DATE: 15 July 2024 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATE: Thursday, 18 July (AM)

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:  We targeted white bass on an all catch-and-release basis during the first 1.5 hours of this 3.5 hour trip.  During this time, the boys landed 26 white bass. All of these fish were taken on 3-arm umbrella rigs via downrigging.  During the remaining 2 hours we fished flooded shoreline brush for panfish using poles and live bait under slipfloats.

LURES USED SUCCESSFULLY ON THIS TRIP:  The white bass we landed all struck #12 Pet Spoons attached to 3–armed umbrella rigs fished precisely with downriggers to control the depth they were presented at.  Find umbrella rigs here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 75 fish caught and released (26 white bass & a mixed bag of 49 panfish)

OBSERVATIONS:

1) The lake is still 1.87′ high, but the flow of water through the dam has decreased substantially.

2) The water looks like green/brown tea and is darker than usual.

3) All fish were taken in under 21′.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Here was the water temperature profile for Lake Belton, measured with a FishHawk TD device before sunrise on July 12 …

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:20A

End Time: 9:50A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 73F

Elevation: 1.87 feet high and falling with a 1083 cfs flow, resulting in a 0.25′ fall over the last 24 hours

Water Surface Temp: 86.1F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE5-8 all morning

Sky Condition: Hazy, cloudless skies

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 65% illumination.

GT = N/A