CLIENTS: This morning, Tuesday, July 22, I conducted a “Kids Fish, Too! Trip for three kids, very capably chaperoned by their grandpa and grandma, Gary and Sherrie Delz. The three kids handling the rods this morning were Caroline Herrera, age 12, her brother, Luke Herrera, age 6, and their cousin, Dylan Delz, age 11.
To their credit, Gary & Sherrie prepared the kids for success by taking them down to a pond and making sure they were able to cast well the day before boarding the boat this morning.
TODAY’S DATE: Tuesday, 22 July 2025 (AM)
NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING: Monday, 04 August (AM)
NEXT OPEN DATES FOR SONAR TRAINING: 09 August (AM)
PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Gary and Dylan Delz, Caroline Herrera, Sherrie Delz, and Luke Herrera — three young anglers and their “grand” deckhands worked up a 11 fish catch under flooded conditions as Lake Belton stood 6.72 feet high following flooding which began on Independence Day weekend.
FIND CORK RIGS & OTHER WHITE BASS/HYBRID LURES HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:
Stable weather influenced by a high-pressure system sitting to the north and east of Texas kept our skies partly cloudy and winds sufficiently high to both ripple the water and keep the temperature tolerable for late July in Texas.
I had hoped for more topwater action this morning, especially since the moon is waning, but it did not really materialize. The kids picked up three fish on top water before the sun’s direct rays pushed those fish down and out away from the shallows for good.
As the sun was rising in the first hour of light, I found a group of fish holding fairly steady in about 22 feet of water. I Spot Locked the boat and had my clients cast out with MAL Heavy Lures and work these lures back with a sawtooth method. This put right at a dozen fish in the boat before those fish moved off, thanks to a careless boat getting too close to us, driving right over top of these fish, and spooking them.
From then on, we did nothing but downrig. The kids enjoyed it, and Gary and Sherrie both got the hang of helping them get the downriggers re-rigged after fish were caught, so we worked very efficiently and, in the end, wound up with a total catch of 111 fish Including 110 white bass and one largemouth bass.
There is really no way the kids would have landed that many without their grandparents’ help. If I had to watch the kids, unhook all the fish, undo all the tangles, and reset all the lines, those bait would not have spent near the amount of time in the water that they did.
The downrigging is hard to beat right now because, with the water temperature high, and fish metabolism high, these fish are moving very, very rapidly and frequently. Downrigging combined with well-tuned side-imaging helps me pinpoint where the fish are, then maneuver the boat to get to them before they have a chance to move off.
The downriggers were equipped with three-armed umbrella rigs terminated with #12 Pet Spoons.
RESULTS: 111 fish, all caught and released
TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW “SMOKE” AN MAL LURE VERTICALLY: Click here for tutorial
TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW TO FISH AN MAL LURE HORIZONTALLY USING THE SAWTOOTH METHOD: Click here for tutorial
OBSERVATIONS: Lake Belton is now 6.72′ high with a 0.34′ fall in the last 24 hours with USACE releasing 3037 CFS. Next to no topwater action this morning.
LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE: Taken around 6:15AM, Monday, 21 July …
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 6:35A
End Time: 10:05A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 75F
Elevation: 6.72′ high with a 0.34′ fall in the last 24 hours with USACE releasing 3037 CFS.
Water Surface Temp: 84.2F on the surface.
Wind Speed & Direction: S4 increasing to S10
Sky Condition: 50-60% white cloud cover on a hazy sky
Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 6% illumination.
GT = 50
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH MOST SUCCESS:
Area vic 527 – brief, sparse topwater yielded 3 fish on Cork Rigs
Area vic 2119 – sawtoothing MAL Heavy Lures for 12 fish
Area vic B0170C to 499 – 96 fish downrigging twin umbrellas, each with three #12 Pet Spoons, for singles, doubles and triples
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