CLIENTS: This past Thursday evening, August 28, I fished a multi-generation trip with James Long, his son Casey Batley, and Casey’s five-year-old son, John “Bear” Batley.  James is retired from law enforcement in Southern California, and Casey has just assumed leadership for the University of Mary-Hardin Baylor’s ROTC program.

 

TODAY’S DATE: Thursday, 28 August 2025 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING:  Friday, 05 September (AM) 

 

 

PHOTO CAPTION:   From left: Casey Batley, John “Bear” Batley (age 5), and James Long with a few of the 43 fish they caught and released in three hours’ time on a toasty, late-August evening fishing trip on Lake Belton.

 

FIND CORK RIGS, SANDY SANDWICHES & OTHER WHITE BASS/HYBRID LURES HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

Although James does a good bit of saltwater fishing on the big boats heading out of Southern California into the Pacific, and some fly fishing out west, he was not familiar with the approach we took today for sunfish and white bass.

His main goal was to have me introduce his son and grandson to a form of fishing they could do together in this area.  Due to schedules, an evening trip turned out to be the best option for this crew.

Knowing that a five year-old was not likely to make a full four hours, especially in the August heat, we whittled this trip down to three hours, devoting the first half to “instant gratification” fishing up shallow for sunfish, then focusing on bigger game in the last half of the trip by targeting white bass with downriggers.

Our pursuit of panfish up shallow produced 15 fish on our first stop and another six on our second before the novelty of that wore off with my youngest guest. After enjoying some snacks and drinks, we retooled for the second half of the trip and got into white bass right away. We set up with twin downriggers, each equipped with three-armed umbrella rigs terminated with #12 Pet Spoons. We landed singles, doubles, and triples for a catch of 22 fish, wrapping up at sunset right around 8:10 PM. Of these 22 fish, 19 were keeper-sized white bass, with two hybrid stripers, and a single largemouth bass, all released in good condition.

I am very hopeful the series of cold fronts due in beginning tomorrow bringing rain, clouds, and lower temperatures over the next 10 days will be the trigger we need to break the back on this tough summer fishing. Only time will tell.

 

OBSERVATIONS: Belton is now 0.18′ high with a 0.06 fall in the last 24 hours with USACE releasing 337 CFS.

 

 

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:  Taken around 6:15AM, Monday, 25 August …

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 5:15P

End Time: 8:10P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 94F

Elevation: 0.18′ high with a 0.06 fall in the last 24 hours with USACE releasing 337 CFS.

Water Surface Temp: 87.8F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction:  SE5-7

Sky Condition: <10% white cloud cover on a hazy sky

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 27% illumination.

GT = 80

 

Wx SNAPSHOT:  N/A

 

 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH MOST SUCCESS:

 

Area B0163C – 15 panfish on bait/floats

Area 492- 6 panfish on bait/floats

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