CLIENTS: On Thursday morning I welcomed back Mr. Stephen Simank and his granddaughter, Owen, who is down visiting from Lubbock before the new school year begins. The two came out with me for a summertime fishing trip last summer, and planned to fish with me before August’s heat kicked in, but flooding closed Lake Belton and prevented those original plans. I got to know Steve through his connection with Guns Plus in Georgetown — just an excellent family-owned business for hunting and shooting sports enthusiasts (see https://www.gunsplus.net/)
DATE: Thursday, 08 August 2024 (AM)
NEXT OPEN DATES: 14 & 15 Aug. (AM & PM)
PHOTO CAPTION: Owen landed this beautifully colored Lake Belton smallmouth bass in the opening minutes of our morning trip.
PHOTO CAPTION: Steve Simank and his 8 1/2 year-old granddaughter, Owen, with her best two white bass of the morning.
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED: Variety was the key to keeping Owen engaged this morning. We downrigged, then sunfished, then downrigged some more, then sunfished some more, and ended up with a third and final round of downrigging. The mid-morning white bass bite is very reliable with these hot, bright, windless conditions allowing for observation of where great numbers of shad are present.
Downrigging with a pair of ‘riggers, each equipped with three-armed umbrella rigs rigged with #12 Pet Spoons did the best job of imitating the small shad everything seems to be focused on. Doubles and triples were common.
LURES USED SUCCESSFULLY ON THIS TRIP: We downrigged with 3-armed umbrella rigs equipped with #12 & 13 Pet Spoons for white bass, and with fished live bait under floats for sunfish. Find umbrella rigs and MAL Lures here: https://whitebasstools.com/
TALLY: 70 fish caught and released, including 1 smallmouth bass, 31 sunfish, and 38 white bass
OBSERVATIONS:
1) “Popcorn” schools of small white bass chasing shad in open water seemed to be here, there, and everywhere, with topwater action peaking between 8:15 and 9:40 as the direct sun brought shad to the surface to feed on blooming algae.
2) These “popcorn” schools are moving so fast there is scarcely a way to get to them, cast, and retrieve before they disappear. Having a rod ready in case they pop up within casting distance is good for an occasional bonus fish.
LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:
Here was the water temperature profile for Lake Belton, measured with a FishHawk TD device around 5:50 AM on August 5 …
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 6:20A
End Time: 10A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 79F
Elevation: 0.04′ low falling slowly with a 33 cfs flow, resulting in a 0.03′ fall over the last 24 hours
Water Surface Temp: 88.4F on the surface.
Wind Speed & Direction: SE<5
Sky Condition: Cloudless blue sky
Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 15% illumination.
GT = 30
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
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