This Independence Day morning I took my brother, Andy, and nephew, Trent, out on Belton Lake. This was a “consolation trip” in that it was to make up for not being able to get out on Stillhouse Hollow the night before to do some bowfishing as we had originally planned to do thanks to some heavy rainfall and high winds stemming from afternoon thunderstorms.
My nephew, Trent Maindelle, with 10.25 pounds of fish taken 20 seconds apart.
My brother, Andy Maindelle, and nephew, Trent with fish taken on live baits fished on downlines over 40 feet of water.
Our trip broke down into 4 distinct “chapters” — early morning topwater, mid-morning livebait fishing, downrigging for suspended fish, and pursuit of “popcorn” white bass and hybrid stripers on topwater at the close.
Beginning at exactly 6:05am, moderate-sized mixed schools of white bass and hybrid striped bass began forcing shad to the surface thus making enough commotion that they could be seen and heard in the low light conditions. We kept our distance and threw long casts into these fish using Cork Rigs and pulled 19 fish in over a 35 minute span before the short feed ended. That feed probably would not have gone even that long were it not for a grey cloud bank in the eastern sky that kept the sun’s direct rays off the water for a few extra minutes.
Next, we rigged up with live bait and fished downlines set at 24-29 feet over a 40+ foot bottom and focused on larger, 18+ inch hybrid striped bass. What we actually caught was a nice mix of 2 largemouth, 1 smallmouth, and 5 hybrid, with the largest largemouth weighing in at 6.00 pounds and the largest hybrid going 4.25 pounds (both measured on a certified scale). When the sun began to shine brightly and what little wind was blowing began to lay down, this bite died.
Next we did a bit of downrigging using umbrella rigs set down to 19-24′ for suspended fish. We never really found more than some scattered schools, none of which stuck in one area very long, so, we boated 4 fish with this method and, since a light wind had returned, decided to give live bait another try at a different location.
As we got setup for live bait, a large grey band of clouds began to move into the area. Not minutes after these clouds obscured the sun, mixed schools of white bass and hybrid stripers began feeding on the surface once again. We broke out the Cork Rigs and, with the trolling motor on high, did all we could to keep up with several fast-moving schools. We chased these fish for about 6/10ths of a mile and for about 35 minutes, catching fish constantly, and adding a final 28 fish to our tally. Once that band of clouds passed and the direct sun shone hot and bright once again we called it a good morning and headed in.
TALLY = 60 Fish
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TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 6:05 am
End Time: 10:15 am
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: Rain-cooled 68F from showers the previous night
Water Surface Temp: 83.1F
Wind Speed & Direction: SSE 3-6
Sky Conditions: Grey thin cloud bank in the eastern sky at dawn, followed by clear, bright skies, with a thin layer of clouds causing some obscuration of the sun in the last hour on the water.
Other: N/A
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area 834-793 Low light topwater
**Area 1405 Live Bait for Largemouth, Smallmouth, Hybrid
**Vicinity of Area 483-830
**Vicinity of Area 155
Bob Maindelle
Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service
254.368.7411 (call or text)
Salado, TX
www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com