Bawb, We’re From Up Nawth — 77 Fish with the Brogans
CLIENTS: This morning, Monday, August 17, I fished a father-and-son trip with Mike and Kayden Brogan in visiting family from up in eastern Massachusetts. Kayden is headed into his senior year in high school, but, like many school districts up in the northeast, will not return until early September. Both father and son had plenty of prior fishing experience, including experience with the use of spinning tackle, so this put them ahead of the game before they even stepped aboard.
TODAY’S DATE: 17 August 2026 (AM)
NEXT OPEN MORNING DATES: 27, 28 Aug., 01 Sep. 2026
NEXT OPEN AFTERNOON DATES: 28, 31 Aug., 01 Sep. 2026
PHOTO CAPTION: White bass action has been solid and predictable, but very short-lived, with only about 35-40 minutes worth of feeding before the sun hits the water. Sandy Sandwich Streamers behind Cork Rigs did the trick for over 30 fish this morning.
PHOTO CAPTION: Mike (left) and Kayden landed 21 catfish today, with an equal mix of blues and channels all coming on punchbait. Note the “kink” in the tail on the blue cat Mike is holding. Not sure what happened there.
SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:
With the stable, high-pressure weather we have been under for the past two weeks, the fishing remained “cookie-cutter“ this morning with the fish doing the same things in the same places and at the same times as they did last week and the week before that. We started off the morning hunting surface feeding white bass up in water under 18 feet deep. This lasted for a little more than a half hour. That effort produced 31 fish.
After the whites left the surface, we stayed in the area and downrigged with a pair of downriggers each pulling a three-armed umbrella rig equipped with #12 Pet Spoons to add another 6 fish to our count.
When the downrigging bite slacked off, we fished the first of two chummed areas. This first area was baited prior to first light so the chum we put down had time to work for about an hour before we returned to fish it. This area produced 10 catfish, all on punchbait. Before we fished for those catfish, we put chum down at the second area we would go and fish.
Likewise, before heading to that second area to fish, we went and baited, a third area, just in case. On my run from baiting the third area to fishing the second baited area, I checked a few areas and we found some white bass on sonar. As it turned out, these were short fish, but Mike and Kayden very much enjoyed their first exposure to LiveScope as we used MAL Dense lures to target these suspended fish using this area in high numbers chasing shad. We added another 14 fish to our tally before these white bass lost interest.
We moved on to fish for catfish at the second area we had baited. The punchbait produced another 11 fish. As that area began to fade, and with about 30 minutes remaining in the trip, I offered the option of fishing our third baited area for catfish, or checking in on additional white bass to see if we could get just a few more. Kayden voted for the white bass, and Mike was OK with that, so we used sonar to find additional white bass and put a final five fish in the boat, taking our final morning, total to 77 fish. This last group of white bass was also on the small side, although they willingly chased a full-size MAL Dense lure.
RESULTS: 77 fish, all caught and released
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
FIND LURES HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/
SEE THE “SMOKING TACTIC” TUTORIAL HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3FMEQHOMQ
OBSERVATIONS:
-As of late July USACE had finally reduced the flow of water through the dam to the “normal” summertime rate of 52CFS — just a trickle to keep fresh water moving downstream.
-Fishable topwater action lasted about 40 minutes or so this morning with wide-spread “popcorn” action witnessed thereafter thanks to low winds creating ideal sighting conditions
-Lake Belton finally fell below conservation level for the first time since the spring rains caused it to flood in May.
LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:
Taken on Lake Belton on 11 Aug. 2026, approx. 6:05AM …
0 feet 86.5F
5 feet 86.7F
10 feet 86.7F
15 feet 86.7F
20 feet 86.7F
25 feet 86.2F
30 feet 85.1F
35 feet 82.6F
40 feet 80.3F
45 feet 76.3F
50 feet 71.6F
55 feet 69.4F
60 feet 68.2F
Taken on Lake Belton on 06 Aug. 2026, approx. 6:05AM …
0 feet 86.5F
5 feet 86.7F
10 feet 86.7F
15 feet 86.7F
20 feet 86.7F
25 feet 86.5F
30 feet 84.8F
35 feet 83.1F
40 feet 80.1F
45 feet 75.2F
50 feet 72.8F
55 feet 70.3F
60 feet 68.1F
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 6:25A
End Time: 10:40A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 75F
Elevation – Lake Belton fell to 0.02′ low, with a 0.05′ loss in the last 24 hours. Flow rate was 52 CFS
Water Surface Temp: 86.5F on the surface.
Wind Speed & Direction: SW3-6 all morning
Sky Condition: 0% cloud cover on a blue sky
Moon Phase: Waxing crescent at 27% illumination
GT = 60
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH MOST SUCCESS:
Area vic 2335- 31 white bass on Cork Rig with Sandy Sandwich Streamer, then 5 white bass & 1 hybrid on downriggers with Pet Spoons
Area AUGCAT05 – 10 catfish on punchbait
Area vic 188 – 14 white bass on smoked MAL Dense Lures
Area AUGCAT03 – 11 catfish on punchbait
Area 2570 – 5 white bass on smoked MAL Dense Lures
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: https://www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle