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

CLIENTS: On Wednesday evening I welcomed back Wes Stearns and his son, Knox.  Accompanying the Stearns were father and son team Rudy and Jaxen Yepez.  On this particular trip, only the boys did the catching, while the dads helped by keeping the downriggers rigged to maximize our fishing time.

DATE: Wednesday, 07 August 2024 (PM)

NEXT OPEN DATES:  14 & 15 Aug. (AM & PM)

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left: Knox Stearns and Jaxen Yepez with some sunset white bass they landed on this evening’s Lake Belton fishing trip — likely their last fishing trip before going back to school next week.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:  This turned out to be the hottest day of the year thus far, and, to add insult to injury, we had hardly any wind, so, we really felt that heat soaking in.  For this reason, I shaved a half-hour off of my normal 3.5 hour duration for kids-only trips, and we fished from 5:45 to 8:45.  We downrigged for all but the final thirty minutes, pickup up singles, doubles, and triples of white bass of all sizes, from 4.5 inches up to 13.5 inches.

Even the small fish showed a preference for the #13 Pet Spoon.

Once side-imaging revealed fish beginning to move shallow in strong numbers right at sunset, we pulled up the ‘riggers, Spot-Locked, and cast MAL Originals with chartreuse tails using the sawtooth method to finish out the trip.

LURES USED SUCCESSFULLY ON THIS TRIP:  We downrigged with 3-armed umbrella rigs equipped with #12 & 13 Pet Spoons.  We fished MAL Originals with a “sawtooth method”.  Find umbrella rigs and MAL Lures here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 48 fish caught and released, including 1 largemouth bass, 1 freshwater drum, and 46 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.

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: 5:45P

End Time: 8:50P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 101F

Elevation: Lake Belton hit normal conservation level today and is falling slowly with a 33 cfs flow, resulting in a 0.01′ 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 9% illumination.

GT = 55

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

CLIENTS: This morning I conducted the 19th “S.K.I.F.F.” trip of the 2024 season, welcoming aboard Randall and Robert Pierce, the sons of U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Randall Pierce and his wife, Gabbie.  SSG Pierce, like many soldiers at Ft. Cavazos, has not been home much lately.  He just completed field time, is now at gunnery with his tank crew, then heads right out to the National Training Center at Ft. Irwin, followed by an Army school for professional development after that.

ABOUT SKIFF:  SKIFF trips have been provided to military families at no charge since May of 2009.  SKIFF is funded by donations from Austin Fly Fishers, The McBride Foundation, & Austin Subaru.  S.K.I.F.F. provides kids of military members separated from their families by duty commitments with the opportunity to fish.  SKIFF trips are also provided to Gold Star families who have lost their service member.  In mid-2019, SKIFF began providing trips to kids of bona fide disabled veterans.  I conduct these 3.5 hour adventures on Belton Lake and Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir year ’round.  Call or text 254.368.7411.

DATE: Wednesday, 07 August 2024 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATES:  14 & 15 Aug. (AM & PM)

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left: Randall (9) and Robert (6) Pierce proudly display part of their 74-fish catch before releasing them to fight again.  The boys were treated to a free fishing trip during a time of separation from their father, SSG Randall Pierce, who is stationed at Fort Cavazos and has served since 2019.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:  The weather was still hot and dry, but, we managed a bit of an easterly breeze this morning which stirred up some “popcorn” schooling action by white bass and gave us some clues as to where to find bait and fish.

The boys landed 15 fish via downrigging under low-light conditions, then “smoked” vertically with MAL Mini lures for 4 more fish before we changed it up and headed up shallow for some panfishing.  We closed out the trip with a final round of downrigging.  This final effort from about 8:45 to 10 was the most productive, yielding multiple singles, multiple doubles, and multiple triples as we match lure size to bait size with the #12 Pet Spooon.

LURES USED SUCCESSFULLY ON THIS TRIP:  We downrigged with 3-armed umbrella rigs equipped with #12 & 13 Pet Spoons.  We fished MAL Minis vertically with a smoking tactic, and we used live bait under slipfloats for panfish up shallow.  Find umbrella rigs and MAL Lures here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 74 fish caught and released.

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.

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: 6:15A

End Time: 10:00A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 79F

Elevation: Lake Belton hit normal conservation level today and is falling slowly with a 33 cfs flow, resulting in a 0.01′ fall over the last 24 hours

Water Surface Temp: 87.2F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: E3 or less all morning

Sky Condition: Cloudless blue sky

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 9% illumination.

GT = N/A

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

CLIENTS: This morning I fished with first-time guest Al Edwards from the San Antonio area.  He chaperoned his grandson, 11-year-old Zach Holbrook, who is visiting for the summer from the “wine country” of Oregon, in the Willamette River valley.  This was a “Kids Fish, Too!” trip, so, only Zach did the fishing.

DATE: Tuesday, 06 August 2024 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATES:  14 & 15 Aug. (AM & PM)

PHOTO CAPTION:  With the Lake Belton waterfall as a backdrop, I took this photo of Al Edwards and his 11-year-old grandson, Zach Holbrook, with a few of the white bass Zach landed under tough, windless conditions.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:  With very hot, dry, high-pressure weather sitting right on top of Central Texas, there was no wind all morning.  This typically does not bode well for white bass fishing, and, this morning was no exception.  There was a weak low-light bite through around 7:50A, then it got to be like pulling teeth.  I began not “feeling the love” early on, so, after we capitalized on the low-light bite via downrigging with Pet Spoons, and then gave smoking MAL Minis a try with little success, I switched Zach over to panfishing in shallow water to keep the fish coming over the side without much time going by between fish.

With 40 fish under his belt by around 9:30, we started heading back the way we came, but, I told him I’d like to try one area to see if we could land a double or a triple (2 or 3 fish landed simultaneously on downrigged 3-armed umbrella rigs).  I changed all the baits over to small, #12 Pet Spoons and we go down to business.  First fish was a single, next fish was a single, then a triple, then another single, followed by a double and two more singles.  Ten fish to round out the morning, all taken in about 20 minutes’ time.

LURES USED SUCCESSFULLY ON THIS TRIP:  We downrigged with 3-armed umbrella rigs equipped with #12 & 13 Pet Spoons.  We fished MAL Minis vertically, and we live bait under slipfloats for panfish up shallow.  Find umbrella rigs and MAL Lures here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 50 fish caught and released.

OBSERVATIONS:

1) Hot, dry, high pressure weather led to windless conditions and tough white bass action today.

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: 6:10A

End Time: 10:10A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 78F

Elevation: 0.04 feet high and falling slowly with a 33 cfs flow, resulting in a 0.03′ fall over the last 24 hours

Water Surface Temp: 87.2F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: Calm all morning

Sky Condition: Cloudless blue sky

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 4% illumination.

GT = 20

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

CLIENTS: This morning I fished with first-time guest Bob Keith of Georgetown, TX, who chaperoned his two grandsons, Keith (11) and Ben Freeman (8), who live near Denton, TX.  Although Bob did not fish, but instead helped me help the boys be successful, he did closely observe how I made use of my Humminbird Apex networked to a Minn Kota Ulterra.  He has a similar Humminbird Solix which he admitted he is not getting the full potential out of.  We agreed an on-the-water-sonar training session is in order when the weather cools a bit.

DATE: Monday, 05 August 2024 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATES:  14 & 15 Aug. (AM & PM)

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left: Keith Freeman, Mr. Bob Keith, and Ben Freeman with 6 of the 64 fish the boys landed on Lake Belton as August turns hot and dry.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED: This week started like last week ended thanks to a return to hot, dry, high pressure weather after a brief wrinkle passed over Saturday and Sunday in the form of a mild cold front bringing some cloud cover and a light northerly breeze.  The best fishing for quality fish took place in the first 80 minutes of daylight and came by covering lots of water with downriggers as these fish actively hunted in water from 12 to 26 feet deep.

After that, we found smaller, but abundant, white bass on an underwater spur in about 22 feet of water after striking out at two other locations.  The boys worked through the learning curve of getting their MAL Mini blades to spin as close to bottom as possible, and wound up boating another 24 fish this way.

The white bass fishing began to wane around 9:30, so we put in another 40 minutes up shallow in pursuit of panfish.  The boys used poles with bait and slipfloats to land another 14 panfish.  Their tally for the morning totaled 64 fish landed.

LURES USED SUCCESSFULLY ON THIS TRIP:  We downrigged with 3-armed umbrella rigs equipped with #13 Pet Spoons.  We fished MAL Minis vertically, and we live bait under slipfloats for panfish up shallow.  Find umbrella rigs and MAL Lures here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 64 fish caught and released.

OBSERVATIONS:

1) Two days of topwater actions occurred over the weekend, esp. on Saturday, as a very mild cold front moved over; there was an uptick in topwater action today as compared with last week, but not to the level of what took place over the weekend.

2) Better quality fish were holding tight to bottom and came in the first 80 minutes after first light.

3) USACE stopped running water through the dam for the first time since May’s flooding on 26 July; since then fish have been more likely to use bottom, and have begun using bottom at greater depths versus when a high flow was running.

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: 6:10A

End Time: 10:10A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 78F

Elevation: 0.10 feet high and falling slowly with a 33 cfs flow, resulting in a 0.04′ fall over the last 24 hours

Water Surface Temp: 87.2F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: Light and variable all morning, under 3mph

Sky Condition: Wispy white clouds at under 10% on a blue sky

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 1% illumination.

GT = 105

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

CLIENTS: This Friday morning I fished with Brad Massey (U.S. Army retired) and his adult daughter, Avery, who is making a go of it in the Central Texas real estate industry.  Both came out with me for the first time this spring to both catch fish AND to learn my approach to targeting hybrid striped bass using live shad.  It was Brad’s intention on this morning’s trip to see what summertime tactics are required for consistency in June, July, August, and into September.

DATE: 02 August 2024 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATES:  15 Aug. (AM & PM)

PHOTO CAPTION:    Brad Massey and his daughter, Avery, caught and released 160 fish on the morning of August 2.  This was the best result my clients have enjoyed since the start of the flooding and the resulting recovery from it, going back to mid-May.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:  Fishing continued to be pretty solid by summertime standards. There was a reliable downrigger bite from first light and for about an hour hence. During that time we landed 10 legal white bass in under 20 feet of water prior to sunrise.  As the sun rose, and shortly thereafter, we moved out to the 20 to 32 foot mark and continued downrigging, adding an additional 40 fish to the count. 12 of these were short.

After this dried up, we changed tactics and began to find bottom-oriented schools of fish which we could Spot-Lock on top of, keep consolidated with the splasher, and fish vertically for. We alternated presentations between MAL Minis and MAL Originals with chartreuse tails, depending on fish preference as observed on Garmin LiveScope.

We caught at three different areas in this manner, taking our count up to 103 fish. We made one final move and I was anticipating finding additional small fish, but we were pleasantly surprised that quality fish were using this area. I Spot-Locked in 26 feet of water and we had abundant fish out to our port side and beneath the boat. I directed Brad and Avery to use MAL Originals with a sawtooth method to catch those fish we saw within a cast length out to the port side of the boat as I kept an eye on Garmin LiveScope in downward mode. They did well fishing horizontally, adding bonus fish to our tally whenever a good group of fish moved under the boat. Those fish directly beneath the boat were caught with a smoking tactic.

Things begin to get pretty quiet around 10:30 AM. With 160 fish now landed, we called it a good morning and headed out.

LURES USED SUCCESSFULLY ON THIS TRIP:  We downrigged with 3-armed umbrella rigs equipped with #13 Pet Spoons.  We fished MAL Originals and MAL Minis vertically, and we used MAL Originals with a sawtooth method to fish horizontally for fish we saw staying put on side imaging.  Find umbrella rigs and MAL Lures here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 160 fish caught and released.

OBSERVATIONS:

1) Still not much topwater action observed.

2) Better quality fish were holding tight to bottom.

3) USACE stopped running water through the dam for the first time since May’s flooding on 26 July; since then fish have been more likely to use bottom, and have begun using bottom at greater depths versus when a high flow was running.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Here was the water temperature profile for Lake Belton, measured with a FishHawk TD device around 6:15AM on July 25 …

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:10A

End Time: 10:30P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 78F

Elevation: 0.30 feet high and falling slowly with a 33cfs flow, resulting in a 0.04′ fall over the last 24 hours

Water Surface Temp: 85.4F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: S9-10 through 9:30, with an abrupt shift to SW9-10 thereafter

Sky Condition: Wispy white clouds at 15% on a blue sky

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 4% illumination.

GT = 5

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

CLIENTS: After fishing with Joe Oliver‘s oldest son, Corey, and his kids just after Lake Belton reopened in early July, we worked in this trip for Joe’s daughter, Amber Pugh, and her three kids, Ben, Beau, and Addie, just days before they head back to school in Academy, Texas.

DATE: 01 August 2024 (PM)

NEXT OPEN DATES:  15 Aug. (AM & PM)

PHOTO CAPTION:   From left: Addie, Amber, & Beau Pugh, Joe Oliver, and Ben Pugh with a portion of their 48-fish haul taken in just two hours on a hot, dry July evening on Lake Belton, Texas.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED: We kept this trip short, fishing only two hours from about 6:20 PM to 8:20 PM. We started later than usual because this is when the evening bite has been kicking in, thus we got right down to fish catching and avoided a hot, fishless wait by not starting any earlier than necessary. We did wrap up a bit earlier than I normally would, as Addie was starting to wane. Normally we’d have fished another 25 minutes or so until dark.

LURES USED SUCCESSFULLY ON THIS TRIP:  We downrigged with 3-armed umbrella rigs equipped with #13 Pet Spoons.  Find umbrella rigs and MAL Lures here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 48 fish caught and released, including: 42 legal white bass, 5 short white bass, and 1 freshwater drum

OBSERVATIONS:

1) Still not much topwater action observed.

2) Better quality fish were holding tight to bottom.

3) USACE stopped running water through the dam for the first time since May’s flooding on 26 July; since then fish have been more likely to use bottom, and have begun using bottom at greater depths versus when a high flow was running.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Here was the water temperature profile for Lake Belton, measured with a FishHawk TD device around 6:15AM on July 25 …

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:20P

End Time: 8:20P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 95F

Elevation: 0.34 feet high and falling slowly with a 33cfs flow, resulting in a 0.05′ fall over the last 24 hours

Water Surface Temp: 87.3F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: S10 all evening

Sky Condition: Wispy white clouds at 15% on a blue sky

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 9% illumination.

GT = 80

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

CLIENTS: This past Wednesday morning, July 31, I conducted the 2024 season’s 18th “SKIFF” (Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun) trip.  Joining me were Mrs. Brandy Klutse who chaperoned her own two children, Marianna (13) and Bryson (10), as well as Bryson’s friend, Dexter Daily (12).  According to Bryson, the boys met while playing outside one day when both families were stationed at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.  As fate would have it, the Army shipped both families to Fort Cavazos, and the boys were able to continue their friendship here.

ABOUT SKIFF:  SKIFF trips have been provided to military families at no charge since May of 2009.  SKIFF is funded by donations from Austin Fly Fishers, The McBride Foundation, & Austin Subaru.  S.K.I.F.F. provides kids of military members separated from their families by duty commitments with the opportunity to fish.  SKIFF trips are also provided to Gold Star families who have lost their service member.  In mid-2019, SKIFF began providing trips to kids of bona fide disabled veterans.  I conduct these 3.5 hour adventures on Belton Lake and Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir year ’round.  Call or text 254.368.7411.

DATE: 31 July 2024 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATES:  07 Aug. (AM), 15 Aug. (AM & PM)

PHOTO CAPTION:   From left:   Marianna & Bryson Klutse, and Dexter Daily with a few of the Lake Belton white bass they caught as their summer vacation begins to wind down.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED: Thanks to high pressure sitting atop Central Texas, we’ve had very stable, “cookie-cutter” weather for the past several days, hence, fish are now doing the same things, at the same times, in the same places day by day.  This is further enhanced by the lack of flow through the lake now that USACE has stopped releasing flood water from May’s heavy rains.  The kids caught fish via downrigging with #13 Pet Spoons early, then, after sunrise, we caught congregated fish in ~22-26 feet of water using a smoking tactic with the smallest MAL Lure I make — the MAL Mini.  The trick is ensuring the blade is spinning right from the very start of the retrieve, which can be a bit of a learning curve for those unfamiliar.  I’ve found the a very short snap of the rod tip done just as the spinning reel’s handle is starting to turn is a sure-fire way to get that blade spinning.  Being sure to remove all slack from the line also aids greatly.  T

LURES USED SUCCESSFULLY ON THIS TRIP:  We downrigged with 3-armed umbrella rigs equipped with #13 Pet Spoons. We fished MAL Minis vertically using a smoking tactic.  Find umbrella rigs and MAL Lures here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 110 fish caught and released, including: 108 white bass and 2 hybrid striped bass.

OBSERVATIONS:

1) Wind and cloud cover kept low-light topwater action suppressed this morning.

2) Better quality fish were holding tight to bottom.

3) USACE stopped running water through the dam for the first time since May’s flooding on 26 July; since then fish have been more likely to use bottom, and have begun using bottom at greater depths versus when a high flow was running.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Here was the water temperature profile for Lake Belton, measured with a FishHawk TD device around 6:15AM on July 25 …

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:10A

End Time: 9:50A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 79F

Elevation: 0.39 feet high and falling slowly with a 33cfs flow, resulting in a 0.06′ fall over the last 24 hours

Water Surface Temp: 85.1F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: S12-15 all morning

Sky Condition: Partly cloudy with 60% white-grey cloud cover on a white sky

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 16% illumination.

GT = N/A

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