30 OCTOBER 2008






Belton Lake Fishing Report by Belton Lake Fishing Guide Bob Maindelle

Fished a half day morning trip with father and son Dick and Ed G. This trip was Ed’s birthday present to his now 85 year old dad, Dick. By the way, Dick is the eldest fisherman I’ve ever had the honor to have on board.

Conditions:

Start Time: 7:30am

End Time: 11:50am

Air Temp: 57F at trip’s start, warming to 80F by mid afternoon

Water Temp: 69-70F

Wind: SE at 5-6 by sunrise, increasing to 16-18 by noon, and tapering back to 13-14mph by sunset and thereafter.

Skies: Skies were fair all day.

Environmental Note: We witnessed 2 large flocks of gulls lift, form into V’s and head to the N. on the S. wind just pre-sunrise. Birds were not helpful in finding fish today. We also witnessed a bald eagle soaring over the lake today on our return trip to the dock.

We were blessed with some pretty easy fishing today. We got onto the expanse of bottom bounded by Area 86 to the NW and by Area 300 to the SE, and spent 3 ½ solid hours pretty steadily catching white bass and hybrids here. We initially began downrigging to have lures in the water while looking things over with sonar and immediately got hooked up. By about our 6th fish, we noted a strong congregation of fish right off the breakline, suspended at the same depth as the high edge of the breakline here. We pulled up the lines, dropped the trolling motor, and began slabbing, smoking, and lift-dropping as long as the action stayed reliable. Once things quieted down, we’d continue looking with sonar while running downriggers, picking fish up constantly on the downriggers, until we encountered another strong congregation of fish, then we’d break out the slabs again and work those fish over. We continued in this manner until the bite tapered to nothing by about 11:40a. By this time the fellows were well-satisfied with their catch and decided to head out for a father-son meal. Our total catch to this point was exactly 70 fish, including 6 keeper hybrid and several short hybrids, and the balance consisting of whites averaging right at 11 inches.

Given that we caught all of our fish off of one area, and the fact that I have another trip coming up shortly, I decided to check out some areas with similar characteristics to see if I could find other fish. In summary, I caught 10 quick white bass at Area 297 and left them biting while the conditions were still good to attempt to find other active fish. I caught 2 drum and missed a 3rd at Area 298. And, finally, since I was so close to that magic 100 fish mark, I moved to Area 294 and fished a 90 degree arc about 50 yards to the W through S of Area 294 for a final catch of 18 fish here including 17 whites, 1 small largemouth, and 1 missed hybrid.

TALLY = 100 FISH, all caught and released.

Bob Maindelle, Owner Holding The Line Guide Service and Kids Fish, Too! Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide, Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Lake Georgetown Fishing Guide, Walter E. Long (Decker) Lake Fishing Guide. Offering Salado Fishing, Killeen Fishing and Ft. Hood Fishing








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