This past Monday morning, July 25th, I fished with Mr. Leonard Myers, his son-in-law, Chris Talley, and Chris’s son, Dawson Talley. We fished Belton Lake targeting hybrid stripers with both artificial lures and live bait.
From left: Chris Talley, 5-year-old Dawson Talley, and Leonard “Papo” Myers with a pair of hybrid taken on slabs from out of 32 feet of water between 10:00 and 10:30am.
Chris Talley with a nice 2.25 pound smallmouth that fell for a sub-surface retrieve in the midst of a topwater feediing frenzy.
Leonard (whom the grandkids call “Papo”) is a small businessman who established and has built Hutto Pest Control over the past 5 years. Chris is from Arkansas and works as a biologist ensuring drinking water treatment plants stay in compliance with current regulations. Dawson, age 5, will be starting Kindergarten this year and already knows he wants to work at a Bass Pro Shops when he gets older.
Although a mild wrinkle in our weather is due in mid-week, this day’s weather was very much like the weather has been for at least the past two weeks, albeit with lighter winds. I met Leonard and crew around 6:20a, had lines in the water by 6:32a, and our first fish landed by 6:35a.
Today played out nearly exactly as my last half-dozen trips on Belton Lake have: we experienced an early, nearshore downrigger bite, followed by a top water bite, followed by a live bait bite when things slowed down, and concluded with a bite on slabs once a bit of wind began to ripple the surface.
Today, I transitioned to fishing with slabs right around 9:15 AM, and was concerned about our chances of success because by this time the wind had nearly gone calm after building to about 8 mph (the peak speed for this morning).
My concerns were unfounded, though, as the heavily schooled fish that have fueled this slab bite were still in the same vicinity and doing the same thing as they were under more breezy conditions previously.
Dawson really did great for a five-year-old, staying engaged the entire 4+ hours. Most kids his age last only about 2 1/2 or three hours and then lose attention, and then begin to get whiny about one thing or another.
As we wrapped up just after 10:30a today, “Papo” put our 80th and final fish in the boat.
TALLY = 80 fish, all caught and released
Wx Snapshot:
TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 6:20a
End Time: 10:35a
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 82F
Water Surface Temp: 85.6F
Wind Speed & Direction: SSE3-5
Sky Conditions: 80% high grey cloud cover kept warmth in overnight and provided a bit of relief from the sun’s heat on this morning with light winds
Water Level: 13.23 feet high and falling ~ 0.6 feet per day with a flow of ~5,300 cfs
GT = 195
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area 020-1746 downrigging for low light fish just sub-surface
**Area 1762 to the shore – casting to fish schooling on the surface
**Area 1793 live bait & slabbing
Bob Maindelle
Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service
254.368.7411 (call or text)
Website:www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
E-mail:Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle