June | 2022 | Fishing Report

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

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WORE OUT BOTH ARMS! — 160 FISH @ LAKE BELTON

June 5th, 2022 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: On Friday, 03 June 2022, I fished with first-time guests Amanda and Logan Winkler, a mother and son pair who are Central Texas natives.

Amanda and her husband, Justin, bid on a fishing gift certificate I had provided to the Ralph Wilson Youth Club some time ago, and today was the day they chose to redeem it.

Here is how the fishing went …

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My next openings will be on July 12th – 14th. 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: Logan and Amanda fished until Amanda, literally, could not reel in any more fish because her arms hurt! We worked MAL Dense Lures (with white tails) very successfully for fish in 42-52 feet of water.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Friday (AM), 03 June 2022

HOW WE FISHED:

Despite the abnormally warm May, I have yet to see any ill effects of the heat impacting the normally excellent late-spring fishery. Yes, the threadfin shad spawn is over, but that is normal for this time of year. And, yes, I’m beginning to see white bass suspend more off of steep slopes, but, that is also typical for this time of year. Other things in the natural, annual cycle are also falling in line now, like the presence of young of the year shad and the start of open-water topwater feeding.

As we got going, I spent a bit of time looking for topwater action, but, with a north wind blowing following the arrival of a mild cold front yesterday, I knew our chances of finding anything worth fishing for for any length of time were slim.

We went a good 30 minutes scrubbing the bottom with sonar (relying most heavily on the far-reaching side-imaging for this work) before we came upon our first sizeable school of fish.

We got a very positive reaction from these fish (which were in 42 feet of water) as they perked up immediately as Amanda and Logan’s baits reached bottom on their first drop.

We stayed on these fish for one hour and forty minutes, catching fish at a rate of one fish per minute, with a total of exactly 100 fish taken without moving the boat one iota between 7:00 AM and 8:40 AM.

With the bite fading to nil by 8:40, we headed in for a “bio-break”, and then went back out in search of more catchable fish.

By this time, Amanda’s right arm was sore from the catching, and, after switching her reel’s handle to the opposite side, she proceeded to wear out her left arm as well! Even Logan, a 4-sport athlete, said he was really feeling it in his right bicep after landing more fish during this trip than he had during all the trips in the rest of his life, combined!!

We found another, totally suspended group of fish holding at 30-40 feet in a horizontal band over 52 feet of water and, greatly aided by Garmin LiveScope, were able to present our MAL Dense Lures very effectively and efficiently to these fish.

Between 9AM and 10AM, Amanda and Logan continued to catch fish at a furious pace, landing another 60 fish before they decided to call it quits with Amanda scarcely able to reel in any more fish with either arm.

The sole tactic we relied upon today was “smoking” MAL Dense Lures (chartreuse body, white tail) up off the bottom repeatedly.

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

Our catch included 158 white bass, 1 short hybrid striped bass, and 1 largemouth bass.

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

TALLY: 160 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: Topwater action was hindered by a continuing north wind following a cold front’s passage on the morning of 02 June. Here was the temperature profile down to 60 feet:

0 feet 80.1F
5 feet 80.1F
10 feet 79.9F
15 feet 79.6F
20 feet 79.2F
25 feet 78.8F
30 feet 78.2F
35 feet 76.1F
40 feet 72.1F
45 feet 67.4F
50 feet 64.7F
55 feet 62.2F
60 feet 60.8F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:30A

End Time: 10:00A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 66F

Elevation: 4.45 feet low, 0.03’ fall in last 24 hours, 32 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 80.1F

Wind Speed & Direction: NNE5-8 all morning

Sky Condition: Blue skies with wispy, white, thin cloud cover at ~60%

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 14% illumination.

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 714/B0041G (100 fish), Area B0094G (60 fish)

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

SEVERAL “DAYS” WORTH OF FISHING — 86 FISH @ LAKE BELTON

June 3rd, 2022June 3rd, 2022 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: On Thursday, 02 June 2022, I fished with first-time guests Cedric, Terry, and Daniel Day.

Cedric, who serves as the medical director for the faith-based Hope Pregnancy Centers in Central Texas, and I first met at a recent fund-raiser for that organization.

Cedric had considered fishing with his son earlier in the year, but I suggested holding off until the peak mid-April to late-May/early-June timeframe to ensure success.

Here is how the fishing went …

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PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Terry (Papa Bear), Daniel (age 9) and Cedric Day with a few of the 86 fish they landed as an early summer cold front surprised us and the weathermen.

PHOTO CAPTION: After an hour of fishing, that “green monster” bore down on us around 8:00A, but, by 8:30, had moved quickly to the SE. We got in another hour of fishing, before another, more violent, wave of weather moved in forcing an early conclusion to our trip.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday (AM), 02 June 2022

HOW WE FISHED:

I know I’m preaching to the choir when I lament how erroneous weather forecasting can throw anglers a real curve-ball, but, today was a real doozy. We were due to have winds from the SW at 7-12 during our first 4 hours of light today, but, in reality, were faced with northerly winds all morning, the passage of two bands of rain, and winds which went 15-18, gusting 22+.

We got going at 6:30A, found a few fish chasing shad on topwater, but the ill effects of the north wind were already beginning. The wind speed was up, thus disturbing the surface, which cuts down on fishes’ ability to silhouette prey against the bright surface. After catching a handful of fish, we moved on to look for congregated fish in deeper water to work vertically for.

We found such a school in about 26 feet of water, caught another 9 fish from that bunch and, perhaps more importantly, got all the kinks worked out of everyone’s technique.

We caught those nine fish with a wind driving drops of rain from the north at high velocity so, when the bite died, we made a call to get everyone back to cover to await the passage of this band of weather which appeared on weather radar to be moving quickly. I was now about 8A.

We reboarded the boat at 8:20A and drove straight to a nice, bottom-hugging school of fish in just over 40 feet of water. We picked up another 23 fish here working MAL Heavy Barbless Lures (for the men) and an MAL Dense (for Daniel).

When that group of fish lost interest, I found another nearby. This school was NOT bottom-oriented. Rather, it consisted of a loose gathering of suspended fish which, by the commotion we created as we fished for them, we were able to get to consolidate under the boat. We continued our “smoking” tactics, but, instead of cranking x number of times up off bottom as we did for the bottom-oriented fish, we cranked until our lures were 2-3 handle turns above the highest of the suspended fish.

We took a final 51 fish at this location and then got while the gettin’ was good as yet another storm pushed in from the NW, this time with ample thunder and lightning.

I got my three men to their vehicle before the first raindrops fell, then sat in my truck in a downpour between getting my boat on the trailer and trailering home. As I sat in the truck, glad we didn’t wait a minute longer to come in, I watched the temperature drop from 74F to 66F in a matter of minutes.

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

Our catch included 85 white bass and 1 largemouth bass.

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

TALLY: 86 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: 1) White bass are definitely turning on to young of the year threadfin now. 2) In addition to bottom-hugging fish, loosely grouped fish in the lower third of the water column were consistently found on the windward side of deeper, steeper bottom features.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:30A

End Time: 9:30A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 74F, falling to 66F by trip’s end

Elevation: 4.45 feet low, 0.03’ fall in last 24 hours, 32 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 77.9F

Wind Speed & Direction: Light/variable winds at trip’s start under 2mph, then picking up from the SE at under 8 mph from ~8A on.

Sky Condition: Grey skies all morning with rain and wind gusts under influence of an incoming cold front.

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 8% illumination.

GT = 60

Wx SNAPSHOT: (This turned out to be quite inaccurate!)

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Areas B0098G (before first storm), B0037C & 1945/B0148C (in advance of second storm)

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

NOW ON THE MENU: TENDER SHAD – 204 FISH @ BELTON LAKE

June 2nd, 2022June 2nd, 2022 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: On Wednesday, 01 June 2022, I fished with returning client Phil Moore, accompanied by two new guests — Clinton White and Gary Jones.

Phil retired some time ago from his position with a water supply corporation and is very active in ministry through Memorial Baptist Church in Killeen. Clinton is a retired educator from out in West Texas, and Gary is the current Dawson Independent School District superintendent, in the Lamesa/Brownfield area.

Here is how the fishing went …

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PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Clinton White, Gary Jones, and Phil Moore with a nice take for this first day of June 2022. We found fish on topwater early, then transitioned to vertical tactics after the skies brightened.

PHOTO CAPTION: The young-of-the-year threadfin shad which were spawned earliest this spring have grown out to just over an inch long now and are EVERYWHERE. They definitely are the center of the white basses’ attention now. Many of our caught fish were regurgitating these hapless little forage fish. The top shad is intact and had not been eaten long before it was regurgitated. The lower one was digested partially before being expelled.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday (AM), 01 June 2022

HOW WE FISHED:

With light winds and thin, but complete, grey cloud cover and heavy, humid air in place, it just “felt right” for topwater action this morning when I poked my head out the door just after 4AM.

I placed my topwater rod set in the boat right next to the MAL Heavy rods for deep, vertical work, and headed out.

Sure enough, just after greeting my trio of guests and covering all the standard pre-trip items, I began to see the telltale “nervous water” created by white bass feeding gingerly on young of the year threadfin shad.

The schools of surface-feeding whites appeared here and there at first, but, as the light level increased through the clouds, the feeding grew stronger and stronger.

In under an hour, we put 46 fish in the boat primarily by sight-casting to these fish. There are a few keys to capitalizing on these surface feeders. The biggest one is avoiding running all over the place trying to get to the fish. Instead, either staying in a well-chosen location where the fish have shown a tendency to feed, or getting ahead of a group of feeding fish so as to fish them as they approach, as they surround, and as they move away, are MUCH better options.

I intentionally moved away from another angler who “joined” us, as he whipped the water into a froth doing acrobatics with his trolling motor trying to speed over to every small group of fish which showed themselves … that just didn’t work out too well for him.

The second key is wisely choosing where to cast so your lure is lobbed over as many fish as possible then retrieved before it sinks below the level of the fish.

My topwater rods are all light, 8-foot spinning rods with large arbor reels and light, 10-pound braid, terminated with an MAL Original with one of the three treble hook tines snipped off and the barbs pressed down. This makes for super-fast unhooking so more casts can be executed over a given period of time.

PHOTO CAPTION: My modifications of the MAL Original for surface action: 1) snip off 1 of the 3 tines for quicker releases, 2) press down the barbs for faster unhooking, 3) go with a white tail, as immature shad do not have yellow tails yet, and 4) use a “speed clip” of some sort so you can quickly change a bait without having to retie. If a hybrid or striper mangles your bait, if a hook breaks, etc. you can just slip the old on off and put the new one on and keep casting. I also keep a backup rod with an identical setup at the ready. I use the MAL Original as it is the lightest lure in the MAL Lure family, so it doesn’t sink below the surface feeding fish too quickly.

Even on the best days, on Lake Belton (fairly clear water) the “window” of opportunity usually doesn’t last more than 40 minutes or so. So, one needs to “make hay while the sun shines”.

After the topwater chapter ended, we headed out to deep water, found congregated fish both on bottom, and loosely schooled in the lower third of the water column along more steeply sloped bottoms being impacted by the wind, We worked MAL Heavy Barbless Lures vertically for the remainder of our trip, using the “smoking” tactic. This accounted for 154 additional fish.

The fishing fell off sharply around 10:10. I stayed on the fish we’d found at our final deep water spot longer than I normally would have in order to help the fellows reach the 200 fish mark. I felt that to leave fish at this point in an attempt to find fish might just backfire.

We hit that 200 fish mark right at 10:30, then I cruised around looking for a few more fish but found nothing until I noticed a blue heron diving repeatedly out in open, deep water. A quick look with the spotting scope showed white bass driving shad to the surface under the darkened conditions brought on by briefly thickening cloud cover. I eased over to the action, everyone caught one last fish (Phil got 2!) on the topwater rods, and we called it a great morning with 204 fish landed.

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

Our 204 fish catch included exactly 201 white bass, 1 short hybrid striper, 1 freshwater drum, and 1 largemouth bass.

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

TALLY: 204 fish caught and released

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:30A

End Time: 11:00A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 75F

Elevation: 4.42 feet low, 0.03’ fall in last 24 hours, 32 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 77.9F

Wind Speed & Direction: Light/variable winds at trip’s start under 2mph, then picking up from the SE at under 8 mph from ~8A on.

Sky Condition: Greyed over skies for the first hour, followed by steady clearing to ~60-80% grey clouds on a white sky for the remainder of the trip.

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 4% illumination.

GT = 30

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Areas 698 (early topwater/shallow water), Area 083/958 (bottom oriented), Area B0094G (suspended on slope), Area 2033 (suspended on slope)

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

SKIFF TRIP #4 FOR THE 2022 SEASON — 51 FISH

June 2nd, 2022 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: On Tuesday evening, 31 May 2022, I conducted the fourth Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun (SKIFF) trip of the 2022 season.

Joining me was Mrs. Angel Pavey and her four kids: Lana (14), Shane (11), Wyatt (9), and Oliver (6).

Mrs. Pavey’s husband, U.S. Army Sergeant First Class Josh Pavey is currently training at Ft. Irwin in California’s Death Valley at the National Training Center. SFC Pavey has been in the Army for 18 years and is currently classified as an electronic warfare specialist.

ABOUT SKIFF: This fishing trip was provided to this military family at no charge. S.K.I.F.F. stands for Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun. This program began in May of 2009. It is funded by the donations and fundraising efforts of the Austin Fly Fishers and other organizations they have partnered with. S.K.I.F.F. provides the children of military personnel separated from their families due to duty commitments with the opportunity to go fishing. SKIFF trips are also provided, free of charge, to Gold Star families who have lost their service member while he or she was on active duty. In mid-2019, SKIFF also began providing trips to dependents whose parents are bona fide disabled veterans. I coordinate and conduct these 3.5 to 4 hour adventures on Belton Lake and Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir, just outside the gates of Fort Hood in Bell County, TX, year ’round. Call or text 254.368.7411.

Here is how the fishing went …

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PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Wyatt, Lana, Oliver, Angel (Mom), and Shane Pavey with a few of the 51 fish they caught and released.

PHOTO CAPTION: Within minutes of sunset, the action really heated up. We landed three legal hybrid striped bass during this flurry with Shane and his mom connecting with two nice fish at the same time!

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday (PM), 31 May 2022

HOW WE FISHED:

Trying to figure out how to keep four kids ages 6 thru 14 engaged for 3.5 hours of fishing was a bit tricky today.

Normally, with fewer kids aboard, I can mix in some shallow water sunfishing, but, with four in the boat (and a stiff breeze), that just did not seem like a recipe for success. So, we stuck with what has been working very well of late, and that was fishing MAL Lures vertically for white bass grouped heavily on bottom.

Given the kids’ very limited experience, I went with MAL Dense Lures (with white tails now that the threadfin shad spawn is over) used in deep water with a “smoking” tactic. These sink the fastest, thus enabling the kids to be in the strike zone near the bottom consistently while avoiding tangling with one another by keeping lines very vertical. I chose barbed hooks so we were sure to land a greater percentage of those fish which were hooked by avoiding losing them while transferring them from the water into the boat, as can happen when using barbless hooks.

As is often the case on afternoon trips (especially as the summer approaches), things started off slowly and picked up right before sunset.

I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly all of the kids got the hang of the technique at our first stop. Angel helped Oliver a bit at first, and, after that, he did just fine on his own.

Despite catching 51 fish, every fish which came aboard brought a new round of screams and cheers. I’m not getting any younger and I find working with young kids takes more energy that it used to, but, it is energizing to see kids get so much enjoyment for something which for me is routine.

We left the water right at sunset, around 8:35PM.

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

Our 51 fish catch included exactly 48 white bass, & 3 legal hybrid stripers.

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

TALLY: 51 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: After witnessing the first sightings of white bass feeding on young-of-the-year shad witnessed in the first full hour of light this morning, I also noted such activity taking place right at sunset despite the breezy conditions.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 5P

End Time: 8:35P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 94F

Elevation: 4.39 feet low, 0.02’ fall in last 24 hours, 32 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 77.3F

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE13-14 the entire trip.

Sky Condition:50-60% white cloud cover on a blue sky all afternoon.

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 1% illumination.

GT = N/A

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Areas B0058G, 2053, B0024C, 683

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

JUST BEING NEIGHBORLY– 261 FISH @ LAKE BELTON

June 1st, 2022 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: On Tuesday, 31 May 2022, I fished with returning clients Sonny Monroe and his son-in-law, Ryan Miles, accompanied by first-time guest Brent Richey.

Sonny is a retired public school administrator, Ryan works for a hydraulics company here in Central Texas, and Brent has been in the telecommunications industry for many years now.

With the Memorial Day weekend now past, things were quieter than usual even for a weekday today as most folks returned to work for what is left of this shortened work week.

Brent is Sonny’s neighbor, and, after enjoying his previous trip out with me, Sonny extended an invitation to Brent to join in on the fun this morning.

Here is how the fishing went …

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PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Ryan Miles, Sonny Monroe, and Brent Richey with a portion of their 261 fish catch. All fish were taken on MAL Heavy Lures with barbless hooks for ease and speed in unhooking.

PHOTO CAPTION: Closeup of the MAL Lure’s barbless hook with just a “bump” on the point (on left) versus the standard treble hook used otherwise. If you already own an MAL Lure and want to make it barbless, it is better to mash down the barbs than to replace the hook, as hook replacement requires a split ring which lengthens the lure’s overall dimension and increases the likelihood of “blade strikes”. I do offer the MAL Heavy (only) with barbless hooks already affixed. See link below.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday (AM), 31 May 2022

HOW WE FISHED:

With Sonny and Ryan both having prior experience with using the MAL Lure fished both vertically and horizontally from their one prior trip with me earlier this spring, and Brent having fished for white bass successfully at Richland-Chambers in the past, there was minimal learning curve to work through to turn fishing into catching this morning.

We found some light topwater action in the first hour of light as white bass forced the first young-of-the-year shad to the surface and fed upon them there while the light level was low and we had a complete deck of clouds. Once the sun’s angle increased and the clouds thinned, the surface action was over.

While the action existed, we actually did better fishing vertically and by using the sawtooth method, as the fish which came to the surface stayed there only briefly.

After about an hour, we moved on to deep water and stayed there the remainder of the trip. Using MAL Heavy Lures with barbless hooks (as I was anticipating a high fish count this morning based on wind and weather), we used a “smoking” tactic and proceeded to “wear ‘em out” until about 11:15A, at which time we packed it up, leaving the fish still biting pretty well.

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

Our 261 fish catch included exactly 258 white bass, 2 short hybrid stripers, and 1 largemouth bass.

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

TALLY: 261 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: Still a few small, individual schools of spawning shad seen in the shallows at first light. First sightings of white bass feeding on young-of-the-year shad witnessed in the first full hour of light.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:30A

End Time: 11:15A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 75F

Elevation: 4.39 feet low, 0.02’ fall in last 24 hours, 32 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 77.3F

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE8-9 at trip’s start, climbing to SSE14 by 10A, then settling back to SSE12 by trip’s end

Sky Condition: Greyed over skies for the first hour, followed by steady clearing to ~40% white clouds on a blue sky for the remainder of the trip.

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 1% illumination.

GT = 40

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Areas B0021G (early topwater/shallow water), B0150C, B0090C

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