Hazy Eye Stinger Hook

**Area 1747/1552 – smoking & easing with 3/4 oz. slab with Hazy Eye Stinger Hook

**Area 2052- smoking & easing with 3/4 oz. slab with Hazy Eye Stinger Hook

**Area vic 2041 – easing only with 3/4 oz. slab with Hazy Eye Stinger Hook

Bob Maindelle, Central Texas Fishing Guide

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

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