I fished this morning with U.S. Army retiree Bill C. of Killeen. Bill has always been a bank fisherman who primarily targeted crappie from the bank or from marinas, so, today was a whole new experience for him.

About 45 minutes into the trip Bill looked at me and said, “Well, we’ve already caught more hybrid on this trip than I have in the rest of my life!”

Bill was great company. He loves and serves the Lord, his church, and his community. Yes, he’s retired, but I think he does more now than when he was working between Sunday School teaching, working with church bus ministry, Habitat for Humanity, serving food to the elderly, and more. Just a great guy and a pleasure to fish with!

We found active fish spurred on by the still incoming cold front that filtered in overnight and into this morning. As they typically do, the fish fed heavily until the N. wind peaked and began to fall off; at that time the fishing also began to fall off.

We found pods of surface or near-surface feeding fish spread all over the crescent-shaped area defined by Area 837 to the S., through Area 859 to the W., and Area 839 to the N.(BA:30RBG,9T,3WP) and fished these fish primarily with slabs and swimbaits worked horizontally in a very simple, no-frills manner. The key was to spot fish on sonar, know what depth they were holding at, and let the lures sink to that depth and try to keep them their by controlling retrieve speed and rod tip location.

In an unusual manner, we also found fish working over the Leon River Channel in no way relating to the bottom, but just gorging on shad (BA:60RBG)

Once the action throttled back a bit with the brightening sun, we took a more vertical approach targeting bottom-hugging or bottom-cruising fish doing particularly well at Area 966.

By the time all was said and done we’d boated 56 fish today, capped off with Bill’s 3.75 pound hybrid taken on a horizontally worked slab.

As you’re reading this, please know that our fishery is in great shape. Yes, the water is low due to drought, but that’s about all that is wrong right now. The fish are doing what they normally do this time of year which is feeding heavily during falling water temperatures and responding as they typically do to frontal activity.

I fear the newspaper and TV news stories of drought, low water and water hazards has scared folks off a bit — I know boat and fishing the pressure on Belton and Stillhouse has been very low, which only adds to the quality of the fishery!

If you’re contemplating a Thanksgiving or Christmas holiday fishing trip, by all means, don’t hesitate!!

I’m at:

Bob Maindelle

Holding the Line Guide Service

254-368-7411

www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Start Time: 6:30a

End Time: 11:00a

Air Temp: 44F at trip’s start.

Water Surface Temp: 64.7F.

Wind: Winds were NW12 at sunrise tapering to N3 as the cold front blew out by 10:15.

Skies: Skies were bluebird.

The ORVIS company, known for both flyfishing and wingshooting gear, just had the grand opening for their newest store in the Arboretum area of Austin at 10000 Research Drive.

From L to R: Austin Fly Fishers president Jim Robinson, SKIFF Fishing Guide Bob Maindelle, and ORVIS CEO Perk Perkins at the grand opening of ORVIS – Austin

ORVIS made a sizeable donation to the SKIFF (Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun) Program run by the Austin Fly Fishers and me.

We’re all very appreciative this effort. This greatly enhances our ability to put more boys and girls on the water this year and next while their moms and dads serve our country in harm’s way.

Great people, great store — I hope the fishing community allows for their success in the years to come!

I fished Belton Lake this morning and was specifically out to beat my own current hybrid striped bass record on the flyrod, but the higher than expected winds quickly put an end to that hope.

This pair of hybrid came on consecutive casts out of 29 feet of water on a small swimbait imitating the size of shad most fish in this area were feeding on.

Fishing this morning was very “straightforward”. The fish fed up high in the water column at first light, allowing me to take 4 hybrid and 5 white bass near the surface on swimbaits just north of Area 836 over ~30 feet of water (BA:8RBG). To make sure I found active fish in multiple locations for forthcoming trips with clients, I moved while this action was still going in search of other active populations of fish in other locations.

I found lots of white bass, although most were smallish, at Area 960, boating 13 before moving on while they were still biting. These were all jigged with a TNT 3/4 oz. slab in HTLGS pattern.

The morning bite came to a close as I fished Area 187 and vicinity, mainly to the NW (BA:12T,25RBG). This was by far the most productive area holding quantities of fish, quality fish, and lots of bait. I boated 52 fish here mainly by smoking at first, then, as the fish settled, by jigging. Fish came on swimbaits (larger fish, but lots of missed strikes) and on slabs (caught most every fish that struck, but many of those were smaller fish).

TALLY = 74 FISH, all caught and released

Start Time: 6:30a

End Time: 11:15a

Air Temp: 71F at trip’s start.

Water Surface Temp: 64.7F.

Wind: Winds were S9 at sunrise, slowly building to S16 trip’s end.

Skies: Skies were 80% greyed with high, thin clouds.

For the second Saturday in a row I had the pleasure of fishing with aspiring young angler Joseph B. of Killeen. Joseph is 7 years old and caught his very first fish during an outing with me last weekend during which we boated 10 fish.

Joseph blew his former personal best catch of 10 fish in one trip right out of the water by boating 31 fish on today’s trip!

As we got started, we did a bit of downrigging in the vicinity of Areas 909/644 over 21-26 feet of water. We also had a single flatline rod out. We boated a total of 5 fish in this area as I kept an eye on the building wind and looking for any bird activity.

As fewer and fewer fish appeared up off bottom, we transitioned to working slabs over deepwater areas ranging from 23-41 feet deep. We put 13 more fish in the boat at Area 961 by 9:15. After these fish cooled off, we went hunting elsewhere with sonar.

As we searched out a few areas, Joseph told me he’d taken printed photos of our trip last week in to school for show and tell. I would like to have been a fly on that wall!! Joseph really has taken to fishing very quickly and maintains his enthusiasm longer than most 10-12 year olds I have on board.

By around 9:25 or so things got tougher. We were able to find fish and get them to respond initially to our presentations, pulling a few fish in, but then they’d cool off really quickly and either lose interest, move on, or both. We caught 4 fish at Area 949, 3 fish at Area 926, 4 fish at Area 927, and 2 fish at Area 962. It’s interesting to note that this is the time the prime morning feed ended on Belton Lake during yesterday’s trip, as well.

By 10:45 the winds were at 18mph, with frequent higher gusts and so I decided to play it safe with my young fishing buddy and head back in to safety.

Aunt Marisa was at the ramp waiting for our return where Joseph got to show her a few of the larger white bass we’d caught and pose with her for the photo above.

TALLY = 31 FISH, all caught and released

Start Time: 7:15a

End Time: 10:45a

Air Temp: 54F at trip’s start.

Water Surface Temp: 64.1F.

Wind: Winds were S5 at sunrise, slowly building to S18 with higher gusts by 10:45a.

Skies: Skies were 80% greyed with high, thin clouds.

This morning I welcomed Tom and Kimmi D. of Harker Heights aboard and headed out on Belton Lake after a mixed bag of hybrid striped bass and white bass.

Kimmi and her long-awaited big hybrid! This fish struck a Swimmin’ Image crankbait rigged behind a downrigger.

Tom with his first keeper hybrid of the trip taken just moments after sunrise on a horizontally retrieved TNT180 slab.

Kimmi didn’t have prior experience with spinning gear but very quickly got accustomed to using it during our “practice round” near the boat ramp. This “practice round” is useful for getting my guests through any learning curves BEFORE we get on fish. This allows us to maximize our fish catching potential once fish are found having worked out all the kinks ahead of time.

This morning we found fish (BA:30HG,10T) primarily within an area triangulated by Areas 836, 683, and 300. The best action came from sunrise to around 9:15, and then slowly tapered down thereafter. During the peak of the action, most fish were up in the upper 1/3 of the water column during which time Tom took fish by casting a slab horizontally and Kimmi took fish working a slab vertically. The fish were scattered over a large area and were moving about quickly, so, we transitioned over to using downriggers set up high in the water column and, one rigged with a Pet Spoons and the other rigged with a Swimmin’ Image, scored more consistently with these than with the slabs.

By the time the early feed had ended the couple had boated 29 fish including 3 keeper hybrid, and a mix of short hybrid and white bass. There was a good bit of good-natured banter that went back and forth over the course of our trip today. I’ve heard wives “lay down the gauntlet” for their spouses before, but never quite like this … Kimmi stated (before the first fish had been boated) that the first one to catch a fish would avoid being sentenced to the unenviable task of unloading the dishwater!! I made a mental note to myself to issue that same challenge the next time I’m sure I can beat my wife at something…

Anyway, when the early bite died around 9:15, we began fishing in the lower 1/3 of the water column by hovering over small groups of fish as we encountered them on sonar. We made 3 short stops all in the vicinity of Area 959 and boated 6 fish in about 25 minutes time. Eventually, even the bottom hugging fish got sparse and we moved on.

We moved on to Area 960, searched with sonar, found fish in short order and began putting fish in the boat, but found all were short whites here. We pulled up after boating 6 to look for some better quality fish.

Tom and Kimmi are both avid bird watchers, so we counted it fortunate to sight an osprey as we motored toward Area 954. Once we got there, I immediately saw fish on sonar up high in the water column. As we got set up in a hover over this area, Tom had his slab dangling in the water just 18″ under the surface waiting for me to get the boat near-stationary when a white bass got brave enough to attack it at boatside!

By around 10:40 it was clear that we’d seen the best of it this morning, and, with an appointment Kimmi had to keep in Waco, we decided to call it a good day right then and there.

We ended our day with 42 fish boated.

TALLY = 42 FISH, all caught and released

Start Time: 6:30a

End Time: 10:45a

Air Temp: 34F at trip’s start.

Water Surface Temp: 64.4F.

Wind: Winds S7 at sunrise, going nearly slack by 9:00a, then slowly building to S14 by 11a.

Skies: Skies were fair.

I fished an “exploratory” trip on Belton today after spending the last several weeks on Stillhouse exclusively. Stillhouse still has a good bit of hydrilla which up until this most recent cold front has been holding sunfish which give me a “backup” plan when I conduct trips for younger kids.

One of six keeper hybrid I boated today amidst a mixed bag catch of 114 fish, mainly taken by way of vertical jigging with a TNT 180 3/4 oz. slab

In my advertising, discussions with current and future clients, etc., I “close the season” for kids 2nd grade and younger at this point in the year and focus on adults, teens and older kids as the fishing will be more technical from this point on through around the Spring Break time in March.

I enjoy fishing Belton in the cold months as there is always the shot at some quality hybrid that Stillhouse doesn’t offer. Oftentimes bird activity can be helpful at Belton, but, as of this fishing trip, no large numbers of birds had yet migrated down.

Today, I boated a total of 114 fish in 11 hours of focused fishing. There were definite spikes in activity between 7:30a-8:30am and again from 2:30 to 3:30pm, and a definite lull from noon to 1:30pm with otherwise average fishing outside of these times. We had such wacky weather today that I don’t think these peaks and valleys in activity will hold up over time. We had pre-frontal warming today with a wet, warm SE wind up to 15-16mph mainly in the morning, with afternoon winds settling to calm by 5:00pm.

In some years we’ve seen bird activity by this first week of November, but I saw very little in the way of birds today so far.

A summary of success is as follows:

Area 952 (BA:3T) — 6 keeper hybrid on slab/swimbait

Area 953 — 2 whites, 1 channel cat on slab

Area 954 — 20 whites/hybrid on slab; left them biting

Area 955 and to the S. of it — 24 whites/hybrid on slab

Area 956 — 7 whites on slab

Area 957 — 29 whites, 1 drum on slab; left them biting

Area 958 — 10 whites on swimbait

Area 930 — 14 whites

TALLY = 114 FISH, all caught and released

Start Time: 6:30a

End Time: 5:30p

Air Temp: 67F at trip’s start.

Water Surface Temp: 67.1F.

Wind: Winds SE14-17 all morning, lightening up by 11:00, then puffing and gusting through 3:00 at no more than 11mph, then going slack by sunset.

Skies: Skies were 100% greyed over.

Rylan with the first fish of his lifetime which earned him a TPWD “First Fish” certificate.

Aedan with 1 of 103 fish we caught on TNT180 slabs on this cloudy, windy, warm day just right for white bass fishing!

A screenshot off of my Lowrance HDS-10 sonar unit showing the fish in absolute overdrive from bottom to top this afternoon literally hitting anything that moved!

The S.K.I.F.F. (Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun) Program exists to take the children of deployed or deceased soldiers on fishing trips at no charge to the soldiers’ families as a way of showing our support for our troops and providing a respite for their spouses. The following is a note to SKIFF supporters about this most recent outing…

Saturday, 05 Nov. 2011

Dear Austin Fly Fishers and Friends of SKIFF,

Today I fished with 12 and 8 year old brothers Aedan and Rylan Acheson of Harker Heights, TX. These boys are the sons of Major Eric Acheson and his wife, Rachelle. Eric is currently serving as an Army doctor with the 102nd Forward Surgical Team

at Forward Operating Base (FOB) Bostick in the Kunar Province of NE Afghanistan.

As icing on the cake, Grandpa Randy (Rachelle’s dad) came along for the fishing trip. He and his wife drove in from Magnolia, TX, for a whirlwind weekend which included a football game, Rylan’s 8th birthday party, our SKIFF fishing trip, and attending church on Sunday where Aedan gave a report about a recent mission trip he attended.

After watching the weather reports very closely following our mid-week cold front, I saw a wind shift to the south, cloud cover, and good wind velocity called for and just knew this was going to be good!!

As we began at 3:00pm the wind was a bit too stiff for safe boat control out in open water given my pretty inexperienced crew, so, we sought out some protected water near Area 885 and ran downriggers until the winds let off a bit. We managed to boat 2 white bass and 1 largemouth as we waited, which included the first fish Rylan had ever caught in his life, thus earning him a TPWD “First Fish” certificate.

After about 40 minutes or so the winds came down from 17-18 mph to 14-15 and we made a go of it.

From 3:45 to 6:45 we fished over top of three “humps” out in open water (Area 232/950/951, Area 949, and Area 915). Each topped out at about 36-41 feet deep.

At each location, the scenario was the same … aggressively feeding white bass were positioned in a feeding posture within 18 inches of the bottom and on the windward side of the humps. At times the fish were so aggressive and competing with their schoolmates so strongly that our slabs wouldn’t make it to the bottom before being struck at by a fish, often resulting in hookups.

The boys and their grandpa kept reeling ’em in and I kept my forceps handy and just went from person to person unhooking fish, keeping lines untangled, and coaching to make sure everyone’s technique was remaining effective.

By the time our daylight failed us, we’d boated exactly 103 fish. We had been anticipating the possibility of hitting the century mark once we put fish number 80 in the boat, but I had told all three that it was a race against time, as there comes a point where the light level gets too dim and the feed stops very suddenly. Armed with this knowledge, Aedan, Rylan, and Randy stayed extra focused on making every cast count and on boating every hooked fish with no “long distance releases”. So, with this big buildup, you can imaging there was a lot of cheering going on when that 100th fish came over the side!!

Thank you all for the contributions you make in terms of both time and money so that unforgettable outings like this can take place even if the one who would normally be tending to such things is serving half a world away!!

Sincerely,

Bob Maindelle

TODAY’S CONDITIONS:

Start Time: 3:00p

End Time: 7:00p

Air Temp: 70F at trip’s start.

Water Surface Temp: ~66.4F

Wind: Winds were S13-18.

Skies: Skies started off fair with rapidly increasing grey cloud cover to the point of totally obscuring the direct sun.

Joseph B. of Willow Springs Elementary School in Killeen landed the first fish of his lifetime this morning, thus earning himself a Texas Parks and Wildlife “First Fish Award”.

Joseph proudly displays the first fish he’d ever caught. This was a 14″ largemouth bass that fell for a Pet Spoon downrigged from 14 feet of water over a 25 foot bottom. Joseph caught it using a conventional reel.

The last fish of our trip was a very nice 13″ white bass which Joseph caught on a lead slab in 39 feet of water using spinning tackle.

Joseph was battling this fish less than 15 minutes into our trip this morning as a mild ESE breeze helped to bring some warming following our first mild freeze and light frost of two nights previous.

We used a combination of 2 downriggers and 2 flatline trolls to fool a total of 7 fish (3 largemouth and 4 white bass) caught by 9:00am, and another 3 fish (2 whites and 1 largemouth) escaping before we boated them as Joseph went through the learning curve that every young fisherman does.

By 9:00, the winds went flat calm and the fishing got very tough. With surface temps now in the mid-60’s, our shallow sunfish bite is nearly completely over. We did poke around over two typically productive hydrilla beds and caught 2 small sunfish and were fortunate to find even those.

By 10:15, a promising breeze had begun from the SE, and began increasing and swinging SSE by 10:30. We visited a few deepwater breaklines and high spots and finally found a small concentrations of white bass right at Area 232. We jigged until Joseph caught one using this technique so he’d have exposure to and success with the use of spinning gear. Once we cleared that hurdle it was time to head back in to meet Aunt Marisa at the boat ramp.

Joseph independently boated 10 fish all by himself today. Way to go, Joseph!!

TALLY = 10 Fish, all caught and released

Start Time: 7:40a

End Time: 11:00a

Air Temp: 47F at trip’s start.

Water Surface Temp: ~66.7F

Wind: Winds were ESE7 prior to sunrise, going flat calm until 10:20, then coming on strong from the SSE at 13-14 by 10:30.

Skies: Bluebird changing to fair.

I postponed today’s trip with clients due to the timing of arrival of another significant cold front. As evening neared and the winds began to slack off, I went out on Stillhouse to see if our first gulls and terns may have made it down, but found none so far.

I did some graphing…

…and found a nice school of white bass right on top of Area 921 in 39-40 of water.

Of course you can’t leave home with at least a slabbing rod on the boat even if you are just bird-watching, so I teased this school up to make a nice shot on sonar and took a screenshot simultaneously with traditional sonar (top)and with DownScan (bottom), just for comparison’s sake.

I boated 8 fish from that school in as many drops and then left them alone … but with fair warning that I’d be back!!

Start Time: 3:30p

End Time: 7:00p

Air Temp: 57F at trip’s start.

Water Surface Temp: ~67.4F

Wind: Winds were N13 and tapering to N8.

Skies: Bluebird.

On the occasion of his 18th birthday, I took Brandon T. of Killeen and his younger three siblings, Maddisen, Kayleigh, and Ian out on Stillhouse Hollow for an afternoon fishing excursion.

In order, from youngest to oldest are … Ian …

… and Kayleigh …

… and Maddisen …

… and Brandon!

It seems the Killeen School District gave the kids an early out this Halloween, so, after leaving the schoolhouse by 1:30p or so, eldest brother Andrew brought the foursome down to boatramp and we were hunting fish by around 3:45p.

The conditions were very pleasant — temps in the 70’s, dry, sunny weather, fair skies, and a SSW breeze at 5-6 which is about the bare minimum to kick the fish into gear.

We started off searching deep water for schooled white bass and as we ran sonar over the second area I chose to search (Area 944), we found fish, buoyed them, hovered over top of them and jigged away with our trusty TNT 180 slabs (3/4 oz. in silver/white). In no time (less than 30 minutes) we’d boated 28 fish, including several for 5 year old Ian, which he caught 100% by himself!

After the bite died down to nil, we went looking in similar areas in the 35-41 foot depth range. We again encountered a nice school of fish at Area 945 and worked them over with our slabs with nearly the same result – plenty of fish for all four kids for a 15-20 minute run, then things went quiet after boating 22 more fish.

I continued searching like areas and as I did, I noted, as the sun grew closer to setting, that the bait was drawing nearer and nearer the surface.

With this observed, I felt the time to transition to shallow water was now upon us (around 5:40p or so). We put away our jigging equipment and geared up for downrigging over 20-25 foot depths. Between Areas 644 and 484 we encountered a lot of bait spread from top to bottom, with the majority within the top 15 feet of the water column. We put two lines out and staggered our downrigger weights at 15 feet and 20 feet. No sooner did we set the 20 foot rod than it went off with a healthy white nailing the Pet Spoon we’d chosen. Over the next hour we boated 7 more fish here including 2 largemouth and 5 more white bass. In addition to the downriggers, I also flatlined a Reef Runner Rip Shad 200 to cover the 8-12 foot range as I began to see white bass on sonar venturing that close to the surface as we came within minutes of sunset. The flatline accounted for 3 of the 8 fish we took in this area.

All four kids did great tonight, each landing their fair share of our haul. I was especially impressed with Brandon. He takes his role as big brother seriously and, though it meant giving up a shot a a few fish, tended to the needs of his younger siblings before his own as they encounter tangles and the like beyond what I could immediately keep up with. It’s rare to encounter such selfless young men these days.

TALLY = 58 FISH, all caught and released

Start Time: 3:00p

End Time: 7:00p

Air Temp: 76F at trip’s start.

Water Surface Temp: ~71.0F

Wind: Winds were SSW3-6.

Skies: Fair and cloudless.