WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Tuesday, 03 September, I fished with Max Lopez of Harker Heights, TX. Max is a U.S. Army veteran who recently obtained his credentials to repair heating,ventilation, and air conditioning equipment via his GI Bill by going back to college later in life. Max now works as a partner with Sonrise Services in the local area as well as with Memorial Baptist Church as their one-man maintenance department. Max now has all of my business for both my own home and my rental properties.
Max was blessed to receive a used boat as a gift from someone and is now endeavoring to learn about boating and fishing. This morning’s trip was intended to help Max grasp some fundamentals about both fishing and boat handling to help him enjoy his gift a bit more going forward.
When Max arrived ready to fish this morning, he had only caught 1 fish in his entire life.
PHOTO CAPTION: U.S. Army vet Max Lopez with a pair of husky Stillhouse Hollow white bass. We took these fish from suspended schools of fish chasing bait in the upper half of the water column with our baits run at 19 feet deep. Max, who had only landed one other fish in his entire life before this morning’s trip, rounded out the day with 27 fish landed.
WHAT WE FISHED FOR: White bass
WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow
WHEN WE FISHED: 03 September 2019, AM
HOW WE FISHED: Given Max’s “rookie” status, I tried to introduce him to as many tactics as the weather and season would allow for this morning, while answering a non-stop stream of good questions that he posed to me.
Over our 4+ hours on the water, we downrigged, we jugfished, and we fished for shallow sunfish using slip-floats on bream poles.
Despite experiencing the polar opposite of good fishing weather (it was bright and windless), we managed 27 fish, including a few 2-year class white bass.
OBSERVATIONS: There was a very definite uptick in action from 9:40 to 10:30 this morning. During this time, and over the half-mile stretch of lake we could witness, there was at least one or two small schools of white bass working over young of the year shad on the surface. This gave us a starting point for downrigging which we exploited to the best of our ability.
TALLY: 27 fish caught and released
TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 6:45a
End Time: 11:00a
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 72F
Elevation: .59 feet low, .02 foot 24-hour fall, 1 CFS flow
Water Surface Temp: 84.4F
Wind Speed & Direction: Calm all morning
Sky Conditions: 0% cloud cover
GT = 0
#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area vic 1472 – so-so action on downriggers
**Area 231 – sunfishing
**Area 1995 thru to 1528 – fast downrigging action in the vicinity of white bass feeding routinely on topwater
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