WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Friday the 13th of September, I fished with Mr. Max Lopez of Harker Heights, his college-aged son, Max, and young Max’s cousin, 13-year-old Eli Lopez, of Killeen.
If the name looks or sounds familiar, that’s because Max came out with me just ten days ago on September 3rd during which I gave him a “fishing overview” of Stillhouse Hollow, and went over some boating fundamentals, given that he is a new, first-time boat owner. Based on his fishing experience that day, Max wanted his son and nephew to experience what he had just experienced
PHOTO CAPTION: From left, father and son Max Lopez and Max Lopez, and Eli Lopez, the elder Max’s nephew, with three of the 64 fish we landed this morning.
WHAT WE FISHED FOR: White bass, sunfish, and blue catfish
WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake
WHEN WE FISHED: 13 September 2019, AM
HOW WE FISHED: My aim today was to give the boys a “broad brush” introduction to different types of fishing for different species of fish in Lake Belton, after doing likewise for their dad/uncle over on Stillhouse about a week and a half ago.
Over our time on the water this morning we successfully downrigged for white bass, worked tailspinners vertically for white bass, fished up shallow for sunfish under slipfloats, and used punchbait to fish for chummed-up blue catfish (the topic of this coming Sunday’s Killeen Daily Herald article).
In all, my crew landed 64 fish (not counting quite a few that dropped off right at the boat while we worked through a learning curve on leaving some line between the rod tip and the hooked fish while working tailspinners).
I was gratified to note that, as the trip began, the boys were talking about video games, modern-day electronics, and features of their smart-phones; by the time the trip came to a close, both boys were silent and focused on their rod tips with a death grip on their spinning rods, anxiously awaiting the next “thump” of a bluecat striking their bait. Then, when Eli’s dad phoned us to check in to see if we were headed back yet, Eli lobbied for “just a little more time” to fish!
TALLY: 64 fish caught and released
OBSERVATIONS:
TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 6:45am
End Time: 11:15am
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 77F
Elevation: 0.79 low, 0.03′ 24-hour fall, 34 CFS flow
Water Surface Temp: 83.5F
Wind Speed & Direction: Light and variable the entire trip
Sky Conditions:0% cloud cover through 9:00am, then 20% cloud white clouds on blue sky thereafter
GT = 0
#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area B0154C through 1792 – low light downrigging
**Area B0172C – center of mass for downrigging white bass, plus 3 short-hops here for tailspinner white bass
**Area B0168C and 184 – sunfish
**Area B0173C – blue catfish
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