WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Tuesday evening, August 6th , I welcomed aboard Tyler Grant of Kempner, Texas, accompanied by his brother, 16-year-old Andrew Grant, and the boys’ mom, Lisa Grant.
Lisa planned this fishing trip as a surprise birthday present for Tyler on the occasion of his 13th birthday, and the whole family managed to keep it under wraps until the moment they pulled up beside my “Holding the Line Guide Service”-logoed truck in the boat ramp parking lot at Lake Belton. Tyler knew the “present” would be something outdoorsy when Lisa told him to put on sunscreen, but exactly what it was remained a mystery down to the last minute.
PHOTO CAPTION: From left: 16-year-old Andrew Grant and 13-year-old Tyler Grant, each with a pair of white bass we took on downriggers prior to sunset as the fish staged in deep water preparing for a low-light blitz on young of the year shad.
WHAT WE FISHED FOR: Multi-species targeting white bass and sunfish
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
WHEN WE FISHED: 06 August 2019, PM
HOW WE FISHED: With this super-stable summer weather pattern repeating itself daily, the fishing is pretty predictable. This is great, as being in the right place at the right time is easier than usual, however, it is also quite predictable that the fishing is only going to turn on for about 90 minutes in the early morning, and again for another 90 minutes in the late evening.
Knowing this, I’ve begun trying to target other than white bass during the brighter hours. This afternoon, we targeted sunfish up in cover-filled shallow water and did well. We hit 3 distinct areas, landing 40 sunfish before getting to that magical 6:45pm timeframe when the pelagic species begin to stir.
The last two hours of our trip were spent in pursuit of white bass via downrigging with 3-armed umbrella rigs equipped with a combination of sizes of Pet Spoons. We landed another 32 fish coming in as singles, doubles, and one triple.
As the bite began to wind down, I moved us up shallow where I felt some last-light topwater might briefly occur and showed the boys how to cast with spinning gear. The fish did not materialize, but the boys enjoyed the casting lesson nonetheless.
TALLY: 72 fish caught and released
OBSERVATIONS: No topwater activity at low light tonight.
TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 5:15p
End Time: 8:47p
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 98F
Elevation: 0.26′ high, 0.01′ 24-hour fall, 69 CFS flow
Water Surface Temp: 91.8
Wind Speed & Direction: S5-7 entire trip
Sky Conditions: Under 5% cloud cover on blue sky.
GT = 35
#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area B0158C – sunfish
**Area B0164C – sunfish
**Area B0163C – sunfish
**Area B0104C to B0156C – low light downrigging for white bass
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
Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle
Twitter: www/twitter.com/bobmaindelle