Bob Maindelle | Fishing Report

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

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PERSONAL BESTS OF ALL SORTS — 55 FISH

September 19th, 2022October 25th, 2022 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Monday, September 19th, I fished with first time guests Mike and Meghan M.

Although Mike has followed me on Facebook for a long time and has wanted to fish with me, booking a trip for himself was just not something he would do. So, for his birthday, Meghan booked this trip for him.

To say Mike was like a kid in a candy store would be an understatement. When the couple parked he literally half-walked and half-ran (leaving Meghan some distance behind!) in his enthusiasm to get to the boat and get going.

We pursued white bass on a half-day morning trip on Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir.

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

PHOTO CAPTION: Mike and Meghan M. with a few of the 55 fish they took using MAL Dense Lures in deep water this morning.

PHOTO CAPTION: The MAL Dense Lure is tough to beat for this deep water fishing. The only other thing I even have tied on right now are Pet Spoons on a pair of downrigger rods. This lure used with the sawtooth method (see video link below) was the cat’s meow today. Find them here: https://whitebasstools.com/

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday, 19 September 2022

HOW WE FISHED:

This morning’s trip was definitely “back-loaded” in that we did most of the catching in the latter half of the morning.

As we began the morning, a light SE breeze at 4-5 rippled the surface, but stopped about the time the sun, which rose through a bank of clouds in the east, cleared that bank of clouds. We endured light winds for about 75 minutes before a building SSW breeze at 8-9 kicked in and began to cure our ills.

During that slack wind period we downrigged to get our baits in front of the low percentage of the fish population willing to chase and feed. Eight of our 55 fish came on the downriggers.

After the wind kicked in, fish rose up off the bottom and began feeding better and were therefore also easier to spot on sonar. We went back to using the MAL Dense Lures we were using at the trip’s start, and caught the majority of our fish on a horizontal sawtooth method.

Meghan confessed ahead of time that she was not much of a caster, but, after watching her and diagnosing a few issues with her form, we got her squared away and, by trip’s end, she was casting like a champ both accurately and at distance.

The 55 fish this couple landed represented a few personal bests for them. First, the 55 fish catch exceeded the grand total of fish the two had landed during their entire stay in Texas thus far. Additionally, Mike landed his largest largemouth to date — a 2.75-pound fish which came out of ~43 feet of water.

As our morning came to a close, the two walked away much more confident in how to approach fishing in general, and with a better idea of how to use the equipment they have on their G3 center console boat equipped with Humminbird sonar and a Minn Kota Terrova trolling motor.

TUTORIAL SMOKING VIDEO (Vertical): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE
TUTORIAL SAWTOOTH VIDEO (Horizontal): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3FMEQHOMQ

Our tally of 55 fish catch consisted of 1 largemouth bass, 2 short whites, and 52 legal white bass.

TALLY: 55 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: The last half of this 4+ hour trip was much more productive than the first half, thanks to light winds the first 2 hours.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:20A

End Time: 11:45A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 75F

Elevation: 9.14 feet low, 0.05′ fall in last 24 hours, 1 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 82.1F

Wind Speed & Direction: SE4 for ~30 minutes, then slack for ~75 minutes, then SSW8-9 for remainder

Sky Condition: ~20% white clouds on a blue sky at sunrise then decreasing to 10% as the morning moved on

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 35% illumination.

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT: N/A

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

SH0124C/1157/SH0213G

SH0059G/SH0059C

SH0222G/SH0063G

vic SH0216G

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

SO, THIS TEXAN & THIS NEW YORKER GET ON A BOAT … 87 FISH

September 15th, 2022 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Thursday, September 15th, I fished with first time guests Dave Hegedusich and Randy Ross. Dave resides in the San Antonio area where he is employed by USAA, and Randy retired from the U.S. Army after over 30 years as a non-commissioned officer. He resides in Malta, NY. The men are brothers-in-law.

Dave was referred to me by a friend of his, Steve Soukup, who, along with his wife, fished with me back in April of 2021. Thanks, Steve!!

We pursued white bass on a half-day morning trip on Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir.

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

PHOTO CAPTION: Randy Ross (left) and his brother-in-law, Dave Hegedusich, with four fish they landed as a “double-double” — two fish at a time on each of the two downriggers we had working during a period of slack wind.

PHOTO CAPTION: The MAL Dense (above), which is the heaviest of all of the MAL Lure family, took 56 of our 87 fish today (64%). The balance came on downrigged #12 Pet Spoons. The MAL Dense is easily distinguished from all other MAL Lures, as it is the only one with a painted body (the white portion).

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday, 15 September 2022

HOW WE FISHED:

This morning’s trip was very similar to yesterday’s — and no surprise there, as the weather was nearly identical with a light E. wind for the first third, a slack wind in the middle, and a building SE wind for the final third of the trip.

During the slack wind, which negatively impacted us yesterday, I chose to downrig instead of working distinct schools of fish vertically and horizontally. This enabled us to cover ground and “weed” out the few active fish amongst a generally inactive population during that slack wind period.

That decision worked well, as we took 31 fish via downrigging during that time.

The other 66 fish we took we took by working MAL Dense Lures (with chartreuse tails) vertically (at first) and then horizontally (after the vertical bite soured).

The vertical fishing was enhanced by use of Garmin LiveScope which allowed us to see individual fish chase our baits, thus, we knew when to keep reeling and when to allow our lures to drop back to bottom and reset.

TUTORIAL SMOKING VIDEO (Vertical): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE
TUTORIAL SAWTOOTH VIDEO (Horizontal): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3FMEQHOMQ

Our tally of 87 fish catch consisted of 1 largemouth bass, 1 freshwater drum, and 85 white bass, of which 81 were of legal size.

TALLY: 87 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: According to the weatherman, this was to be the last day of cooler, drier morning temps as warmer, more humid weather moves in for the weekend. No mayfly hatch observed. The white bass bite generally corresponded with the timing of the schooling largemouth bass which was easy to observe on the fairly calm surface.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:15A

End Time: 11:50A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 64F

Elevation: 8.98 feet low, 0.05′ fall in last 24 hours, 1 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 83.1F

Wind Speed & Direction: E5 through 8:45, then slack for ~1 hour, then light SE at <5 mph

Sky Condition: ~30% white clouds on a blue sky at sunrise then decreasing to 10% as the morning moved on

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 73% illumination.

GT = 60

Wx SNAPSHOT: N/A

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 889 – 5 fish (MAL Dense worked vertically)

Area SH0208G thru 1437 – 31 fish via downrigging

Area vic 933 – 23 fish (MAL Dense worked vert. and horiz.)

Area SH0060G/SH0225G – 28 fish (MAL Dense worked vert. and horiz.)

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

THIS ACCOUNTANT WORKED HIS ASSETS OFF — 52 FISH

September 14th, 2022 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Wednesday, September 14th, I fished with first time guest Mostafa Kassem of Round Rock, TX.

Mostafa is an accountant and graduate of Texas State in San Marcos. He recently left an accounting position and is heading to greener pastures up in Dallas come Monday, also in the field of accounting.

While in the transition, he’s been trying to get in as much fishing as he can, knowing that life is going to get real busy, real quick.

In the past few weeks Mostafa has fished for trout in Arkansas, gone offshore out of Port Aransas, and has fished inshore out of Rockport. His day with me on Stillhouse in pursuit of white bass was his final stop before the new job begins.

Here is how the fishing went …

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PHOTO CAPTION: Mostafa Kassem show one of three sets of triples he landed as we downrigged in open water for suspended white bass holding about 36 feet off bottom.

PHOTO CAPTION: The MAL Dense, which is the heaviest of all of the MAL Lure family, took 37 of our 52 fish today. The balance came on downrigged Pet Spoons. The MAL Dense is easily distinguished from all other MAL Lures, as it is the only one with a painted body and tail. All other have a silver body.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday, 14 September 2022

HOW WE FISHED:

Mostafa and I corresponded by text a good bit in the three days preceding this trip. He expressed a desire to learn as many techniques as he could. I explained that I could assure him of using at least three of the four tactics I typically rely upon in the summer months: smoking vertically, using the sawtooth method horizontally, downrigging, and, if the fish cooperated, topwater sight-casting.

As it turned out, there was very little topwater action today as the winds shifted from the E to S, so, we wound up doing all but the topwater.

We started well and ended well this morning, with the 9:15 to 10:15 timeframe (during which the wind went slack as it shifted from E to S) being pretty quiet.

The first group of fish we found were actually suspended in a horizontal band, but responded well as I Spot-Locked atop of them and created commotion with our presentations which drew them in and got them competing with one another.

We worked MAL Dense Lures (chartreuse tails) vertically using a smoking tactic aided by Garmin LiveScope as we fished for these suspended fish.

After the fishes’ interest waned on that one location, we expanded our coverage by putting twin downriggers out and working in the same general area, with that former Spot-Lock position remaining the center of our bullseye. We worked #12 Pet Spoons behind 3-armed umbrella rigs on two downriggers (6 baits in the water).

The downriggers actually exceeded my expectation, producing three sets of triples, two doubles, and two singles — 15 fish in all — before the fish dissipated.

We then worked through a bit of a lull and then wrapped up with a great final 75 minutes primarily working MAL Dense Lures (with chartreuse tails) horizontally using a sawtooth tactic over ~47 feet of water.

TUTORIAL SMOKING VIDEO (Vertical): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE
TUTORIAL SAWTOOTH VIDEO (Horizontal): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3FMEQHOMQ

Our tally of 52 fish catch consisted of 100% legal white bass with numerous fish exceeding 14 inches.

TALLY: 52 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: The white bass were atypically prone to suspending in horizontal bands early in the trip today. Temperature profile was as follows:

0 feet 84.0F
5 feet 84.0F
10 feet 83.8F
15 feet 83.6F
20 feet 83.4F
25 feet 83.4F
30 feet 83.1F
35 feet 82.6F
40 feet 82.1F
45 feet 75.7F
50 feet 68.5F
55 feet 64.9F
60 feet 62.9F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:20A

End Time: 12:05P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 74F

Elevation: 8.93 feet low, 0.03′ fall in last 24 hours, 1 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 84.0F

Wind Speed & Direction: E5 through 9:15, then slack for ~ 1 hour, then shifting to S7-8

Sky Condition: ~20% white clouds on a blue sky at sunrise then gaining a white haze over the rest of the AM

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 81% illumination.

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT: N/A

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area vic 258 – first 90 minutes of action starting off with schooled fish responding to smoking, then transitioning to downrigging and expanding our coverage

Area 1433/SH0210G – final 75 minutes of excellent sawtooth 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

MR. SOFTWARE & MR. HARDWARE – 88 FISH

September 12th, 2022 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Monday, September 12th, I fished with first time guests Xuan Qi and his friend, Jacob Liu.

The two Austinites first met while fishing near the dam on Inks Lake years ago and have been fishing together ever since.

Both are employed in the Austin tech industry where Xuan focuses on software engineering and Jacob focuses on hardware engineering.

Both men are originally from China — Xuan from near Beijing, and Jacob from near Wuhan.

Fortunately, their English was better than my Chinese!

My next open date will be on the morning of September 14th followed by the evening of September 15th.

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Xuan Qi and Jacob Liu fished their way to an 88-fish morning. The vast majority of our fish came fishing MAL Dense Lures vertically through schools of bottom-oriented white bass in 40-50 feet of water.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday, 12 September 2022

HOW WE FISHED:

After a week-long getaway with my wife to the Florida Gulf coast, I returned to Stillhouse this morning and the fishing picked up right where it left off. With no major weather events in the past week, nor any forecast for the week to come, fishing should remain consistent.

We stayed in the action from start to finish this morning, finding 6 distinct groups of white bass, catching fish from 4 of them, and doing quite well while Spot-Locked atop 2 of them. Most of the fish came from 40-50′.

The fish seemed more likely to tightly bunch together this morning, hence, we took most of our fish vertically. Fewer than 5 of the 88 fish came while working a horizontal sawtooth method.

The lion’s share of our fish came on the MAL Dense Lure with chartreuse tail. Using Garmin LiveScope, Xuan and Jacob timed the rise of their lures so as to slightly “lead” schools of fish swimming parallel to the bottom. Once the fish took chase, a fast, steady retrieve imitating the flight of a panicked shad was all it took to seal the deal.

Our single best “run” of fish came at the end, as the N wind died and began to blow easterly. During this ~40 minute span we landed our final 40 fish of the trip.

TUTORIAL SMOKING VIDEO (Vertical): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE
TUTORIAL SAWTOOTH VIDEO (Horizontal): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3FMEQHOMQ

Our tally of 88 fish consisted of 86 legal white bass, 1 freshwater drum, and 1 channel catfish.

TALLY: 88 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: The largest brown mayfly hatch I’ve observed this summer took place overnight. Schooling largemouth action has returned (small fish).

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:20A

End Time: 11:50A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 68F

Elevation: 8.82 feet low, 0.05′ fall in last 24 hours, 1 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 81.2F

Wind Speed & Direction: NNE6-7 all morning

Sky Condition: ~20% white clouds on a blue sky at sunrise, slowly increasing to ~40% coverage by trip’s end.

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 95% illumination.

GT = 40

Wx SNAPSHOT: N/A

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area vic SH0065G – 24 fish primarily fishing vertically

Area SH0214G – 19 fish primarily fishing vertically

Area vic 889 – 5 fish fishing vertically only

Area vic SH0216G – 40 fish fishing vertically only

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

FEDEX DELIVERS A 2-MAN LIMIT – 58 FISH

September 5th, 2022 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Monday, September 5th (Labor Day), I fished with first time guests Dennis Donohoe and Lance Lundquist. The men first got acquainted through their employer, Fedex, where they both work as delivery drivers out of the Belton/Temple location.

Dennis received the trip as a gift from a relative, and, after rescheduling twice, we finally got cooperative weather and calendar “windows” and made it happen today.

My next open date will be on the morning of September 14th.

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Lance Lundquist and Dennis Donohoe with a pair of white bass caught simultaneously. We release 100% of our catch, and since these fish taken from cooler, deep water will perish very quickly if not released immediately, we do not hold them in the livewell until we get a bunch of large fish to take photos of … we show it like it is for conservation’s sake!

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday, 05 September 2022

HOW WE FISHED:

I once again chose Stillhouse for today’s trip because lately the only thing producing well for white bass on Lake Belton has been topwater action, and it is unreliable at best, and so much more so when the weather is turbulent. I felt it would be a bit of an “all or nothing” proposition if I’d chosen to go there. Then, since it was a holiday weekend, if the topwater did develop, the potential for that to turn into a ‘boat show’ was there, so I went with the sure bet over at Stillhouse.

We caught quality fish in relative solitude.

The fishing was moderately paced and consistent this morning. We found fish at two distinct locations. The bite at the first location lasted a full 2 hours and produced 38 fish. We then experienced a lull as the sun shone intensely and the wind ceased. Once the wind picked back up out of the west, the bite resumed, and we fished our final area, doing 2 short “hops” in the same area, and picked up a final 20 fish at that location.

At both areas, we took our fish vertically upon arrival, and then “mopped up” using a sawtooth method after the vertical interest died off. 100% of our catch today came on the MAL Dense with chartreuse tail. This is the heaviest of all of the MAL Lures, and is useful for these fish coming out of ~40-45 feet of water.

TUTORIAL SMOKING VIDEO (Vertical): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE
TUTORIAL SAWTOOTH VIDEO (Horizontal): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3FMEQHOMQ

Our tally of 58 fish consisted of all legal-sized white bass.

TALLY: 58 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: The largemouth schooling action seems to have subsided. I am now consistently spotting small flocks of teal beginning to migrate south.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:00A

End Time: 11:25A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 68F

Elevation: 8.50 feet low, 0.02′ rise in last 24 hours, 2 CFS flow (0.40′ rise overall due to Tuesday flooding)

Water Surface Temp: 81.3F

Wind Speed & Direction: Light SE breeze under 4 thru 9:15, then about an hour of calm, followed by a breeze at W6.

Sky Condition: ~20% white clouds on a blue sky.

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 70% illumination.

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area vic SH0227G/SH0209G – 38 fish working MAL Dense vert. and horiz.

Area SH0228G – 20 fish working MAL Dense vert. and horiz. (2 short hops)

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

TWO BIG EVENTS, BOTH INVOLVING WATER! – 78 FISH

September 1st, 2022September 1st, 2022 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Thursday, September 1st, I fished with first time guests spanning three generations. Eight-year-old Grace Floyd was joined by her father, Trevor, her paternal grandfather, Randall, and her maternal grandfather, Paul Mackley, for a special fishing trip on Stillhouse Hollow.

Randall flew in from northern California last night and, catch this, Paul took an Uber from San Antonio!

Grace’s grandfathers (and other family), converged on Temple, TX, to celebrate Grace’s forthcoming baptism, preceded by today’s holiday from school and a morning in the outdoors with the ‘men in her life’!

After two days off the water doing sonar training and thus avoiding the brunt of the environmental change brought on by Tuesday’s local, minor flooding, I chose Stillhouse for this trip for a number of reasons.

My next open date will be on the morning of September 14th.

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Randall Floyd, Grace Floyd, Paul Mackley, and Trevor Floyd.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday, 01 September 2022

HOW WE FISHED:

I chose Stillhouse for today’s trip because lately the only thing producing well for white bass on Lake Belton has been topwater action, and it is unreliable at best, and so much more so when the weather is turbulent. I felt it would be a bit of an “all or nothing” proposition if I’d chosen to go there. Then, add to that the necessity to cast somewhat accurately to do well on topwater fish, along with Grace’s limit casting experience, and I just wasn’t comfortable taking this crew there.

So, knowing Stillhouse’s bite would be technical but consistent and would offer the options to fish vertically, horizontally, and with downriggers (so as to offer Grace some variety, if need be), I made the call to go there.

Over the course of the morning, we found solid concentrations of fish in four distinct areas. At all four, we caught our fish early on by using a vertical “smoking” tactic with MAL Dense Lures in conjunction with Garmin LiveScope.

At two of those four areas we followed up the smoking with horizontal work using the sawtooth method. The presence of timber prevented this at the third location, and there were no fish showing out to our sides at the fourth.

The fishing was moderately paced but consistent throughout the morning — actually a bit better than I anticipated given the near lack of wind and what wind there was still drifting in from the NE, with abundant grey cloud cover preventing a brightening of the sky at the start of the trip.

As you can see from the “Areas Fished with Success” segment below, our most productive stop was our last, which coincided both with the greatest amount of wind we would experience all morning, along with some direct sunlight.

TUTORIAL SMOKING VIDEO (Vertical): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE
TUTORIAL SAWTOOTH VIDEO (Horizontal): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3FMEQHOMQ

Our tally of 78 fish consisted of 77 legal white bass and 1 legal largemouth bass.

TALLY: 78 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: In all, the 0.40′ rise due to locally heavy rains and minor flooding did not significantly impact the fishery on Stillhouse.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:05A

End Time: 11:35A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 73F

Elevation: 8.50 feet low, 0.02′ rise in last 24 hours, 2 CFS flow (0.40′ rise overall due to Tuesday flooding)

Water Surface Temp: 82.6F

Wind Speed & Direction: Light NE breeze under 3mph through 10:45, then NE5+

Sky Condition: Fully greyed skies until 10:45A

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 26% illumination.

GT = 50

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area SH0227G/SH0209G – 21 fish working MAL Dense vert. and horiz.

Area SH0229G – 16 fish working MAL Dense vert. only due to timber

Area SH0228G – 16 fish working MAL Dense vert. and horiz.

Area 1569/SH0062G – 25 fish MAL Dense vert. only (no fish seen to port or starboard)

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

A DIRECT CORRELATION WITH SUNLIGHT — 70 FISH

August 29th, 2022August 29th, 2022 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Monday, August 29th, I fished with first time guests — the father-and-son team of Jeff and Tyler Coad.

Tyler, his wife, Sophia, and their baby live in Harker Heights, TX, where Jeff came in from the State of Washington to visit and see his grandchild in person for the first time.

Once the visit date was set, Sophia went about coordinating the trip and, fortunately, the weather and the fish cooperated.

My next open date will be on the morning of September 6th.

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Jeff and Tyler Coad with a few of the fish we took mainly on topwater this morning, and mainly when the sun shone directly on the water through the heavy cloud cover in the latter half of our trip.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday, 29 August 2022

HOW WE FISHED:

Since last Friday (26 Aug.), when a southerly wind returned following a mild cold front’s passage on 21-22 Aug., a moderate topwater bite has been going on at Lake Belton.

Any time I feel confident I can put clients in a sight-fishing scenario, I will normally do so, and this morning was one of those times.

We got going at 6:35A, but, the fishing didn’t kick in right away thanks to some pretty thick, grey cloud cover which kept the skies from brightening quickly.

We took a few fish here and there via downrigging, but did not see or hear anything promising above the waterline, nor on sonar.

As the morning moved along, the sun brightened the sky through the grey cloud cover in spurts (although it did not shine directly during this time). During these spurts, the white bass rose to the surface and trapped shad there over large expanses of open water. When the clouds thickened, the fish quit, and so on.

Finally, around 9:10 or so, the sun’s rays began to consistently keep the skies “squinting bright” and then finally broke through and shone directly on the water. This “window” was the best of the best.

For the topwater action, we threw modified MAL Originals with 1 bend of the hook snipped off.

After the topwater action subsided, around 10:10, we hit one final area — a sort of underwater draw. We found fish scattered about, and were able to consolidate them with the commotion we created by fishing atop one area on Spot-Lock. We managed a final 7 fish here with MAL Dense Lures fished vertically in conjunction with Garmin LiveScope.

Our tally of 70 fish consisted of 66 legal white bass, 3 short hybrid, and 1 just-legal largemouth bass.

TALLY: 70 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: The correlation between direct sun shining on the water and the likelihood of white bass feeding on the surface was strikingly consistent today.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:35A

End Time: 10:50A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 76F

Elevation: 8.96 feet low, 0.04′ fall in last 24 hours, 58 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 82.3F

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE8-9 at trip’s start, tapering back to SSE4-6 for the last 3 hours

Sky Condition: Fully greyed skies until 9:10A, then slowly clearing to 50% white cloud coverage on blue skies thereafter

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 5% illumination.

GT = 60

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area vic B0207G – majority of our fish taken here on topwater working MAL Original Lures

Area B0201G – our last 7 fish taken here working MAL Dense Lures vertically

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

FROM FINLAND WITH LOVE – 34 FISH

August 25th, 2022 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Thursday, August 25th, I fished with Kari and Sandra Terho who decided to include an overnight stay at a Salado bed and breakfast followed by a morning of fishing on Stillhouse Hollow in their vacation tour of the Texas Hill Country.

When I asked them what led them to decide to come fish with me, they let me know it was because of my approach to fishing with artificial lures which appealed to them. Previously, the Terhos had only fished with live bait.

Since I had visited Finland (and fished there) back in my early 20s, I got to compare notes on species and tactics Kari had employed there. Most of his fishing “back home” was done with live bait for a species known as lahna, which is called a bream in English. My fishing involved using light, inline spinners for perch, called ahven in Finnish.

My next open date will be on September 14th.

Here is how the fishing went …

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PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Kari and Sandra Terho with a nice pair of white bass taken early on MAL Dense Lures worked vertically. The final day of a slowly decreasing northerly blow ushered in bright skies and tough conditions.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday, 25 August 2022

HOW WE FISHED:

Kari and Sandra zoomed through a pretty steep learning curve this morning, having never used spinning gear before, and having never caught fish on artificial presentations before.

Given this, we spent a few minutes before leaving the launch site going over how to hold spinning gear, how to use that gear for vertical and horizontal tactics, and how to land fish once they are hooked.

We then set out in search of fish and found a bit of a cool reception today, the third day of N. winds following a recent mild cold front’s passage. The skies were bright and winds were light, making things a bit tougher than they might otherwise be.

If there was a constant today, it was that the fish were most interested when we first arrived and got our baits (MAL Dense Lures with chartreuse tails) down to the fish and began working them. The fish quickly lost interest, and so much more so as the morning moved on. We took very few fish today using the sawtooth method — the method which has produced most consistently over the past few weeks.

I suspect we’ll see a stronger bite return once the winds switch back out of the south.

After putting together a 30 fish catch by the 2.5 hour mark, Sandra was getting uncomfortably warm thanks to the bright conditions and light winds. I began downrigging so as to move the boat and create a bit of a breeze. We landed four more fish in the following thirty minutes, and then wrapped up about 30 minutes early before the heat really started to pour on.

Our tally of 34 fish consisted entirely of legal white bass up to those in the 3-year class.

TALLY: 34 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: What is forecast to be our third and final day of northerly winds following the passage of Monday’s mild cold front, made the fishing a bit tough. The skies were bright and the winds were light. I noted the fish demonstrated a tendency to suspend nearly motionless today, often ignoring vertical and horizontal presentations, including downrigging.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:00A

End Time: 10:30A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 73F

Elevation: 8.86 feet low, 0.05′ fall in last 24 hours, 1 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 81.9F

Wind Speed & Direction: NNE4 until ~9:45, then picking up to NNE7-8

Sky Condition: <10% white clouds on blue sky

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 3% illumination.

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area SH0227G – caught 17 fish with vert. & horiz. MAL Dense work

Area SH0228G – caught 13 fish with vert MAL Dense work

Area SH0224G to 911 – downrigged at close of trip for 4 fsh

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

https://youtu.be/TDNohRfnYSA

Downrigging 101 (w/ Aggressive School Video!) – 50 Fish

August 23rd, 2022August 23rd, 2022 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Tuesday, August 23rd, I fished with Mr. Lynn Barnett of Gatesville, TX.

Lynn and I first met when he brought me onboard to do a sonar training session earlier this year. As he began to follow my reports and see the success I have through the summer using downriggers, he asked me to help him to use his own downriggers better.

We agreed that having him come aboard my boat to see both my own downriggers, and the accessories I use along with them, would be the the best bet.

My next open date will be on September 14th.

Here is how the fishing went …

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PHOTO CAPTION: Triple!! That what Lynn Barnett of Gatesville started this morning’s downrigging tutorial fishing trip off with.

VIDEO CAPTION: After finding aggressive white bass using downriggers and side-imaging, we got to the “center of mass” of the school we’d found quickly and worked MAL Dense Lures (white body/chartreuse tail) through them for quite a while. This is a 2-fish catch sequence is taken off Garmin LiveScope via the ActiveCaptain app.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday, 23 August 2022

HOW WE FISHED:

Before Lynn’s trip, I’d mentally pieced together an “outline” of the points I wanted to be sure to explain and demonstrate to him. Those things included:

1. Where I mounted my downriggers and why I mounted them there.

2. The importance of using a heavy ball.

3. The release clip I’ve crafted just for white bass.

4. Adjusting sonar to see the downrigger balls and thermocline.

5. The mounting and use of a Retro-Ease Weight Retriever.

6. The construct of my 3-armed umbrella rigs.

7. The selection and use of the downrigging-specific rods and reels I use.

8. Setback distance for the lures used for white bass.

9. Methods for lowering the ball efficiently.

10. Methods for adjusting ball depth up or down after deployment.

11. Boat control considerations to prevent running over your line when a fish is hooked.

12. What interested vs. disinterested fish look like on sonar (DI and 2D).

13. Using downrigging as a search tool for congregations of active fish.

14. Maintaining ideal boat speed.

15. When to downrig vs. when to stop and work vertically and/or horizontally.

16. The “season” for downrigging.

As we worked through all of these things, we had twin downriggers running, each equipped with 3-armed umbrella rigs. Our very first hookup of the morning was a triple — one white bass on each of the three lures on the umbrella rig.

We went on to take additional singles and doubles, as well.

At one point, the density of fish showing both below us and out to our deeper, port side, was such that I pointed out to Lynn that we would do better to stop and work MAL Dense Lures as the time and effort it would take to rig up, catch one or two, reel them in, turn the boat around, line up on the fish, etc. would be much greater than simply sitting in their presence and catching them.

We caught fish very steadily, first vertically, then, once the vertical bite soured, we took them horizontally with the sawtooth method. Once the sawtooth method failed to produce and side-imaging showed the fish were thinning out, we resumed downrigging, this time with Lynn setting everything up and adjusting ball depth on the fly.

By 9:30AM Lynn had seen all he’d come to see and landed exactly 50 white bass doing it. We headed back in, dropped him off so he could get back to the shop in Gatesville, while I headed back out and took advantage of the cloud cover and cooler temperatures to do some scouting.

Our tally of 50 fish consisted of 49 legal white bass, and 1 short.

TALLY: 50 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: The mild cold front which caused the record-setting 9+ inches of rain in the DFW area on Sunday and Monday and which dropped 1/2″ of rain here yesterday continued to cause a mild NW breeze at 6-7 mph with abundant grey cloud cover.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:00A

End Time: 9:30A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 73F

Elevation: 8.59 feet low, 0.01′ rise in last 24 hours, 1 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 83F

Wind Speed & Direction: NW6-7

Sky Condition: 95-100% grey clouds

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 13% illumination.

GT = 4

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area SH0213G – 39 fish found by d’rig, then caught with vert. & horiz. MAL Dense work

Area 874/876 – final 11 fish taken by downrigging only on multiple passes thru this area

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