WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Thursday morning I fished Lake Belton on a birthday trip for Morgan Locklin of Belton.  Morgan’s dad, Jason, put the whole thing together for Morgan and three of his buddies.

One of those buddies took ill at the last minute, so, only James Bateman and Brennen Brautigan were aboard a friends for the birthday trip.

We booked this as a “Kids Fish, Too!”-style trip, so, only the boys did the fishing while Jason helped me help the boys be successful.  Jason was a huge asset, helping to untangle lines, take fish off the hook, keep hooks out of kids, set the downriggers up, keep the kids focused, and more.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:   From left, James Bateman and Brennen Brautigan helped Morgan Locklin celebrate his 14th birthday in the outdoors, as arranged for by Morgan’s dad, Jason.  The boys landed 101 white bass.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday (AM), 29 July 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

This trip divided nicely into two segments.  Segment one was a low-light bite which started with catching fish which were slowly warming up to the idea of feeding as sunrise approached.  We caught these fish by way of downrigging.

As we downrigged, surface action began, but was very short-lived.  Everyone got in some good sight-casting — just enough to whet our appetites … then they quit!  Where the surface action ended is where vertical work with MAL Heavy Lures began.  All told, we boated 24 fish in our first hour on the water employing these tactics.

Segment two began with much brighter conditions and with a near-calm surface which had me a bit worried.  We downrigged to cover ground while still having baits in the water.  We did not have to look long before we found a small area holding a lot of fish.  I positioned the boat so all three boys could lob casts over these fish and work their MAL Heavy Lures (in white) back through the fish using a sawtooth tactic.  See a detailed explanation of that here: SAWTOOTH

As this school of fish meandered about, I was able to keep up with them using both side-imaging and Garmin LiveScope, and made constant, small adjustments (with the Minn Kota “jog” function) so the boys were constantly throwing into the “center of mass” of the fish we were dealing with.

Occasionally, a break-away school of fish would pass right beneath us and I had the boys drop their MAL Lures straight down and work them vertically until the fish dispersed.  We would then rely on side-imaging to see where they went, and get right back to catching by casting horizontally.

By the 3.5 hour mark, we were right at 100 fish.  I told the boys we needed just one more to make my report credible.  Morgan took the challenge, hooked and landed #101, and we all enjoyed the self-created breeze of the boat ride back to the dock as the day got hotter and more humid.

MAL Lures are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 101 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: USACE is releasing at 1,595 cfs on Belton.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:  6:20a

End Time: 10:10a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 75F

Elevation:   1.26′ high, .12′ fall, and a flow of 1,595cfs

Water Surface Temp: 84.7F

Wind Speed & Direction: Light and variable to calm through 8:50, then a WSW4-5 breeze picked up

Sky Condition: 20% high white cloud cover on a hazy blue sky

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 70% illumination

GT = 35

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area  1802 downrigging, transitioning to vertical MAL work with LiveScope

**Area 164/165 – sawtooth method for the lion’s share of our catch

 

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

#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

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Wednesday evening I fished an evening trip with U.S. Army retiree Garrett Ralston and his 14-year-old son, Liam.

I normally decline trips on summer afternoons, especially if kids are involved, because the first 2.5 hours of a 4 hour trip will be predictably slow.

Garrett had limited time to spend with Liam before he headed back to California to start the new school year, and my mornings are full for the next several weeks, so, I offered a “short trip” just to take in the 3 hours of light.  Garrett agreed that would work for he and Liam, so we planned on it.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  Liam Ralston and his dad, Garrett, with 4 of the 68 white bass they landed in high heat and humidity just before sunset using MAL Original Lures in chartreuse.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday (PM), 28 July 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

Summer afternoon fishing is predictably tough.  No matter where I’ve looked or what I’ve done in the past 29 years on Lake Belton, the white bass just don’t fire up until after 6PM, and, truth be told, most of the catching takes place minutes before, during, and after sunset.

This trip was a prime example.  I scaled back the duration of the trip to 3 hours.  In the first 2.25 hours, we landed 22 fish.  In the final .75 hours, we landed another 46 fish, for a grand total of 68 fish.

Around 6:45, as we ran downriggers to cover lots of ground, watching my H’bird Solix’s side-imaging like a hawk, we began to see small schools of white bass beginning to coalesce and patrol.  I would spot them on side-imaging, mark them, then navigate back to them using my mapping function on my sonar unit.  Some schools moved before we got back to them, but some didn’t, and those that didn’t would yield a fish or two each.  Before long, enough schools were milling around in the area we were patrolling that I felt we could get them to respond to a vertical tactic using MAL Lures.

We chose MAL Heavy Lures in white for this work, and steadily caught singles and doubles as Garrett and Liam got accustomed to the assistance Garmin LiveScope offered them.

After about an hour at this, the light finally dimmed enough to spur fish to rise to the surface and trap shad there.  Although the feeding was not violent or splashy (because the bait is small and doesn’t require aggressive chasing on the part of the predator fish), it was noticeable on the nearly smooth lake’s surface.

We had the fish all to ourselves as the fed on topwater for about 40 minutes.  I had Garrett on my left and Liam on my right up on the bow casting deck as I ran the trolling motor manually seated between them, keeping them in casting distance and taking off fish as fast as they could catch them.

For this work, I chose long rods, large diameter spools, light line, and the MAL Original Lure in chartreuse.  The Original, although it doesn’t cast as far as the MAL Heavy, also does not sink as quickly, so, when I wanted to be sure my clients were keeping their retrieves up high in the water column where the fish were, I went with this 5/8 oz. bait over the 7/8 oz. bait.

By the time the fish quit right at dark, we’d landed 68 fish, 100% of which were white bass.

MAL Lures are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 68 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: USACE is releasing at 1,595 cfs on Belton.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:  6:20a

End Time: 10:10a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 75F

Elevation:   1.36′ high, .12′ fall, and a flow of 1,595cfs

Water Surface Temp: 90.2F

Wind Speed & Direction: S under 3mph

Sky Condition: 20% high white cloud cover on a hazy blue sky

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 78% illumination

GT = 9

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 085 downrigging, transitioning to vertical MAL work with LiveScope

**Area 1641 to 014 – productive low-light topwater action

 

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

#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

WHO I FISHED WITH:  After reserving dates more than four months in advance, Mr. Joe Oliver treated two of his three sets of grandkids to morning fishing trips on Lake Belton this week.

DAY ONE:  First up was Joe’s eldest son, Corey, now residing in Utah.  His kids, 11-year-old twins Cullen and Presley, and 9-year-old Harper, were the focus of our attention this day.

DAY TWO: On day two I welcomed aboard Joe’s only daughter, Amber Pugh, now residing in Academy, TX.  Her three kids, Ben (14), Beau (7), and Addie (6), were the focus of our attention this day.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:   Day 1 Crew: From left, Presley, Harper, Corey, and Cullen Oliver

PHOTO CAPTION:   Day 2 Crew: From left, Beau, Ben, and Addie Pugh.

PHOTO CAPTION:   Largest fish Day 1: Presley Oliver, 4.75 pound hybrid striped bass.

PHOTO CAPTION:   Largest fish Day 2: Beau Pugh, 8.25 pound smallmouth buffalofish.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday and Tuesday (AM), 26 & 27 July 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

On Monday, we enjoyed near-calm conditions around sunrise, thus allowing for excellent sighting conditions to see white bass forcing shad to the surface just before, during, and after sunrise.  Once these fish got up on top and stayed there a while, I was able to maneuver the boat to give everyone a shot at casting to these fish.  Prior to that topwater action, and then again just after it ended, the downriggers produced well.

Once the downriggers stopped producing (as the fish slowed the pace of their patrolling and became more sedentary) we worked MAL Heavy Lures in white vertically for fish we spotted individually and in schools on Garmin LiveScope.

For the topwater fish, we were using the MAL Heavy in white.  For the downrigged fish, were were using 3-armed umbrella rigs with Pet Spoons.

Around 8:15A, the fishing died down and we went to shore for a “bio break”.  Things were quiet for about an hour, during which time we headed up shallow to target sunfish.  The sunfish, though catchable, are just not congregated in coves as they would normally be under more stable water conditions.  The still-falling elevation (about a tenth of a foot per day) has prevented this.  Still, we hit two areas and landed 8 panfish on longrods with bait and let the kids get that out of their system.

Around 9AM, we spotted topwater action by white bass over deeper, open water and pursued these until the wind came up, increased wave height, and killed that bite right around 10:15AM.  Our tally on this trip was 83 fish, including 76 white bass, 1 hybrid striped bass, and 6 sunfish.

On Tuesday, some things were the same and some things were different.  First, we had a well-rippled surface at first light, so there was no visible topwater action.  All 18 fish we caught during this “low-light bite” came as singles and doubles on the downriggers.

After the downrigging no longer produced, the two younger kids weren’t really able to retrieve the MAL Lures as needed to provoke fish to bite when fished vertically in conjunction with LiveScope, so, we cut away to sunfishing a bit earlier than on the day prior.

Up shallow the situation was the same, with falling water leading to fewer, more scattered sunfish than under normal summer conditions.  We spent about an hour, from roughly 8-9A, fishing bait under floats for a total of 13 sunfish.

Around 9A, with favorable wind conditions, I looked over the same broad stretch of water which produced mid-morning topwater action for us yesterday.  Just like clockwork, a few fish from a few schools got things started, then, within ten minutes the action built, with multiple large schools all forcing shad to the surface simultaneously.  Numerous fish we landed regurgitated as many as five or six freshly devoured threadfin shad.  This action tapered back down within an hour’s time, and, by 10:10 it was over.

I made an observation yesterday which led me to make a bait change on the topwater rods versus my lure choice for the day before.  Given that the kids were not all that experienced, I noted some delay from the the time the bait hit the water to the time the retrieve began.  With the MAL Heavy, the bait sinks very quickly, which is counterproductive for topwater fish.  On Tuesday, I used MAL Originals, which are 1/4 oz. lighter, and accompanied that with some specific coaching on getting the bail flipped quickly and quickly starting the retrieve so as to keep the lure high up in the water column.

Our tally for Day Two was 72 fish, including 58 white bass, 1 smallmouth buffalofish, and 13 sunfish.

MAL Lures are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

2 DAY TALLY: 155 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: Sunfishing is definitely off correlating with rapidly falling water.

 

Start Time:  6:20a

End Time: 10:00a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 72F  on Monday, 73F on Tuesday

Elevation:   1.61′ high, .11′ fall, and a flow of 1,597cfs on Monday, 1.50′ high, .10 fall, and 1,597 CFS on Tuesday

Water Surface Temp: 82.4F on Monday, 84.1 on Tuesday

Wind Speed & Direction: S4-9 all morning on Monday, S3-7 all morning on Tuesday

Sky Condition: Cloudless with a white haze; bright both mornings

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 93% illumination on Monday; waning gibbous moon at 86% illumination on Tuesday

GT = 130

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

Day 1:

Day 2:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

DAY 1:

**Area 1070 – low light downrigging while waiting on topwater to develop

**Area  1070 to 1924 – moderate topwater action

**Area vic 1924 – vertical work with MAL Heavy Lures in white with Garmin LiveScope

**Area B0160C & B0054G – sunfish

**Area B0027G through 1586 – mid-morning topwater action

DAY 2:

**Area B0153C to 1933 – extended downrigging due to lack of topwater action

**Area 710 Cove – sunfish

**Area 1381 was center of mass for widespread mid-morning topwater action

 

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

#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

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Thursday morning, July 22nd, I conducted the season’s 7th SKIFF program fishing trip for kids whose parents are separated from them due to military duty.  I was joined by Mrs. Reva Farris and her two kids, 10-year-old Oakley Farris, and 6-year-old Jaiton Farris.

SKIFF is an acronym for Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun. It is a program now in its 12th year, sponsored by the Austin Fly Fishers, and supported by individuals and entities, all of whom desire that kids separated from a parent by that parent’s military duty, be given an opportunity to experience the outdoors through fishing during that time of separation, free of charge.  The program offers a time of respite for the home-front parents who may need a short break from single-parenting.

The kids’ father, U.S. Army Sergeant First Class Jairod Farris, has been in the military for 11 years.  He is currently serving as an infantry platoon sergeant and has been away from home training cadets at Fort Knox, KY.

Reva is a “permanent substitute” teacher at one of the elementary schools in the Killeen Independent School District.

Those interested in a SKIFF fishing trip may simply call me at 254.368.7411 to coordinate.  Those willing to donate to SKIFF my send tax-deductible donations by mail to:

Austin Fly Fishers

ATTN: SKIFF

P.O. Box 10504

Austin, TX 78766-0504

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  While Sergeant First Class Jairod Farris is away at Fort Knox training cadets, his son, Jaiton (age 6), and daughter Oakley, age 10, were treated to a free SKIFF program fishing trip.  Their mom, Reva, a public school teacher, came along and helped me help them be successful.

 

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday (AM), 22 July 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

The fish were really in a feeding mood after being negatively impacted by the unusual cold front which moved in earlier in the week, dropping both rain and temperatures.

I initially planned to put a pair of downriggers to work for us, each one equipped with a three-armed umbrella rig outfitted with silver Pet Spoons. The fish were so aggressive and so numerous, I could only get one downrigger set at a time for our first 20 minutes with lines in the water during which time we landed three single fish and two sets of doubles.

Eventually, I got both downriggers set and the fish just kept right on cooperating. By the time an hour had gone by, we had landed 19 healthy white bass. By this time, as kids his age often do, Jaiton showed some signs of losing interest, so that was my signal to change tactics.

I marked the next such school that showed up on sonar, programmed my trolling motor to take us to those fish and hold us over top of them. This allowed us to change over to a vertical presentation using spinning gear equipped with white MAL Heavy Lures.

Oakley worked independently while Reva assisted her son in letting the lures sink to the bottom, then reeling them up briskly through the feeding fish as we watched all of this taking place in real time on Garmin LiveScope.

When fishing and video games combine, kids stay interested for a good long time! Eventually, it was not the kids’ interest that waned, but their wrists, which got sore from reeling in fish after fish.

By about 9 a.m., both kids needed a break as it was hot and the winds were light. As they prepared to snack, I reset the boat for one more round of downrigging. Our fish count stood now at 48 white bass landed.

With snacks still in hand, the kids scrambled back to the rear of the boat as both downrigger rods went off simultaneously with what would turn out to be our 49th and 50th fish of the morning landed right around 9:15 a.m.

About this time, Jaiton made a request that we try to catch some smaller fish (yes, his wrist really was sore). To accommodate, I moved us up into shallow water where the kids used long poles, floats and worms as bait to land a final five panfish for the morning.

I have found that 3½ hours is just about right for most elementary school-aged kids, and Jaiton and Oakley were no exception.

We ended up with exactly 50 white bass and 5 sunfish this morning.

MAL Lures are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 55 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: Over on Belton, USACE is still releasing at 2,132 CFS.  Stillhouse is releasing 201 CFS.

 

Start Time:  6:30a

End Time: 10:10a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 73F

Elevation:   1.44′ high, .04′ fall, and a flow of 201cfs

Water Surface Temp: 84.7F

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE2-3 all morning

Sky Condition: Cloudless with a white haze; bright.

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 96% illumination

GT = N/A

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic SH0031G  – downrigging leading to vertical MAL work

**Area  SH0059G – vertical MAL work for fish spotted as tightly grouped on bottom via side-imaging

**Area vic  203 – 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) Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle

#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

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Tuesday, July 20th, I fished yet another multi-generational trip with Mr. Steve Niemeier, his adult son, Andrew Niemeier, Andrew’s son, Henry Niemeier (age 11), and another one of Steve’s granddaughters, Zoey Haberer.

Andrew works as a corporate accountant up near Chicago and brought his family down to the Belton, TX, area for a visit “back home” with grandparents and extended family.  The visit ends tomorrow, so it was “do or die” on this fishing trip as there were no backup dates to push back to.

Given the young ages and limited experience of both kids, I decided to take them to Lake Belton to pursue a combination of white bass and sunfish.  Our job was certainly made no easier by the truly unusual mid-July cold front which blew in beginning around 3pm yesterday and dropped 1.5 inches of rain and lowered the air temperature this morning to a cool 72F.

Only the kids fish this morning, as Steve and Andrew helped me help the kids be successful.

 

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  Cousins Zoey Haberer and Henry Niemeier landed 65 fish this morning following the arrival of a freak summer cold front which brought rain and 72F morning temperatures to Central Texas overnight.

 

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday (AM), 20 July 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

All things considered, we did pretty well this morning.  I had cold front conditions, 2 young, inexperienced anglers, and a light fog to contend with.

Rarely will summertime fish feed on topwater with a north wind blowing on Lake Belton, so, we really didn’t get our hopes up about that.  I still kept a set of two-hook MAL Lures at the ready, but they did not see action today.

Rather, I felt (and confirmed) that the fish would be present but reluctant to strike.  In this scenario, the downriggers are my go-to tools.  We downrigged with twin ‘riggers, each equipped with 3-armed umbrella rigs for a total of 6 baits in the water at any given time.

The fish were very tight to the bottom the entire time they stayed active, which was for about 90 minutes beginning just after a cloud-obscured sunrise.

During this time we pulled 24 white bass using Pet Spoons on the downriggers.  These came as singles and doubles as we worked these baits ~3-4 feet above the fish.

Side-imaging made it quite obvious when the feed ended (which it did pretty abruptly).  At that point, we made a quick restroom stop and then opened up chapter two of the trip, fishing long poles with bait under floats for smaller, but more numerous fish, and the non-stop action that goes with them.

The kids landed 41 fish from the shallows today, including bluegill sunfish, longear sunfish, green sunfish, spottail shiners, and even a small largemouth bass.

We ended up with exactly 24 white bass taken via downrigging, and a mixed bag of 41 “other” fish taken on bait this morning, for a total of 65 fish.

MAL Lures are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 65 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: USACE is still releasing at 2,132 cfs on Belton.  No topwater action witnessed this morning.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:  6:20a

End Time: 9:45

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 72F

Elevation:   2.38′ high, .09′ fall, and a flow of 2132cfs

Water Surface Temp: 81.7F

Wind Speed & Direction: A damp NNE7-8 breeze all morning.

Sky Condition: Grey cloud cover was at 100% to the point of light fog for the first 2 hours after sunrise, then slowly cleared to white cloud cover at 70%.

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 83% illumination

GT = 136

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic 1802 – downrigging for 24 white bass

**Area B0158C – shallow sunfishing

**Area 1583 – shallow sunfishing

 

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

#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

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Monday, July 19th, I fished with a multi-generational trip with Mr. Steve Niemeier, his adult son, Andrew Niemeier, Andrew’s daughter, Evelyn Niemeier (age 14), and another one of Steve’s granddaughters, Macy Fowler (who, at age 13, is a very good angler).

Andrew works as a corporate accountant up near Chicago and brought his family down to the Belton, TX, area for a visit “back home” with grandparents and extended family.

The last time Andrew and Evelyn fished with me was about 10 years ago.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  Nice fish, cousin!  Cousins Macy Fowler and Evelyn Niemeier scored first and often this morning as we pursued white bass on Stillhouse Hollow using both downriggers and vertical tactics.

 

 

PHOTO CAPTION: Evelyn Niemeier, then (2011) and now (2021).

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday (AM), 19 July 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

We had “just right” weather from our start time, right up until around 9AM when skies began to clear rapidly and brighten.  Prior to that, we had a nice layer of thin, grey clouds and a gentle SW wind putting a bit more than a ripple on the water.

We started the morning off downrigging, put two fish in the boat before we’d gone 50 yards, and very quickly saw the bite develop sufficiently to warrant putting the ‘riggers away and transitioning over to vertical work with MAL Lures used in conjunction with Garmin LiveScope.  We stuck with the vertical approach for the remainder of the trip.

We found three distinct, active groups of fish this morning which produced all of our fish.

Technique was important, with fish responding more favorably to lures worked smoothly up through the water column.  Speed, although important, was much less important than keeping the bait moving at a constant rate, thus making the fishes’ job of overtaking our lures that much simpler for them.  I rigged everyone up with MAL Heavy Lures in white color today.

By 9AM the skies began to clear and the wind began to shift westerly, well in advance of a mild cold front which would bring heavy cloud cover, thunder, lightning, and about 1″ of rain around 2:30pm.

By 9:15AM, the fish we were on were about to quit completely.  We took a “bio break in the bushes”, and then kept looking for fish, finding very disinterested fish in more three areas.

Once this weather change occurred, the fish turned off and, after about 45 minutes of unsuccessful looking, we wrapped up around 10:15AM.

We ended up with exactly 75 white bass this morning.

MAL Lures are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 75 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: USACE began releasing water from Stillhouse again over the weekend at low rate of 201 CFS. Over on Belton, USACE is still releasing at 2,132 cfs.  No topwater action witnessed on Stillhouse this morning.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:  6:45a

End Time: 10:15a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 75F

Elevation:   1.37′ high, .05′ fall, and a flow of 201cfs

Water Surface Temp: 82.9F

Wind Speed & Direction: SW8-9 thru 9A, then shifting W9-10 as the skies cleared in advance of a mild, incoming cold front.

Sky Condition: Grey cloud cover was at 100% but steadily thinning until 8:30, then began to clear

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 73% illumination

GT = N/A

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic SH0032G/258 – downrigging leading to vertical MAL work (2 short hops with the MALs)

**Area vic  SH0060G – vertical MAL work

 

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

#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

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Thursday, July 15th, I conducted the season’s 6th SKIFF program fishing trip for kids whose parents are separated from them due to military duty.

SKIFF is an acronym for Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun. It is a program now in its 12th year, sponsored by the Austin Fly Fishers, and supported by individuals and entities, all of whom desire that kids separated from a parent by that parent’s military duty, be given an opportunity to experience the outdoors through fishing during that time of separation, free of charge.  The program offers a time of respite for the home-front parents who may need a short break from single-parenting.

The girls’ father, U.S. Army Sergeant First Class Edwin Villalobos, has been in the military for 16 years.  He is currently serving as a mechanic and has been deployed to Poland for several months.

The girls’ mom, Juliet Lopez, is also on active duty where she works in the nuclear, biological, chemical (NBC) field at Fort Hood.

Those interested in a SKIFF fishing trip may simply call me at 254.368.7411 to coordinate.

PHOTO CAPTION: Check the character on 8-year-old Athena Villalobos’ shirt … Elsa be like, “Girl, you caught those fish all by yourself?!?”

PHOTO CAPTION:    From left: Chanel (13), Aaliyah (14), and Athena Villalobos (8) enjoyed a 70-fish morning on Stillhouse using a combination of tactics to catch both white bass and sunfish.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday (AM), 15 July 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

As we began our trip, I came to understand from the girls’ mom, Juliet Lopez, that none of the three girls had ever caught a fish before.  So, my job was to help three girls, aged 14, 13, and 8 go from 0 to 60 in 3.5 hours!!

The morning was overcast, so, I avoided deep water until more light was penetrating into the depths.  We began the fishing by running twin downriggers in open water pulling a pair of 3-armed umbrella rigs equipped with spinners and spoons.  It was clear the fish preferred the #13 Pet Spoon over the over presentations, so, we transitioned all 6 baits over to #13 Pets.

After the girls went through 3 rounds of catching either 1 or 2 fish at a time, about 35 minutes had gone by and the skies had time to brighten a bit.  I began to see fish out as deep as 60 feet, holding down around 40-45 feet.  I felt the concentration of fish I was seeing was sufficient to allow us to catch using MAL Lures fished vertically, so we transitioned quickly to that tactic.

By 8:15 the girls had landed 36 fish, about half on the ‘riggers and half on the MALs.  All were mentioning sore wrists routinely, so, we changed things up and headed shallow to target sunfish.

We used long poles and floats with bait to take a total of 13 sunfish from 2 separate areas, including longears, bluegills, and greens.

It was now around 9 a.m. and, with about an hour left in the trip, I gave the girls an option of choosing which of the 3 tactics they’d learned they’d like to put to use for the last part of the trip.  They unanimously chose the “video game fishing” with MAL Lures in conjunction with Garmin LiveScope.

We headed back out to deep water, found two distinct schools of white bass and caught another 21 fish in our final hour on the water.  As is typical late in the morning, both of these schools “flared up” with interest right away when our lures first appeared amongst them, but then pretty quickly settled back down.  Once I see this “settling” behavior, it is time to move as it is very difficult to get these fish reignited.  That time is better spent finding and fishing for “fresh” fish.

We ended up with exactly 70 white bass this morning.

MAL Lures are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 70 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: Over on Belton, USACE is still releasing at 2,132 cfs.  There is still no thermocline set up on Stillhouse.  Some of our fish came from off bottom out in 65 feet of water this morning.

 

Start Time:  6:30a

End Time: 10:15a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 75F

Elevation:   1.44′ high, .12′ rise, and a flow of 1cfs

Water Surface Temp: 81.9F

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE8-9 all morning

Sky Condition: Grey cloud cover was at 100% but steadily thinning until 8:30, then began to clear

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 29% illumination

GT = N/A

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic SH0031G/258 – downrigging leading to vertical MAL work

**Area vic  200 – sunfish

**Area vic  239 – sunfish

**Area vic  SH0049G – vertical MAL work

 

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

#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

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Tuesday, July 13th, I fished with Mr. Fred Cabanday and his adult nephew, Christian Rodriguez.

Until recently, Fred served on the maintenance staff at Harker Heights High School where his extra effort and attention to detail did not go unnoticed by the coaching staff and students he served.  Coach Randy Culp coordinated an effort to take up a collection to send Fred on a fishing trip with me, and today was the day he chose to make that happen.

Prior to this trip, neither Fred nor Christian had ever caught a white bass before, nor had either one ever encountered topwater feeding by this schooling species of fish.  Needless to say, they were in for a treat.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:    From left:  Christian Rodriguez and his uncle, Fred Cabanday, enjoyed a 70-fish morning on Lake Belton. Neither fellow had ever fished for white bass nor seen white bass feed on the surface before this morning’s trip.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday (AM), 13 July 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

Thanks to a minor weather wrinkle right at that critical time of transition from dark to light at sunrise, there was next to no topwater action right at first light.  Instead, topwater came on a bit later as the sun began to burn off the clouds at around 7:40am.

We spotted a nice bunch of fish corralling shad against the surface and sight-cast to them.  With two anglers, I can run the trolling motor manually from the center pedestal seat on my front deck with my clients to the left and right of me, also on the elevated deck.  This gives both anglers a better view and longer casting range.

Fred and Christian worked the fish over, with their casting distance and accuracy improving with each cast they made.  They wound up boating 13 fish from this topwater action before the fish left the surface.

We worked this general area with downriggers briefly after the action stopped on top, landed a triple, then found some fish on a sloped bottom in about 26′, which we stopped and worked MAL Lures vertically for, adding another 8 fish to our tally.

Our final two schools of fish were found in ~27′ of water, also on a gently sloping bottom.  These fish were more numerous and spread horizontally over the bottom.  We used the sawtooth tactic for these fish using the white MAL Heavy Lure, and put a final 46 fish in the boat by pulling these fish off the bottom over a ~90 minute span.

Christian commented as we got back to the ramp that we caught more fish than he anticipated.  I asked him how many did he anticipate catching.  He said, “I thought we’d catch maybe three or four.”

We ended up with exactly 70 white bass this morning.

MAL Lures are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 70 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: USACE is still releasing at 2,132 cfs.  The water, though still turbid, is noticeably clearer than it was last week.  Thanks to heavy rains yesterday afternoon, the lake actually rose 0.69 feet overnight despite this rate of release.

 

Start Time:  6:20a

End Time: 10:30a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 69F

Elevation:   2.78′ high, .69′ rise, and a flow of 2132 cfs

Water Surface Temp: 81.9F

Wind Speed & Direction: Light and variable through 8:45am, then turning SSE8

Sky Condition: Solid grey cloud cover persisted until 7:40, then began to clear

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 12% illumination

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic 499 – light topwater action for ~30 minutes

**Area vic B0096G – MAL vertical work in ~26′

**Area vic 0188 – MAL Heavy with a sawtooth tactic

**Area vic B0116C – MAL Heavy with a sawtooth tactic

 

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

#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

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Monday, July 12th, I fished Lake Belton with returning guests Jim, Dan, and Jake Deuser — three generations of anglers who have been out with me in all manner of conditions and in other seasons.  This, however, was their first summer trip.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:    From left: Jim, Dan, and Jake Deuser with a few of the 76 white bass we landed as storms threatened all morning.  We split the catch pretty equally between early topwater and then working MAL Heavy Lures with a sawtooth tactic in deeper water.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday (AM), 12 July 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

I really didn’t know until I headed out the door this morning if the weather was going to allow for this trip to happen.  As it turned out, despite storms to our N, S, and W, all fizzled before they got to us until, finally, around 10AM, some storms pushed in from the WNW and put a 20-minute early end to our morning.

We enjoyed grey skies (good) and nearly calm conditions (not so good).  The first 50 minutes of the trip we were able to locate topwater feeders and throw MAL Heavy Lures beyond these white bass so as to work the lures completely through the entire school and hook up routinely.  We landed 29 fish this way before moving on.

For the next 40 minutes or so, there was enough “popcorn” action to keep us busy during which time schools of white bass would pin shad to the surface, but stay there only briefly.  We’d run to these fish, get in a few casts, catch a few fish, linger a bit after they would sound to see if they’d pop back up again, then move on after the action ended.  We put another handful of fish in the boat this way.

Our last good lick came when we used downriggers to effectively fish while at the same time scrutinizing the side-imaging screen for signs of congregated fish on bottom.  Once we found these grouped fish, given they were only in 20-23 feet of water, instead of Spot-Locking on them, I Spot-Locked just a cast’s length away and we worked these fish over with a sawtooth tactic using the MAL Heavy in white.

This was very successful, and, as we remained on Spot-Lock, we eventually drew fish in to right beneath the boat (as seen on Garmin LiveScope) as fish followed our lures, but broke off the chase right at the boat without striking.  We’d drop the MALs vertically when enough fish were present and, more often than not, caught them.

We got a nice “calm before the storm” surge of action in our final 30 minutes on the water before the lightning got too close for comfort and we headed back in while we could safely do so.

We ended up with exactly 76 white bass this morning.

MAL Lures are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 76 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: USACE is still releasing at 2,132 cfs.  The water, though still turbid, is noticeably clearer than it was last week.

 

Start Time:  6:20a

End Time: 10:00a (wrapped up early due to incoming rain and lightning)

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 73F

Elevation:   2.01′ high, .11′ fall, and a flow of 2132 cfs

Water Surface Temp: 82.3F

Wind Speed & Direction: Light and variable all morning

Sky Condition: Solid grey cloud cover all morning thanks to stubborn upper level low pressure sitting right atop Central Texas

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 6% illumination

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic 686 topwater for ~50 minutes

**Area vic 165/172 – found fish via downrigging, then capitalized by working MAL Heavy with a sawtooth tactic

**Area vic B0116C – MAL Heavy with a sawtooth tactic

 

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

#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

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Wednesday, July 7th, I fished with Jim Dendy in visiting from Mississippi, accompanied by his son-in-law, John Davidson of Gatesville, TX, and John’s son, 14-year-old Preston Davidson.

This was a “Kids Fish, Too!” trip, just for Preston.  Back around Spring Break of 2013, Jim took another local grandson, J.J., from McGregor, TX, out on a similar trip with similar results.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:    From left: John Davidson, John’s 14-year-old son, Preston, and Preston’s grandfather, Jim Dendy.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday (AM), 07 July 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

As with all of my Kids Fish, Too! trips, I try to introduce kids to as many techniques as is practical for the season and the day’s fishing scenario, mainly to provide variety and keep the kids engaged as long as possible.  Such was the case for Preston today.

Preston has not fished all that much before, but enjoys it and wants to do more of it.  In fact, for Christmas, he requested that his dad stock the small pond on their family’s land.

This morning we started off the day chasing sporadic topwater white bass.  These nomadic fish were in open water just chasing shad wherever the shad led them.  We enjoyed about 45 minutes’ worth of action, during which time Preston landed 10 white bass.  By about 7:15, the action was spread so far and wide, that it was no longer practical to chase after the fish as they would be gone by the time we got to them.

We changed over to downriggers in the vicinity of the last several schools we saw, but only picked up one white bass that way.

We moved on and fished two mid-depth areas vertically with MAL Lures.  By now the winds had nearly gone flat and the fishing was tough, but, after finding fish using side-imaging, we Spot-Locked on them and fished  for them, taking another 8 fish and introducing Preston to Garmin LiveScope.  Of all the tactics we employed this morning, this was the one he liked best.

After the fish settled down on the vertical bite, we gave the downriggers another go, landing a single and then a triple, and taking our tally to 23 fish.

We invested the final hour into stalking sunfish up in shallow water using bream rods and bait.  We landed 11 sunfish, including bluegill, longear, redear, and green sunfish.

MAL Lures are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 34 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: Belton’s water is very off-color and there is much suspended particulate matter in the water column due to recent flooding.  USACE is still releasing at 2640 CFS.

 

Start Time:  6:20a

End Time: 10:20a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 72F

Elevation:   2.49′ high, .01′ rise, and a flow of 2640 cfs

Water Surface Temp: 82F

Wind Speed & Direction: ESE2-4 all morning

Sky Condition: Solid grey cloud cover all morning thanks to stubborn upper level low pressure sitting right atop Central Texas

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 6% illumination

GT = 5

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic 1793 topwater

**Area vic 086 downrigging

**Area B0006G vertical MAL work

**Area 0190 vertical MAL work

**Area 1753 sunfish

**Area B0032G sunfish

**Area B0036G 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) Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle

#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