August | 2019 | Fishing Report

FREE S.K.I.F.F FISHING TRIP FOR THE HAGENS & BATTENFIELDS

August 14th, 2019August 14th, 2019 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: On Monday morning, August 12th, I was joined by a pair of mothers and their daughters for the 2019 season’s 13th S.K.I.F.F. program trip.

6-year-old Julie Battenfield was accompanied by her mom, Nikki Battenfield. Nikki’s husband, U.S. Air Force Tech Sergeant Lonny Battenfield, is a plumber with a combined 19 years of active and reserve service. He is currently deployed.

8-year-old Ava Hagen was accompanied by her mom, Ilka Hagen. Ilka’s husband, U.S. Army Sergeant First Class Volker Hagen, is a truck driver with 15 years of active duty service. He is currently on a rotation to South Korea.

This fishing trip was provided to these military families at no charge. S.K.I.F.F. stands for Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun. This program began in May of 2009. It is funded by the donations and fundraising efforts of the Austin Fly Fishers and other organizations they have partnered with. S.K.I.F.F. provides the children of military personnel separated from their families due to duty commitments with the opportunity to go fishing. In mid-2019, SKIFF also began providing trips to dependents whose parents’ military-related disabilities prevent them from taking their own children fishing. I coordinate and conduct these 3.5 to 4 hour adventures on Belton Lake and Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir, just outside the gates of Fort Hood in Bell County, TX, year ’round.

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Ava and Ilka Hagen, and Nikki and Julie Battenfield holding a pair of white bass we took before the sun began shining directly on the water.

WHAT WE FISHED FOR: White bass early, then sunfish thereafter

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: 12 August 2019, AM

HOW WE FISHED: We targeted white bass feeding on shad on the surface under low-light conditions by casting shad-imitating Pet Spoons to them until they quit feeding, catching exactly 25 while the action lasted. We then continued catching fish via downrigging until around 8am. We then spent the remainder of the trip in pursuit of sunfish in the shallows. We made four stops and the girls landed exactly 50 fish, including four species of sunfish, blacktail shiners, and a smallmouth bass.

TALLY: 75 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: There was a slight change in the behavior of the topwater feeding fish this morning. Instead of moving parallel to the shore during their feed, the fish moved perpendicular to the shoreline from shallow to deep, finally leaving the surface while over ~40 feet of water.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:30a

End Time: 10:00a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 78F

Elevation: 0.1 high, 0.04′ 24-hour fall, 69 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 85.3

Wind Speed & Direction: S8 the entire trip

Sky Conditions: High white haze over a blue sky just thick enough to cut some of the sun’s heat

GT = 0

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 1788 to 1746 – low light topwater white bass

**Area 1791 (downrigging beyond this waypoint by ~200 feet and running parallel to the contour of the bottom)

**Area B0167C – 3 short hops here for sunfish

**Area B0163C – sunfish

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)

DESTINATION: CENTRAL TEXAS — 52 FISH

August 13th, 2019August 13th, 2019 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Sunday evening I fished with Jaime Mata, Nate Renteria, Caleb Perez, and Oscar Mendoza, all relatives from Odessa who headed to central Texas for a short family vacation which included this evening’s fishing trip, and a visit the following day to the BSR Cable Park in Waco. All the arrangements were made by Angie, Jaime’s wife.

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Oscar Mendoza, Caleb Perez, Jaime Mata, and Nate Renteria, each with one of the blue catfish we took on free-floating juglines in the first half of the trip while waiting on the white bass to get ready for their sunset feed.

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Jaime Mata, Caleb Perez, Nate Renteria, and Oscar Mendoza with 4 of the 46 white bass we took on downrigged Pet Spoons as the white bass assaulted the shad as the sunlight failed in the late evening.

WHAT WE FISHED FOR: White bass late, blue cat early

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: 11 August 2019, AM

HOW WE FISHED: I normally don’t fish on Sundays, but, with my wife away spending time with her dad and older sister, and with the limited window Jaime and his family had to accomplish all they’d hoped to on their family getaway, I went ahead and booked them for an evening trip, being very upfront with them that the first half of the trip would be very hot and the fishing slow during that time. They were good with that.

As I’ve mentioned numerous times over the past several weeks since this very stable high pressure, hot, dry weather has been in place, the fish are in a solid routine and are not varying from it. Trying to catch white bass much before 6:45pm is very tough, so, I’ve been focusing on other, more cooperative species, including blue catfish.

This evening we put about 1.5 hours of effort into duping blue catfish using free-floating juglines baited with shad. We landed 6 fish using 35 jugs.

We closed out the trip downrigging with 3-armed umbrella rigs for white bass. We equipped the rigs with Pet Spoons. The white bass have shown a significant preference for the size 13 over the size 12, so all rigs are now 100% rigged up with #13’s — no more mix and match as I’d been doing as an experiment. 46 white bass caught and released, including singles, doubles, and triples.

TALLY: 52 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: Today was the 4th of 4 consecutive days in which NOAA called for a heat advisory. Afternoon temps would climb to 101 and feel like 106F. No evening topwater bite observed.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 5:30P

End Time: 8:45P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 101F with a heat index of 106F

Elevation: 0.15 high, 0.02′ 24-hour fall, 69 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 88.9

Wind Speed & Direction: Steady at SSE10 through 7P, then tapering down to SSE7 by trip’s end

Sky Conditions: Cloudless blue skies

GT = 0

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow

Wx SNAPSHOT: N/A

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**From Area B0117C through 185 – 6 bluecat on 35 jugs in 1.75 hours

**Area 814 to B0154C – center of mass for low-light evening downrigging

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)

A MULTI-SPECIES EVENING WITH JOSH, LEE, & PATTI – 22 FISH

August 12th, 2019August 12th, 2019 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: On Saturday evening I fished with Mr. Lee Cooper and his wife, Patti, who are grandparents to 11-year-old Josh Mokry, all from the Arlington, TX, area.

Lee and Patti presented Josh with an “adventure with grandparents” Christmas present, and Josh chose to make that adventure one that involved the pursuit of fish.

Because my schedule is packed leading up to the restart of public school (locally on 26 August), and because Josh’s schedule would be filling when school begins, we chose to get this trip in during the evening, although I generally try to dissuade folks from heading out in the August heat, particularly when a heat advisory is in effect, as it was this day.

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Patti Cooper, grandson Josh Mokry, and Lee Cooper with a few of the 14 white bass we downrigged for as sunset approached.

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Josh Mokry, Patti and Lee Cooper with a few of the blue catfish we landed on juglines as we pursued other than white bass in the time preceding the start of the evening white bass bite.

WHAT WE FISHED FOR: White bass late, blue cat early

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: 10 August 2019, AM

HOW WE FISHED: As I’ve mentioned numerous times over the past several weeks since this very stable high pressure, hot, dry weather has been in place, the fish are in a solid routine and are not varying from it. Trying to catch white bass much before 6:45pm is very tough, so, I’ve been focusing on other, more cooperative species, including blue catfish.

This evening we put about 1.25 hours of effort into duping blue catfish using free-floating juglines baited with shad. We landed 8 fish using 35 jugs.

TALLY: 22 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: Today was the 3rd of 4 consecutive days in which NOAA called for a heat advisory. Afternoon temps would climb to 101 and feel like 106F. No evening topwater bite observed.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 5:30P

End Time: 8:45P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 101F with a heat index of 106F

Elevation: 0.17 high, 0.03′ 24-hour fall, 69 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 88.8

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE10-14 through 7P, then tapering down to SSE8 by trip’s end

Sky Conditions: High white haze over a blue sky just thick enough to cut some of the sun’s heat

GT = 35

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**From Area B0130C through B0166C – 8 bluecat on35 jugs in 1.25 hours

**Area 814 to B0104C – center of mass for low-light evening downrigging

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)

THE BLUE CAT NICHE – 58 FISH @ BELTON

August 11th, 2019 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: On Saturday morning, August 10th, I met up with the crew from Real Star Property Management LLC for a little team-building and fun away from the office. This morning’s crew included trip coordinator Brandon Griffith, brothers Eli and Isaac Schlabach, and Isaac’s girlfriend, Hatice Alkaya. The three fellows had been out with me last year on Stillhouse when downrigging was the go-to tactic. This morning, they got a good introduction to hot-weather fishing on Lake Belton.

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Hatice Alkaya, Isaac Schlabach, Eli Schlabach, and Brandon Griffith, each with a Lake Belton blue catfish we took during the second half of our trip on a combination of rods and reels and juglines.

WHAT WE FISHED FOR: White bass early, blue cat late

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: 10 August 2019, AM

HOW WE FISHED: This morning’s trip had three distinct components: low-light topwater, post-topwater downrigging, and late morning catfishing. The weather has been super-stable and the fish are just locked into a routine such that white bass are very tough to come by outside of the first and last 90 minutes of light morning and evening.

Hence, I’ve been experimenting with a number of ways to keep fish coming over the side of the boat on my multi-species trips. Sunfish (especially when I have youth anglers aboard) and blue catfish have filled that niche nicely.

So, we took topwater white bass (33 to be exact) by sight-casting, then we took another 9 white bass via downrigging after the topwater died, then we used a combination of 35 juglines and 4 rod & reel combos to catch blue catfish after the white bass feed was over. This catfishing produced 16 blue cat, including 11 on jugs and 5 on rod and reel. Bait of choice this morning was shad.

TALLY: 58 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: Today was the 3rd of 4 consecutive days in which NOAA called for a heat advisory. Afternoon temps would climb to 101 and feel like 106F.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:20A

End Time: 10:40A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 77F

Elevation: 0.17 high, 0.03′ 24-hour fall, 69 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 84.9

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE8 the entire trip

Sky Conditions: High white haze over a blue sky just thick enough to cut some of the sun’s heat

GT = 0

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 1764 to B0165C – low light topwater

**Area B0104C – center of mass for post-topwater downrigging

**From Area B0166C through 031, and half way to 591 – bluecat on jugs

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)

FREE S.K.I.F.F. FISHING TRIP FOR THE SCHELLIN BOYS – 30 FISH

August 10th, 2019 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: On Friday evening, 09 August, I met up with Mrs. Lindsey Schellin and her sons, Logan (age 8) and Jayden (age 6) at Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir for an evening in pursuit of sunfish on what was the 2019 season’s twelfth S.K.I.F.F. program fishing trip.

Lindsey’s husband, U.S. Army Specialist Gage Schellin, died while on active duty in 2014. SPC Schellin had served for 2 years in his first enlistment as a Firefinder Radar Operator in one of the Fort Hood field artillery units.

This fishing trip was provided to this military family at no charge. S.K.I.F.F. stands for Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun. This program began in May of 2009. It is funded by the donations and fundraising efforts of the Austin Fly Fishers and other organizations they have partnered with. S.K.I.F.F. provides the children of military personnel separated from their families due to duty commitments with the opportunity to go fishing. In mid-2019, SKIFF also began providing trips to dependents whose parents’ military-related disabilities prevent them from taking their own children fishing. I coordinate and conduct these 3.5 to 4 hour adventures on Belton Lake and Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir, just outside the gates of Fort Hood in Bell County, TX, year ’round.

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: 6-year-old Jayden Schellin with a redear sunfish he landed, Lindsey Schellin, and Logan Schellin with a bluegill sunfish he landed.

WHAT WE FISHED FOR: Sunfish

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: 09 August 2019, PM

HOW WE FISHED: Given the heat (we faced a heat index at 106F this afternoon), and the boys’ age, Lindsey and I agreed that a short, action-packed trip focused on sunfish would be just right for the boys. Fortunately, Lindsey, an Alabama girl, was no stranger to fishing, so, as soon as I showed the boys what needed doing, she was able to cover down on one of them and we worked together to help the boys keep fish coming over the side.

I established some goals for the boys to keep their focus. Their first fish won them a pin-on fish award, and, when their combined total hit 25 fish, they would each win a SKIFF ballcap and their own closed-face rod and reel, which Austin Fly Fishers’ Dave Hill hustled up for us.

We fished up in shallow cover where rock, wood, and weeds provided cover for the sunfish. We drew them out with our lightweight slipfloat rigs presented with bream poles.

When all was said and done, the novelty of the whole adventure wore off about the time fish #30 came over the gunwale. I leaned over and told Lindsey, “You know it’s time to wrap up when you and I are the only ones holding the fishing poles.” She nodded knowingly and we got things tidied up and made our final run back to the boat ramp.

Lindsey and the boys were on their way up to the parking lot, when I noticed they had turned back and were now coming my way. I thought perhaps they’d forgotten something so I asked if I could help. Lindsey told me that the boys just wanted to see how the boat got back out of the water!

TALLY: 30 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:00pm

End Time: 8:30pm

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 99F

Elevation: 0.11 low, 0.01′ 24-hour fall, 1 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 92.1

Wind Speed & Direction: S8 the entire trip

Sky Conditions: High white haze over a blue sky just thick enough to cut some of the sun’s heat

GT = 0

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 420 – sunfish (2 hops)

**Area Sh0055c- sunfish

**Area 1948 – sunfish

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)

DID YOU MEAN CRAPPY OR CRAPPIE? — 91 FISH @ BELTON

August 8th, 2019August 8th, 2019 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Wednesday morning I met up with Robert Hogue and his 16-year-old son, Tyler. Some weeks ago Tyler’s mom, Shelly, coordinated this trip for him and his dad. I explained how the fishing has been “cookie-cutter” and that I expected a short, but intense, white bass feed at first light, followed by tough fishing for that species thereafter. Robert is a professional firefighter and Tyler is headed into his junior year at a charter school in the Round Rock area.

Having experienced this daily for over two weeks now, I suggested a few alternatives to pursuing white bass, including targeting blue catfish with cutbait and/or targeting high numbers of smaller sunfish. Immediately, Tyler’s eyes lit up when I mentioned “high numbers”. He had a definite preference for quantity over quality. Robert, who enjoys flyfishing, already had the skills necessary to present small baits to the sunfish we would pursue, using tactics identical to those used in the Tenkara form of flyfishing with a long rod and fixed length of line.

As the morning unfolded, I asked if there was an occasion for the trip, i.e. a birthday or Fathers’ Day, etc. Robert just said in a very matter-of-factly manner, “Well, you see Tyler is just a crappy fisherman.” I asked for clarification, saying, “Did you mean crappy or crappie?” Robert said, “No, I meant crappy, as in the little brown pile of stuff.” Father and son just snickered about the whole thing, and I then quipped that the purpose of the trip, then, was to seek professional help. They acknowledged that!!

PHOTO CAPTION: This was the scene beneath the boat just after the topwater blitz ended. Fish in such a scenario are still quite vulnerable to a downrigging presentation.

PHOTO CAPTION: Robert Hogue with his 16-year-old son, Tyler, with a few of the 33 white bass we took during a short, but intense, feed either side of sunrise.

WHAT WE FISHED FOR: Multi-species targeting white bass and sunfish

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: 07 August 2019, AM

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 morning, following a short topwater feed, followed by successful post-topwater downrigging, we targeted sunfish up in cover-filled shallow water and did well. We hit 4 distinct areas, landing 55 sunfish after boating 33 white bass in the first 70 minutes of effort.

As we approached the 4-hour mark, I made a run to the vicinity of Area 163 and found plentiful, but very small (juvenile) white bass there. We boated 3, thus confirming what I was seeing on sonar, and departed without disturbing these “seed fish” too badly.

TALLY: 91 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: The combination of large and small Pet Spoons on the 3-armed umbrella rig continues to perform well.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:25a

End Time: 10:50a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 77F

Elevation: 0.23′ high, 0.01′ 24-hour fall, 69 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 86.4

Wind Speed & Direction: S5-7 entire trip

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

GT = 25

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 1641 to 1746 – low light topwater

**Area 1746 to 793 to 1070 – post-topwater downrigging

**Area 184, 185, B0097C, and 1753 – sunfish

**Area B0128C to 163 – downrigging for small 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)

HAPPY 13th BIRTHDAY, TYLER — 72 FISH (PM TRIP)

August 8th, 2019 by Bob Maindelle

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

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)

FREE FISHING FOR MILITARY KIDS — 80 FISH (AM TRIP)

August 7th, 2019August 8th, 2019 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Tuesday morning, August 6th , I conducted the eleventh SKIFF program trip of the 2019 season. I welcomed aboard Lana (11), Shane (8), and Wyatt (6), the children of Sergeant First Class Joshua Pavey and his wife, Angel. On this trip, Angel left the kids in my care, as she also has a 3-year-old to tend to.

SFC Pavey had just returned from a rotation at the National Training Center in Fort Irwin, California, and, just days later, left home again to participate in a situational training exercise (STX). SFC Pavey has been in the Army for 15 years and serves as an electronic warfare specialist.

Angel is the person behind Fort Hood’s Operation Phantom Cakes, which provides free birthday cakes to military kids!

This fishing trip was provided to this military family at no charge. S.K.I.F.F. stands for Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun. This program began in May of 2009. It is funded by the donations and fundraising efforts of the Austin Fly Fishers and other organizations they have partnered with. S.K.I.F.F. provides the children of military personnel separated from their families due to duty commitments with the opportunity to go fishing. In mid-2019, SKIFF also began provide trips to dependents whose parents’ military-related disabilities prevent them from taking their own children fishing. I coordinate and conduct these 3.5 to 4 hour adventures on Belton Lake and Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir, just outside the gates of Fort Hood in Bell County, TX, year ’round.

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Wyatt, Lana, and Shane Pavey with a few of the white bass which fed aggressively during the first hour after sunrise.

WHAT WE FISHED FOR: Multi-species targeting white bass and sunfish

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: 06 August 2019, AM

HOW WE FISHED: This morning’s trip began at 6:20am as we began searching for topwater white bass. The bite was about 30 minutes long on top, then transitioned to a downrigger bite for about another 20 minutes thereafter. We picked up a few casting shad-imitating slabs with me doing the casting as the kids had no prior experience with spinning gear, and because there were a lot of moving parts with 3 kids on board. We did much better downrigging 3-armed umbrella rigs over fish that had already sounded. By 7:40a the aggressive white bass action was over. We’d landed 13 white bass and 1 hybrid striped bass by this time.

All three kids earned their TPWD “First Fish Award” during this trip.

With fairly calm winds, hot weather, and three younger kids on board, it was now time for sunfishing. We hit two areas and found all four species of sunfish very cooperative, along with some “bonus” blacktail shiners. The kids got the knack for catching these abundant fish very quickly, and enjoyed it, so, we stuck with what was working well. The kids went on to catch exactly 66 sunfish, taking our morning’s total up to exactly 80 fish before little Wyatt gave out, followed shortly by Shane throwing in the towel. Lana, on the other hand, I believe could have hung with me all day. Her favorite phrase of the the morning was, “We’ve got a new friend!” each time she brought in another sunfish.

TALLY: 80 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:20a

End Time: 9:30a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 77F

Elevation: 0.26′ high, 0.01′ 24-hour fall, 69 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 87

Wind Speed & Direction: S5-7 entire trip

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

GT = 0

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 813 topwater white bass action

**Area B0129C to 1657 – post-topwater downrigging

**Area 502 (south side) – sunfish

**Area B0162C – sunfish

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)

REPRESENTING THE QUEEN WELL – 45 FISH (PM TRIP)

August 6th, 2019 by Bob Maindelle

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)