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

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