CLIENTS:  This morning was a continuation of the 13-month-long study comparing sizes and weights of white bass taken from Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir and Lake Belton.  Joining me to help collect fish by catching them with rod and reel was returning client Jimmie McCormack and a friend of his and first-time client of mine, Andrew Barnstable — both veterans having served in the U.S. Army’s Armor Branch.  The researchers aboard this morning included Professor Jason Locklin, Caroline Vanderburg, and Yessenia Edgecomb from Temple College.

ABOUT THE WHITE BASS STUDY:
Through April of 2026, researchers will be measuring and weighing the white bass captured by my clients to consider establish a baseline of fish quality on both lakes.  If you come out fishing with me to help collect these fish, you will get $50 deducted from your fee in exchange for allowing researchers to accompany your party on my boat.  We have designated one sampling day per lake, per month through April of 2026. We will still be catching and releasing all fish.

REMAINING OPEN DATES:

July 2025:                           17^th Thursday – Stillhouse – OPEN

August 2025:                    14^th Thursday – Belton – OPEN

September 2025:             20^th Saturday – Belton – Open

October 2025:                  18^th Saturday – Belton – OPEN

25^th Saturday – Stillhouse – OPEN

November 2025                8^th Saturday – Belton – OPEN

15^th Saturday – Stillhouse – OPEN

January 2026                    17^th Saturday – Belton – OPEN

February 2026                  14^th Saturday – Belton – OPEN

21 Saturday – Stillhouse – OPEN

March 2026                       11^th Wednesday – Belton – OPEN

12^th Thursday – Stillhouse – OPEN

April 2026                          15^th Wednesday – Belton – OPEN

16^th Thursday – Stillhouse – OPEN

DATE: Wednesday, 18 June 2025 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING:  23 June (AM) 

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

 

 

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Andrew Barnstable and Jimmie McCormack worked the downriggers early and the topwater late to collect a total of 108 fish this morning, 103 of which were white bass measured and weighed for the ongoing fisheries study by Temple College.

 

PHOTO CAPTION: LEFT SIDE: This shows our 15-gallon collection tub with four white bass which were just caught and awaiting “processing”. Note the “stuff” floating in the tub.  RIGHT SIDE:  The shot on the right is a closeup of the fish in the center of the tub and shows that “stuff” is actually the partially digested young-of-the-year shad these white bass were gorging on and then regurgitated in the tub.

 

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

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

The vast majority of Lake Belton’s white bass are suspended and focused on gorging on young-of-the-year shad.  I went into this morning’s trip prepared for vertical work, for downrigging, and for topwater action.

We started around 6:15 before the sun rose, looking for low-light, shallow-water topwater action.  We found very little, and the stiff breeze going 12-13 mph at this hour did not help the matter.  Jimmie picked up two on a Cork Rig, and that was it.

As the sun was rising through cloud cover, I moved to a windblown shoreline and graphed it with side-imaging.  We found a small school of fish, got on them, and tried working MAL Lures vertically, but the fish did not respond well.

Having seen this same thing on Stillhouse over the course of my last three trips there this week and last, I felt downrigging would fix the problem.

I headed to another windblown shoreline, observed bait and gamefish around 24 to 29 feet deep, and we got the ‘riggers going equipped with 3-armed umbrella rigs set up with #12 Pet Spoons.  This worked well, adding 29 more fish to our count, coming in as singles, doubles, and triples and keeping us busy until the sun brightened enough to get the open water topwater bite going.

Around 9A, we spotted the first inklings of topwater action and watched the activity rise, peak, and fall over the course of the next hour.  During this time we capitalized on what we were observing by putting Jimmie and Andrew to my left and right on my forward casting deck while I ran the trolling motor manually with the foot pedal from between them.  The extra elevation from the deck allowed for longer casts and better sighting conditions as we looked for “nervous water” in the chop brought on by the 14-15 mph wind.

I had them using “Cork Rigs” of my own design intended for just this situation.

Jimmie and Andrew took our fish count from 31 fish up to a final 108 fish by the time the topwater action died around 10A.  Their catch included 103 white bass, 3 short hybrid striped bass, and two largemouth bass.

 

OBSERVATIONS:

1. White bass are clearly disassociating from the bottom, choosing instead to suspend, focusing on young-of-the-year shad
2. Heavy winds made spotting early topwater action this morning difficult, but a mid-morning topwater bite developed once the sun shone for a while.

 

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:15A

End Time: 10:15A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 76F

Elevation: 3.44′ high with a 0.15′ fall in the last 24 hours thanks to a 1,100CFS release through the dam

Water Surface Temp: 82.3F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: S12 at sunrise, increasing steadily to S16 with gusts by trip’s end

Sky Condition: Variable cloud cover at 25 to 80% throughout the morning; white on a hazy blue sky

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 51% illumination.

GT = 10

 

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