CLIENTS: On Monday morning, 23 June, I fished with first time guest, Torres Carr. Torres is a veteran, having retired from the U.S. Army as a non-commissioned officer and having spent most of his time as a combat engineer. Torres continued on after retirement to work as a contractor, most recently returning from Croatia. He told me he had almost given up on fishing until this morning because, after around 10 attempts from May this year to present, he just hasn’t been able to really find or catch fish with consistency.

TODAY’S DATE: Monday, 23 June 2025 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING:  Wednesday, 09 July (AM) 

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

 

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  U.S. Army veteran Torres Carr, originally from south Georgia, wore them out on topwater this morning, taking a total of 159 fish, 150 of which came on a Cork Rig fished aggressively on the surface for white bass which fed from ~6:35 to 9:10AM.

 

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

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

Today was one of those days which made it look easy to be a fishing guide. The fish were where I anticipated they would be, at the time I thought they’d be there, and eating what I thought they’d eat. We took a really hard look for top water action starting just a few minutes before sunrise. We spotted “nervous water“ soon thereafter, around 6:35 AM, and we’re able to stay on fish until about 9:10 AM when the white bass finally stopped feeding on mainly young of the year shad.

Over this span of time, we covered quite a bit of distance, keeping up with the white bass as they moved quickly across the surface. I ran the trolling motor as Torres sight cast to the nearest school of fish. I rigged Torres up with one of my custom-made Cork Rigs.  It casts long, stays tangle free, allows quick bait changeout when matching bait size, and features a single hook to make for quick releases so my clients can get casting again while the action lasts.

Up until the time the fish finally left the surface, he landed exactly 149 white bass and one largemouth bass. Although there were still a few fish on the surface here and there, I wanted to show Torres additional, effective summertime tactics.

We broke away from the white bass top water action, and I demonstrated downrigging, adding five more fish to our total.

After that, I demonstrated the smoking and sawtooth tactics using the MAL Heavy Lure. After Torres had the retrieves nailed down, we put the smoking retrieve to use in combination with the splasher and Garmin LiveScope to put a final three fish in the boat. By now we’ve been on the water four hours, and the fish were just about done.

Torres shared how his enthusiasm for fishing had been completely renewed based on what he saw and learned this morning. Our final tally was 159 fish caught and released.

 

OBSERVATIONS:

1. Uninterrupted 2 hours and 35 minutes of topwater frenzy with light (<7 mph) SE breeze and full, but thin, grey cloud cover.  Most YOY shad being fed upon, but several classes of adult shad were present, as well.

 

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:15A

End Time: 10:25A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 74F

Elevation: 2.26′ high with a 0.10′ fall in the last 24 hours w/ a release rate of ~1,600 CFS

Water Surface Temp: 83.4F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: Between SE5-10 all morning

Sky Condition: Full, but thin, grey cloud cover, clearing beginning around 9:40A.

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 4% illumination.

GT = 0

 

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