This past Tuesday morning, July 19th, I fished with Mr. Steve VonQuintus of Hutto, Texas, and his 4 grandsons, Jacob (16), Cade (9), Evan (9), and Hayden (8).

Steve “Gramps” Von Quintus and his grandson, Hayden, with a shad-caught Belton Lake hybrid striped bass.

Gramps and Evan teamed up on this hybrid that hit our live baits hanging down around 24 feet over a slightly deeper bottom.

From left: Bass Pro Shops apparel models Jacob and Cade with a nice pair of Belton lake summertime hybrids.

Due to a very consistent, low-light bite on Belton, I wanted to be shoving off no later than 6:15a. Thankfully, Steve and his crew arrived just a few minutes before six, so we took our time in going through the “pre-game” stuff, such as my safety briefing, ascertaining everyone’s level of experience, checking familiarity with both casting gear and spinning gear, etc.

By 6:15 we were idling out of the no wake zone adjacent to Frank’s Marina. Today’s trip broke down neatly into four distinct parts. Part one consisted of downrigging for the first 70 minutes of the trip. We went in order from youngest to oldest, and everyone got to take three rounds on the reel as we worked twin downriggers, each equipped with umbrella rigs and Pet Spoons.

Our catch of 18 fish on the downriggers included both a double and a triple, consisted mainly of white bass with a few short hybrid thrown in.  During this fast-paced portion of the trip, Hayden and Evan landed the first fish of their lives, thus earning them TPWD First Fish Awards.

Part two of our trip consisted of fishing with live shad near where the downrigging action had occurred. We added another 17 fish to our tally here, including four keeper hybrid.

Part three of our trip was the most productive in terms of numbers. We used three-quarter ounce chrome slabs to work vertically for both white bass and short and keeper hybrid in approximately 32 feet of water. We caught 49 fish using this tactic before the fishing went soft.

Our grand finale came near the same area we had caught these fish on the slabs. Off of a minor breakline that dropped from 25 to 29 feet, I identified quite a number of hybrid striped bass laying quite close to bottom. I used the Spot Lock feature on my Ulterra trolling motor to hold over these fish and we put six baits right down over these fish, with our weights suspended at 22 feet. Over the next 25 minutes, we put an additional 18 fish in the boat, nine of which were keeper hybrid. As our 102nd fish came in the boat, sonar went clear, we could feel the sun’s heat soaking through our clothing, and Steven I thought it wise to quit while we were ahead, thus finishing on a strong note.

For our efforts today we boated 102 fish consisting entirely of white bass and hybrid striped bass.

 

TALLY = 102 fish, all caught and released

 

Wx Snapshot:

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:15a

End Time:  11:10a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 79F

Water Surface Temp:  84.1F

Wind Speed & Direction:  SE6 building to SE12

Sky Conditions: ~10% cloud cover on a fair sky.

Water Level: 15.6 feet high and falling ~0.5 to 0.6 feet per day with a flow of ~6,100 cfs

GT = 15

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 018-019 downrigging for 18 fish

**Area 027 – 1788 live bait for 17 fish

**Area 1787 – slabs for mixed bag of 49 fish

**Aread 1785/1770 – live bait for 18 fish

Bob Maindelle

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

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