Bob Maindelle | Fishing Report

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

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SERVING THOSE WHO SERVE — 54 FISH @ BELTON

October 9th, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Columbus Day, October 9, I conducted the season’s seventh SKIFF trip, treating Miss Aaliyah Smith (age 9) to both her first-ever fishing trip, and her first-ever boat ride.

Aaliyah‘s uncle, Daniel, is her father figure with whom she resides. Daniel Roybal is a Staff Sergeant (E-6) in the US Army, serving with the 2–12 Cavalry “Thunderhorse” unit on Fort Cavazos. He is currently separated from his family on assignment at a truck driver training course. SSG Roybal has been in the military for 10 years.

Aaliyah was accompanied by Daniel’s wife, Dyana Roybal — Aaliyah’s aunt.

ABOUT SKIFF: This fishing trip, like all SKIFF trips, was provided to this military family at no charge. This program began in May of 2009. It is funded by the donations and fundraising efforts of the Austin Fly Fishers and other organizations they have partnered with, namely The McBride Foundation and Subaru. S.K.I.F.F. provides the children of military personnel separated from their families due to duty commitments with the opportunity to go fishing. SKIFF trips are also provided, free of charge, to Gold Star families who have lost their service member while he or she was on active duty. In mid-2019, SKIFF also began providing trips to dependents whose parents are bona fide disabled veterans. I coordinate and conduct these 3.5 hour adventures on Belton Lake and Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir, just outside the gates of Fort Cavazos in Bell County, TX, year ’round. Call or text 254.368.7411.

Here is how the fishing went…

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Here’s an up-to-date calendar so you can check availability: https://holdingthelineguideservice.com/available-dates.php

Next available dates are Oct. 12 (AM and PM), 23, & 24

PHOTO CAPTION: Smallmouth bass like this one, as well as largemouth bass and hybrid stripers were mixed in on this morning’s topwater feeding. The Cork Rig with a streamer selected to match the forage produced well.

PHOTO CAPTION: Triple!! These three white bass all hit Aaliyah’s three-armed umbrella rig simultaneously right around 10:30A as we were wrapping us, allowing us to end the trip on a positive note!

PHOTO CAPTION: We took the majority of our catch — 32 white bass and 2 drum — by smoking the MAL Heavy Lure (with white tail) upwards off the bottom aided by Garmin LiveScope.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday, 09 October 2023

HOW WE FISHED:

Despite it being both Columbus Day and the first day of a weeklong fall break for the nearby Killeen Independent School District, the lake had very light traffic this morning. We fished a full 3.5 hours from 7 AM through 10:30 AM and only saw a handful of other boat, all of which kept a courteous distance from us.

From around 7:20 and until right at 9:00, a light topwater bite took place. The gamefish were schooled together in small wolf packs and were herding shad to the surface and feeding on them briefly here, there, and everywhere over about a half-mile span.

It was interesting to note that of the 16 fish we landed during this time, half were other than white bass. Our catch included three largemouth bass, one smallmouth bass, and four short hybrid stripers, along with 8 legal white bass. All of these fish were taken on a Cork Rig with a streamer selected to match the size of the forage.

As the sun brightened and the wind speed stayed low, the topwater action tapered to an end by 9A. Having taken a temperature reading at 5 foot intervals to the bottom in 50 feet this morning, I saw that these past several days with air temperatures less than the lake’s surface temperature had a significant cooling effect on the temperature profile. Noting where the thermal break was this morning at 35 feet, I took a look on a few bottom features where the bottom was at that 35-foot depth or just a bit shallower.

The very first location I searched was loaded down with white bass. Aaliyah and I stood side-by-side on the starboard gunwale and smoked MAL Heavy Lures with white tails from the bottom upwards through these fish which were in a 5 foot thick band in the lowest part of the water column.

We took our fish count from 16 up to 50 in just under an hour’s time. Were it not for Aaliyah‘s hand and wrist getting tired, we would likely have stayed on those fish through the end of the trip.

Instead, I wrapped up the trip by introducing her to downrigging. We moved to another location and looked in the same favorable depth band and found another, albeit, much more sparsely organized, group of fish to downrig for.

We used a single, three1armed umbrella rig equipped with #13 Pet Spoons with prismatic silver tape, and yellow tails, and used the downrigger on bottom-tracking to keep the baits about 3 feet off of bottom, regardless of the bottom’s contour.

We picked up a single white bass, continued trolling, and as we did, spotted a large group of whites holding tight to the bottom, as viewed on the portside side-imaging.

I waypointed these fish, and then U-turned to go back over them with the downrigger. This resulted in a triple– – Aaliyah caught three fish simultaneously on one rod. It was now right at 10:30 and we decided to end then on that positive note.

Our tally for the morning was 54 fish all caught and released. That count included three largemouth bass, one smallmouth bass, four hybrid striped bass, two freshwater drum, and 44 white bass of which 43 were of legal size.

TALLY: 54 fish caught and released.

Find the Cork Rig & MAL Lure here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS: As of ~6P on Friday, 06 Oct., the air temp. dropped below the surface temp. of Lake Belton, and then stayed below the water temp. until around noon today, Monday, 09 Oct. — that is the longest cooling spell we’ll have had to date and has gotten things moving along toward turnover!!

Shown below is the water temperature profile this morning (09 Oct.) versus last Monday (02 Oct.):

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7A

End Time: 10:30A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 63F

Elevation: 18.77 feet low, 47 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 76.6F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: SW0-4 all morning

Sky Condition: Clear, post-frontal “bluebird” skies

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 24% illumination.

GT = N/A

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area vic B0220G thru BHYD07 – 16 fish sight-casting with Cork Rigs

Area 1290 – 34 fish smoking MAL Heavies

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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

ROOKIES NO MORE!!! — 61 Fish w/ the Pokluda Boys

October 7th, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Saturday, 07 Oct., I fished a “Kids Fish, Too!” trip with the Pokluda family from just outside of Waco.

Both Texas natives, Skylar works in medical software sales, and Craig is self-employed running his own land/brush clearing & mulching business; see: https://www.pokludalandservicesllc.com/

Parents come with the mindset of helping me help the kids be successful, and the parents of Wilder (age 6) and Rawley (age 4) did just that. Craig and Skylar made sure the boys were well-dressed for the cool, breezy morning, and played a huge roll in seeing to it that the boys’ first experience in fishing from a boat went well.

Here is how the fishing went…
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Here’s an up-to-date calendar so you can check availability: https://holdingthelineguideservice.com/available-dates.php

Next available dates are Oct. 11-12 (AM), Oct. 12 (PM)

PHOTO CAPTION: Back row: Craig and Skylar help their boys (from left), Wilder (6) and Rawley (4) hoist two of the 61 fish the boys reeled in this morning before both the fish and the boys gave out around 9AM. These 19″ hybrid were 2 of the 7 hybrid the boys caught, with the others not quite reaching the 18″ mark yet.

PHOTO CAPTION: As the incoming cold front’s northerly winds built to a peak, the fishing really took off this morning with gamefish really charging hard after bait in quite a number of areas. We saw even more action than we could get to and fish!

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Saturday, 07 October 2023

HOW WE FISHED:

The fishing was pretty straight-forward this morning. We downrigged for a very short while as the fish were getting going, allowing us a triple for Wilder and a single for Rawley. Once it brightened a bit, we observed osprey and blue heron action atop surface-feeding fish which were very difficult to distinguish in the chop and whitecapping waves created by the stiff north wind. The action was so well-disguised that numerous weekend anglers simply cruised right by it.

Once we saw a solid school of fish pushing shad to the surface, I used the outboard to get within about 80-100 yards, then used the trolling motor only to close the final gap upwind of the fish, then placed the trolling motor on Spot-Lock.

Craig and I cast Cork Rigs to the fish downwind to extend our casting range and keep a buffer between the fish and the boat to avoid spooking them. These Cork Rigs were equipped with hand-tied streamers I selected to exactly match the size of the nearly fully grown threadfin shad the white bass and hybrids were gorging on.

Craig and I worked the baits, hooked the fish, and then handed the hooked fish off to the boys to reel in as they enjoyed the fight. With the high winds and the boys’ zero prior experience, this was the extent to which I felt the boys could safely participate and strike a balance between engagement and success.

The fish we were on left the surface and began to wind down around 8:50AM. By 9AM, I had downriggers back down for a short while to “mop up”, allowing us a final two additional fish before the fish shut off. By this point, the boys had both had about all the fishing they could take in one dose. Craig and Skylar wisely concurred that it was time to wrap it up.

Of the 61 fish landed today, 3 were legal-sized largemouth up to 2.75 pound, 2 were legal-sized hybrid at 19″, 5 were sub-legal hybrid, and the remaining 51 were legal-sized white bass.

TALLY: 61 fish caught and released.

Find the Cork Rig here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS: As of ~6P on Friday, 06 Oct., the air temp. dropped below the surface temp. of Lake Belton, and is forecast to stay below the water temp. until around noon on Monday, 09 Oct. — that is the longest cooling spell we’ll have had to date and will get things moving along toward turnover!!

The water temperature profile shown below was taken on 02 Oct.

0 feet, 81.5F
5 feet, 82.6F
10 feet, 82.9F
15 feet, 82.9F
20 feet, 82.6F
25 feet, 81.7F
30 feet, 81.1F
35 feet, 78.8F
40 feet, 71.6F
45 feet, 66.8F
50 feet, 64.9F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:55A

End Time: 9:15A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 63F

Elevation: 18.65 feet low, 47 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 80.1F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: NNE 14-17 all morning with higher gusts in the first hour

Sky Condition: Wispy white cloud cover at 25% on a blue sky

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 41% illumination.

GT = 70

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area vic 1171 – 4 fish downrigging with Pet Spoons

Area vic B0200C – 26 fish sight-casting with Cork Rigs

Area from vic B0191G to 1,000 feet upstream from there – 29 fish sight-casting with Cork Rigs, then 2 final fish on downriggers

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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Alpha Troop, 1/9 CAV … Present … Fish!!! — 43 Fish w/ Vietnam Vets

October 4th, 2023October 4th, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Wednesday, 04 October, I fished with three Army buddies, all Vietnam veterans in their mid-70s, and all Army aviators who flew with Alpha Troop, 1/9 Cavalry.

Rick Pierce (Alabama) , Ted Currier (Pennsylvania), and Mike White (North Carolina) all either flew or drove in from out of state to gather near Fort Cavazos with about 50 other service members from their unit (not including family members) for a military reunion formally celebrated together this coming Saturday.

A fourth friend, George Abernathy, originally coordinated this trip, but a knee replacement prevented his attendance this year.

In years past, the men have had a “friendly competition” in which a big fish trophy goes home with the winner. So, this morning, everyone was bent on landing the largest (longest) fish of the trip.

Here is how the fishing went…
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Here’s an up-to-date calendar so you can check availability: https://holdingthelineguideservice.com/available-dates.php

Next available dates are Oct. 11-12 (AM), Oct. 12 (PM)

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Rick Pierce, Mike White, and Ted Currier. Although the picture doesn’t do it justice because Mike is standing a bit further back than the others, his 17″ bluecat eclipsed the other 42 fish length-wise, thus ensuring the “Big Fish Trophy” will reside at his house until next year’s reunion.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday, 04 October 2023

HOW WE FISHED:

This morning’s murky skies got things off to a slow start and really caused the topwater action to scale back substantially versus what we saw earlier this week, in fact, we only saw two brief episodes of topwater action all morning.

So, with topwater essentially off the table, we searched for schools of bottom-oriented white bass and found them in 20-27 feet of water in the lower third of the water column.

Only two areas produced any numbers of fish for us, with the best run of the morning coming around 10A to 10:40A (a good bit later than during our recent run of cloudless days).

When the fish fired up, they came hard after the MAL Heavies with white tails I had tied on for everyone. The men “smoked” these from the bottom upwards, aided by Garmin LiveScope so they would know when to keep reeling as fish chased their lures upwards.

I did a bit of downrigging whenever I spotted more scattered fish on flatter terrain, but that only produced a spattering of fish this morning.

I suspect we’ll not see consistent fishing now until turnover takes place. With an extended run of cool mornings and the promise of an abundance of rain later this week, we may see turnover by mid-month. Folks, it can’t come soon enough!

Of the 43 fish landed today, 2 were bluecats, 1 was a freshwater drum, and the remaining 40 were white bass.

TALLY: 43 fish caught and released.

Find the Cork Rig & MAL Lures here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS: The water temperature profile shown below was taken on 02 Oct.

0 feet, 81.5F
5 feet, 82.6F
10 feet, 82.9F
15 feet, 82.9F
20 feet, 82.6F
25 feet, 81.7F
30 feet, 81.1F
35 feet, 78.8F
40 feet, 71.6F
45 feet, 66.8F
50 feet, 64.9F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:15A

End Time: 11:45A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 77F

Elevation: 18.55 feet low, 47 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 81.1F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE6-10 all morning

Sky Condition: 70% grey cloud cover on a white sky.

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 70% illumination.

GT = 75

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area vic 2029 – Smoked MAL Heavies

Area vic 1411 – Smoked MAL Heavies

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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

MORE SPEED THAN POP, PLEASE — 130 FISH @ BELTON

October 2nd, 2023October 2nd, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Monday, October 2, after a bit of a hiatus to do some traveling, see friends and family, and get some projects around the house knocked out, I returned to the water to host Marcus Mitchell and his buddy, Mike Owens. Marcus has been coming out with me now for many years and Michael was a first timer aboard my boat this morning.

Here is how the fishing went…
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Here’s an up-to-date calendar so you can check availability: https://holdingthelineguideservice.com/available-dates.php

Next available dates are Oct. 9-12 (AM), Oct. 12 (PM)

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Mike Owens and Marcus Mitchell with a few of the 130 fish they landed primarily via topwater sight-casting. Their catch included white bass, hybrid striped bass, and largemouth bass.

PHOTO CAPTION: This is how I construct the Cork Rig which worked so well today. The key is selecting a bait which closely matches the size of the forage the fish are feeding upon.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday, 02 October 2023

HOW WE FISHED:

We met up at 6:45 AM and began looking for fish by around 7 AM as the pre-dawn light level became sufficient for topwater action to present itself.

As we idled along, keeping a close eye on the surface for telltale signs of fish, bait, and nervous water, a helpful blue heron flew out over open water and signaled the presence of nearby white bass forcing shad to the top.

Keying on this, I equipped Marcus and Mike with the Cork Rigs which I had introduced them to and had them practice with before we began looking for fish. They began sight-casting to surface feeding fish and connecting routinely. We would hit a total of three areas over the next 2.5 hours. The first area yielded 10 fish, the next yielded 15 fish, and the third area yielded exactly 90 fish.

This topwater action tapered to a stop by 9:30 AM after letting up substantially around 9 AM as the sun got higher in the sky, got more intense, and as the light breeze around 4-5 mph stopped and went nearly calm.

My “mantra” when coaching clients fishing the Cork Rig (and the guidance I supply on the technical data sheets I supply with the Cork Rigs I sell) is: “You want more speed than pop.”

By this I mean it is more important to move the Cork Rig at an appropriate speed than to make it pop. In truth, the popping cork is there mainly to provide enough heft to cast the light streamers long distances. The cupped face of the cork will cause a “gurgle” if just reeled in straight; it will produce a bit of a pop if the rod’s tip is wiggled back and forth during the retrieve — which is desirable. Forcibly tugging the rod to get the cork to chug and throw up a wave of water is totally counterproductive.

For the next 90 minutes I used sonar to find fish holding in draws in 18 to 20 feet of water. Once I located them, I Spot-Locked atop them, got them to consolidate using a splasher, and then had Mike and Marcus work MAL Heavies with white tails through these fish while observing Garmin LiveScope. We added 15 fish to our count utilizing this approach before the fish quit altogether around 10:45.

We found fish at one final area, fished them for 10-12 minutes without a result, and then called it a good morning

Of the 130 fish landed today, five were short hybrid, two were largemouth bass, and the remaining 123 were all legal sized white bass with the largest right around the 13-inch mark.

TALLY: 130 fish caught and released.

Find the Cork Rig & MAL Lures here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS: The water temperature profile shown below was taken on 02 Oct.

0 feet, 81.5F
5 feet, 82.6F
10 feet, 82.9F
15 feet, 82.9F
20 feet, 82.6F
25 feet, 81.7F
30 feet, 81.1F
35 feet, 78.8F
40 feet, 71.6F
45 feet, 66.8F
50 feet, 64.9F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:45A

End Time: 10:55A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 71F

Elevation: 18.5 feet low, 47 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 85.1F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE1-6 all morning

Sky Condition: 30% white cloud cover on a blue sky.

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 87% illumination.

GT = 65

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area vic 1740 – 10 fish on topwater on the Cork Rig

Area vic 1171 – 15 fish on topwater on the Cork Rig

Area vic BDH010 to BHYD07 – 90 fish on topwater on the Cork Rig

Area B0184G – 9 fish on smoked MAL Heavies

Area BG0022CH – 6 fish on smoked MAL Heavies

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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Back-in-the-Saddle on Saturdays — 51 Fish @ Belton

September 9th, 2023September 9th, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Saturday, September 9, I resumed my Saturday fishing schedule and will now continue to offer Saturday trips (as well as Thursday evening trips) from now until Spring Break 2024.

This morning’s trip was a “Kids Fish, Too!“ trip for two buddies, Samuel Shugg (age 11) and his friend, Dein Dodson (age 8).

The boys were accompanied by Samuel‘s dad, Chris Shugg, who came with a valid fishing license, and the desire to help me help the boys be successful.

Here is how the fishing went.…
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Here’s an up-to-date calendar so you can check availability: https://holdingthelineguideservice.com/available-dates.php

Next available dates are Sept. 12-14 (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Samuel and Chris Shugg helped Dein Dodson celebrate the capture of this 5.25-pound Lake Belton hybrid striped bass on their Saturday morning “Kids Fish, Too!” trip tailored just for kids.

PHOTO CAPTION: White bass surface action was really hindered by this morning’s heavy wave action, but, we found a mess of them early on which responded well to downrigging. That’s Samuel Shugg on the left and Dein Dodson on the right.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Saturday, 09 September 2023

HOW WE FISHED:

Before first light this morning, I could see flickers of lightning from the tops of thunderheads building north and east of the DFW area. Those were on the lead edge of a cold front due to enter into central Texas air space around 3 PM today. As a result, we had higher than forecast southeasterly winds at 12 to 15 mph before sunrise.

Unfortunately, those winds, which were much higher than the 7-8 mph winds forecast for the morning, pretty much eliminated the topwater bite this morning.

Given the wind situation, we went with “Plan B“, which was to present shad-imitating #13 Pet Spoons to feeding white bass by way of downrigging.

We used a pair of downriggers, each equipped with three-armed umbrella rigs, to present six baits at any given time. We fished in this manner through around 9 AM during which time the boys caught a mixed bag of 15 legal white bass, 2 short hybrid, 1 legal hybrid, and 2 blue catfish.

Although the bite was never really super strong this morning, it definitely dropped off around 8:30 or so. By 9 a.m., we retooled and headed up shallow to invest our final hour in pursuit of sunfish using fiberglass poles, fixed length lines, and slip floats to present live bait to a mixed bag of sunfish in shallow water. During that final hour, the boys put exactly 31 sunfish in the boat, including bluegill, greens, and long ears.

We wrapped up at the 3.5 hour mark, as is customary for these shorter and less expensive “Kids Fish, Too!” trips.

The boys final count was 51 fish, all of which were caught and released.

TALLY: 51 fish caught and released.

Find the 3-Armed Umbrella Rig here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS: The water temperature profile shown below was taken on 07 Sep. This will likely represent the hottest condition Lake Belton will rise to, given the forthcoming change of seasons, and predictions for cold fronts and cloud cover this week.

0 feet, 87.0F
5 feet, 86.4F
10 feet, 85.9F
15 feet, 85.6F
20 feet, 85.5F
25 feet, 85.0F
30 feet, 82.9F
35 feet, 76.8F
40 feet, 69.0F
45 feet, 66.8F
50 feet, 65.1F
55 feet, 68.3F
60 feet, 62.9F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:35A

End Time: 10:10A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 81F

Elevation: 17.66 feet low, 56 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 85.1F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE12-15 all morning

Sky Condition: 30% white cloud cover on a blue sky.

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 26% illumination.

GT = 50

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area vic 1791 – early AM downrigging

Area 1583- sunfishing in final hour

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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

PERFECT STORM FOR TOPWATER — 102 FISH ON CORK RIGS

September 7th, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Thursday, 07 September, I fished with returning guest James Dubose accompanied by his father-in-law, Brian Markham, who was joining me for the first time.

James, a veteran, now supports Fort Cavazos working as a civilian there in the computer field, while Brian runs his own mobile RV repair service in the RV-saturated area on the Gulf coast near Rockport, TX.

James’ wife (and Brian’s daughter), Ashly Dubose put this whole thing together for the fellows.

Here is how the fishing went…

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Here’s an up-to-date calendar so you can check availability: https://holdingthelineguideservice.com/available-dates.php

Next available dates are Sept. 12-14 (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Brian Markham and James Dubose with a sampling of the white bass taken mainly on the surface under low-light conditions using the Cork Rig.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday, 07 September 2023

HOW WE FISHED:

It truly was a “perfect storm” of circumstances this morning leading to a 100+ fish catch in just under 3 hours’ time.

What do I mean by that?

The weather was right — this high pressure dome causing our heat and drought headaches also makes for incredibly stable weather in which the fish get into a “mode” and do the same things at the same places and times each day.
The wind was right — we had a light SSE chop fueled by a 4-5 mph breeze, so the water was moving, but any fish activity could be readily spotted.
The lake was deserted — hence, no rookie anglers driving right up to the fish using their outboards, no jet skis, no wake boats, no company of any sort to put the fish down prematurely.
My clients could cast well — both Brian and James could cast both far and accurately. This allowed me to give a maximum buffer distance between the boat and the fish which translated to fish which stayed up longer than if they’d been pressured.
My clients were coachable — if I saw something they could do differently or better, I let them know that, and they willingly adjusted.
The shad continue to grow thanks to the extended high water temperatures — this means we could get away using larger lures imitating adult shad and enjoy the extra heft and distance those larger presentations allow for.

The fish first showed on the surface at 6:47AM and went strong until 8:15. After that, there was an additional 35 minutes of sporadic action before the fish vacated the surface by 8:50A. We had the boat back on trailer by 9:30A following this “Beat the Heat Special”, 3 hour long trip.

All but 7 of the 102 fish were taken on the Cork Rig with the largest streamer option (#2 white/grey) I offer. The men landed 3 fish on MAL Heavies in the roughly 10-minute span of time between 8:15 when the aggressive activity stopped, the fish sounded, and just before the fish began to “popcorn” feed. The balance were taken on Pet Spoon-equipped downrigggers.

Of the 102 fish landed, 6 were short hybrid, and the other 96 fish were all legal white bass with the best 10-15% going over 13-14″.

TALLY: 102 fish caught and released.

Find the Cork Rig here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS: I spotted additional flocks of migrating teal this morning. The water temperature profile taken around 9:45 after my clients had departed was as follows:

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:35A

End Time: 9:20A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 81F

Elevation: 17.54 feet low, 56 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 87.0F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE4-6 all morning

Sky Condition: 0% cloud cover on a slightly hazy blue sky.

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 44% illumination.

GT = 30

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area B0197C to B0039G to B0100C, and Area B0107G – early morning, low-light topwater action

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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

To Make Hay While the Sun Shines, Catch Fish While it Doesn’t! — 74 Fish

September 1st, 2023September 1st, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Friday, September 1, I fished with returning guest, David Vahrenkamp, joined by three first time guests Jonathon Baumann, Riley Baumann, and Riley’s 11-year-old son, Jackson, all distant relatives of David’s.

This was all a part of a long weekend devoted to fishing, golfing and dining, in celebration of David’s birthday.

Here is how the fishing went…

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Here’s an up-to-date calendar so you can check availability: https://holdingthelineguideservice.com/available-dates.php

Next available dates are Sept. 5-7 (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Jonathon, Riley, and Jackson Baumann and David Vahrenkamp with a sampling of the white bass taken mainly on the surface under low-light conditions using the Cork Rig.

PHOTO CAPTION: Jonathon Baumann with our sole legal hybrid striped bass which crushed a #13 Pet Spoon downrigged just above the thermocline.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Friday, 01 September 2023

HOW WE FISHED:

As has been the case for quite some time now, this morning’s fishing was very front-loaded, with the majority of the catching taking place in the first 90 minutes of the trip and under low light conditions as the white bass herded shad against the surface and fed upon them aggressively, thus revealing their location despite a bit of chop on the water.

As I noted earlier this week, the shad growth rate in this protracted summer heat has been substantial, and I’m finding now that downsized baits are no longer mandatory as they had been throughout the month of August.

My four anglers lined up abreast of one another, either on the port side or the starboard side and cast perpendicular to the side of the boat out into the surface feeding white bass. I put them within range by drawing near using the outboard, then closing the last 80 to 100 yards using the trolling motor.

Until you actually try this yourself, you will not appreciate how many fish the outboard motor spooks if you try to get close to topwater fish using the outboard.

This morning the top water action went from 6:54 AM to about 8 AM and then rapidly fell off over the next 15 to 20 minutes. During this time my crew put 59 fish in the boat. It would take another 2.5 hours to catch an additional 15 fish which all came just one at a time on downriggers as the white bass really settled down after binging at sunrise.

Those fish taken on downriggers were taken using three armed umbrella rigs. I equipped one with number 12 Pet Spoons, and the other with number 13 Pet Spoons.

Those fish taken early on top water all came on my hand-made Cork Rigs, which utilize a weighted popping cork to help take a light, shad-imitating streamer out to a much greater distance than with any other means.

Our 74 fish catch consisted of two hybrid striped bass, of which one was legal, two freshwater drum, five blue catfish, with the remaining 65 fish all being legal sized white bass with the top eight or ten eclipsing the 13 inch mark.

TALLY: 74 fish caught and released.

See a tutorial on the Smoking Method here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE

Here is a tutorial on the Sawtooth Method: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3FMEQHOMQ

Find the Cork Rig here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS: I spotted the first migrating teal flock of the season this morning. Here was the water temperature profile taken on 31 August this week:

0 feet, 86.8F
5 feet, 86.8F
10 feet, 86.8F
15 feet, 86.8F
20 feet, 86.8F
25 feet, 86.2F
30 feet, 83.3F
35 feet, 75.6F
40 feet, 68.2F
45 feet, 65.6F
50 feet, 64.5F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:35A

End Time: 10:45A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 73F

Elevation: 17.19 feet low, 56 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 86.8F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: ESE6 at trip’s start, fading to light and variable by 8:25

Sky Condition: 0% cloud cover on a slightly hazy blue sky.

Moon Phase: Full super blue moon at 100% illumination.

GT = 85

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 1292 thru B0031C – early morning, low-light topwater action

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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Nobody On The Road … Nobody on the Beach — 57 Fish

August 31st, 2023August 31st, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: Yep, it was like the Don Henley classic out there this morning … this morning, Thursday, August 31, I fished a “Beat the Heat“ special trip with returning guests, Jim Wood and George Vanriper — and company was quite scarce!

My “Beat the Heat“ trips are three hours in length with the fee prorated accordingly (versus 4+ hours for a standard trip). These trips are focused on topwater action in that low-light portion of the morning when such activity is most likely.

I’m offering these through Sept. 14 if anyone else is interested.

Jim, a retired surgeon, and George, a retired army aviator, used this occasion to meet one another in person for the first time after George asked me to suggest others he might occasionally pair up with to fish lakes Belton and Stillhouse. Both men are boat owners and are pretty good largemouth bass anglers in their own right, so , I helped put them in touch with one another.

Here is how the fishing went…
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Here’s an up-to-date calendar so you can check availability: https://holdingthelineguideservice.com/available-dates.php

Next available dates are Sept. 5-7 (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION: Retired U.S. Army aviator George VanRiper and retired surgeon Dr. Jim Wood with some handsome whites taken on early morning topwater on an all-but-deserted Lake Belton.

PHOTO CAPTION: Jim and George’s catch of 57 fish included 3 hybrid, of which only this guy was a keeper (and was released). 52 of the 54 white bass were of legal size.

PHOTO CAPTION: This was the view of the parking lot at the boat ramp this morning. I love this time of year!! Kids are back to school, summer vacation is over, football is kicking in, and hunting cranks up tomorrow … all these factors equate to less and less pressure on the fish and freedom to pursue fish without being followed or crowded.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday, 31 August 2023

HOW WE FISHED:

We were originally scheduled to fish yesterday, but, with a pretty stiff north wind still blowing after Sunday’s cold front moved through, I did not feel confident about topwater action materializing. We put off the trip until this morning when the north winds were due to let up and south winds were due to return once again.

This turned out to be a good decision.

Around 10:05, the winds went nearly slack prior to the forthcoming wind shift, and the heat really started pouring on. We wrapped up at that time with exactly 57 fish boated. As is often the case, this time of year, the lake was nearly deserted.

Although there was not the amount, nor the intensity, of topwater action this morning as compared to before the cold front’s arrival, we were able to get into about 90 minutes’ worth of action during which my two anglers were able to boat exactly 44 fish using Cork Rigs.

Cork Rigs, which I make by hand and sell on my website, couple a popping cork with a shad-sized streamer, and allow for a light bait to be presented at long distances.

Once the topwater action died down at 8:15, the job of putting fish in the boat immediately got much tougher.

We pressed on until about 10:05 and put a final 13 additional fish in the boat, including three hybrid, and, our only two short white bass. All of these fish were taken using downriggers with 3-armed umbrella rigs equipped with Pet Spoons.

TALLY: 57 fish caught and released.

See a tutorial on the Smoking Method here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE

Here is a tutorial on the Sawtooth Method: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3FMEQHOMQ

Find the Cork Rig here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS: Here was the water temperature profile taken this morning:

0 feet, 86.8F
5 feet, 86.8F
10 feet, 86.8F
15 feet, 86.8F
20 feet, 86.8F
25 feet, 86.2F
30 feet, 83.3F
35 feet, 75.6F
40 feet, 68.2F
45 feet, 65.6F
50 feet, 64.5F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:35A

End Time: 10:05A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 73F

Elevation: 17.11 feet low, 56 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 86.8F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: WNW6 at trip’s start, slowly fading to calm by trip’s end as a forthcoming windshift was underway

Sky Condition: 0% cloud cover on a slightly hazy blue sky.

Moon Phase: Full super blue moon at 100% illumination.

GT = 75

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 1055 to 1545 – 43 legal white bass & 1 short hybrid by 8:15A

Area B0084G thru B0085G, and Area 1223 – singles, doubles, and a triple for a total of 14 fish by downrigging Pet Spoons on 3-armed umbrella rigs.

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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

FRONT-LOADED FISHING — 75 FISH @ LAKE BELTON

August 14th, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Monday, August 14th, I fished with Mr. Michael Pearson and his 13-year-old grandson, Caden Fawver, both of Georgetown, Texas.

Although Caden had prior fishing experience, he had never fished for white bass before. After our morning was through, I believe it is fair to say he had become quite a fan of this member of the temperate bass family. Here is how the fishing went…

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Here’s an up-to-date calendar so you can check availability: https://holdingthelineguideservice.com/available-dates.php

Next available dates are August 21 – 24 (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION: Mike Pearson and his 13-year-old grandson, Caden Fawver, landed 75 white bass during their 4-hour morning trip using MAL Lures early for topwater action, then downrigging Pet Spoons thereafter.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday, 14 August 2023

HOW WE FISHED:

Things were pleasantly quiet this morning on Lake Belton as all of our local school districts went back into session, leaving just a handful of well-mannered retirees out fishing today.

At exactly 6:38, the very first topwater action began and ran until around 7:30 when the first direct rays of the sun drove a majority of the fish down for good. This morning’s topwater feed was more widespread and more aggressive than any day last week, but, it was also quite frontloaded. After this wild, first hour, things died down quickly, leaving a fraction of the mid-morning topwater “popcorn“ action to sight-cast for versus what we saw last week.

As we first got into this top water frenzy, I had Mike and Caden throwing MAL Mini Rigs, which consist of an MAL Mini behind a 3/4-ounce weight separated by a roughly 24-inch fluorocarbon leader. This allows greater casting distance and a faster sink rate then when the MAL Mini is used alone, while still keeping the bait downsized to match the young of the year shad which the majority of the white bass were feeding on this morning.

The two landed 13 fish very quickly, but, as it got brighter and the fish both pushed down deeper and could see these lures better, our results fell off, so, I retooled, and we set twin downriggers out — one equipped with a three-armed umbrella rig with #12 Pet Spoons and the other with a three-armed umbrella rig trailing #13 Pet Spoons.

We took our tally up to 41 fish before the sustained topwater action ended and the sparse popcorn schooling began. It was now 8:04 AM. It would take another 2 1/2 hours of effort to put an additional 34 fish in the boat, all via downrigging, as this front-loaded bite died fairly quickly.

We wrapped up at 10:30 with exactly 75 fish landed, 100% of which were white bass, and four of which were short.

TALLY: 75 fish caught and released.

See a tutorial on the Smoking Method here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE

Here is a tutorial on the Sawtooth Method: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3FMEQHOMQ

Find the entire family of MAL Lures here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS: The first realistic chance of some rain materializes later today as a weak cold front moves into Central Texas. Forecast time of arrival is 4-8P with 20-30% chance of rain.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:30A

End Time: 10:30A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 81F

Elevation: 16.17 feet low, 56 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 86.4F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: S6 at trip’s start, slowly shifting and building to SW12-13 by trip’s end

Sky Condition: <10% cloud cover on a slightly hazy blue sky.

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 3% illumination.

GT = 55

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 1171 – most aggressive and productive topwater action lending itself to sight-casting

Area vic 1937 – combination of sight-casting with MAL Minis, then transitioning to downrigging as it got brighter.

Area 307 thru 845 – downrigging

Area vic 686 – downrigging

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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com