WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Saturday, October 23, I conducted a “Kids Fish, Too!” trip for Jonathan Schmitz, accompanied by his mom, Catherine.
Jonathan is 11 years old and is a student at Oak Creek Academy in Killeen. This is a private, non-profit schooled geared toward exceptional learners.
Jonathan is doing well there, and he did well on my boat this morning, too!
______________
My next three openings will be on 2, 6, and 7 December. Weekday mornings are always best.
PHOTO CAPTION: Talk about grinning ear-to-ear!!! These were Jonathan’s two largest white bass of this morning’s trip.
PHOTO CAPTION: We even had a pair of blue catfish give Jonathan a run for his money.
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
WHEN WE FISHED: Saturday (AM), 23 October 2021
HOW WE FISHED:
My “Kids Fish, Too!” trips are designed just for kids. They last a maximum of 3.5 hours versus 4+ hours for adults, and they are significantly less expensive. Instead of focusing on numbers of one particular fish, I try to focus on variety and transitions to keep the kids engaged so that the overall experience is a positive one.
Today, for example, we fished for white bass early on. While we could have remained in one location on Spot-Lock and done just fine, instead, I moved us multiple times as soon as I noted Jonathan getting “antsy”. That little transition created by doing something a bit different (motoring a few hundred yards or so) helped him refocus on the fishing we would do when we arrived at our new location.
Next, we went and looked at some old house foundations on the bottom of the lake in about 50 feet of water using sonar. We then went to the deepest part of the lake to help Jonathan answer his own question about Belton’s deepest part.
Next, we headed up shallow and targeted sunfish with worm and float. We then finished up the trip by swinging by the waterfall, and then letting Jonathan steer the boat back to our launch site.
By 10:50, we’d landed 36 fish.
Of the 36 fish landed, 24 were white bass, with 2 blue cat, and 10 sunfish in the mix. The whites and blues all came on the MAL Heavy Lure fished vertically with the aid of Garmin LiveScope. The sunfish came on slipfloat rigs and poles.
MAL Lure fishing tutorials:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViVz6D91brM
MAL Lures are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/
TALLY: 36 fish caught and released
OBSERVATIONS:
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 7:20A
End Time: 10:50A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 70F
Elevation: 1.15 feet low, 0.04 fall, 58 CFS flow
Water Surface Temp: 75.4F
Wind Speed & Direction: SSE8-9 all morning
Sky Condition: 100% heavy grey cloud cover which thinned out after the first hour, but remained at 100% coverage but let more light through.
Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 93% illumination.
GT = 0
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area B0197C/B0104C- 14 fish, all on MAL Heavy Lure with silver blade/white tail fished vertically
**Area B0012C – 12 fish, all on MAL Heavy Lure with silver blade/white tail fished vertically
**Area 1583 – 10 sunfish on worm/slipfloat pole
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 #mepps