May | 2022 | Fishing Report

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

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A SIMPLE 7,503-STEP PROCESS — 139 FISH @ BELTON

May 10th, 2022May 11th, 2022 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Tuesday, May 10th, I fished returning guests Frank Sumner and Steve Arnold — both veterans, both employed in the medical field, and both active in men’s ministry at their church.

It so happened that Steve was wearing one of these “Fit Bit” style watches which counts your steps daily. Experts say 10,000 steps is a healthy daily goal.

Well, Steve discovered that his watch registered a “step” every time he made a full turn of his spinning reel’s handle. Steve racked up exactly 7,503 “steps” as he landed his fair share of the 139 fish he and Frank brought over the gunwales this morning. That’s a pretty good workout without even breaking a sweat!

As they departed today, Frank signed up for yet another “workout session” in early November!

Here is how the fishing went …

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PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Fishing buddies Steve Arnold and Frank Sumner with a sampling of their 139 fish haul from Lake Belton this morning. As always, 100% of our catch was released.

MAL DENSE LURE

PHOTO CAPTION: The fast-sinking MAL Dense with white body and chartreuse tail was the only lure we used today. Minimizing time spent waiting for the lure to return to the bottom was the key to this lure’s success after we found our fish in 42 feet of water.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday (AM), 10 May 2022

HOW WE FISHED:

The fish apparently “slept in” a bit this morning. In our first 75 minutes on the water, we landed a grand total of four fish. Although I found a few pockets with a few fish here and there, I looked over several typically productive areas and found no organized schools of fish at any of them.

Finally, after slowly combing over four other areas with little to show for it, I found a good concentration of fish in 42 feet of water. Side-imaging revealed multiple schools, each with well over 100 fish in them. We prepared to fish vertically by Spot-Locking atop these fish, getting the Garmin LiveScope adjusted, etc. As we let down and began working our baits with a “smoking” tactic, the response was pretty lackluster.

I was loathe to leave given the number of fish here and the scarcity elsewhere, so, I decided to stick it out and see if the strength of the bite would increase. Well, it did.

By 9:05, it was all I could do to unhook and release fish at the rate Frank and Steve were catching them. This went on for about 50 minutes. During this time we saw fish moving more rapidly as they swam parallel to the bottom; we also saw fish occasionally drive shad to the surface. Then, slowly but surely, the aggression level of the fish subsided until, by 11AM, it was over. The fish never got sparse enough for me to consider a move, so, we wound up catching the entire trip’s worth of fish at just this one location.

We used the MAL Dense with white body and chartreuse tail 100% of the trip. We experimented with a horizontal “sawtooth” retrieve a few times as the action was building, mainly to draw fish in toward the boat, although we did catch a few this way, as well.

Our 139 fish catch included 137 white bass, 1 legal hybrid striped bass, and 1 sub-legal hybrid striped bass.

A complete description of this “smoking:” method is found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE

The entire family of MAL Lures is found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 139 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: Of note today was the size/quality of the fish we encountered. Of the 139 fish we landed, only 3 were under the 10-inch legal limit. This is a very rare occurrence on Lake Belton, which is more well known as a “high density” reservoir with strong numbers of smaller fish. The strong shad spawn continues.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:45A

End Time: 11A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 76F

Elevation: 3.84 feet low, 0.02’ fall in last 24 hours, 38 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 73.4F

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE11 at trip’s start increasing steadily to SSE13 with no gusting

Sky Condition: Heavy grey cloud cover persisted all morning.

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 65% illumination.

GT = 25

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Areas vic 835

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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

BRINGIN’ THE HEAT FROM OMAHA – 228 FISH @ BELTON

May 9th, 2022May 9th, 2022 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Monday, May 9th, I fished with a crew of three first time guests.

Coordinating the effort was Mark Foster, and joining him was his son, Landon Foster, and his son-in-law, Lucas Potter.

Mark just retired from the Union Pacific Railroad and recently moved to the Temple area from near Omaha, Landon works for Cummins in their power generation segment up in Minden, Nebraska, and Lucas is a construction superintendent for Stylecraft Builders here in Central Texas.

Here is how the fishing went …

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PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Landon and Mark Foster and Lucas Potter. Mark caught this 4.75-pound hybrid striped bass in our final 30 minutes on the water. It slammed an MAL Dense with chartreuse tail as Mark worked it up off bottom in 40 feet of water.

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Landon and Mark Foster and Lucas Potter with a few of the nice haul of quality fish we enjoyed catching this morning under ideal weather conditions — grey and breezy!

MAL DENSE LURE

PHOTO CAPTION: The fast-sinking MAL Dense, with its lead body, did the majority of the catching today. Minimizing time spent waiting for the lure to return to the bottom is the key to this lure’s success.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday (AM), 09 May 2022

HOW WE FISHED:

The bite followed a normal, bell-shaped curve this morning with a ramp-up from our 6:45A start to a peak running from ~7:45A through about 9:50A, followed by a tapering off to a shutdown by 10:50A.

At this point in the season, with the water warm and the white bass done with spawning, I have nothing but MAL Lures now tied on my clients’ rods. I’ve got one set of rods with MAL Originals for topwater or shallow work over spawning shad, MAL Heavy Lures with barbless hooks for when it really breaks loose and the fish go crazy, and MAL Dense Lures for all other vertical work in deep water where a fast sink rate is desirable.

This morning, we used a “smoking” tactic from start to finish hitting the 100 fish mark by exactly 8:28AM, and the 200 fish mark at 10:05AM. We fished 5 areas, catching 13 fish at our first location, 163 fish at our second location, 11 fish at our third location, 27 fish at our fourth location, and 14 fish at our final location. By 10:50A, it was getting toasty with temps already in the mid-80’s on the third of what is forecast to be a string of ~9 days with highs in the mid-90s.

Our 228 fish catch included 221 white bass, 1 legal hybrid striped bass, and 6 sub-legal hybrid striped bass.

A complete description of this “smoking:” method is found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE

The entire family of MAL Lures is found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 228 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: The percentage of quality, legal sized fish was substantially greater today than I’ve seen thus far in the post-spawn period. Of the 228 fish we caught, fewer than a dozen were under 10″. The strong shad spawn continues.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:45A

End Time: 10:50A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 76F

Elevation: 3.82 feet low, 0.01’ rise in last 24 hours, 38 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 72.5F

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE13 at trip’s start, SSE16 and gusting higher at trip’s end

Sky Condition: Moderately thick grey cloud cover at 100% coverage for the first 2 hours, then clearing to 40% white clouds on a very hazy sky thereafter.

Moon Phase: First quarter moon at 55% illumination.

GT = 45

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Areas 1933, vic 1012, vic 344, 835, vic 1555

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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

GARMIN GRATITUDE – 284 FISH @ BELTON

May 4th, 2022 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Wednesday, May 4th, I fished with returning guest Stiles Parker, accompanied by business associates and first time guests Edson Chavez and Brent Ellis.

Stiles sells products, including siding and windows, into the building industry, Edson works for ABC Supply, and Brent serves as a contractor doing utility work for an Austin-area electric cooperative.

Here is how the fishing went …

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My next openings will be on June 21 and 23. Weekday mornings are always best. Saturdays are available for on-the-water sonar training sessions (only) until after Labor Day when I’ll again offer Saturday morning fishing trips (until mid-March 2023).

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Stiles Parker, Edson Chavez, and Brent Ellis caught and released 284 fish this morning under ideal grey, breezy conditions. 100% of the catch was made on MAL Lures worked vertically in 26 to 43 feet of water.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday (AM), 04 May 2022

HOW WE FISHED:

After a minor weather disturbance moved through right at sunrise yesterday and upset the apple cart a bit, things got back on track this morning as we enjoyed nothing but unbroken grey cloud cover and a SE breeze at just under 14 mph which made boat control a non-issue.

We fished four areas over the 4.75 hour trip, taking 52 fish at our first stop, 96 fish at our second stop, 52 fish at our third stop, and 84 fish at our fourth and final stop.

The fishing got progressively deeper with each stop, starting up in ~26′ and ending out in 47′.

We used MAL Heavy Lures and MAL Dense Lures interchangeably. Since Stiles had previous experience with the MAL Lure, I put him on the MAL Heavy with barbless hooks right off the bat, and switched Edson and Brent over to barbless once they got the hang of things after leaving our first area.

We used a smoking tactic vertically the entire morning aided by Garmin LiveScope. Stiles owns his own boat and, thanks to observing the usefulness of Garmin LiveScope on prior guided trips with me, has now included Garmin LiveScope on his rig. Edson and Brent were really impressed with the technology and the results it paved the way for us to enjoy.

Actually seeing fish and their response to their presentations in real time helps my clients stay focused on the fish. They fish harder and longer and more intentionally when they can see with their own eyes that there is something down there to keep working for.

A complete description of this “smoking:” method is found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE

The entire family of MAL Lures is found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 284 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: Shad spawn is in full swing.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:45A

End Time: 11:30A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 68F

Elevation: 3.91 feet low, 0.00’ change in last 24 hours, 38 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 70.9F

Wind Speed & Direction: SE8 at launch time, slowly and steadily building to SE14 by trip’s end

Sky Condition: Moderately thick grey cloud cover at 100% coverage all morning

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 12% illumination.

GT = 80

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Areas 1804, 682, B0106G, 1298

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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

WIND TO THE RESCUE!! — 142 FISH @ BELTON

May 3rd, 2022 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Tuesday, May 3rd, I fished with Aaron and Kelly Baggett, and family friend of theirs, Jordan Barker.

Aaron serves as the Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton.

Kelly, Aaron’s dad, is a retired public school superintendent of the Levelland Independent School District.

Jordan is a project manager for Sturdisteel of Waco, a design, engineering, and fabricating company specializing in the construction and installation of grandstands, bleachers, and press boxes for university and high school athletic facilities.

Here is how the fishing went …

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PHOTO CAPTION: UMHB Professor Aaron Baggett with a 5.75-pound Lake Belton hybrid striped bass taken on an MAL Dense Lure while we worked vertically for white bass.

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Aaron and Kelly Baggett, and Jordan Barker, each with a few of the white bass we took working MAL Dense Lures vertically in conjunction with Garmin LiveScope. The larger fish we took today were lean, indicating they were “spawned out”, and many were therefore lacking the plump appearance they had while still full of eggs or milt.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday (AM), 03 May 2022

HOW WE FISHED:

A minor disturbance in the weather caused a thin, short-lived line of showers to pass over Lake Belton just before and after sunrise this morning with gentle rain and light winds. In the wake of this weather, we were left with clear, bright skies and calm winds for the first 1.25 hour of the morning.

The fish were not liking that weather at all. Despite finding fish, they were very scant, very tight to the bottom, and all but disinterested in what we had to show them. We boated exactly 2 fish in our first hour of effort.

Wind to the rescue!! Around 8:15A, a gentle breeze began from the SSE and slowly built up to about SSE9, while at the same time cloud cover began to develop. Within 10 minutes of that breeze beginning, we started catching fish, and the catching never stopped from that point on.

We fished four locations, using the smoking tactic detailed below with MAL Dense lures chosen for their fast sink rate, and so as to give Kelly some first-hand experience with them since he specifically asked about the difference between the MAL Dense and the MAL Heavy.

A complete description of this “smoking:” method is found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE

At our third location, as we were fishing vertically, I noted more scattered fish “roaming” out in deeper water to our starboard side as we were positioned parallel to the 32′ contour line. We changed up our presentations and used the MAL Dense Lures to cast perpendicular to the starboard side of the boat, and worked these lures back in a series of seven handle turns in a “sawtooth” pattern, and continued catching fish steadily until these fish also petered out . We then made the move to our final location to continue fishing with the smoking tactic just before a wind shift and light rain arrived with an incoming, mild cold front.

Our final tally of 142 fish consisted of 1 short hybrid striped bass, 1 legal (5.75 pound) hybrid striped bass, 1 largemouth bass, and 139 white bass.

The entire family of MAL Lures is found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 142 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: A lot went on in the weather over the course of this morning’s 4 hours, but the only thing the really shut the fish down was a lack of wind right at the opening.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:00A

End Time: 11:00A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 74F

Elevation: 3.91 feet low, 0.01’ fall in last 24 hours, 38 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 71.3F

Wind Speed & Direction: Calm for the first 1.25 hours, then picking up from the SSE at 7-9 mph prior to a mild cold front’s arrival right at 11AM, which shifted winds abruptly to W12.

Sky Condition: Clear skies at trip’s start quickly gave way to 60% white cloud cover on a pale blue sky for the first 3 of our 4 hours. As the mild cold front crept in, grey cloud cover increased to 100% in the final hour.

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 7% illumination.

GT = 80

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Areas 953/1544, vic B0186C (2 hops), B0005G, vic B0105G

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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

LATE START, EARLY FINISH, & STILL CAUGHT 260 FISH

May 2nd, 2022 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Monday, May 2nd, I fished with Rick Raatz, Ashley Schwettmann, and Clayton Whitson.

Rick runs a carpentry business based in Salado, Ashley tends bar in Killeen, and Clayton runs an excavation service out of Harker Heights.

The three became friends with fishing as the common denominator.

It was definitely a Monday, with my three anglers texting me just before our 6:45A meeting time that they’d be running late. Even with our late start, we made up for lost time pretty quickly.

Here is how the fishing went …

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PHOTO CAPTION: From left, Clayton Whitson, Ashley Schwettmann, and Rick Raatz enjoyed excellent fishing during this annual spring warmup, as rising fish metabolism drives them to feed heavily and frequently.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday (AM), 01 May 2022

HOW WE FISHED:

Based on my own experience the last two weeks, and reports I got over the weekend, I anticipated easy, high-numbers fishing this morning, and that is exactly what we got.

With this in mind, I rigged up all of the rods we’d be using this morning with my MAL Heavy Lures with barbless hooks to make it easier on both me and the fish. This, over the course of a 3-4 hour trip, also allows for more fish to be boated when less time is involved in removing the hook from each fish. We used the white tail and the chartreuse tail versions interchangeably using a smoking tactic in conjunction with Garmin LiveScope.

By about 10A, Rick’s back was “talking to him”, Clayton needed to get people and equipment moving, and Ashley probably would have stayed all day, but rode in with Rick. We wrapped up a bit early at 10:15A with exactly 260 fish landed in three hours flat.

A complete description of this “smoking:” method is found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE

The LiveScope really is beneficial in this scenario, as it shows how high up off the bottom fish are, so each of my anglers knows how far to reel up off bottom to present their lure to individual fish they can track in real time on that sonar technology. The LiveScope is also helpful to gauge fish activity level. When the fish are more frenetically moving left and right, parallel to the bottom, you can see their forward rate of speed is greater than when they “settle down” and slow down. Also, watching to see if fish are chasing a retrieved lure upwards lets my anglers know when to keep reeling, or, conversely, when to drop back to bottom.

Our final tally of 260 fish consisted of 1 short hybrid striped bass, 259 white bass.

The entire family of MAL Lures is found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 260 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: I feel the slight wrinkle in the weather overnight gave the fishing a little boost this morning, although the fishing was already a 9.5 out of 10.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:15A

End Time: 10:15A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 73F

Elevation: 3.91feet low, 0.06’ fall in last 24 hours, 38 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 71.0F

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE16 for the first 3.5 hours, then calming to SSE12 thereafter

Sky Condition: Clear skies at trip’s start quickly gave way to a fully clouded sky with thin, grey cloud cover by 8:15. Grey cloud varied from 80-100% coverage from that point on.

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 3% illumination.

GT = 25

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Areas 1804, B0039G, B0069G (2 hops)

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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com