July | 2020 | Fishing Report

HE’S A TEN — 54 FISH @ BELTON

July 7th, 2020 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Tuesday, July 7th, I fished yet again with Mr. Larry Brewer of Georgetown, accompanied by his life-long friend, Blake Hoekstra, and Larry’s 15-year-old grandson, Eymon McCormick.

Eymon heads into his sophomore year in high school at the end of the summer. His visit with Larry and Mrs. Brewer has included varied activities, including driver’s education provided by Grandpa Larry.

When I asked Eymon where, on a scale of 1 to 10, he felt he currently fell in terms of his preparedness to drive, he promptly relied, “I’m a 10.” Larry reminded him that Grandma Brewer still rated him at a minus 10, thus the average is zero. Driver’s ed. continues …

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Larry Brewer, Larry’s grandson, 15-year-old Eymon McCormick, and Blake Hoekstra with a half-dozen of the 54 fish we managed on a morning made tough by turbulent weather.

WHEN WE FISHED: 07 July, 2020, AM

HOW WE FISHED: Bottom line this morning: we had to work for ’em. Thanks to very turbulent weather, we had all manner of sky conditions and light levels this morning see-sawing back and forth and never consistent for more than 20 minutes or so.

Our best run of fish came from 7:00 to 8:00 when, under completely grey skies, we downrigged and consistently pulled fish and, while doing so, noted three sizeable schools of white bass which came up on top and stayed put for perhaps 12 minutes, allowing us a quick 16 white bass, all eager to take a Hot Bite Gang Banger G2.

Around 8:15, a storm cell moved in from the west and dumped rain on the Ft. Hood training area to the west of Lake Belton, but only brought sprinkles our way. During the entire, roughly 50-minute event with gloomy, dark skies and light drizzle, we managed only 2 fish.

Once the storm cell moved east, the skies got bright quickly, the atmosphere warmed, and we began to see signs of life again, included approximately 7 schools of white bass which fed at the surface just briefly within 100 yards of the area we’d chosen to downrig in. We managed consistent downrigging action here, taking a number of singles and one double, before the wind picked up, the skies greyed again, and the fishing slumped once more.

From 10:20 to 11:15, yet another clearing, warming window occurred in advance of a significant line of storms which moved in from the north and dropped rain from 1 to 4 pm. During this “window” of clearing, warming weather, we encountered another good feed, this time after most of the boats which showed this morning had already packed it up.

As we fished in ~26 feet of water after stopping in the area when Garmin down-imaging revealed a nice, bottom-oriented school of fish spread over a ~20 yard area, we took our fish count from 38 fish up to 54. These fish were all 1- and 2-year fish and were all taken on MAL lures used with a smoking tactic.

TALLY: 54 fish caught and released, including 52 white bass, 1 largemouth, and 1 crappie

OBSERVATIONS: As is typical for summertime fishing, we really had to hustle to get the boat positioned and lures down to the fish once we found some bottom-hugging whites, as these fish would not stay put very long. Beating the water definitely aided in reigniting fish interest and in drawing and keeping them under the boat.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:15A

End Time: 11:45A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 79F and quite humid

Elevation: 0.42′ low, 0.04′ 24-hour fall, 34 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 82F

Wind Speed & Direction: S10 +/- 2 mph all morning

GT = 60

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 1606 to 181 – early downrigging

**Area 1799 to 1702 to 1791 – downrigging leading to topwater action

**Area B0024G to 099 – downrigging with moderate success

**Area B0023G – MAL’s produced a final 15 fish from a bottom-hugging school in ~26-28′

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)

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide

#BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing

#bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport

#fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday

#Fitec

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle

ON THE EDGE OF TOPWATER TIME — 60 FISH

July 5th, 2020 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Friday morning, July 3rd, I fished with first-time guests Todd Roach and Jason Walrath, both of Salado. Todd works as a chiropractor in Killeen, and Jason, after recently retiring from the U.S. Army as an aviation officer, is now a pilot for United Airlines.

We pursued white bass on Stillhouse Hollow both because the fishing has been solid, and so as to avoid the holiday crowd on Lake Belton.

PHOTO CAPTION: Todd Roach (left) and Jason Walrath put 60 fish over the gunwales this past July 3rd via a combination of downrigging and vertical work.

WHEN WE FISHED: 03 July, 2020, AM

HOW WE FISHED: With fairly stable wind, weather, and water conditions each day now for well over 2 weeks, the fishing has settled into a predictable summer pattern. All the action is above the thermocline which is set up around 35 feet in the upper 2/3rds of the lake, and deeper in the main basin.

The tactic which put fish in the boat for us this morning was to find (and catch) fish with the downriggers and then stop atop strong groups of bottom-oriented fish to work vertically for them.

The action started early today, with the strongest bite and most active fish up off bottom and up ~4-5 feet in the water column between 6:40AM and 7:50AM.

We found that the cooperative schools of fish hugging bottom which responded to our vertical tactics did not stay put long. Once the fish cleared sonar, we moved, as these fish did not hold in the area, nor did they circulate back underneath the boat, despite efforts at thumping and beating on the water to draw them in and keep them there.

I noted today that the fish we encountered also seemed to be in smaller, more splintered groups. By 9:15, the fish were clearly already on their way to shutting down. For every 4 or 5 schools of fish we encountered, each with 20-40 fish per school, we’d only get one school jazzed enough to pursue baits, and even then would only get 1-3 fish out of that school.

I used a combination of #12 and #13 Pet Spoons on my 3-armed umbrella rigs today, and the fish definitely showed a preference for the slightly larger #13s. For the vertical work, we used MAL lures.

TALLY: 60 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: Although not to the extent encountered on Wednesday under a better wind and cloud cover scenario, each location giving up white bass this morning also had, “schoolie” largemouth bass popping shad on the surface, as well. I’m anticipating the topwater action to really come on strong over the next few weeks — very exciting!

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:20A

End Time: 10:45A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 77F

Elevation: 0.22′ low, 0.04′ 24-hour fall, 1 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 82F

Wind Speed & Direction: SSW5 increasing to SSW11 by trip’s end with occasional gusts to 13

GT = 22

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Areas v1423, v062, v1708, and v1146

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)

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide

#BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing

#bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport

#fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday

#Fitec

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle

FIRST, LARGEST, AND MOST — 54 FISH FOR ADI

July 1st, 2020 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Wednesday, July 1st, I fished a “Kids Fish, Too!” trip for Adi Zwern, the youngest granddaughter of Mr. & Mrs. Larry Brewer of Georgetown, TX. Adi just got into town last night from Houston for about a week’s stay with her grandparents. Adi’s sister, Finley, was treated to a similar trip last week, and the girls’ brother, Eymon, will get to go fishing next week, weather permitting.

Adi had never landed a fish before. By the time 3 1/2 hours had passed, she’d not only landed her first fish, but (it goes without saying), the largest fish, and the most fish, as Pop Pop Larry and his buddy, Blake Hoekstra, both came along as able assistants helping me help Adi be successful.

PHOTO CAPTION #1: This is the first fish of Adi’s life!!!

PHOTO CAPTION #2: This is Adi’s current PB (personal best) — a 3 1/8 pound largemouth bass!!

WHEN WE FISHED: 01 July, 2020, AM

HOW WE FISHED: Fishing was just right for having a youngster aboard today. The fish cooperated for the entire time, thanks to a southerly wind and grey cloud cover, thus keeping fish coming over the side from start to finish, and helping Adi stay engaged.

We began our trip by probing with downriggers to which we’d attached 3-armed umbrella rigs rigged with Pet Spoons. We caught singles and doubles steadily, most of which were suspended 3-5 feet up off bottom. I believe these fish were up off bottom making use of the light there. As the sun continued to climb and brightened the sky thru the thick, grey cloud cover, more and more bottom-hugging fish showed on sonar. I believe the light was sufficient at that point to allow them to feed well at that greater depth. Once I saw fish on sonar holding on bottom, we used a vertical tactic with MAL lures to the greatest extent possible. The fish were mainly 2-year class fish with 1-year and 3-year fish sprinkled in. These 2-year fish put up a good fight, especially when you’re 7 and weigh about 45 pounds!! From time to time Adi’s arms got tired and we switched back over to downrigging until she gave us the thumbs-up that she’d recovered sufficiently to “go vertical” again.

We wound up with 37 white bass and 2 largemouth, including a nice 3 1/8-pounder before the fish started to slow down around 9:15.

At this point, we invested the rest of the trip into the pursuit of sunfish up shallow. Adi landed 15 sunfish, including longears, redears, and bluegill. We caught these on bait under slipfloats.

TALLY: 54 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: Due to clouds/Saharan dust since Sunday, water surface temperature has dropped to 80 F. Noted topwater largemouth feeding on 1.25″ shad from 1960 to SH0033C in open water. Temperature profile was taken on Fish Hawk TD. Note the 8 degree change in a matter of 5 vertical feet from 35 to 40 feet:

0 feet 82.1
5 feet 82.1
10 feet 82.1
15 feet 82.1
20 feet 82.1
25 feet 82.1
30 feet 81.9
35 feet 81.1
40 feet 73.0
45 feet 68.1
50 feet 63.9
55 feet 62.3
60 feet 60.9
65 feet 60.1

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:45A

End Time: 10:15A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 77F

Elevation: 0.16′ low, 0.04′ 24-hour fall, 1 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 80F

Wind Speed & Direction: S9 at sunrise, tapering steadily up to S13-14.

GT = 55

Wx SNAPSHOT: