Bob Maindelle | Fishing Report

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

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FOGGED IN! — 68 FISH @ LAKE BELTON

January 7th, 2023January 7th, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Saturday, January 7th, I fished with Chuck, Carol, and Carsyn Emerson of Holland, Texas.

I very much appreciate Mrs. Lisa Niemeier (Carsyn’s teacher from a few years back) referring the Emerson’s my way.

Carol contacted me about a week ago after the holidays were dying down and expressed an interest in doing some fishing with her husband and daughter. This morning, we made that happen.

My next weekday openings are on 12 Jan. and then 13 Feb. My next weekend opening is Sat., 18 February 2023.

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

PHOTO CAPTION: The Emersons — from left: Chuck, Carol, and Carsyn with a few of the 68 fish they landed on a foggy, calm morning on Lake Belton.

PHOTO CAPTION: This was Carsyn’s first fish of the morning — a freshwater drum (nicknamed gasper goo). Look how thick that fog is!!

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Saturday, 07 January 2023 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED:

The big story this morning was fog. As far as fishing goes, fog is just a downer. In 17 years of guiding, I’ve never had a single trip I could “write home about” under foggy conditions. Fog seems to get the bite off to a slow start and just depresses the fish activity as long at it persists, and this morning was no exception.

I arrived well ahead of the Emersons and got launched and prepped with only cloudy skies at first light, but as we approached our originally scheduled meeting time of 7:40, fog began to develop very quickly, and then a light drizzle started. We actually delayed our start 20 minutes to avoid the heaviest of this precipitation.

Once we got going, everyone picked up pretty quickly on the “slow-smoking” tactic. At first, like most kids, Carsyn struggled to turn her spinning reel’s handle smoothly and continuously, thus creating a “choppy” retrieve which is just not natural or attractive to fish. But, after we got to our second area, she worked out those kinks and wound up catching more than her fair share of fish by the time we wrapped up.

We used the white, 3/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs with stinger hooks 100% of the time and used only a slow smoking tactic in conjunction with both Garmin LiveScope and a thumper.

As soon as the fog thinned a bit, around 9:15A or so, I began to find large, bottom-oriented schools of fish, but, despite the great number of fish in these schools, there was no frenzied activity. In fact, very few hooked fish were followed upwards by schoolmates — a sign of very disinterested fish.

By the time 11:30 rolled around, we’d landed 60 fish, but I could see things were slowing way down. I suggested we give it another half hour, or stop at 70 fish, whichever came first. Well, by noon we’d worked our way up to 68 and I was very glad to hear Carsyn want an “extension” to keep on trying for 70 fish. We went until 12:15, but she just couldn’t quite budge the needle any more.

So, everyone reeled in, we took some nice family photos, and the talk quickly turned to Whataburger!

Our tally of 68 fish consisted of 3 freshwater drum, 4 largemouth bass, and 61 white bass.

TALLY: 68 fish caught and released

Find Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs with Stinger Hook here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS: A persistent fog and calm winds took its toll on the fishery this morning, keeping the fish pretty sluggish all morning.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 8A

End Time: 12:15P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 62F

Elevation: 13.57 feet low, 0.03′ fall in last 24 hours, 24 CFS flow.

Water Surface Temp: 54.7F on the surface

Wind Speed & Direction: Calm winds all morning

Sky Condition: 100% grey skies with lake level fog all morning; fog was heavy through 9:30A

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 100% illumination.

GT = 100

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area B0196C – 6 fish

Area 1489 – 35 fish

Area B0075C – 13 fish

Area B0171G (2 hops) – 9 fish

Area B0173G – 5 fish

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

FISH WERE IN SCHOOLS; KIDS WEREN’T — 51 FISH @ BELTON

January 5th, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Tuesday morning, January 3rd, I conducted the first Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun (SKIFF) trip of the new 2023 season.

Accompanying me were four kids from two families, each currently impacted by the deployment of their fathers. This would be the final day of Christmas break before the Killeen Independent School District went back in session.

From U.S. Army Sergeant John Diaz’s family I had 10-year-old Violet and 13-year-old Alexander join me. SGT Diaz has been in the military for 11 years and serves as a wheeled vehicle mechanic.

From U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Matthew Peet’s family I had 8-year-old Rowan and 12-year-old Jack join me. SSG Peet has been in the military for 13 years and serves in the field artillery.

The homefront parents, Jonelle Diaz and Theresa Peet, are back here in the Fort Hood area essentially managing as single parents while their husbands are deployed.

ABOUT SKIFF: S.K.I.F.F. stands for Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun. SKIFF fishing trips are provided at no charge. This program began in May of 2009, and is funded by the donations and fundraising efforts of the Austin Fly Fishers and other organizations they have partnered with. 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 Hood in Bell County, TX, year ’round. Call or text 254.368.7411.

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

PHOTO CAPTION: While their fathers are deployed, the Peet kids and the Diaz kids got to enjoy a fishing trip provided free of charge via the Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun (SKIFF) program. From left: Jack & Rowan Peet, and Alexander and Violet Diaz.

PHOTO CAPTION: Jack landed our largest fish of the trip, an 18″ hybrid striped bass which fell for his small, 3/8 oz. white Bladed Hazy Eye Slab.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday, 03 January 2023 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED:

Bottom line: This was a challenge.

I had four young, inexperienced anglers I truly wanted to do well, and at a time of year when (due to cold water and inconsistent weather patterns) the fishing is typically neither consistent nor overly productive.

My approach was to keep it very simple so far as the kids’ part was concerned, and do my darnedest to find abundant quantities of fish. Whenever white bass are found grouped together in great numbers, even if they are not very “hungry”, the sheer numbers of fish present can generate competition. A given fish may not be proactively feeding, but, I do feel it will swat at a bait just to keep another fish from grabbing it first. This was the kind of bite I needed to get the kids into, and, it worked out!

Violet was our first lucky contestant. Once she hooked and landed a fish, the three boys got competitive and started listening (that is, listening as well as Violet did right off the bat!!!) to what I was telling them they needed to do to be successful. Violet’s first bit of success also “broke the ice” and showed everyone else that this thing called catching fish could really be done.

For 3.5 hours the kids worked white, 3/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs with stinger hooks vertically using a slow-smoking tactic while watching Garmin LiveScope. They amassed a catch of 51 fish during this time, including 1 legal hybrid striper, 1 short hybrid striper, 2 freshwater drum, 1 largemouth bass, and 46 white bass, of which 3 were short.

We fished only three areas, and, counter to the recent trend I’ve experienced involving a near total lack of bird activity, birds (both gulls and terns) actually led the way to our final stop of the morning. This activity was light and brief and only involved perhaps 15 birds, but, it was enough to get me to the right area where I could then rely on sonar to take care of the rest.

I felt very satisfied when I overheard the discussions going on as the kids ran up the concrete boat ramp to meet their moms when Jonelle and Theresa returned to pick them up. Those discussions centered around, “When can we go again?!?”.

TALLY: 51 fish caught and released

Find MAL Lures here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS: After 7 consecutive trips without helpful bird activity, we had just a brief episode this morning which took place around 10:15A involving a mixture of ~15 gulls and terns — just enough to get us close enough to allow sonar to do the rest.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 8A

End Time: 11:30A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 59F

Elevation: 13.32 feet low, 0.01′ fall in last 24 hours, 40 CFS flow.

Water Surface Temp: 54.5F

Wind Speed & Direction: W3 at sunrise, increasing to W7-8 by 9A, and maintaining thru trip’s end

Sky Condition: Light blue skies with sparse, thin cloud cover at ~40%

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 89% illumination.

GT = N/A

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 714 – 29 fish

Area 294 – 8 fish

Area B0188G – 14 fish

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

NOW THAT’S A PERSONAL BEST – 66 FISH @ BELTON

January 4th, 2023January 4th, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: On Monday afternoon, Jan. 2nd, I fished with father-and-son team Oscar and 9-year-old Mateo Santiago of Salado, TX, after Oscar’s neighbor, Brandon, suggested he give me a try.

Oscar and his wife, Marla, both U.S. Army veterans, own their own custom cabinetry business called Wooden Woodworks (Woodenwoodworks.com) and operate out of the Salado Industrial Park in Salado, TX, making both fine cabinetry and furniture

My next weekday openings are on 9 and 12 Jan. My next weekend opening is Sat., 18 February 2023.

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Oscar and Mateo landed more fish on this trip than during all of their previous fishing trips combined!

PHOTO CAPTION: Look at that smile!! This 20+ inch freshwater drum was Mateo’s largest fish of the trip.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday, 02 January 2023 (PM)

HOW WE FISHED:

We got going right around 1:15PM while the south wind was at its peak velocity. Instead of banging around in open water, we headed for more protected haunts and used sonar (exclusively) to find our fish this afternoon as once again, we had no birds to guide us.

We found fish in most every area we searched, but the fish were not overly aggressive, so, as you’ll see from the list of areas we fished down further in this report, we did a lot of moving to catch a few fish, typically within a few minutes of arriving, only to have those fish lose interest fairly quickly.

Oscar told me as we spoke by phone before the trip, that although fishing is something both he and 9-year-old Mateo enjoy, they hadn’t fished all that much, and it had been quite some time since the last time they fished.

Given this, they relied upon the guidance I provided to present their baits properly, and to hook and fight the fish they caught. This actually worked out well, because they did have any counter-productive habits already soaked into their “muscle memory”.

Just as was the case on this day’s morning trip, this afternoon 100% of our fish came on the white, 3/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab, used with a slow-smoking tactic 100% of the time.

By the time the sun fell beneath the cloudbank just above the horizon to the SW around 5:30P, Oscar landed our 66th and final fish of the trip.

The pair was blown away by their results. Oscar told me that these 66 fish represented more fish than the two of them had caught, grand total, on all of their previous trips combined. Now that’s a personal best!!

Our tally of 66 fish consisted of 3 freshwater drum, 2 largemouth bass, 1 short hybrid striped bass, and 60 white bass, of which 6 were short.

TALLY: 66 fish caught and released

Find Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs with Stinger Hook here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS: 1) No helpful bird activity for 7th consecutive trip. 2) On 21 Dec. the temperature profile to 55′ was a constant 58.2F; temperature fell as low as 51.7, then rebounded late this week. Today’s temperature profile was as follows (check the anomaly at 40-45′):

0 feet 55.6F
5 feet 55.4F
10 feet 55.4F
15 feet 55.4F
20 feet 55.4F
25 feet 55.3F
30 feet 54.9F
35 feet 54.5F
40 feet 54.2F
45 feet 52.9F
50 feet 52.8F
55 feet 52.6F
60 feet 52.6F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 1:15P

End Time: 5:25P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 71F

Elevation: 13.36 feet low, 0.0′ change in last 24 hours, 24 CFS flow.

Water Surface Temp: 55.6F on the surface

Wind Speed & Direction: Winds were SW16 through ~2:30, and then fell off steadily to SW7 by sunset.

Sky Condition: 100% light grey cloud cover all day.

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 83% illumination.

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area vic 305 – 26 fish; second hop – 3 fish

Area 1940 – 8 fish

Area B0178C – 8 fish

Area 387 – 6 fish

Area 098 – 11 fish

Area 1298 – 4 fish

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

WHERE’D YA’LL MEET? -77 FISH @ BELTON

January 3rd, 2023January 3rd, 2023 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: On Monday morning, Jan. 2nd, I fished my first guided trip of the new year with with the Friedman family of Cedar Park, TX.

Michael Friedman contacted me early in the holiday season and wanted to do some fishing with is wife and son while their son, Cole, was home from Texas A&M on the Christmas break.

Michael works in the banking field, Kathleen is a microbiologist, and Cole is in his junior year at TAMU, where he is a part of the Corp of Cadets.

As we were waiting for the trolling motor to get us properly positioned at one of the areas we fished, I asked Michael and Kathleen how they met. Long story short, the answer to that question was ‘Bass Pro Shop’. I just grinned and told them I thought you have a pretty good shot at marriage if you met your spouse at either church or Bass Pro Shops!

My next weekday openings are on 9 and 12 Jan. My next weekend opening is Sat., 18 February 2023.

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Michael, Cole, and Kathleen Friedman with a portion of their 77-fish catch taken under breezy, grey conditions with slowly warming water temperatures.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday, 02 January 2023 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED:

With a returning south wind as of this past Saturday and a continuing warming trend, the fishing continues to improve following the slowdown caused by the recent 22-25 Dec. arctic blast.

We enjoyed steady catching today from start to finish. Garmin LiveScope revealed there were far more fish present at any given area than the number which perked up and paid attention to our presentations, but that low percentage which did give chase was sufficient to bring our tally to 77 fish after four hours of effort.

I kind of chuckled because Michael, after reading my report from Saturday about my clients being both willingly coached and having no bad habits to overcome, emailed me and stated, “We are all seasoned anglers with bad habits in place.”

Hey, at least he was honest!! The “bad habits” as I often call them, are mainly the tendency to set the hook instantly upon feeling a fish on the other end of the line while working slabs with a slow-smoking tactic. For white bass fishing with braid (a zero-stretch product) using a zero-slack technique, this kind of hooksetting is actually counterproductive. Michael did his best to overcome that bass-anglers habit and definitely did better in the second half of the trip as he got more practice under his belt.

Once again, we had no birds to guide us, so, all of the fish-finding was done via sonar, and primarily with well-tuned side-imaging.

100% of our fish came on the white, 3/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab, used with a slow-smoking tactic 100% of the time.

Our tally of 77 fish consisted of 5 freshwater drum and 72 white bass.

TALLY: 77 fish caught and released

Find Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs with Stinger Hook here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS: 1) No helpful bird activity for 6th consecutive trip. 2) On 21 Dec. the temperature profile to 55′ was a constant 58.2F; temperature fell as low as 51.7, then rebounded late this week. This morning we had 55.6 on the surface.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:45A

End Time: 11:55A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 68F

Elevation: 13.36 feet low, 0.0′ change in last 24 hours, 24 CFS flow.

Water Surface Temp: 55.6F on the surface

Wind Speed & Direction: S winds were already blowing at sunrise around 9mph and steadily increased to S16 by 10:30, plateaued there through ~2:30, and then fell off steadily to SW7 by sunset.

Sky Condition: 100% light grey cloud cover all day.

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 83% illumination.

GT = 65

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 971 – 4 fish

Area B0096C – 4 fish

Area 150 – 8 fish

Area vic 714 – 10 fish

Area vic 1482 – 6 fish

Area B0078C – 13 fish

Area B0187C – 20 fish

Area B0186G – 4 fish

Area B0184G – 8 fish

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

WILLINGLY COACHED — 66 FISH @ BELTON

December 31st, 2022December 31st, 2022 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Dec. 31st, I fished with Mike and Jenny Splawn of Salado, TX.

The Splawns recently relocated to Salado from El Paso. Mike leads his family’s HVAC business there and Jenny is a pharmacist at a local hospital.

Jenny gifted this trip to Mike for Christmas this year and, as we spoke about goals, she let me know they’d recently bought a bass boat but encountered many of the common hurdles new boat owners face, including lack of familiarity with equipment, challenges in backing, loading, and unloading, and where to start searching for fish of various species. So, she was hoping I could do some coaching/teaching as well as guiding them to catch fish.

My next weekday openings are on 4, 5, 9, 10, 11, and 12 Jan. My next weekend opening is Sat., 07 January 2023.

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

PHOTO CAPTION: Jenny and Mike Splawn enjoyed the best morning of fishing since the 22-25 Dec. temperature plunge. They worked 3/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs via a slow-smoking tactic in conjunction with Garmin LiveScope to put together a 66 fish catch in right at 4 hours.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Saturday, 31 December 2022 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED:

With a returning south wind and a mild warming trend, the fishing rebounded a bit today.

We found much more cooperative fish this morning than on any other trip since the cold snap which occurred 22-25 Dec.

With cooperative fish found, we were able to do less searching and hopping around and spend longer whiles atop each group of fish we found.

We used the small, white 3/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab 100% of the time today and used it with a slow-smoking tactic 100% of the time today.

Fortunately, both Mike and Jenny were very willing to be coached and did not really have any pre-existing bad habits (like hard, aggressive hooksetting) to overcome. After getting the hang of things early, they were both able to capitalize on the solid bite this morning.

We saw abundant shad most everywhere we went suspended between 20-30 feet, but the majority of our fish came from 28-34 feet and originated on bottom. We encountered very few suspended fish this morning.

Our tally of 66 fish consisted of 3 largemouth bass, 2 freshwater drum, 1 short hybrid striped bass, 8 short white bass and and 52 legal white bass.

TALLY: 66 fish caught and released

Find Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs with Stinger Hook here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS: 1) No helpful bird activity for 5th consecutive trip. 2) On 21 Dec. the temperature profile to 55′ was a constant 58.2F; temperature fell as low as 51.7, then rebounded late this week. This morning we had 53.2 on the surface.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:45A

End Time: 11:55A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 43F

Elevation: 13.36 feet low, 0.0′ change in last 24 hours, 24 CFS flow.

Water Surface Temp: 53.2F on the surface

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE winds from trip’s start until around 9:20, then shifting to S and increasing slowly up to ~14 by trip’s end.

Sky Condition: <5% wispy white cloud cover on a light blue sky.

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 65% illumination.

GT = 60

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 473 – 6 fish

Area 1012 – 46 fish

Area B0054G/B0012C – 7 fish

Area B0185G- 2 fish

Area BG0026 – 5 fish

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

NO SIBLING RIVALRY TO SEE HERE — 36 FISH

December 30th, 2022December 30th, 2022 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Thursday afternoon, Dec. 29th, I conducted a “Kids Fish, Too!” trip for the grandkids of Mr. Ron Graham.

15-year-old Hannah Dycus and 9-year-old Ian Dycus did all the fishing while Grandpa Ron sat back and took it all in.

Ron retired from the electrical supply business out of western Louisiana some years back, Hannah is a freshman who enjoys cheerleading, and Ian is all about soccer.

These “Kids Fish, Too!” trips are a bit shorter and more economical than a “standard” 4+ hour adult trip.

My next weekday openings are on 4, 5, 9, 10, 11, and 12 Jan. My next weekend opening is Sat., 07 January 2023.

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

PHOTO CAPTION: Hannah Dycus landed this deepwater Lake Belton largemouth on a small, 3/8 oz. white, Bladed Hazy Eye Slab.

PHOTO CAPTION: Ian Dycus took this just-legal Lake Belton hybrid striped bass on a very light St. Croix spinning rod intended for fishing my 3/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye slabs with light braid. Needless to say, the tussle lasted longer than he bargained for.

PHOTO CAPTION: Hannah Dycus, Ron Graham (grandpa), and Ian Dycus with a few of the white bass we were targeting in chilly water without the aid of birds.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday, 29 December 2022 (PM)

HOW WE FISHED:

Ever since our four-day arctic blast on 22-25 Dec. which saw our water temperature plummet by a full 6+ degrees, things have been tough. The fishing had been tedious, and the birds have ceased providing clues to fish location.

Ian kicked things off this afternoon, catching 4 of our first 5 fish, and he brought this to Hannah’s attention pretty routinely for about the first half-hour, but, after Hannah got the hang of things she evened it back up pretty quickly. Ian then changed the subject to his recent visit to Universal Studios!!

Wherever we encountered white bass, they were broken into small groups of up to 20-30 fish or so, with several yards between these small groups. Due to the cold water, these fish would not move to us despite the commotion we created (by thumping and jigging), hence, we had to move frequently.

If there is one lesson learned in this post-chill fishery it is to move frequently. Once fish show signs of disinterest, it is time time to move. These fish, once turned off, will not turn on again any time soon.

We again noted that we’d catch just a few fish, usually in the first few minutes following our arrival, at any given area.

We stuck with the 3/8 oz. white Bladed Hazy Eye Slab all afternoon. That smaller slab just seems to put a few extra fish in the boat when things are tough. I used the thumper as a metronome to help the kids keep the “beat” (the correct retrieve speed for the slabs), increasing and decreasing that speed with observed fish activity, as seen on Garmin LiveScope.

The slow-smoking tactic worked best for fish which were primarily bottom-dwelling today. Whenever fish appeared suspended and moving up higher in the water column, they tended to be eager to chase, but, the total number of fish we sighted like this was low.

Our tally of 36 fish consisted of 2 largemouth bass, 2 freshwater drum, 1 legal hybrid striped bass, and 31 white bass, of which 5 were short.

TALLY: 36 fish caught and released

Find Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs with Stinger Hook here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS: 1) No helpful bird activity for 5th consecutive trip. 2) On 21 Dec. the temperature profile to 55′ was a constant 58.2F; temperature is now 52.6F down to that same depth.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 1:30P

End Time: 5:20P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 63F

Elevation: 13.36 feet low, 0.01′ fall in last 24 hours, 24 CFS flow.

Water Surface Temp: 51.7F on the surface

Wind Speed & Direction: Winds were 6-8mph all afternoon, starting WSW, then W, then swinging WNW as a mild cool front moved in.

Sky Condition: Grey skies returned following some midday clearing as a very weak cool front moved in during our time on the water.

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 44% illumination.

GT = 5

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 098 – 5 fish

Area B0012C – 11 fish

Area B0186G – 10 fish

Area 081 – 5 fish; second hop, 5 fish

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

THE INFINITY TROPHY GOES TO … JAMES!!! — 40 FISH @ BELTON

December 30th, 2022 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Thursday morning, Dec. 29th, I fished with Mr. Kyle Everett and his 8-year-old son, James.

Kyle was given a fishing gift certificate for Christmas by his wife, Katie.

Kyle is a U.S. Marine Corp veteran who now works as an accountant and is part-owner of a cabinetry business. James is working his way through the 2nd grade and already shows a mind for numbers.

As we fished, James invented a scoring system based on size and species of fish landed which was more complex than the U.S. Tax Code and which, when all was said and done, ensured that he would emerge the victor of the fishing contest he ‘imposed’ on his father. This system further ensured James would take away not just first place, but something better than first place, which was “infinity place”.

My next weekday openings are on 4, 5, 9, 10, 11, and 12 Jan. My next weekend opening is Sat., 07 January 2023.

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

PHOTO CAPTION: James Everett and his dad, Kyle, landed four species of fish while we targeted white bass on Lake Belton. Largemouth bass, hybrid striped bass, and drum also fell for the small, 3/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab worked vertically this morning.

PHOTO CAPTION: White bass like these from the 2021 year class made up the majority of our catch this morning. The body condition on these fish looked very good.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday, 29 December 2022 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED:

Ever since our four-day crash-course in cryogenics on 22-25 Dec. which saw our water temperature plummet by a full 6+ degrees, things have been tough. The fishing had been tedious, and the birds have ceased providing clues to fish location.

We again noted that we’d catch just a few fish, usually in the first few minutes following our arrival, at any given area.

We stuck with the 3/8 oz. white Bladed Hazy Eye Slab all morning. That smaller package just seems to put a few extra fish in the boat when things are tough. Many largemouth anglers “go finesse” under tough conditions, and this approach seems to be valid with white bass, too.

Our tally of 40 fish consisted of 3 largemouth bass, 2 freshwater drum, 1 legal hybrid striped bass, and 34 white bass, of which 2 were short.

TALLY: 40 fish caught and released

Find Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs with Stinger Hook here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS: 1) No helpful bird activity for 4th consecutive trip. 2) On 21 Dec. the temperature profile to 55′ was a constant 58.2F; temperature is now 52.6F down to that same depth.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:45A

End Time: 11:55A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 63F

Elevation: 13.36 feet low, 0.01′ fall in last 24 hours, 24 CFS flow.

Water Surface Temp: 51.7F on the surface

Wind Speed & Direction: Calm winds for first 2 hours, then S6-7 thereafter.

Sky Condition: Grey skies with the lightest shroud of fog persisted for ~2 hours, with rapid clearing to 40% mixed white/grey clouds on blue sky.

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 44% illumination.

GT = 60

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 473 – 3 fish

Area 151 – 9 fish (2 hops)

Area 1551 – 16 fish

Area B0173G – 11 fish

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

THEY WORKED FOR EVERY LAST FISH — 50 FISH @ BELTON

December 28th, 2022December 28th, 2022 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Wednesday, Dec. 28th, I fished with John Wilson and his college-aged son, Jared.

John oversees the operation of Baylor Scott & White’s pharmacy operations, and Jared is in his first year at Oklahoma University in Oklahoma City.

John first learned of my guide service through his Bible study class at a local Church of Christ fellowship, led by a long-time client of mine, Mr. MJ Linder.

My next weekday openings are on 4, 5, 9, 10, 11, and 12 Jan. My next weekend opening is Sat., 07 January 2023.

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: John and Jared Wilson spent some father-and-son time in search of white bass while Jared was on Christmas break from Oklahoma University in Oklahoma City, OK.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday, 28 December 2022 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED:

Once again we faced pretty tough conditions this morning with cold water, yet another total lack of bird activity (third consecutive trip), and a lull in weather between fronts.

Wherever we encountered white bass, they were broken into small groups of up to 30 fish or so, with several yards between these small groups. Due to the cold water, these fish would not move to us despite the commotion we created, hence, we had to move frequently.

We again noted that we’d catch just a few fish, usually in the first few minutes following our arrival, and we would then experience a sharp decline in interest. Again, the solution here was to move frequently.

I experimented with all three sizes of Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs (3/8, 5/8, and 3/4 ounce). While the white bass did not refuse any of these slabs, the 3/8 oz. wound up producing best, but also took a lot of time to reach bottom when we fished in over 34′ or so.

The slow-smoking tactic worked best for fish which were primarily bottom-dwelling today. We did find that dead-sticking with jigheads and soft plastics worked well for suspended fish IF they were not moving parallel to the bottom. As usual, the Garmin LiveScope was a tremendous aid in knowing when and where to present our baits, especially concerning suspended fish.

We had 41 fish in the boat by the time the standard 4-hours had passed. With John and Jared’s permission we stayed an extra hour shooting for the 50 fish mark and finally eclipsed that just after 1P.

Our tally of 50 fish consisted of 1 largemouth bass, 5 freshwater drum, and 44 white bass, of which 4 were short.

TALLY: 50 fish caught and released

Find Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs with Stinger Hook here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS: 1) No helpful bird activity for 3rd consecutive trip. 2) On 21 Dec. the temperature profile to 55′ was a constant 58.2F; temperature is now 52.6F down to that same depth.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 8A

End Time: 1P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 41F

Elevation: 13.36 feet low, 0.01′ fall in last 24 hours, 24 CFS flow.

Water Surface Temp: 51.6F on the surface

Wind Speed & Direction: S7 at trip’s start, steadily ramping up to S18 by trip’s end with occasional higher gusts.

Sky Condition: High, thin white cloud cover at 60% on a light blue sky.

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 33% illumination.

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 1815 – 3 fish

Area 150 – 12 fish

Area vic 714 – 7 fish

Area 2062 – 11 fish

Area 1943 (2 hops) – 9 fish

Area 1126 – 8 fish

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

BOBBY & THE BOYS — 77 FISH @ BELTON

December 27th, 2022 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This evening, Tuesday, Dec. 27th, I fished with Mr. Bobby Golding III and his two sons Bobby Golding IV, and Billy Golding.

Bobby III, a U.S. Army veteran, has worked for many years at an industrial supply business in Temple, Bobby IV is a Tech Sergeant in the U.S. Air Force stationed in Florida where he works with aircraft-based weapons, and Billy is a heavy equipment mechanic working for a construction firm in Austin.

Bobby owns his own (very nice) Bass Cat bass boat, but doesn’t chase white bass routinely. He just wanted to make sure his sons “got their strings stretched” and to spend some time with the both of them while they were home for the holidays, so, I was honored that he called on me to help with that.

We were originally scheduled for this past Saturday, but the frigid weather forced a rescheduling.

My next weekday openings are on 03 – 05 Jan. My next weekend opening is Sat., 07 January 2023.

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Bobby Golding III, Bobby Golding IV, and Billy Golding, each with 2 of the 77 fish they landed under tough conditions brought on by the recent, rapid cooling of Lake Belton.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday, 27 December 2022 (PM)

HOW WE FISHED:

We faced pretty tough conditions this afternoon with yet another total lack of bird activity.

We found fish were scattered, and that some fish had moved up to depths as shallow as 24′.

Even where we found concentrations of fish, those fish were in multiple, distinctly separated groups of perhaps 12-30 fish each.

Fish would generally get interested in our presentations immediately, allowing us to catch a few fish, then they would shut down fairly quickly. Having seen this routinely this winter, I knew we needed to move on to find new fish as soon as the slowdown occurred.

We used white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs the entire trip using a slow-smoking tactic and Garmin LiveScope. Of the first 51 fish we caught, only 1 white bass was short, however, of the final 26 fish we landed, only 4 were of legal size.

When all was said and done the Goldings landed 77 fish including 1 short hybrid striped bass, 5 largemouth bass, 2 freshwater drum, and 69 white bass, of which 23 were short.

TALLY: 77 fish caught and released

Find Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs with Stinger Hook here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS: 1) No helpful bird activity for 2nd consecutive trip. 2) On 21 Dec. the temperature profile to 55′ was a constant 58.2F; temperature is now 52.6F down to that same depth.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 1:00P

End Time: 5:00P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 48F

Elevation: 13.35 feet low, 0.01′ fall in last 24 hours, 24 CFS flow.

Water Surface Temp: 51.8F

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE5 at trip’s start, peaking at SSE12 by 4P, then settling back to SSE6 by trip’s end

Sky Condition: High, thin white cloud cover at 40% on a light blue sky.

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 33% illumination.

GT = 40

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area B0022C – 8 fish

Area B0075C – 7 fish

Area vic B0063G – 7 fish

Area B0159G – 7 fish

Area B0173G – 8 fish; second hop – 7 fish

Area 1291 – 33 fish

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