CLIENTS:  This morning, Thursday, June 5, I welcome to board a grandfather – granddaughter pair, Steve and Owen, age 9. Owen is visiting grandparents over the summer break from the Texas panhandle, and has, for the past few years, really looked forward to this summer fishing trip with her grandpa.

DATE: Thursday, 05 June 2025 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING:  12 June (AM) 

NEXT OPEN DATES FOR SONAR TRAINING: 12 July (AM)

 

PHOTO CAPTION:   During this “Kids Fish, Too!” trip, only Owen did the fishing while her grandpa Steve just helped me help her be successful.  She landed 81 fish all by herself, including white bass, a freshwater drum, and a mix of sunfish species.

 

PHOTO CAPTION: The MAL Heavy Lure continues to produce while being fished vertically through suspended white bass.

 

FIND LURES HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

I believe the very first question Owen asked when she got on the boat was, “Are we going to be able to fish for the little, tiny fish?“.

By this, she meant going up into the shallow water and fishing for sunfish as we have done in the past. With elementary-aged kids, this shallow water panfishing allows for the kind of instant gratification that it takes to get kids interested and keep their attention, as they’ve got to keep the rod in their hands and their eyes on the float and are rewarded for just a little bit of patience on a routine basis.

After landing a mixed bag of 15 sunfish of various species, the skies had begun to brighten and a little wind had begun to blow.

I suggested that we turn our sights on some larger fish in open water. We then began our pursuit of white bass. We found white bass at two distinct locations and wore out Owens right and left wrists by the time her 35th white bass came over the gunwale. These fish were taken using the MAL Heavy vertically with a “smoking” retrieve, aided by Garmin LiveScope in downward mode.

With 50 fish now landed and no strength left in her wrists, I proposed we go back to sunfishing in order to close the 24 fish gap between our current tally and her Summer 2024 catch.

We hit two different areas, one with aquatic vegetation, and the other with woody cover. The sunfish cooperated and allowed us to meet and then exceed her prior catch.

We wound up with an additional 31 sunfish for a grand total catch of 81 fish by the 3 1/2 hour mark.

It was about 10 or 11 minutes back to the boat ramp. Owen, with her knees on the lower deck and her head resting on the upper casting deck, actually fell asleep on the boat ride back in.

This was a “Kids Fish, Too!“ Trip just for children.  Steve just came to help me help Owen be successful, and that was certainly accomplished this morning.

 

OBSERVATIONS:

1. White bass are clearly disassociating from the bottom, choosing instead to suspend.
2. No bird action or topwater action spotted today.

 

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:45A

End Time: 10:15A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 74F

Elevation: 2.11′ low with a 0.03′ rise in the last 24 hours

Water Surface Temp: 81.2F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: Steady SSE5-7

Sky Condition: Hazy skies with full cloud coverage at trip’s start, decreasing to 50% white cloud cover by trip’s end.

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 74% illumination.

GT = 25

 

Wx SNAPSHOT: 

 

 

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