HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MICAH! — 68 FISH

WHO I FISHED WITH:   This morning, Saturday, July 28th, I conducted a “Kids Fish, Too!” trip for two young men from the Morgans Point area — Micah Briggs and Jacob Sullivan.  Both boys were accompanied by their dads, Stan Briggs, who makes his living in commercial real estate, and Joe Sullivan, a psychologist.  This trip was in celebration of Micah’s birthday.  Stan and his wife, Becca, decided to give this a try after friends of theirs had a good experience with doing a birthday fishing outing for their son, Luke Phillips, back in May of 2017 as he turned 8.

 

Back row, from left: Stan Briggs and Joe Sullivan; front row, from left: Micah Briggs and Jacob Sullivan with the first two white bass of the morning taken via downrigging at mid-morning, just after the wind began to move the water.  Gamefish activity was subdued until the wind began to blow.

 

 

WHAT WE FISHED FOR:  This was a multi-species trip focused on sunfish and white bass

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: Saturday morning, 28 July 2018

HOW WE FISHED:  Given the age and limited prior experience of the two boys, we focused on sunfish early while the sunfish were shallow and abundant in the low-light conditions.  We fished successfully in under 6′ along the edge of hydrilla with slipfloats.  After the wind began to build, we checked two areas intending to fish for white bass with downriggers.  The first area held bait and fish, but we got no response as seen on sonar.  Our second and final stop for white bass produced consistently from 8:20 through 9:50 and yielded 22 white bass all of which were 2 and 3 year class fish with healthy proportions.  All came as singles and doubles on 3-armed umbrella rigs with Pet Spoons on the business end.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES: The white bass bite did not begin this morning until the wind began to blow and had a chance to move the water for about 20 minutes or so, around 8:20a.  Despite similar conditions this morning as compared to yesterday morning, the bait was definitely more relaxed today, appearing “blanketed” over the bottom as opposed to being balled up and suspended as was the case yesterday.

TALLY: 68 fish, all caught and released

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:30a

End Time: 10:00a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 77F

Water Surface Temp:   85.8F

Wind Speed & Direction: Calm through 8:00am, then starting W3 and building to W6-7

Sky Conditions: <10% cloud cover

Water Level:  6.98 feet low

GT = 45

Wx SNAPSHOT:  

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 201 – sunfishing for the first 90 minutes or so under low light, and while waiting for wind to build; 46 sunfish

**Area vic 1969 to SH0048C – scattered but willing white bass taken as singles and doubles via downrigging with balls set 2-8′ above fish; 22 white bass

 

 

Bob Maindelle, Central Texas Fishing Guide

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingelleTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www/twitter.com/bobmaindelle

Ah, The Old Triple-Triple Trick! — 92 Fish with the Bearry Family

WHO I FISHED WITH:   This morning, Friday, July 27th, I fished with Mr. Steve Bearry and his sons, 16-year-old John, and 15-year-old David.  Mrs. Susan Bearry coordinated the trip, kicked the boys out the door early and, no doubt, enjoyed a little peace and quiet.   In the meantime, “the boys” and I tore ’em up on Stillhouse this morning under very favorable high pressure, stable, “cookie cutter” weather further enhanced by a westerly breeze.

On three separate occasions we landed a “triple”, consisting of 3 fish caught on a single three-armed umbrella rig at the same time.  David landed two of the triples and John got the other, hence, a “Triple-Triple”.

 

 

This was a quick snapshot of our third “triple” of the day, courtesy of John Bearry.  A triple occurs when each of the lures on the 3-armed umbrella rig catches a fish, thus allowing 3 fish to be landed on one rod.  During the summer months I typically downrig with a pair of such rigs deployed, thus having 6 baits in the water at any given time.

 

From left: Steve, John, and David Bearry with a few of the 92 fish we landed this morning.  We caught smaller fish (one year class) early on in our first hour, then got a mix of fish, consisting mainly of 2 year class fish, during the remainder of the morning.

WHAT WE FISHED FOR:  This was a multi-species trip focused on white bass

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: Friday morning, 27 July 2018

HOW WE FISHED:  As with most summer trips with solid results, we downrigged to find ’em, then capitalized on what we found by using Spot Lock through the i-Pilot Link system after placing a cursor on the Humminbird Solix 15 screen and giving the trolling motor a command to stop on top of schooled, bottom-oriented fish; we then worked vertically for as long as the school would tolerate our presence.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES: As the temperature eased back to around 99 or 100 degree highs the past two afternoons, the water surface temperature fell, as well, going from 87.3 down to 85.5 this morning.  The westerly breeze definitely coincided with better fishing today, as we observed a full 90 minutes of sporadic topwater action over  large tracts of water.  The bait is growing out well; soon a bump up in Pet Spoon size will be appropriate.

TALLY: 92 fish, all caught and released

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:40a

End Time: 10:50a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 77F

Water Surface Temp:   85.5F

Wind Speed & Direction: Due W under 7 the entire trip

Sky Conditions: <10% cloud cover

Water Level:  6.92 feet low

GT = 40

Wx SNAPSHOT:  

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area SH0026C through SH0027C – slow fishing at early morning for smaller fish

**Area  1524 through 1515 – slow fishing at early morning for smaller fish

**Area SH0041C to 1241 to SH0047C – accounted for a majority of our fish via downrigging and vertical work

 

Bob Maindelle, Central Texas Fishing Guide

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingelleTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www/twitter.com/bobmaindelle

What is a “Kids Fish, Too!” Trip? — 74 Fish with the Capner Kids

WHO I FISHED WITH:   This morning, Wednesday, July 25th, I fished a “Kids Fish, Too!” trip with the Capner siblings including Alden (age 10), Elijah (age 9), Jasmine (age 9), and Trinity (age 6).  Mr. De Carson of Temple, TX, is friends with the kids’ grandparents and offered to treat the kids to a morning fishing trip while their grandparents volunteered in a ministry they all serve at.

My “Kids Fish, Too!” trips are intended just for kids (only), although parents, grandparents, chaperones, etc. are welcome to come along to assist me.  These trips are less expensive than adult trips, they are shorter than adult trips, and we focus on quantity over quality, hence, sunfish are a part of our quarry on most Kids Fish, Too! trips.  These are just right for elementary-aged kids and their shorter attention spans and (typically) limited prior experience.  The summer break from June through August is the best time for taking younger kids, although our mild central Texas climate typically produces kid-friendly fishing right on into early October.

 

 

Oldest brother Alden, age 10, with two of the 76 fish he and his siblings landed on this morning’s Kids Fish, Too! trip to Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir.  These two fish were part of a “triple” Alden landed (three fish at one time, each on one of the three Pet Spoons on our downrigged umbrella rig).

 

Elijah, age 9, chipped in with a mess of white bass and sunfish of his own.  Elijah really excelled at vertical jigging as he kept focused and got the hang of the retrieval cadence right off the bat.

 

 

Jasmine, age 9, landed the largest of our 40 sunfish with this nice bluegill/redear hybridized sunfish which went 7.25 inches in length and weighed over a quarter-pound.

 

Trinity, age 6, with her first white bass.  It was caught on a downrigger using a Pet Spoon selected to match the size of the forage fish we saw all over the surface of the lake this morning.

 

WHAT WE FISHED FOR:  This was a multi-species trip focused on white bass and sunfish

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday morning, 25 July 2018

HOW WE FISHED: Today we started small and worked our way up in size and technical complexity.  We began the day’s adventure with each kid wielding a bream pole with a fixed length of line, a single hook, a small split shot, and a float which helped suspend pieces of worm over the areas we fished for sunfish.  It looked like a scene out of Huckleberry Finn.  The kids got the hang of watching for the float to submerge and responding quickly with an upward lift of the pole, and from that point on it was non-stop catching.  I moved the boat only one time, and then only a few yards, as the kids amassed a catch of 40 sunfish before the novelty of that portion of our trip wore off.  Among the sunfish were longears, bluegills, and redears.

With a solid start under our belt and the need for “instant gratification” met, we took it up a notch and pursued larger fish in the form of white bass, first by using downriggers.  We started with the youngest (Trinity), and worked our way up to the oldest (Alden), making sure each had a chance at catching one of these freshwater pelagics.

As we were downrigging, I noted an abundance of fish congregated on or near bottom in a number of the locations we downrigged over as we covered water quickly and efficiently.  I felt our chances of being able to stop over top of these fish and work for them vertically was pretty high, thus began the third chapter of our trip.  I used Spot Lock connected to my Humminbird Solix 15 via the i-Pilot Link system to pin us right on top of one of the schools of fish holding at around 38′.  We got light spinning outfits geared up with tailspinners down to the fish and the white bass really put on a show for the kids.  We landed fish after fish until the kids just wore out thanks, in part, to the light winds and increasing heat under cloudless skies.

Now, with only the two boys remaining interested in fishing, we closed out our trip by doing one more run with the downriggers, this time starting with Alden, then alternating back and forth with his brother until, finally, they, too, were ready to call it a good morning with exactly 76 fish landed including 40 sunfish and 36 white bass.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES: Yesterday’s north wind subsided just after sunset last night, leaving near-calm conditions this morning.   We focused on sunfish until the forecast SE wind began to ripple the surface around 8:00am.  Around this time, gamefish quickly ramped up their feeding, as evidenced by at least light surface activity taking place in any direction one looked.  The feed went strong until about 9:30 and then tapered off quickly

TALLY: 76 fish, all caught and released

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:30a

End Time: 10:00a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 76F

Water Surface Temp:   87.3F

Wind Speed & Direction: SE under 3 the entire trip, despite easterly breezes being forecast

Sky Conditions: <10% cloud cover

Water Level:  6.82 feet low

GT = 10

Wx SNAPSHOT:  

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 201 – sunfish

**Area SH0048C to SH0041C to 1221- downrigging for white bass, followed by vertical work once fish were found congregated, then reverting to downrigging for “mop up”

 

Bob Maindelle, Central Texas Fishing Guide

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingelleTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www/twitter.com/bobmaindelle

A SKIFF Trip with William Rochow

WHO I FISHED WITH:   This morning, Tuesday, July 24th, I fished with 6-year-old William Rochow accompanied by his mom, Veronica Rochow.  This was a SKIFF (Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun) program trip conducted free of charge to this family courtesy of the Austin Fly Fishers and the many friends of the SKIFF program who donate and fund-raise so that kids separated from their parents by their parents’ military obligations can enjoy the outdoors during times of separation.

If you are reading this and are military-connected, please give me a call at 254.368.7411 about scheduling a free fishing trip for your kids the next time mom or dad must be away from home.

William’s dad, US Army Staff Sergeant William Rochow, is currently on recruiting duty in Minnesota.  He has served in the Army for 12 years.

Six-year-old William Rochow and his mom, Veronica, on today’s multi-species SKIFF.  William landed 37 fish, including sunfish and white bass.

Before I had time to tell him that a net would make the job a lot easier, William got right to work when I told him it was time to release a few of the sunfish we kept in the bait tank for a little while!!

 

WHAT WE FISHED FOR:  This was a multi-species trip focused on white bass and sunfish

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday morning, 24 July 2018

HOW WE FISHED: We contended with a north wind this morning which began around 5pm the previous night.  This depressed the white bass activity a good bit, and made the surface choppy and therefore difficult to spot topwater action.  Given William’s age and prior experience, we focused on sunfish as long a he remained interested in doing so, and then devoted our last hour or so to the pursuit of white bass.  William worked to land 32 sunfish including bluegill, redear, longear, and green sunfish, all using a pole and slipfloat rig.  Once the novelty wore off on that, we geared up and downrigged in 34+ feet of water at three different locations to come up with 5 white bass for variety’s sake.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES:  Today’s north winds put a damper on the white bass bite without a doubt.  Baitfish were relaxed and carpeted the bottom in all of the areas where I searched for white bass, and no topwater action was to be seen during the short window when (9:45 to 10:15a) winds died sufficiently to see such action were it present.

TALLY: 37 fish, all caught and released

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:30a

End Time: 10:30a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  83F

Water Surface Temp:   87.1F

Wind Speed & Direction: NE12-13

Sky Conditions: <10% cloud cover

Water Level:  6.79 feet low

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:  

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

 

**Area 203 – sunfish

**Area 1948 – sunfish

**Area SH0037C – downrigging for white bass

**Area 1527 – downrigging for white bass

**Area SH0044C – downrigging for white bass

 

Bob Maindelle, Central Texas Fishing Guide

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingelleTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www/twitter.com/bobmaindelle

TEXTBOOK SUMMERTIME FISHING — 60 Fish

WHO I FISHED WITH:   As Bryan Reed climbed aboard my boat this past Saturday, he looked at me solemnly and said, “It took us 9 hours to catch 6 fish the last time we tried this on our own, and that was a good day.  If we can do better than that, we’ll be satisfied.”  And so, as the rest of the crew arrived, including Jason Woolverton, Jason Walters, and Steve Guzman, we headed out on Stillhouse in search of fish.  In just a little over 4 hours’ time, we returned to the launch having landed 57 white bass, 1 longnose gar, 1 freshwater drum, and 1 channel catfish — 60 fish in all.

Bryan, Jason Walters, and Steve are all on active duty in the US Army, and Jason Woolverton is a commercial electrician.

Steve, Jason, and Bryan with a trio of fish all landed seconds apart as we used the Spot Lock function to hold over top of loosely congregated fish we found as we covered water via downrigging.

Jason with one of the better 3-year class fish we landed as we fished both vertically and horizontally after finding fish via downrigging.

In addition to the 57 white bass we boated, we also landed this longnose gar, as well as a freshwater drum and a channel cat.

WHAT WE FISHED FOR:  This was a multi-species trip focused on white bass

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: Saturday morning, 21 July 2018

HOW WE FISHED: This was textbook summertime fishing under hot, dry, clear, high pressure conditions.  We downrigged to find fish while catching them steadily, then worked baits vertically and then horizontally once large congregations of fish were found.  Topwater “popcorn” action definitely helped lead to such congregations although these fish were definitely boat shy.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES:  About 75 minutes worth of spotty topwater action helped lead the way to our best catching spread out over a fair piece of open water.  White bass were definitely boat shy.  With 4 anglers it was not worth chasing “popcorn” fish just for a few casts; working vertically and staying put was the best option.

 

TALLY: 60 fish, all caught and released

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:15a

End Time: 10:25a s

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  79F

Water Surface Temp:   85.5F

Wind Speed & Direction: SSW7-9

Sky Conditions: <10% cloud cover

Water Level:  6.62 feet low

GT = 30

Wx SNAPSHOT:  

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

 

**Area 1971 thru SH0040C – downrigging for white bass

**Area SH0047C thru 1969 – downrigging for white bass

**Area SH0045C thru SH0046C – downrigging for white bass; then vert. and horiz. presentations to capitalize

**Area SH0044C – downrigging for white bass; then vert. and horiz. presentations to capitalize

 

Bob Maindelle, Central Texas Fishing Guide

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingelleTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www/twitter.com/bobmaindelle

1 Family, 2 Fishing Trips, 143 Fish – The Oliver Family Reunion

WHO I FISHED WITH:   This past Thursday and Friday I had the joy of fishing with the Oliver family during a bit of a mid-summer family reunion.  Mr. Joe Oliver coordinated everything such that on Thursday his son Corey (visiting from Oregon) and Corey’s kids, Cullen and Presley (8-year-old twins) and Harper (age 6) would fish, capably assisted by the kids’ uncle (Corey’s brother) Thomas.  Then, on Friday, Joe made arrangements for his daughter, Amber, from Academy, TX, to fish with her three kids, Ben (age 11), Beau (age 4 1/2), and Addie (age 2), once again aided by Uncle Thomas.

We agreed my “Kids Fish, Too!” style of trip would be best (a little shorter, much less expensive, and with all the focus solely on the kids’ success) and, fortunately both the weather and the fish cooperated so that all concerned had a memorable time.

Now, it could be my years of experience as a guide that has helped me to read between the lines when it comes to dealing with kids, or it could be the preparation I received for this vocation through my years in children’s ministry, but, somehow I have developed a “knack” for understanding the subtle messages from children, including Joe’s grandkids.  For example, when 6-year-old Harper says, “I need to pee”, what she really means is that she needs to pee.  Or, when 4 1/2-year-old Beau says, “I want to catch sunfish”, what he is actually communicating is that he no longer wants to be patient enough to wait on a larger white bass to strike, but would rather enjoy the fast action provided by sunfish.  And, when little Addie, age 2, says “I want to go home now” in reality she is communicating that she wants to go home … now. You see what I mean?  Very subtle … but I pick up on this stuff.

We landed 50 sunfish and 14 white bass on Thursday, and we landed 76 sunfish and 3 white bass on Friday, for a total of 143 fish.

THURSDAY’S CREW: From left: Corey, Cullen, Harper, Thomas, and Presley.

 

FRIDAY’S CREW: From left:. Addie, Amber, Ben, Thomas, and Beau.

 

WHAT WE FISHED FOR:  These were multi-species trips in which we caught white bass and sunfish.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday and Friday mornings, 12 and 13 July 2018

HOW WE FISHED: 

ON THURSDAY: The windless, clouded start to the day was not appealing to the white bass, so we left them alone after slowly picking up a few fish at our first stop, and went up shallow for sunfish.  We fished two areas for sunfish, then tried once again for white bass once the winds picked up lightly but consistently from the SW.  As we searched for fish, we spotted largemouth bass chasing shad to the surface and found white bass in the same vicinity.  This area gave up the balance of the white bass we caught, all on downrigged 3-armed umbrella rigs equipped with Pet Spoons.  As we closed out our trip, the kids got to participate in an on-the-water rescue as we assisted a stranded boater whose motor quit get back to the launch site by giving him a tow.

ON FRIDAY: Taking a lesson learned from the day prior, we started our day this morning going for the “instant gratification” bite of sunfish up shallow and just kept right on sunfishing but for two short attempts at downrigging for white bass.  Once we landed one “big fish” (a white bass) for each of the kids, they’d had enough of that and we went right back to the sunfishing.  We wound up fishing 3 different areas for the sunfish, all of which produced well thanks to the abundance of hydrilla now found all around the shoreline on Stillhouse.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES:  In additions to seeing schooling action at 1221 through 484, I also observed schooling action at Area 250, but we did not fish over these fish.

 

TALLY: 64 Fish on Thursday, 79 Fish on Friday, hence a total of 143 fish, all caught and released

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:30a both days

End Time: 10:00a both days

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  75F both days

Water Surface Temp:   84.8F both days

Wind Speed & Direction: SSW7 or less the entire trip on Thursday; SSE5 or less the entire trip on Friday

Sky Conditions: ~20% cloud cover both days

Water Level:  6.24 feet low both days

GT = 50

Wx SNAPSHOT:   (Thursday only)

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

THURSDAY

**Area SH0043C – sunfish

**Area 1221 through 484 – downrigging for white bass

 

FRIDAY

**Area 201 sunfish

**Area 203 sunfish

**Area 1241 through 1239 – downrigging for white bass

**Area 189 sunfish

 

Bob Maindelle, Central Texas Fishing Guide

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingelleTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www/twitter.com/bobmaindelle

A Tough Day on the Pond — 55 Fish

WHO I FISHED WITH:   This morning, Monday, July 9th, I fished with Geoffrey Van Riper of Harker Heights, accompanied by his son, Greg (age 7), and Greg’s cousins, Jake (age 12) and Kaden (age 9) Howley, also of Harker Heights.  The boys’ grandfather, George Van Riper, treated them all to this trip, and went out on his own boat fishing with a buddy of his while Geoffrey and I worked with the boys.

 

 

From left: Mr. Geoffrey Van Riper, his son, Greg Van Riper, and Greg’s cousins, Jake and Kaden Howley, with a few of the white bass we found today by covering a lot of water using downriggers.

 

Greg Van Riper holds the largest of the white bass we caught today.  This fish was with a small school of white bass over open water, holding about 26′ beneath the surface, feeding on shad.

 

WHAT WE FISHED FOR:  This was a multi-species trip in which we caught white bass and sunfish.

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday morning, 09 July 2018

HOW WE FISHED:  With 3 boys aboard ranging from 7 to 12, I had to keep things moving on this very tough fishing day so that no one got disinterested.  Suspecting today would be tough based on the weather forecast, I came prepared to fish horizontally with downriggers, vertically with slabs and tailspinners, up shallow for sunfish, and for catfish using livebait.  As it turned out, we landed 12 white bass including one triple, one double, and 7 singles as we downrigged over open water where I’d spotted small schools of white bass surface feeding.  We also landed 43 sunfish including bluegill, green, and longears using slipfloats up shallow.  I only encountered one scenario where I suspected a vertical presentation would pay off (but it didn’t), and, I never found any concentration of catfish, nor did I think it wise to invest the time required to sit in one spot long enough to chum them in.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES:  1) Lots of “popcorn” white bass scattered and suspended, forcing young-of-the-year shad to the surface for seconds, then disappearing.  2) Fishing has been very inconsistent thanks to very unstable weather. 3) Three other Lake Belton anglers reported poor results today when I check in with them.

 

TALLY: 55 FISH, ALL CAUGHT AND RELEASED

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:15a

End Time: 10:30a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  72F

Water Surface Temp:   84.8F

Wind Speed & Direction: S7 or less the entire trip

Sky Conditions: ~20% cloud cover at trip’s start, increasing to 100% coverage with rain on the way by trip’s end

Water Level:  3.32 feet low

GT = 60

Wx SNAPSHOT:   

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area B0097C – sunfish

 

 

 

Bob Maindelle, Central Texas Fishing Guide

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingelleTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www/twitter.com/bobmaindelle

Battle on Belton – 31 Fish with the Snelgrooes/King Crew

WHO I FISHED WITH:   This past Thursday morning, July 5th, I fished with returning guest Rick Snelgrooes of Liberty Hill, TX, accompanied by his son, Sean, Sean’s friend Grant, and Grant’s dad, Brian King.  The Kings live in Orange County, CA, where Sean and Grant played soccer together before the Snelgrooes family moved to Texas a little over a year ago.

 

 

Rick Snelgrooes took the only hybrid striped bass during this morning’s trip.  This fish, and a number of white bass suspended along with it, held in 31 feet of water over a deeper bottom and were very difficult to fool today..

 

From left: Sean Snelgrooes, Brian and Grant King, and Rick Snelgrooes, each with white bass which we either downrigged for or caught on tailspinners fished vertically.

 

WHAT WE FISHED FOR:  This was a multi-species trip in which we caught white bass, largemouth bass, hybrid striped bass, blue catfish, and crappie.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday morning, 05 July 2018

HOW WE FISHED: Fishing was tough today.  After a very light, short topwater feed right around (obscured) sunrise, the fishing slowed greatly and stayed tough all morning.  Although we found several areas holding good concentrations of suspended fish, these fish would not budge when shown downrigged baits going horizontally, tailspinners and slabs going vertically, and live bait hung right at eye level.  The majority of our fish today were taken via downrigging just one or two at a time.  We did stop a number of times to try to tempt heavily schooled fish with vertical presentations and when we did score it seemed that the fish we caught were the minority nearer the bottom than out of the “masses” suspended above them.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES: 1) With a northerly component to the wind today, fishing was slow and tough.  On a number of occasions I encountered heavily congregated, suspended fish around 31 feet which we could not tempt with vertical for horizontal presentations, nor after fishing for them at several times over the course of the 5 hour trip. 2) Belton vertical temperature profile to 60′:

0 feet 82.9°

5 feet 83.4°

10 feet 83.7°

15 feet 83.7°

20 feet 83.7°

25 feet 83.4°

30 feet 82.6°

35 feet 77.9°

40 feet 72.1°

45 feet 67.1°

50 feet 64.3°

55 feet 62.8°

60 feet 61.5°

 

TALLY: 31 FISH, ALL CAUGHT AND RELEASED

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:10a

End Time: 11:20a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  72F

Water Surface Temp:   82.9F

Wind Speed & Direction: ENE5 or less the entire trip

Sky Conditions: Under 80-100% grey cloud cover

Water Level:  3.19 feet low

GT = 125

Wx SNAPSHOT:   

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic 929 downrigging in the vicinity of light, widespread topwater action

**Area vic B0082C – downrigging

**Area vic B0096C – downrigging and working tailspinners vertically

 

 

Bob Maindelle, Central Texas Fishing Guide

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingelleTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www/twitter.com/bobmaindelle

What To Do When We Struggle – Life Lessons with the Boettgers – 62 Fish

WHO I FISHED WITH:   This past Tuesday morning I fished with Brian Boettger and his 4-year-old son, Landon, both of Nolanville, TX.  Brian fished with me once before on a father-and-son trip with his dad, Mickey, and was now “paying it forward” via a gift certificate he received from his girlfriend some time ago.  We wrapped up right at the 4 hour mark this morning with 62 fish boated and released. I commented to Brian how I noted that Landon was obviously very mechanically inclined.  He easily figured out how to work the triggering mechanism on the brush clip I use to secure the boat when sunfishing, and he also clearly understood the concept of the shift mechanism used to put the boat in and out of forward and reverse gears, all at just 4 years of age — impressive!

LIFE LESSONS: Brian was very intentional about trying to teach Landon new things over the course of the trip.  There were several occasions when Landon struggled with a particular task.  When Brian observed this, he asked Landon, “What are the two things we do when we struggle?”   Landon would reply, “We ask for help and we make ourselves stronger.”  Over the course of the trip Landon learned a number of different fishing techniques and overcame his fear of holding caught fish as Brian patiently worked with him.

Triple!!  One fish was hooked on each of the 3 Pet Spoons on the 3-armed umbrella rig — one of my summertime staples.

This largemouth was mixed in with a school of aggressively feeding white bass which went for a vertical presentation after we spotted them on sonar and then caught a few as the downrigger balls swept over them.

 

WHAT WE FISHED FOR:  This was a multi-species trip in which we caught white bass, largemouth bass, freshwater drum, green sunfish, longear sunfish, and bluegill sunfish.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday morning, 04 July 2018

HOW WE FISHED: Given that one of our objectives was to make sure 4-year-old Landon had a good time, learned a few things, and stayed engaged, I tried to transition from one method to another several times over the course of the morning.  We started off downrigging in two separate locations.  We picked up 9 fish at our first stop. At our second location we found a heavily congregated, bottom-oriented school of white bass which we set up over top of and vertical jigged for using the i-Pilot Link system.  After passing over a school of white bass, I backtracked to them on Down Imaging, placed a cursor over top of them, then gave the Ulterra a Spot Lock command.  The trolling motor then navigated back to the fish while I handed out appropriate rods and gave everyone instructions on what to do once we were in a dead hover over top of the fish.  We picked up 3 fish on the downriggers and then worked vertically for 34 more white bass.  When this dissipated, we headed shallow for sunfish, picking up another dozen fish.  We then wrapped up the trip with another round of downrigging, adding 4 more fish to the tally; 62 fish in all.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES: Very little in the way of topwater action once again despite adequate sighting conditions.

TALLY: 62 FISH, ALL CAUGHT AND RELEASED

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:15a

End Time: 10:20a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  77F

Water Surface Temp:   83.8F

Wind Speed & Direction: S9 or less the entire trip

Sky Conditions: Under 5% white cloud cover on a blue sky.

Water Level:  5.92 feet low

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:   

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 1440 to SH0031C  – white bass on downriggers for 9 fish

**Area SH0041C – white bass on downriggers leading to vertical work with tailspinners for 37 fish

**Area SH0038C – for 12 sunfish

**Area SH0037C  – 3 white bass & 1 drum on downriggers

 

Bob Maindelle, Central Texas Fishing Guide

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingelleTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www/twitter.com/bobmaindelle

Miller & Sons — July White Bass Fishing on Stillhouse – 35 Fish

WHO I FISHED WITH:   This past Monday morning, July 2nd, I fished with Mr. Mike Miller of Harker Heights and his two adult sons, Jordan and Luke.  The trip was a Fathers’ Day gift to Mike from his wife, Luanne.  Of the three, Jordan fishes the most regularly and owns his own boat.  I had initially planned to take the threesome to Lake Belton for a mixed bag of white bass and hybrid stripers, but, after mulling things over, the fellows let me know they preferred to stay close to their campground at Union Grove Park and fish on Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir, instead.  Mike, who is more of a salt water angler, didn’t really fish that much but enjoyed the time on the water with his boys.

 

Jordan Miller with a pair of white bass caught early on in the trip on Pet Spoons downrigged around 31 feet deep over a deeper bottom.

Luke Miller with a 3-year-old fish landed later in our trip as the winds picked up to just barely white-capping, around 12-13 mph.

 

WHAT WE FISHED FOR:  This was a multi-species trip in which we caught white bass.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday morning, 02 July 2018

HOW WE FISHED: Although we attempted on a number of occasions to tempt somewhat-congregated schools of white bass/largemouth bass into biting on topwater presentations and on vertical presentations, the only tactic that produced on this fairly clear morning with low wind speeds was downrigging.  We successfully downrigged at 4 distinct locations and looked over 3 other locations which did not produce fish.  The 3-armed umbrella rig was the go-to bait this morning, decked out with small Pet Spoons.  The fishing was slow but steady, aside from the initial “low light” bite right before and during sunrise which gave up a disproportionate number of fish over a 25-30 minutes span.

OBSERVATIONS/NOTES: Very little in the way of topwater action once again despite adequate sighting conditions.

TALLY: 34 FISH, ALL CAUGHT AND RELEASED

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:10a

End Time: 10:20a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  77F

Water Surface Temp:   83.6F

Wind Speed & Direction: S10 at trip’s start increasing to S15 by trip’s end

Sky Conditions: Under 20% white cloud cover on a blue sky.

Water Level:  5.86 feet low

GT = 35

Wx SNAPSHOT:   

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area SH0040C to SH0031C  – white bass on downriggers

**Area 660 to 1241 – white bass on downriggers

**Area vic 1704 – white bass on downriggers

**Area SH0039C to SH0018C – white bass on downriggers

 

Bob Maindelle, Central Texas Fishing Guide

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingelleTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www/twitter.com/bobmaindelle