05 DECEMBER 2008 — 30 FISH






Fished a half-day morning trip at Belton today. Things were a bit slow, but we made up for in quality fish what we lacked in quantity.


Start Time: 6:45a

End Time: 1:35p


Air Temp: 33F at sunrise, warming only to 47F.

Water Temp: 54-58F varying by location


Wind: Winds were N at sunrise at 12-15mph, and slowly slacked off to around 9 while turning NW around 11:15a.

Skies: Skies were clear at sunrise and until around 11a. At this time, some high thin clouds began to build in from the north, and over the next hour grew thick enough to prevent shadows from being cast.

Prior to sunrise, several flocks of gulls were working over open water between Areas 211 and 310, but, given their speed and posture, I could tell they were only sipping shad and were not on top of schooled fish.

After watching these gulls for a while, nothing materialized, and so I moved on.

I first contacted fish at Area 328 boating 4 white bass and 1 barely legal largemouth. All were pretty sluggish in responding to a lift-drop presentation.

From here I moved on and looked over Area 325 and Area 326. There was ample bait all over this area but fish were hard to come by. I managed 1 white bass at Area 326. This fish is now a pending lake record white bass for Belton Lake at 15.625 inches and 1.625 pounds. It came on a 1/4 oz. slab in 23 feet, right on bottom.

I then headed to Area 174 and caught 2 white bass and 1 small largemouth on downrigger using a White Willow spoon in 16-18′. Things were pretty slow here, too.

Moved on to Area 327 just as the wind began to slacken and go NW, and as the cloud cover began to roll in. While going over this area thoroughly with sonar, I noted a lot of bait, and then found fish in 27-31 feet both tight to bottom, as well as suspended in the lower 1/2 of the water column. All told, I managed 21 fish here including 2 back-to-back largemouth (PICTURED BELOW)with the largest of the two going exactly 6.0 pounds. I also caught 2 crappie right off the bottom which went 1.5 pounds each, as well as 1 drum, and 1 short hybrid. The remainder was all white bass right at the 11 inch mark.

As I wrapped up the trip, I was assisted in getting the necessary witnesses to the weighing of the potential lake record white bass by Randy McCurley of Flower Mound and by Matthew Perrine of Temple. Thank you both very much, fellows!

TALLY = 30 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








04 DECEMBER 2008 – 45 FISH






Fished an evening trip on Stillhouse in the teeth of a stiff N. wind and fared pretty well tonight with 45 fish taken.


Start Time: 2:35p

End Time: 5:40p


Air Temp: 35F at sunrise, warming only into the low 50’s due to the arrival of a dry front on brisk NNW winds.

Water Temp: 58F


Wind: Winds were NNW at sunrise at ~18mph, and steadily built to 22mph by mid-day and then began to slack off around 2p.

Skies: Skies clear & bright all day.

Following the cold front’s arrival during the late afternoon yesterday, high pressure continues to build in on a stiff wind today. Given that this was a dry front, I expected to be able to catch fish and did.

The mood of the fish was a bit lethargic at the beginning of the trip, but then picked up well at about 45 minutes prior to sunset and up until dark. The water is noticeably dingy due to the high winds blowing for this prolonged period, and that often makes these clear water fish a bit ornery, as well.

I searched 6 areas with sonar, fished 4 of them, and found fish on 3 of them.

Area 74 sits at the edge of a deep flat in 35-38 feet of water. Scattered bait and suspended whites were the deal here. All fishing was electronic sight fishing for fish suspended in the middle third of the water column. I managed 18 white bass here in 90 minutes, all just one at a time and pretty sluggishly. I never saw any large schools of fish at this location, one singles and groups of 2-5 fish. All fish here came on 1/8 and 1/4 oz. slabs to match the forage size.

Next I graphed Area 33 without result and moved on.

I graphed Area 148 and saw no bait, but a few fish tight to bottom. Gave it a few pops with the slab and found nothing and so I moved on.

I looked over Areas 149, 72, and 34 with sonar and found nothing.

I moved to Area 37 and saw clustered bait on the windward slope up shallow in 23-25 feet of water, and fish on the shoulder. I dropped down and quickly put 10 fish in the boat including 9 whites and a drum before the sun set on this area.

I moved one last time to where the sun had not yet set on Area 306 and found very active and abundant fish tight to bottom and suspended up about 4 feet off of bottom in 21 feet. I caught 17 fish here in less than 15 minutes. Surprisingly, more fish came off of a deadstick slab on bottom than came on an actively jigged or smoked slab, despite the fact that the fish were suspended.

At sunset on this area the action ended and I wrapped it up.

TALLY = 45 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








01 DECEMBER 2008 — 66 FISH






Fished a short morning trip on Stillhouse this morning to see how yesterday’s weather and heavy winds might have moved the fish and bait around.

Start Time: 6:35a

End Time: 10:05a


Air Temp: 47F at sunrise (slightly obscured by a low, distant cloud bank), warming only into the high 50’s due to the arrival of a dry front on brisk NW winds.

Water Temp: 59F


Wind: Winds were NNW at sunrise at 12-15mph, and steadily built and turned WNW to 22mph by trip’s end. Gusts reached 30 by mid afternoon.

Skies: Skies clear all day. The low cloud bank in the morning delayed the sun’s appearance by about 25 minutes only.

More and more birds are arriving with each front, making the fish location equation a little easier to solve. Today, I spent about 30 minutes between Area 112 and Area 257 to establish if the fish were going to feed this morning and, if so, to what degree. I found them quite active, but they took a bit longer to get going. The skies were brighter today when the feeding peaked than during the peak of the feed over the past several days. I took 20 fish, all solid white bass at 11-13 inches from this area and then departed while they were still active to search out additional concentrations of active fish in other areas while the feed was still on. Birds were helpful here.

I moved on and looked over Areas 100 and 101 without result.

I moved on and found healthy concentrations of white bass both on bottom and suspended at 13 feet over a 23 foot bottom between Areas 324 and 106. Fish were occasionally driving shad to the top which attracted some bird activity. I caught fish on both a smoking retrieve and on a lift-drop retrieve. Horizontal lift-dropping fell short. I managed 44 fish from this area in about 90 minutes; the catch included 3 drum, 2 largemouth bass with one going 7.0 pounds (PHOTO BELOW), and 39 white bass. All came on slabs.

Around 10a, a call came in from a tenant at our rental property that they had toilet problems. Had to pack up and prepare for some “crappie” fishing.

TALLY = 66 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