WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Friday, August 14th, I fished with Bob “Paw Paw” Word, and his three grandsons, Justin Word, Jordan Word, and Travis Scott.
Bob retired from civil service as a welder and resides south of Killeen.
Justin and Jordan are brothers, and Travis married their sister.
All of the grandsons live around Austin where Jordan works as a building inspector, Justin works for the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA), and Travis is a K-9 police officer. 
PHOTO CAPTION #1: From left: Travis Scott, and Jordan, Bob, and Justin Word, all with 2-year old white bass taken with a combination of downrigging and vertical work with MAL Lures.
WHEN WE FISHED: 14 August, 2020, AM
WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake
HOW WE FISHED: We looked for “easy” topwater action this morning but found none, thanks to the heavy chop on the surface. So, we downrigged for the fish that were still there and feeding, but not showing themselves on the surface. We wound up with 8 fish and moved on just as the sun rose.
I spotted multiple occasions of “popcorn” schooling as I surveyed calmer waters, but these fish did not stay up long, so, we passed on them.
We eventually found fish in 25-29 feet of water, and they “carpeted” the bottom, a good sign of their willingness to strike lures presented vertically. Indeed, the fish were willing to strike, but, they were also very prone to moving.
Seeing this, we simply bounced back and forth for the remainder of the morning between downrigging to both find and catch fish, and then stopping on top of any large (100+ fish) schools we found in order to work MAL Lures vertically. We’d catch a few before the school moved on using the MAL Lures, then, it was back to downrigging to repeat the process.
A mixed presentation of white/silver #12 Pet Spoons on one 3-armed umbrella rig and yellow/silver #13 Pet Spoons on the other 3-armed rig worked equally well.
We wound up with 108 fish landed in right at 4 hours. This included fish in the 0, 1, and 2 year classes. Looks like a great crop of white bass was spawned this year based on the size of fish I’m seeing from this spring’s spawn (we caught ~10-12 of them, all right about the same size and looking plump).
TALLY: 108 fish caught and released
OBSERVATIONS: Low-light topwater fish were definitely “off” this morning, thanks to a heavy chop created by the 13+ mph wind we experienced. Fish were present, but did not pop up on top for an extended period of time. After sunrise, “popcorn” schooling took place briefly through about 8AM, then the fish went down for good.
TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 6:30A
End Time: 10:45A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 79F
Elevation: 2.09′ low, -0.12′ 24-hour change, 51 CFS flow
Water Surface Temp: 83.5F
Wind Speed & Direction: S13-14 before sunrise, dropping off to S11 right around sunrise. Sky Condition: No cloud cover, with light blue skies and low humidity
Moon Phase: Waning crescent with 24% illumination
GT = 50
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area vic 813 – downrigging in under 20′ on wind-impacted shoreline for low-light white bass action hindered by strong wave action.
**Area vic 1024 – back and forth between downrigging to catch and find fish, and then dropping MAL Lures on active fish to take advantage of what we’d found.
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
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