WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Monday evening I fished with Ahmed Eqab and his brother-in-law, Arthur Ghayb. Ahmed is from the United Kingdom and makes a habit of fishing local waters anytime he travels. Arthur lives in Killeen and has resided here for 11 years now.
Ahmed works in information technology for the Maersk shipping company and married Arthur’s sister some years ago. Arthur served as a U.S. Army linguist for 6 years and now works at the Gold’s Gym location in Copperas Cove.
There was a slim chance Ahmed’s 12-year-old daughter was going to make it out with us, but that didn’t happen — maybe next time.
PHOTO CAPTION: Ahmed Eqab, a citizen of the United Kingdom, traveled to Texas to see his brother-in-law and the two booked a trip. Ahmed landed this smallmouth buffalo in the heat of an August afternoon as we downrigged at 21 feet beneath the surface.
PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Ahmed Eqab and Arthur Ghayb, brothers-in-law, with four of the 40 white bass we landed between 6:45pm and 8:15pm as the falling light level spurred fish on to begin feeding.
WHAT WE FISHED FOR: Multi-species targeting white bass and blue catfish
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
WHEN WE FISHED: 05 August 2019, PM
HOW WE FISHED: Without a doubt, the first 90 minutes of light and the last 90 minutes of light is where all of the August fishing action is found right now. We endured a slow first 2 hours in heat waiting for that magic time to arrive right around 6:45pm when fish began to move and feed once again with the decreasing light levels. During that slow time we landed 5 fish including 3 blue catfish and 1 largemouth on cutbait, and a 30-pound class smallmouth buffalo which completely inhaled a downrigged Pet Spoon.
Once 6:45 rolled around, I began seeing white bass form into larger and larger packs along the bottom beginning in around 25-30 feet of water. The darker it got, the more abundant and aggressive these packs became. Eventually, if we saw a school on sonar and at least one of the two downrigger balls was in, we just knew we would get hit.
From 6:45 to 8:15 when we wrapped up (early, by request), we’d landed 40 additional white bass coming in as singles, doubles, and at least two triples. By 8:15, the heat and a few hunger pangs convinced Ahmed it was time to wrap it up, and we did so. Up to that point we had not witnessed any topwater action. I kept a sharp eye out for such topwater feeding as we downrigged and as we returned to the boat ramp, but saw none.
TALLY: 45 fish caught and released
OBSERVATIONS: Very little “popcorn” white bass schooling action witnessed in the heat of this sunny afternoon.
TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 4:45p
End Time: 8:15p
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 94F
Elevation: 0.26 feet high, 0.0 foot 24-hour drop, 69 CFS flow
Water Surface Temp: 90.1F
Wind Speed & Direction: SSE7-9 the entire trip
Sky Conditions: 25% white cloud cover
GT = 5
#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area 1802 – most all of this evening’s action took place within yards of here
Bob Maindelle
Full-time, Professional Fishing Guide and Owner of Holding the Line Guide Service
Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide
254.368.7411 (call or text)
Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
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