WHO I FISHED WITH:  This morning, Wednesday, August 3rd, I fished a “Kids Fish, Too!” trip with the fourth generation of the Oliver family I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and fishing with through the years.

Joining me were Cullen (12), Presley (12), and Harper (10) Oliver, the children of Corey Oliver, who is the son of Joe Oliver, who is the son of Billy Joe Oliver, all of whom have fished with me for many years now.

The kids’ grandfather, Joe, and their Uncle Thomas were present to help me help the kids be successful.

My next open date will be on August 23rd.

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

 

PHOTO CAPTION: From left:  Harper, Presley, and Cullen Oliver with one of the three or four “triples” we landed when each of the kids hooked up as a large school of white bass passed by.  I promise they all did better at fishing than they did keeping their eyes open for the photo!!

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday, 03 August 2022

HOW WE FISHED:

As solid as the summertime fishing on Stillhouse has been, it is definitely not for everyone.  Quality sonar, well-interpreted, is a must right now.  Fish are uncharacteristically deep and, as is typical for the summer, they are scattered and found in small groups.  Slowly passing over large tracts of bottom looking for the rice-grainlike specks which are fish is pretty tedious.

But, when even just a few are detected, what I’ve been finding can be surprising.  Although 6 or 10 or 18 fish may be showing on sonar as I pass by, once we Spot-Lock and start creating commotion, the numbers can blossom very quickly, offering long spans of successful fishing.

My three young anglers focused on the task at hand once I got the boat well-positioned, and put a solid 106 fish in the boat this morning in right at 3.75 hours of effort.

All of my rods have but one lure tied on right now, and that is the MAL Dense with chartreuse tail.  It is my heaviest MAL Lure and gets back to bottom quickly, thus cutting to a minimum the time spent waiting for it to fall.

A fast, smooth “smoking” retrieve really gets the goat of those congregated white bass which are, at this time of year, accustomed to literally racing after shad.  Both fish species’ metabolism is at an annual high right now and everything is moving fast beneath the surface.

The kids landed exactly 106 fish, 100% of which were white bass with no short fish in the haul.  Our first hour was the best, and the final 45 minutes was strong.  The middle two hours this morning were a bit tough in that we found plenty of fish, but they were just reluctant to fire up, chase, and bite.

The smoking tactic we used is demonstrated here (skip to 2:26): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE

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

TALLY:  106 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:  Continued hot, dry, high-pressure conditions continue to fuel a consistent, albeit technical bite at Stillhouse.  For the second day in a row, winds up over 13 mph today kept the topwater largemouth schooling largely at bay.  Here was the temperature profile down to 50′ …

0 feet 86.8F
5 feet 86.8F
10 feet 86.8F
15 feet 86.8F
20 feet 86.8F
25 feet 86.5F
30 feet 86.4F
35 feet 86.2F
40 feet 79.4F
45 feet 73.3F
50 feet 66.8F

 

 WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:55A

End Time:  10:40A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 79F

Elevation: 7.74 feet low,  0.08′ fall in last 24 hours, 1 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 86.8F

Wind Speed & Direction:  SSW12-15

Sky Condition: Cloudless, pale blue skies

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 30% illumination.

GT = 160

Wx SNAPSHOT: 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 258/SH0214G – smoking MAL Dense Lures for 46 fish

Area vic 1222 – smoking MAL Dense Lures for 16 fish (2 short hops)

Area vic 1412 – smoking MAL Dense Lures for 6 fish

Area SH0216G – smoking MAL Dense Lures for 38 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)

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

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This morning, Tuesday, August 2nd, I conducted the ninth Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun (SKIFF) trip of the 2022 season.

I welcomed aboard 9-year-old Emerson Rayburn and her 7-year-old brother, Weston Rayburn. Prior to this morning’s trip, neither child had ever caught a fish before.

The kids’ father, U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer Chris Rayburn is a fixed-wing aircraft pilot for the Army’s military intelligence branch.  He recently received orders taking him on a months-long mission to Africa.

Knowing he was going to be separated from his kids for quite some time to come, he contacted me to see if he could take a pre-departure fishing trip with them.  We (the SKIFF organization) gladly granted that request this morning.

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-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.

My next open date for a free SKIFF trip for qualifying families will be on August 25th.

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

 

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Weston Rayburn, Chief Warrant Officer Chris Rayburn, and Emerson Rayburn during the kids’ farewell fishing trip prior to their dad’s departure on a mission to Africa.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday, 02 August 2022

HOW WE FISHED:

This hot, dry, high-pressure weather continues to have the fish behaving in much the same ways day after day.

We had a pretty steep learning curve to get through today, as neither child had ever caught a fish before, so, everything from how to hold a rod, to how to open and close the bail, to how to retrieve a lure at the right speed, etc., had to be learned from scratch.

Even so, Emerson was a quick study, and with dad’s help and my own, Weston landed his fair share of fish, keeping pace with his sister in the final third of the trip.

We landed exactly 73 fish this morning, and every last one of them came on a vertically worked MAL Dense Lure with chartreuse tail.  We watched every fish we caught chase and overtake our lures on Garmin LiveScope.  This technology allowed me to advise the kids on when to continue their retrieves and when to allow their lures to return to bottom — for this reason alone, it was invaluable.

With the fishing being so “cookie-cutter” thanks to the very stable weather, I’ve noted that the bite is strongest at sunrise and slowly fades to black by about 10:30.  The fish we encounter later in the morning simply do not stay as aggressive for as long as the fish we discover early on.

Of the 73 fish landed, 72 were legal-sized white bass, with 1 freshwater drum thrown in for good measure.

The smoking tactic we used is demonstrated here (skip to 2:26): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE

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

TALLY:  73 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:  Continued hot, dry, high-pressure conditions continue to fuel a consistent, albeit technical bite at Stillhouse.  Winds up over 13 mph today kept the topwater largemouth schooling largely at bay.

 

 WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:55A

End Time:  10:35A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 79F

Elevation: 7.65 feet low,  0.05′ fall in last 24 hours, 1 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 85.0F

Wind Speed & Direction:  SSW11-15

Sky Condition: Cloudless, pale blue skies

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 21% illumination.

GT = 60

Wx SNAPSHOT: 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area SH0214G – smoking MAL Dense Lures for 11 fish

Area SH0059G – smoking MAL Dense Lures for 19 fish (2 short hops)

Area SH0215G – smoking MAL Dense Lures for 23 fish

Area SH0216G – smoking MAL Dense Lures for 20 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)

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

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This morning, Monday, August 1st, I conducted the eighth Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun (SKIFF) trip of the 2022 season.

I welcomed aboard 10-year-old Braden Sepaugh, 7-year-old Tucker Sepaugh, and their mom, Mrs. Amber Sepaugh.

The boys’ dad, U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Aaron Sepaugh, a U.S. Army helicopter pilot, has served in the military for 14 years.  He is deployed to Europe from Fort Hood.  Mrs. Sepaugh will be teaching elementary-aged kids at Central Texas Christian School in Belton as the new school year begins.

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.

My next open date for a free SKIFF trip for qualifying families will be on August 23rd.

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Braydon, Amber, and Tucker Sepaugh with a pair of fish the boys landed simultaneously.  We release 100% of our catch, and have since going into business on “Day 1”.  These fish on Stillhouse are coming out of deep, cool water and will perish very quickly if not released immediately, thus, I do not hold them in the livewell.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday, 01 August 2022

HOW WE FISHED:

It was 100% “smoking”, 100% of the time, for a catch consisting of 100% white bass — 83 of them to be exact.

The boys arrived with just enough prior fishing experience under their belts to be able to take instruction on the proper use of spinning gear to work the MAL Dense Lures (with chartreuse tail)  using a “smoking” tactic.  We invested some time doing a “practice round” of this near the launch site before unleashing the boys on fish.

This investment paid big dividends.  Braydon got right down to catching fish as soon as we halted the boat over top of the first of four schools of deep water white bass we’d find and work over.  Tucker, being younger, took a bit longer to get through the learning curve, but, by mid-trip he was holding his own.

When the first large school of white bass showed up on Garmin LiveScope, Braydon exclaimed, “Whoa, it’s like a tornado of fish!”.

The MAL Dense with its white body and chartreuse tail really drew the strikes today and kept the boys busy to the point that downrigging and/or sunfishing for variety’s sake was not necessary to keep them engaged for the trip’s 3.5 hour duration.

The boys’ final tally was 83 fish which consisted of all white bass with only 1 short fish in the bunch.

This hot, dry, stable weather is super helpful to the fishing, as the fish are in a very predictable routine, behaving in much the same ways at the time times and same places on a daily basis.

The smoking tactic we used is demonstrated here (skip to 2:26): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE

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

TALLY:  83 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:  A high pressure “dome” continues to be solidly set up over Texas which, according to meteorologists, will stay with us for the foreseeable future.  Although north Texas was influenced by a mild cold front which drove south late Friday evening, no effects were apparent here today.  If history is any teacher, this bodes well for fishing.  Topwater schooling by largemouth bass continues.

 

 WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:55A

End Time:  10:25A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 79F

Elevation: 7.60 feet low,  0.05′ fall in last 24 hours, 1 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 84.7F

Wind Speed & Direction:  SSW6-9

Sky Condition: Cloudless, pale blue skies

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 13% illumination.

GT = 40

Wx SNAPSHOT: 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area SH0150G/SH0032G – smoking MAL Dense Lures for 41 fish

Area SH0211G – smoking MAL Dense Lures for 17 fish

Area SH0212G – smoking MAL Dense Lures for 12 fish

Area SH0213G – smoking MAL Dense Lures for 13 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)

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