JUST FOR WATSON — 50 FISH @ STILLHOUSE

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This morning, Thursday, June 29, I fished with first time guests Mr. Victor Poole and his 10-year-old grandson, Watson Milam, both from the Waco area.

This was a “Kids Fish, Too!” trip, and was therefore a maximum of 3.5 hours in length, and a good bit less expensive than a 4-plus hour adult trip. On these kids trips, only the kids fish, and any adults attending simply help me help the kids be successful.

Here is how the fishing went…

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Here’s an up-to-date calendar so you can check availability: https://holdingthelineguideservice.com/available-dates.php

Next available dates are July 24 & 31 (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION: This 14.75″ white bass was taken by 10-year-old Watson Milam; it was one of 40 he landed “all by himself”.

 

PHOTO CAPTION: That’s Watson Milam and his grandfather, Victor Poole, who served as a very capable first mate today, helping me help Watson be successful.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday, 28 June 2023 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED: 

We met up at 6:35 AM and I explained to Watson how to hold and use both a spinning outfit and a casting outfit, as I planned to use both in pursuit of white bass this morning.

We began downrigging with a single downrigger equipped with a 3-armed umbrella rig trailing three #12 Pet Spoons. We immediately got into fish just as the sun was clearing the horizon, and stayed in fish right through 9:15 AM when Watson’s interest began to wane.

On three occasions the concentration of fish we passed over while downrigging was sufficiently great that it led me to believe we could Spot-Lock on those fish and work MAL Heavy lures vertically through them.

This worked out well, as did the fact that the Garmin LiveScope really appealed to Watson, who expressed an interest in video games. Using a “smoking” retrieve through these fish which were in the lower fourth of the water column, we got them to concentrate beneath the boat using a splasher, and to chase Watson’s bait as he reeled quickly and smoothly on a consistent basis.

Watson caught a one-man limit of 25 white bass exceeding 10 inches by 8:37 AM, and landed another 15 legal fish by the time we changed tactics at 9:15 AM.

From 9:15 until 10:00 AM we pursued panfish up in shallow hydrilla using a pole with a float and bait suspended beneath. Watson picked up another 10 fish during this time, including bluegill sunfish, longear sunfish, and a single blacktail shiner.

At the 3.5 hour mark the heat was beginning to come on strong and we concluded this very successful children’s fishing trip with exactly 50 fish boated.

TALLY: 50 fish caught and released.

Find the entire family of MAL Lures  here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS:  Next to no schooling largemouth bass activity observed.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:35A

End Time: 10:05A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 78F

Elevation: 13.96 feet low, 0 CFS flow (thus causing a slight 24 hour rise)

Water Surface Temp: 84.5F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction:  Gusty at SSE9-13 all morning

Sky Condition: Light blue, cloudless skies all morning

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 80% illumination.

GT = 45

Wx SNAPSHOT: 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:  

Downrigging from 1397 thru SH0120C with stops atop concentrations of fish mixed in

Area vic 1397/1423 – Smoked for whites

Area SH0140G – Smoked for whites

Area 1412 – Smoked for whites

Areas 231 & 239 – 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

COOKIE-CUTTER!! – 110 FISH @ LAKE BELTON

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Wednesday, June 28, I fished with first time guests, Mr. Nathan Cain, accompanied by his 15-year-old daughter, Bailey, and 11-year-old son, Cole.

Nathan is a Belton native, who, after spending some time working abroad, has now returned to Belton where he works in support of Amazon facilities throughout the southeast and southwest.

As we fished, he shared memories of riding his bike to Arrowhead Point and Temple Lake Park to fish as a kid, and how his ancestors lived in the Tennessee Valley community, now inundated by Lake Belton.

Here is how the fishing went…

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Here’s an up-to-date calendar so you can check availability: https://holdingthelineguideservice.com/available-dates.php

Next available dates are July 24 & 31 (AM)

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left: Bailey, Cole, and Nathan Cain with a few of the 110 fish they caught by sight-casting and downrigging in the first 4 hours following sunrise.

 

 

PHOTO CAPTION: Cole Cain holds the only legal hybrid we landed today.  This fish came out of ~18 feet of water and fell for a downrigged Pet Spoon worked behind a downrigger.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday, 28 June 2023 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED: 

With this week’s weather solidly controlled by the dome of high pressure sitting right over Texas,  this week’s fishing has been “cookie-cutter“ in regards to cloud cover (none), wind direction and velocity (SSE 11 to 13), temperature (78F at sunrise rising to 102 by mid-afternoon) and humidity (around 80% at sunrise, dropping into the 20s by sunset).

Likewise, the fishing has been very predictable, as well. Each day this week the low-light topwater action began within 5 or 10 minutes of the same time, and also ended within five or 10 minutes of the same time.

This morning, the topwater feeding spree began at 6:35 AM and lasted until 8:28 AM. During this time we began by throwing MAL Heavies with white tails to heavily congregated white bass churning the surface while feeding on shad of all sizes. As one school would stop feeding and submerge, a new school would start feeding a few yards away, and so on. Most of these schools were roughly 20 yards in diameter and included several hundred individuals.

After the fish had fed for a while, we noted that they began regurgitating freshly eaten shad. As I observed this, it was quite clear that, despite the presence of adult shad, the majority of the baitfish being consumed were young-of-the-year shad less than 2 inches in length. Seeing this, I immediately switched everyone over to MAL Minis, and our already solid catch rate increased substantially. Everyone went from catching one fish every three to four casts to catching fish on just about every other cast.

To make a good thing even better, I coached everyone to retrieve immediately after their lure hit the water when the fish were churning on the surface, and to do a six-count, allowing the lure to sink before retrieving, whenever the fish were present, but not on the surface. By the time 8:28 rolled around and the last of the surface activity disappeared, my crew of three had landed 77 fish.

We left the area we’d been fishing and cruised around looking for evidence of the presence of fish (birds diving, bait jumping, fish churning on the surface). Seeing none, I moved us once again, and found an area loaded down with bait. We no sooner prepared for downrigging than we witnessed a brief additional topwater episode. We took 11 fish rather quickly, but that action dissipated within minutes. From that point on, we ran a single downrigger at first, and then branched out into twin downriggers, each equipped with three-armed umbrella rigs with #12 Pet Spoons on the business end. We took an additional 22 fish on the downriggers coming as singles, doubles, and one triple.

By the time the four hour mark approached, we had landed 110 fish, which included 3 hybrid stripers (of which one was legal), 2 freshwater drum, and 105 white bass.

TALLY: 110 fish caught and released.

Find the entire family of MAL Lures  here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS:  1) USACE has stopped releasing water from the dam.  2) Temperature profile taken morning of 26 June:

0 feet, 84.2F
5 feet, 84.0F
10 feet, 85.1F
15 feet, 84.8F
20 feet, 84.5F
25 feet, 81.5F
30 feet, 75.6F
35 feet, 71.3F
40 feet, 68.1F
45 feet, 66.1F
50 feet, 64.9F
55 feet, 63.3F
60 feet, 62.2F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:10A

End Time: 10:15A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 77F

Elevation: 13.39 feet low, 0 CFS flow (thus causing a slight 24 hour rise)

Water Surface Temp: 84.3F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction:  SSE11 all morning

Sky Condition: Light blue, cloudless skies all morning

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 71% illumination.

GT = 40

Wx SNAPSHOT: 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:  

Areas 1376, 848, and B0201G — sight casting to topwater feeders; 77 fish

Area vic 1974 – 33 fish by downrigging

 

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

YOUTHFUL ENTHUSIASM!! – 78 FISH @ LAKE BELTON

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Tuesday, June 27, I fished a “Kids Fish, Too!“ trip for Kara Hubbert’s four kiddos – Emily Hubbert (age 14), Keely Riley (age 11), Bailey Hubbert (age 10), and Jason Hubbert (age 8).

Of the four kids, only Jason had been out with me previously. None of the kids had much prior experience casting spinning gear, so, our first order of business was to do a quick train-up in the very likely case that white bass made themselves visible on the surface as they trapped shad there to feed upon them.

Here is how the fishing went…
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Here’s an up-to-date calendar so you can check availability: https://holdingthelineguideservice.com/available-dates.php

Next available dates are July 24 & 31 (AM)

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left:  Jason Hubbert, Keely Riley, Bailey Hubbert, Kara Hubbert, and Emily Hubbert, each with one of the 78 fish the kids landed by sightcasting and downrigging this morning on Lake Belton.

PHOTO CAPTION: Keely Riley, age 11, with one of two legal hybrid stripers she fought on a hot, clear, breezy late June morning on Lake Belton.  Of all the kids, she was definitely the most enthusiastic about the fishing.  I think she’d have stayed ’til dark if the fish cooperated!

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday, 27 June 2023 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED: 

As we got going, we started off the morning with twin downriggers in the water working three-armed umbrella rigs equipped with #12 Pet Spoons along wind-blown underwater terrain after finding ample bait present in the area. As happened yesterday, after taking a few rounds of fish on the downriggers, the white bass began to feed on the surface under low light conditions, albeit without any cloud cover.

I waited until the topwater got absolutely intense before changing over from downrigging to casting, knowing that the kids’ distance and accuracy would be somewhat lacking. Whenever the intense surface action died down, we would go back to downrigging until another instance of intense surface action materialized when we would go back to casting, and so on.

This lasted through about 8:20 when the surface activity ended for good just as the 13-14mph SSE winds began to relent. From that point on, we downrigged exclusively as the kids all mentioned their wrists were hurting from casting, retrieving, and reeling in fish while using spinning gear.

From 8:20A, the fishing got progressively slower through the time we wrapped up right around 10 AM.

When all was said and done, the kids landed 78 fish including four hybrid stripers, of which two were legal, and 74 white bass, of which only four were short.

TALLY: 78 fish caught and released.

Find the entire family of MAL Lures  here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS:  1) USACE has stopped releasing water from the dam.  2) Temperature profile taken morning of 26 June:

0 feet, 84.2F
5 feet, 84.0F
10 feet, 85.1F
15 feet, 84.8F
20 feet, 84.5F
25 feet, 81.5F
30 feet, 75.6F
35 feet, 71.3F
40 feet, 68.1F
45 feet, 66.1F
50 feet, 64.9F
55 feet, 63.3F
60 feet, 62.2F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:25A

End Time: 10:10A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 77F

Elevation: 13.23 feet low, 0 CFS flow (thus causing a slight 24 hour rise)

Water Surface Temp: 84.2F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction:  SSE13-14 through 8:20A, then tapering down to SSE7 by trip’s end

Sky Condition: Light blue, cloudless skies all morning

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 62% illumination.

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT: 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:  

Areas B0030G/B0102C – alternating between downrigging Pets and sight casting MAL Heavies through 8:20A

Area 815/B0031G – downrigging exclusively thru 10AM

 

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

HIGH PRESSURE FISHING – 101 FISH @ LAKE BELTON

WHO I FISHED WITH:

This morning, Monday, June 26, I fished with returning guest, Mr. Freddy Mize from Montgomery, Texas, accompanied by first time guests David Mize (Freddy‘s son), and David’s two adult sons, Kolby and Clayton.

Freddy and his wife came out with me a few years back and had a good time, and so his daughter-in-law, Tabatha (David’s wife) coordinated this trip way back in late April to send all four of the fellows out once again.

Here is how the fishing went…

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Here’s an up-to-date calendar so you can check availability: https://holdingthelineguideservice.com/available-dates.php

Next available dates are July 24 & 31 (AM)

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left:   David, Freddy, Clayton, and Kolby Mize with a portion of their 101-fish catch under hot, dry, high pressure weather conditions.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday, 26 June 2023 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED: 

We got going at 6:15 AM and a pretty stiff 12 to 14 mph breeze made spotting top water action pretty tough. I quickly surveyed a number of areas and did not see anything to really get excited about, so, we hunkered down over an area where an abundance of bait was showing on sonar and began downrigging.

We pulled a few fish on the downriggers, and as we were getting set to put them back out again, the surface erupted with what would turn into about 80 minutes’ worth of solid action. Multiple large schools of white bass were herding bait to the surface. This bait included everything from the youngest of the young-of-the-year shad to adult shad.

Since all four of my clients were able to cast spinning gear, I put some 8′ long, light action, St. Croix Panfish Series spinning rods in their hands mated to Pflueger Large Arbor reels and light braid so they could throw the MAL Mini quite some distance. This accounted for our first 45 fish before the topwater action got more spotty.

Sonar clearly revealed that the fish were still in the area, but they just moved further down in the water column as the cloudless sky got brighter and brighter. Seeing this, and having witnessed adult shad in the area, I was not hesitant to swap out the rods, reels and lures everyone was using and replace them with spinning outfits pre-rigged with MAL Heavies. Once everyone was re-rigged, I coached everyone to let their casts sink to bottom and then do a plain-Jane retrieve at a moderately fast cadence in order to cover the entire water column.

We picked up another 30 fish in this manner before this action died.

I headed out looking for fish, bait, and bird action. At this point, I looked in the same areas where last week’s late morning bites tended to take place.

There was really not much going on here, so, I went looking for more concentrated bait in an attempt to wrap up the trip by downrigging and put a few final fish in the boat. We found a fairly straight stretch of bank being directly impacted by the wind with a lot of small shad in the lower half of the water column. We got downriggers going, each equipped with a three-armed umbrella rig, and had steady action right until around 10:15. We landed another 26 fish downrigging, including 24 white bass coming in singles and doubles, as well as one largemouth bass, and one freshwater drum.

With the downrigging getting tougher with each pass we made, we decided to call it a good morning at 10:15 with 101 fish landed, including three hybrid striped bass (all short), one largemouth, one freshwater drum, and the balance white bass, only two of which were under sized.

TALLY: 101 fish caught and released.

Find the entire family of MAL Lures  here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS:  1) USACE has stopped releasing water from the dam.  2) Temperature profile taken morning of 26 June:

0 feet, 84.2F
5 feet, 84.0F
10 feet, 85.1F
15 feet, 84.8F
20 feet, 84.5F
25 feet, 81.5F
30 feet, 75.6F
35 feet, 71.3F
40 feet, 68.1F
45 feet, 66.1F
50 feet, 64.9F
55 feet, 63.3F
60 feet, 62.2F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:15A

End Time: 10:20A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 78F

Elevation: 13.30 feet low, 0 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 84.2F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction:  SSE11-13 all morning

Sky Condition: Light blue, cloudless skies all morning

Moon Phase: First quarter moon at 52% illumination.

GT = 50

Wx SNAPSHOT: 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:  

Areas 473/472 – downrigging under sunrise low-light conditions leading to sight-casting with MAL Minis and Heavies for 75 fish from 7:05 to 8:25

Area vic 1974  – downrigging for fish getting increasing disinterested from 9:25 to 10:15

 

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

TWO IS COMPANY; THREE’S … MORE COMPANY!! — 76 FISH @ BELTON

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Thursday, June 23, I fished with three teens – – Ricky and Bronson Brown, and Tyler Hickman. This trip was arranged in celebration of Ricky’s birthday by his mom, Lori Brown.

This was a “Kids Fish, Too!“ fishing trip specifically for young people. These trips go a maximum of 3.5 hours versus 4+ hours for adults, and they also are more economically priced.

Here is how the fishing went…
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Here’s an up-to-date calendar so you can check availability: https://holdingthelineguideservice.com/available-dates.php

Next available dates are July 10 & 24 (AM)

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left:  Ricky and Bronson Brown, and Tyler Hickman took 75 legal white bass in their 76-fish catch this morning on Lake Belton.   This was in celebration of Ricky’s recent birthday.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday, 22 June 2023 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED: 

A wrinkle in the weather overnight saw a line of thunderstorms sweep over Central Texas during the early morning hours. In that front’s wake, we were left with cloudy skies and winds from a variety of directions.

At sunrise, the winds were southeasterly. Then, within the hour, they switched to easterly, then northeasterly, and, by around 8:15 the winds were out of the northwest. During all of these wind shifts, the velocity stayed under 9 mph.

Since I did not see much low light surface action this morning, we started off by downrigging a pair of three-armed umbrella rigs with #12 Pet Spoons trailing behind. I saw both bait and gamefish suspended at around 16 feet over a deeper bottom and so we pegged the downrigger weights at 14 feet to keep the baits near and above the gamefish.

Ricky kicked us off with a triple, followed by a double boated by Tyler, then Bronson chipped in with a single. We continued catching doubles and singles until our tally had climbed to 18 fish, and the bite began to slacken as the winds shifted more easterly.

With that easterly wind shift, we went nearly a full fishless hour from about 7:10 to 8:00 before spotting some “popcorn“ white bass schooling activity. As I looked things over with sonar, I really did not see any consistency on depth nor location for these nomadic schools of fish, so we returned to downrigging in order to cover ground while studying sonar, yet still have baits in the water. Around 8 AM, I got a call from a buddy who was in the same location where I seen those “popcorn” schools earlier. He let me know that he was witnessing some more consistent surface activity.

We returned to the area, and continued to witness this same popcorn activity, but it was definitely with increased frequency, so, I put the downriggers back down and we lingered in that area to see if something might develop further.

That turned out well, as the bite slowly strengthened until finally, between about 9 AM and 9:40 AM a sustained topwater bite broke out, thus making the catching much easier for my youthful crew. Before this action broke out we had taken our tally to 32 fish. By the time this feeding spree ended at around 9:50, we had taken our tally to a final count of 76 fish.

As these fish fed on the surface, I had all three boys throw MAL Heavy Lures with chartreuse tails toward the heaviest action they could spot and reach, let the lures fall to bottom in about 22 feet of water, and then bring them back using a plain-Jane retrieve with a moderately fast cadence.  This ensured each cast covered the entire water column from bottom to top.

We chose the full-sized MAL Heavies because it was obvious by watching the fish feed on the surface that they were chasing adult shad (although smaller bait could certainly have been present, as well).

Of the 76 fish landed, 100% were white bass, and only one of these white bass was short.

TALLY: 76 fish caught and released.

Find the entire family of MAL Lures  here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS:  Temperature profile taken morning of 21 June:

0 feet, 82.3F
5 feet, 82.6F
10 feet, 82.7F
15 feet, 82.1F
20 feet, 78.9F
25 feet, 74.7F
30 feet, 72.8F
35 feet, 70.5,F
40 feet, 68.2F
45 feet, 65.5F
50 feet, 63.9F
55 feet, 62.8F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:15A

End Time: 9:50A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 75F

Elevation: 13.06 feet low, 65 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 82.3F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction:  At sunrise, the winds were southeasterly 8-9. Then, within the hour, they switched to easterly 8, then northeasterly 8, and, by around 8:15 the winds were out of the north west @6-8.

Sky Condition: 100% light grey cloud cover until 8:15’s wind shift, then slowly clearing to 40% white cloud cover on a hazy blue sky.

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 17% illumination.

GT = P

Wx SNAPSHOT: 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:  

Area 667/B0030G – downrigging under sunrise low-light conditions

Area B0068G – downrigging until “popcorn” schooling got more intense and coalesced, then cast-and-crank with MAL Heavies

 

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

IT’S TOASTY OUT THERE! — 80 FISH @ LAKE BELTON

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Wednesday, June 21, I fished with returning guests, Rudy Porter and his two sons, Max and Roman. Accompanying the Porters for the first time aboard my boat were brothers Rohan and Akhil Gudapati. The Gudapatis had gone fishing once before, but had never caught anything so, they were truly starting from scratch today.

The Porters are in visiting from New Mexico where they reside in a dry, high desert climate.  Needless to say, the humidity was kicking their butts by mid-trip!!

Here’s how the fishing went…

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Here’s an up-to-date calendar so you can check availability: https://holdingthelineguideservice.com/available-dates.php

Next available dates are July 10 & 24 (AM)

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left:  Max Porter, Rohan and Akhil Gudapati, and Roman Porter with a portion of their white bass catch made by sight-casting, counting down, and “smoking” MAL Heavy Lures, as well as by downrigging.

 

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday, 21 June 2023 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED: 

Despite being under an ongoing, and already several days-long, excessive heat warning, our conditions this morning were tolerable, as there was both a breeze and cloud cover until about 9:50 AM. As we got going, I felt the simplest approach would be to downrig to find fish and then set up over top of them to work in MAL Lures vertically with the help of Garmin LiveScope after the fish had been found.

We began downrigging with both downriggers running three-armed umbrella rigs equipped with #12 Pet Spoons in silver with white tail. We steadily picked up singles and doubles as the light level remained dim and the skies fairly murky gray. Once the gray skies began to lighten up as the sun’s angle increased, some difficult-to-discern topwater action began to materialize, well-disguised by the chop of the 8 or 9 mph wind blowing.

Against my better judgment, I gave casting lessons to everyone quickly (as they did not have a chance to practice before the trip, as I had hoped) and, with the boat on Spot-Lock, had everybody cast off of the starboard side to fish feeding on and near the surface. For a number of reasons, this, after several attempts, just did not turn out to be as productive as the downrigging.

Whenever the fish disappeared from the surface, and the catching got tough, we reverted to downrigging until the fish quit in this area. The time was now 8:10 AM, and we had boated 34 fish.

Our next success came over open water.  A buddy alerted me to the presence of fish in a general area.  Upon arrival, we saw where a trio of blue herons were repeatedly diving down, trying to spear white bass as the white bass forced shad up against the surface in an attempt to trap and eat them there.

I once again positioned the boat so all five anglers could cast off the starboard side. When the fish were on the surface, I had them retrieve immediately. When the fish left the surface, I had them count their MAL Heavy Lures down to a six count, and do a straight, plain-Jane retrieve back to the boat. The entire time this horizontal casting was going on, I also ran the splasher, and got the LiveScope units fired up in hopes of consolidating fish under the boat.

This actually did pan out well. After the fish quit hitting on the surface, we were able to continue catching fish which were holding beneath us in a horizontal band about 20 feet beneath the surface in about 40 feet of water. We put another 40 fish in the boat by 9:40 AM.

By 9:40, the skies began to clear, and the wind began to slack off. As this happened, the fishing got instantly tougher. We stayed until 10:20 and managed to land another six fish, all by downrigging, before calling it a good morning as the heat began to pour on.

TALLY: 80 fish caught and released

Find the entire family of MAL Lures  here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS:  Temperature profile this morning:

0 feet, 82.3F
5 feet, 82.6F
10 feet, 82.7F
15 feet, 82.1F
20 feet, 78.9F
25 feet, 74.7F
30 feet, 72.8F
35 feet, 70.5,F
40 feet, 68.2F
45 feet, 65.5F
50 feet, 63.9F
55 feet, 62.8F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:15A

End Time: 10:20A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 77F

Elevation: 13.05 feet low, 24 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 82.3F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: S8-9 through 9:50, then easing up to S5-6

Sky Condition: 100% light grey cloud cover between 6 and 9:50 AM gave way to 20% white cloud cover on a hazy blue sky thereafter

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 10% illumination.

GT = 30

Wx SNAPSHOT: 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:  

Area 483/B0103C – 34 fish by sight-casting and downrigging

Area 1519/B0093G – 40 fish by sight-casting, counting down, and smoking MAL Heavies

Area 1402/B0022C – 6 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

MOM’S AWAY; GIRLS WILL PLAY – 54 FISH S.K.I.F.F. TRIP

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This morning, Tuesday, June 20th, I conducted the second Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun (SKIFF) trip of the 2023 season.

Joining me was Mr. Thomas Payne, a U.S. Army Signal Corps veteran, and his two daughters, Neveah and Katherine.  The girls’ mom, U.S. Army Corporal Fayth Payne is currently in the midst of a 9-month deployment to eastern Europe.

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 July 10th.

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  Nevaeh Payne with one of the many sunfish she landed today, along with her dad, Thomas, and her younger sister, Katherine.  This was a redear sunfish.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday, 20 June 2023

HOW WE FISHED:

Given the Payne girls’ ages (5 and 2) I came prepared to keep it simple and keep it interesting.

To provide some “instant gratification” and get the girls interested right off the bat, we headed up shallow and fished the inside edge of the abundant hydrilla growing on this reservoir.

The setup was simple — a light balsa float suspending a small split shot and small single hook with a pinch of worm beneath.

We took redear sunfish, longear sunfish, and bluegill sunfish very readily despite the girls’ lack of experience — that’s the nice thing about sunfish — they cooperate in the heat of the summer.

Once the novelty of sunfishing wore off (after boating 34 fish and taking at least 4 bathroom breaks, sans a bathroom) we headed out to “mix it up” by working deeper water for white bass.

Our first stab at white bass fishing was made via downrigging.  We captured a “double” (a fish on 2 of the 3 lures of the 3-armed umbrella rig we were trolling with) as we passed over a moderately active school of white bass in about 40 feet of water.

I Spot-Locked on this area and Thomas and I worked MAL Lures with a “smoking” tactic aided by Garmin LiveScope to add another 5 fish to our count as the girls wolfed down some Lunchables.

Once snacktime was over, we went back to downrigging and landed a “triple”.  Our count now stood at 44 fish landed, and we could see the girls’ interest beginning to wane as the heat increased (not in any way aided  by the fact they had to have live jackets on).

We headed to a second sunfishing area, boated another 10 sunfish, and then called it a great morning right at the 3.5 hour mark.

 

TALLY:  54 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:  A distinct ‘inside’ edge and ‘outside’ edge to the hydrilla now exists, although the inside edge will shrink and disappear with the falling water level.

 

 WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:35A

End Time:  10:05A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 78F

Elevation: 13.49 feet low,  1 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 83.4F

Wind Speed & Direction:  S9 all morning

Sky Condition: Full covering of light grey, low clouds

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 5% illumination.

GT = N/A

Wx SNAPSHOT: 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area SH0021C – 34 sunfish

Area SH0030G – 10 white bass via downrigging Pets and smoking MALs

Area SH0043C – 10 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 #mepps

BINGE FEEDING ON ITTY-BITTY SHAD — 101 FISH @ LAKE BELTON

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Monday, June 12, I finished with three generations of Niemeiers. Steve Niemeier served as first mate today helping me help his grandsons, Henry, age 13, and Oliver, age 11, be successful. That left Steve’s son, Andrew (the boys’ father), up on the bow to fend for himself until the downrigging kicked at which time he served as second mate, and helped me help the kids, as well.

Here is how the fishing went…

—————————————————————————————————–

Here’s an up-to-date calendar so you can check availability: https://holdingthelineguideservice.com/available-dates.php

Next available dates are July 5, 10, 11 (all AM)

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left: Andrew, Henry, Oliver, and Steve Niemeier with part of their 101-fish take this morning on MAL Minis and Pet Spoons.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  Henry … triple!

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  Oliver … triple!!

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday, 12 June 2023 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED: 

Anticipating a limited amount of cloud cover at first light, we met up early at 6:05 and searched for topwater action generated by schools of white bass pursuing young of the year shad to the surface, then pursuing them across the surface.

This really got going in high gear around 6:40 and went for just shy of an hour. Thanks to a call from a buddy who had spotted an abundance of such action, we enjoyed nonstop fishing using MAL Minis sight-cast to these white bass as standalone lures (thus, not rigged with a weight and leader) on long, 8-foot St. Croix Panfish Series spinning rods and Pflueger large arbor reels well-filled with light braid.

Over the weekend I had suggested to Steve that he work with the boys on casting spinning gear, so they would be prepared to take full advantage of this topwater opportunity if it materialized. That time invested paid real dividends this morning.  The boys and their dad put 60 fish in the boat during that first feeding spree.  Many of these fish were on the small size, but the action was just right for two boys who don’t get to fish very often.

After this topwater action ended at this location, we shot back over where I was before I got my buddy’s phone call. There were a few fish still on the surface here, but, almost as soon as we got there, two other boats got uncomfortably close, so, with the action dying on top and another 20 fish already landed, I switched us over to downrigging, and we added 6 more fish to our count before departing.

My attention was drawn to five white herons which were acting like they were on fish. I drove about a mile to get to them only to find that they were paying attention to a single feeding cormorant. Having been fooled by these birds, we now had to go looking for fish.

I looked over a slow tapering flat, which had produced well last week, and found nothing, but then spotted two blue herons staked out over yet another area that had produce for me well last week. I combed this over with sonar, saw there were fish present, albeit scattered, so, with 86 fish in the boat at this point we put down ‘riggers down and came up with a final 15 fish including two triples to put us up over 100 fish for the morning.

Henry had shared with us that he was not feeling all that well about the time we got to this area. With 101 fish caught, and the heat and humidity increasing, Andrew felt it would be a good time to close out our trip a bit early. We wrapped up at 8:46 AM with 101 fish landed. Our catch included 99 white bass and two blue catfish.

TALLY: 101 fish caught and released

Find the entire family of MAL Lures  here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS:  Temperature profile this morning:

0 feet, 82.3F
5 feet, 82.6F
10 feet, 82.7F
15 feet, 82.1F
20 feet, 78.9F
25 feet, 74.7F
30 feet, 72.8F
35 feet, 70.5F
40 feet, 68.2F
45 feet, 65.5F
50 feet, 63.9F
55 feet, 62.8F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:05A

End Time: 8:46A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 74F

Elevation: 12.71 feet low, 24 CFS flow, a 0.04′ drop over the past 72 hours

Water Surface Temp: 82.3F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: A steady 8-9mph SE breeze all morning

Sky Condition: 20% white cloud cover transitioned to 100% light grey cloud cover between 6 and 9 AM

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 32% illumination.

GT = 100

Wx SNAPSHOT: 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:  

Area B0026G – 60 fish on MAL Mini (non-rigged)

Area B0202G – 20 on MAL Mini (non-rigged); 6 on downriggers

Area vic B0002C – 15 fish on downriggers

 

 

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

WIND & CLOUDS ENHANCED THE BITE – 131 FISH @ LAKE BELTON

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Thursday, June 8, I fished with first time guests, Keith Hogwood and his friend, David Cluck. The two are long-time friends and coworkers at one of the ACER locations in Temple, Texas.

David introduced Keith to deer hunting with firearms a few years ago, and, when the opportunity to return the favor by taking David fishing arose, Keith seized up on it.

Here is how the fishing went…

—————————————————————————————————–

Here’s an up-to-date calendar so you can check availability: https://holdingthelineguideservice.com/available-dates.php

Next available dates are July 5, 10, 11 (all AM)

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  David Cluck (left) and Keith Hogwood with a few of the 131 fish they landed as this morning’s favorable weather conditions offered both wind and cloud cover right up to around 10AM.

 

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday, 08 June 2023 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED: 

Wow, what a blessing today’s wind and cloud cover were! I welcome Keith and David aboard, reviewed the safety equipment, set up the gear for them, prayed, and within minutes we were into what would be about an hour’s worth of very aggressive, low-light top water, action.

David handled a spinning rod very well, so I put an 8-foot St. Croix panfish rod in his hands, mated to a Pflueger large diameter Arbor spinning reel filled with 10 pound braid, and he was off to the races.

Keith was not as accomplished a caster, so the MAL Mini rig with a three-quarter ounce weight ahead of it served him better, whereas David had the lure only tied on to his outfit. I simply hunkered down between the two of these fellows on the front casting deck of my boat and ran the trolling motor so as to keep them both within a casting distance of the multiple schools of fish that were working young of the year shad on the surface.

By the time this action died as the wind slacked off, and the skies brightened a bit, we had boated 47 fish. As we went searching for where we might find our next catchable fish, I spotted four blue herons working over a well-defined patch of water, which told me there were whites pushing bait to the surface.

We made a beeline there, spotted the gamefish, assessed what size of bait the fish were feeding on, and used MAL Heavies with chartreuse tails to imitate the adult shad in this location. We put another 30 fish in the boat here before the wind knocked off even more, and the bite died.

I attempted a “mop up“ with downriggers. This resulted in the catch of one white bass, and a largemouth/blue cat double. With 80 fish now in the boat, it looked like our weather conditions were going to worsen, as the wind just about quit and the first direct sun of the morning begin to shine through the clouds. Despite this, I spotted four schools of whites, all close by one another out in open water about a half mile away, using my spotting scope.

We made a beeline to them and were able to add another 23 fish to our count, again using the MAL Heavy with chartreuse tail, before these fish disappeared beneath the surface. About this time, the sun begin to shine, and then get covered back over by clouds repeatedly, and a sustained westerly breeze began to blow. This reignited the white bass topwater bite.

At the same time I got a call from a buddy, who had found an abundance of surface-feeding, white bass, as well.  At this last location we fished was in a bit shallowerr water, and, as was the case with the first fish we encountered this morning, this last group consisted mainly of yearling fish, some of which eclipsed 10 inches, and some of which did not.

By 10:10 AM, the bite looked to be winding down as the sun stayed out more than it was obscured by clouds. David and Keith needed to be back at the ramp promptly by 10:30 to make a high school championship baseball game which one of David’s grandsons was in, so we called it a good day right here with 131 fish landed including 128 white bass, one blue catfish, one largemouth bass, and one smallmouth bass.

TALLY: 131 fish caught and released

Find the entire family of MAL Lures  here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS:  “Popcorn” schooling continued, as did the white bass population’s focus on young-of-the-year shad.

 

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:15A

End Time: 10:20A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 68F

Elevation: 12.69 feet low, 24 CFS flow, a 0.03′ drop over the past 24 hours

Water Surface Temp: ~79.7F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: A steady 12mph SE breeze came up just prior to sunrise, then scaled back to SE6 by mid-morning.  A calm ensued for about 20 minutes, then a wind at W7-8 blew for the remainder of the trip.

Sky Condition: 80% white cloud cover on a blue sky at trip’s start, decreasing to ~40% by trip’s end.

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 76% illumination.

GT = 40

Wx SNAPSHOT: 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:  

Area B0022C and w/in a 200 yard radius at first light — 47 fish on MAL Mini

Area B0202G – 30 fish on MAL Heavy; 3 on mop-up downrigging

Area vic B0093G – 23 fish on MAL Heavy

Area vic B0058G – final 28 fish on MAL Mini/MAL Mini Rig

 

 

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

FORT HOOD WAS HONKING AT US! — 50 FISH @ LAKE BELTON

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Wednesday, June 7, I fished with first-time guests Brandon and Wendy Hunt from Hutto, Texas.

Brandon and Wendy are both very capable anglers. They own their own small, aluminum boat, and typically fish for catfish and panfish on Decker Lake and Granger Lake.

Both have a background in medicine and work in the paramedic field.

We all had a good laugh when, as we came off plane, we heard a sort of muted, musical, electronic sort of sound.  Wendy looked at a boat passing us by about 200 yards to the starboard and said, “That was kind of rude,” thinking the boat was blowing its horn at us.  I smiled and told here that was actually the distant sound of Reveille being played as the U.S. flag was being raised on Fort Hood.

Here is how the fishing went…
—————————————————————————————————–

Here’s an up-to-date calendar so you can check availability: https://holdingthelineguideservice.com/available-dates.php

Next available dates are July 5, 10, 11 (all AM)

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  Brandon Hunt took our biggest fish of the trip, a 7-pound blue catfish which slammed a downrigged #12 Pet Spoon as it slurped up tiny shad just as every other predator fish in Lake Belton is doing right now.

PHOTO CAPTION: Wendy Hunt took the first of two “triples” this morning by catching one fish on each of the three lures on the 3-armed umbrella rig we were downrigging with.  Brandon landed the second triple in our final hour on the water.

PHOTO CAPTION: Brandon and Wendy show 4 of the 5 three-year class white bass they landed this morning.  The other 41 white bass were all 1 and 2 year class fish.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday, 07 June 2023 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED: 

The nearly calm predawn surface on Lake Belton was eerily quiet this morning. There was nearly zero activity from bait, fish, gamefish, or even from rough fish like catfish and buffalo which normally dimple the surface under low light conditions.

I carefully patrolled five distinct areas, scrutinizing the water’s surface for topwater action before finding our first bit of success around 7:10, almost an hour after we got going this morning.

The fish we found were smaller white bass pushing young of the year shad to the surface and feeding on the small, slow baitfish. This allowed for both sight-casting with MAL Mini Rigs, as well as counting these baits down to a four-count.

We picked up our first 27 fish by 8:10 when this action ended just as the light northwest breeze which had developed just after sunrise also ended. From this point on the surface remained glassy with the cloud cover slowly increasing from 10 to 40% by trip’s end.

Although small “popcorn“ schools of white bass could be seen busting the surface in just about any direction you looked, they were not concentrated in any given area, and were very difficult to pursue.

Although we got a handful of fish fishing MAL Heavies vertically, the majority of the remainder of our cash came on downriggers as we used a pair of three armed umbrella rigs to fish six #12 Pet Spoons in three distinct locations.

By 11 AM, the heat was pouring on and so, after landing our 50th fish of the morning, we decided to call it a good trip.

Our 50 fish catch consisted of one 7-pound blue catfish, one short hybrid, one legal hybrid, and one freshwater drum with the remaining 46 fish being white bass. Of these 46 white bass, five were in the three-year class, with the rest being a roughly 50-50 split between one-year-old and two-year-old fish.

TALLY: 50 fish caught and released

Find the entire family of MAL Lures  here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS:  “Popcorn” white bass — blowing up here and there for just seconds at a time — were the rule today.  Being ready to imitate the young-of-the-year shad put fish in the boat this morning under tough (clear/calm/bright) conditions.

 

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:15A

End Time: 11:00A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 68F

Elevation: 12.72 feet low, 24 CFS flow, a 0.03′ drop over the past 24 hours

Water Surface Temp: ~79.2F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: Light NW4 from just after sunrise until ~8:15, then glassy calm the rest of the morning.

Sky Condition: 10% white cloud cover on a blue sky at trip’s start, decreasing to ~40% by trip’s end.

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 85% illumination.

GT = 85

Wx SNAPSHOT: 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:  

Area 356 to 132 — best action of the morning with smallish white bass on tiny shad pushing them to and then across the surface for about an hour; 27 fish

Area vic 1733 – so-so fishing by sight-casting, smoking MAL Heavies, and downrigging

Area vic B0138C – so-so fishing by sight-casting and downrigging

Area B0077G – downrigging

 

 

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