Fished a morning “Kids Fish, Too!” trip today with Mr. John J. of Austin, and his 9 year old daughter, Margaret Lee. Both were a joy to have onboard — Margaret Lee was enthusiastic and willing to try new things, and John was there to see his daughter be successful — and that she was!

Margaret Lee and proud papa John with a nice Belton Lake hybrid

Margaret Lee’s pending TPWD Junior Angler record green sunfish caught on 2 wt. flyrod and brown nymph

Start Time: 6:45a

End Time: 10:45am

Air Temp: 76F at trip’s start.

Water Surface Temp: ~85.5F

Wind: Winds were from the SSE the entire trip, with the stongest breeze at ~11 pre-dawn, then tapering back to 7-8 by mid morning, then going only 4-5 by trip’s end.

Skies: Skies were fair the entire time.

We had originally planned to fish Stillhouse today, but I was just so impressed by Margaret Lee and her family in speaking with them by phone prior to the trip that I offered to do something a little special. We specifically pursued a TPWD Junior Angler record for Margaret Lee and were successful in our pursuit.

As the day started off, we had a tip from an older gentleman launching out just as we were about reliable surface feeding white bass. We spent a bit of time looking where he invited us to, but, as they usually do, the surface feeding whites proved elusive. We moved offshore a bit and looked with sonar and, right at sunrise, spotted strong signals from suspended white bass and hybrids in 25-28 feet from Area 487 to Area 488. We got the downriggers down and immediately started putting fish in the boat on the Pet / Licker combo. Between 7:30 and 9:30am we boated 21 fish including 16 white bass up to 14 inches, and 5 hybrid at the areas above and along a parallel track just a bit deeper, from Area 496 to 497. For a very brief time (perhaps 10 minute span) some low grey clouds began to obscure the sun at around 8:15. When this happened, we had some fish began to topwater feed all around us. These “popcorn” fish didn’t stay up long at all so we stuggled to get to them and cast before they disappeared. We did manage 3 fish from off the top, but then returned to our downrigging.

By 9:30, this action was past-peak and I knew we had a pretty sizeable task ahead of us if were were to get a record-book fish for Margaret Lee. First, we’d need to get her able to use fly gear at a basic level, then find the fish to catch, then catch them. The area I most wanted to try for sunfish (Area 492) was being significantly impacted by the wind, and we had a hard time making anything happen there. We moved on and tried Area 498 and found little. Finally, at Area 499 we hit the jackpot. There were abundant sunfish here and not minutes after arriving, Margaret Lee was fast to her first fish caught on flygear — a 2.75 inch, immature bluegill sunfish. I put it in the livewell just in case she couldn’t better it, but those fears were laid to rest when she quickly came up with a 4.25 inch green sunfish. Satisfied that we probably wouldn’t better that fish at this area given the conditions, we kept that fish as our record entry, and then changed over to a bream pole and float baited with worm to continue catching the remaining sunfish we found visible there — 13 in all. Margaret Lee got her nerve up at this point and not only touched, but held one of the fish she caught, and then went one step further and removed the hook from several other fish both with and without the use of forceps — pretty impressive!!

By 10:45 it was getting still and hot, and our goal had been met and rejoiced over, so we decided to call it a great day at that point.

Margaret Lee’s Junior Angler Flyrod category record application for her 1/8 pound, 4.25 inch green sunfish is on its way to Austin. In about a week’s time she’ll get an official certificate from the State of Texas, and an electronic entry on the TPWD’s website.

Great job Margaret Lee!!

TALLY = 36 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