2019 Fishing Reports | Fishing Report

DADDY – DAUGHTER DAY — 108 FISH @ LAKE BELTON

October 9th, 2019 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Wednesday, October 9th, I fished with father-daughter team Howard Davis and Cassandra Matos of Killeen. Cassandra contacted me over the summer and got a fishing gift certificate for her dad for his birthday. When she asked about times of year to fish, I suggested the window from October through mid-December as a reliable time to catch high numbers of fish while enjoying light crowds and pleasant weather. Today, that became a reality.

Howard is a U.S. Army Vietnam War veteran who retired both from the military where he served as a combat engineer, and from civil service where he worked another 27 years in supplies and logistics.

Cassandra works as a buyer for McLane’s in Temple.

PHOTO CAPTION: Howard Davis and his daughter, Cassandra Matos, both of Killeen, landed 108 fish as conditions came together well for a great morning of fishing. The pair landed white bass, hybrid striped bass, and blue catfish.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: 09 October 2019, AM

HOW WE FISHED: The cooldown brought on by Monday’s first significant cold front was most welcome. The air temperature was 67F and the lake’s surface temperature dropped to 79F. We had near perfect weather conditions this morning with grey clouds, a manageable wind speed, and winds returning from the south after 2 days of north winds.

The fish were really fired up this morning. We started the day with an easy limit of 25 keeper white bass via downrigging from 7:10 to 8:05, usinig Pet Spoons on a pair of 3-armed umbrella rigs. We saw just one short burst of topwater action, took one fish from that school, and went right back to downrigging when it was clear those fish were not going to stay up long.

After the low-light downrigging, we moved on and looked for bottom-hugging white bass schooled up sufficiently tightly enough to vertical jig for. We found 4 such scenarios, with each giving up about 20 fish before the fishes’ enthusiasm waned and we moved on. These fish were all in ~30-35 feet of water, and these schools contained a mixed bag of year groups, with the young-of-the-year 6-8 inchers being more prevalent by a 4:1 ratio. By 10:15 we’d landed exactly 100 fish and I offered the option of continuing with more of the same, or mixing it up a bit with bluecat.

The vote was for bluecat, so, we located a loose school of these whiskered fighters in 45 feet of water, chummed them in, and fished for them with prepared baits. We landed a total of 8 in our last hour on the water, (and, I hate to admit, missed about 4 or 5 more for every one we caught — those rascals sure strike quickly!).

TALLY: 108 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:55A

End Time: 11:15A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 67F

Elevation: 1.62feet low, 0.05′ 24-hour fall, 34 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 79F

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE10-12 the entire trip

Sky Conditions: 100% grey cloud cover

GT = 0

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 793 was center of mass for pre-sunrise downrigging; 25 keeper white bass by 8:05

**Area 2027/1819; smoking tailspinners; 20 fish

**Area 1815/327; smoking tailspinners; 23 fish

**Area 2032/968/B0112c; smoking tailspinners; 21 fish, then did a short hop a few yards away and took another 19 fish, bringing our tally to 100

**Area B0178C gave up 8 bluecat

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)

HAPPY 13TH BIRTHDAY, TUCKER — 63 FISH @ BELTON

October 8th, 2019 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Saturday morning, October 5th, I fished with Mr. Conard Osbourn, his father, Curtis Osbourn, and Conard’s son, Tucker, all in celebration of Tucker’s 13th birthday, as arranged for by Tucker’s mom, Hollie. Curtis, who chose just be a spectator and not fish with us, is a retired rancher, Conard makes his living as a pediatric nurse, and Tucker is working his way through school in the Liberty Hill ISD.

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Curtis, Conard, and Tucker Osbourn on October 5th’s multi-species trip on Lake Belton in celebration of Tucker’s 13th birthday. Father and son landed 63 fish as grandpa just came along for the ride.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: 05 October 2019, AM

HOW WE FISHED: Because Stillhouse has not been fishing well and all of my efforts have been focused on Belton, I ran today’s trip on Belton despite the ~260+ boats participating in the Fishing for Freedom event.

The morning started off well as a light, southerly breeze replaced a ENE blow from the day before. However, that breeze petered out by 9 AM. That, and the lack of cloud cover, made fishing very difficult from that point on.

We began our morning successfully downrigging in under 22 feet of water and, despite the excess boat traffic, were able to sight-cast to topwater feeders for about a 25-minute window, thus giving father and son exposure to something they’d never seen or done before.

After that dried up, we hunted white bass holding tight to bottom which I felt we could use a smoking tactic for with tailspinners. We did find such fish, and we caught them well, right up until the wind died and the bite died with it around 8:50. I checked several more areas and found relaxed bait and only scattered, suspended gamefish.

Since the fellows were very excited about the prospect of catching catfish, we began our pursuit of blue cat around 9:15 and stayed on them until we concluded the trip around 11 am. The bluecat were not all that energized, and I suspect the lack of wind kept the scent of our chum from dispersing widely, but, the action was steady which was more than I suspected the bite from white bass would be.

TALLY: 63 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: Although the Fishing for Freedom event made main lake access/parking a bit of an early morning challenge, there was really no issue getting on fish. Once the winds died and the sun shone brightly, everyone’s bite slowed way down and the boat traffic really picked up as everyone changed spots hoping to get back on fish.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:50A

End Time: 11:05A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 70F

Elevation: 1.44 feet low, 0.02′ 24-hour fall, 34 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 81.1F

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE3-4 until 9:00, then going flat calm

Sky Conditions: Zero cloud cover

GT = 75

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 1792 was center of mass for pre-sunrise downrigging

**Areas 1657 to 018 provided some pre-sunrise sight casting to white bass

**Area B0128C gave up smallish white bass on tailspinners worked with a smoking retrieve until the wind died

**Area B0178C give up bluecat steadily on chum and prepared bait

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)

GOLDEN STATE ANGLERS — 140 FISH @ BELTON

October 7th, 2019 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Friday morning, Oct. 4th, I fished with returning guests Brett and Kristi Short who traveled in from northern California to visit relatives in the Central Texas area. Brett works in law enforcement, and Kristi works in the human resources department of a nursing home. Last year’s trip took place on Stillhouse in July. This morning we fished Belton.

PHOTO CAPTION: Kristi and Brett landed 140 fish on a morning when the conditions would normally not allow for such a take — northerly winds, and bright skies.

PHOTO CAPTION: Our largest catfish taken when targeting bluecat was actually this channel cat which came in to chum and took a prepared bait.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: 04 October 2019, PM

HOW WE FISHED: I told Brett as I communicated with him 2 days in advance of our trip that I was concerned about the weather in that the forecast called for a ENE breeze, and, although the velocity was okay, the direction always seems to diminish results.

I looked for a shallow water bite and found it, although it wasn’t where it had been, and those fish moving shallow at first light did not feed at the surface this morning. So, we ran downriggers throughout the entirety of the low-light bite period and did well, taking 32 fish as singles, doubles and triples on the trusty 3-armed umbrella rig rigged up with Pet Spoons.

After the sun began to shine brightly, we moved on and looked for fish where I’d found a nice bunch of them congregated on a breakline in about 32′ the evening before. I contacted these fish once again, only in water about 5 feet shallower this time. We took 55 fish from this energetic bunch and moved on as soon as the action began to wane.

We moved to similar action in even shallower water (thanks to the wind blowing about 9mph now), and caught another 33 fish smoking with tailspinners from a Spot-Locked position.

When the wind stopped around 9:50, so did the white bass action. We closed out the trip with another 20 catfish landed by chumming them in and catching them on prepared baits in ~44 feet of water.

TALLY: 140 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: Even though the winds had a northerly component (ENE8-9), this was not frontally-related, and the bit of velocity to the wind did create conditions in which the fish followed a typical morning feeding routine, save the topwater action.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:50A

End Time: 11:15A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 74F

Elevation: 1.46 feet low, 0.03′ 24-hour fall, 34 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 81.1F

Wind Speed & Direction: ENE7-8

Sky Conditions: Zero cloud cover

GT = 5

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 1792 to B0165c – Low light downrigging on fish which came shallow but refused to break the surface thanks to a northerly component to the wind

**Area 1815 — 55 fish @mid-morning smoking with tailspinners

**Area B0128C — 33 fish @mid-morning smoking with tailspinners

**Area B0015/B0021 – 20 bluecat late morning chummed in and taken on prepared baits

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)

JUST WHAT THE DOCTOR ORDERED — 146 FISH @ BELTON

October 6th, 2019 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Thursday, October 3^rd, I fished an evening trip with Baylor Scott & White hand doctor, Dr. Doug Fornfeist, and his 16-year-old son, Jacob. The two had a limited window of opportunity to make the trip happen, and between previous commitments and support of the Fishing for Freedom effort, an evening trip was all I had to offer. Although I had not fished Belton in the evening for a long while, the weather looked suitable for a good trip, so, we went for it.

PHOTO CAPTION: Jacob Fornfeist and his dad, Dr. Doug Fornfeist, with a few of the 146 fish taken on an evening trip this past Thursday on Lake Belton.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: 03 October 2019, PM

HOW WE FISHED: As with most afternoon trips, I anticipated a slow start and a strong ending. I intended to search for some deep bluecat in our first hour or so, especially since the winds were light and the the sun was bright. I as searched near the second locale I’d located catfish at with my morning crew, I hit shallower water and started seeing what looked like tightly congregated, bottom-hugging white bass in 32-35 feet of water. I scramble to get us Spot-Locked on these fish and to get baits down to them. That started a 69-fish run of white bass caught between 4:00p and 4:50p, all on tailspinners fish with a smoking-style retrieve. Eventually, these fish dispersed right after Doug hooked, played, and landed a 3+ pound yellow cat which evidently spooked the smaller white bass as it struggled during the fight.

We moved on and encountered similar action and interest at another similar bottom construct, only in slightly shallower water. We once again worked tailspinners and took our tally to 102 fish before departing, leaving these fish biting, in order to roll the dice on some low-light topwater action.

We surveyed this third area with sonar while using downriggers and put a number of 3-year class white bass in the boat while doing so, and while watching the upward and shoreward progression of fish that took place as sunset approached.

In that time between sunset and dark, the fish went truly shallow into less than 7 feet of water and allowed for a hookup on just about every cast with the Pet Spoon until, right at the end of “seeing-light”, the action ended. Between the downrigging and sightcasting, we added another 44 fish to the tally.

TALLY: 146 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: This was the first evening trip I’ve fished on Lake Belton since May. The evening’s activity was very much a mirror-image of the morning as far as location and activity level of fish. Here is the temperature profile down to 60 feet measured prior to my morning trip. Seeing this, I feel “turnover” will take place soon after our first few coldfronts, as there is very little difference in the temperature (and therefore density) of the warm water above and the cooler water below …

0 feet 82.5

5 feet 82.9

10 feet 82.9

15 feet 82.9

20 feet 82.9

25 feet 82.9

30 feet 82.9

35 feet 82.9

40 feet 82.9

45 feet 82.7

50 feet 81.9

55 feet 79.4

60 feet 77.6

65 feet 76.4

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 3:30pm

End Time: 7:38 pm

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 93F

Elevation: 1.42 feet low, 0.03′ 24-hour fall, 34 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 84.5F

Wind Speed & Direction: Less than SSE7-9, tapering off to SSE3-4 around sunset

Sky Conditions: About 20% white cloud cover on a blue sky.

GT = 55

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic 2027 – 69 fish by 4:50p

**Area B0171C – 33 fish by 6:00p

**Area 1804-1805 – pre-sunset downrigging

**Area 018-1641 – low-light sight casting

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)

BUENO PESCADO, AMIGO — 59 FISH W/ THE LOPEZ CLAN

October 5th, 2019 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, October 3^rd, I fished with Mr. Maximo Lopez of Harker Heights, accompanied, by his 82-year-old father, Max Lopez of Miami, FL, and the elder Lopez’s brother, Zenon Lopez of Pacifica, CA. In his 82 years on earth, Mr. Lopez had never before landed a fish!

Mr. Lopez is one of eleven siblings of which Zenon is the youngest. The men’s mother lived to be 100 years and 7 months of age. Our trip was originally scheduled for early next week, but, the forecast for the arrival of the season’s first significant cold front made me suggest we bump up the timing. We were glad we did!

PHOTO CAPTION: From left, Max Lopez, Zenon Lopez, and Max Lopez with the largest of our morning’s catch — a pair of legal (18″ +) hybrid striped bass taken just before sunrise as fish fed heavily by trapping threadfin shad against the slightly choppy surface. The crew of three went on to land a total of 59 fish.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: 03 October 2019, AM

HOW WE FISHED: This morning’s skies were the clearest we’ve had in quite a spell at sunrise, and was just right for a topwater feed to occur. Although there was abundant, aggressive topwater action for quite a while this morning, I strictly downrigged for these fish as there was 1) a language barrier between me and two very novice would-be casters, and 2) mobility issues that convinced me a less aggressive approach would be prudent. We downrigged the perimeter of numerous schools of surface feeding fish and, by 8:35, had boated 48 fish. The fish moved gradually deeper and offshore as the sunlight pushed them down. After they hit the 25 foot contour, they shut down and we moved on, but not before boating 48 fish including 44 white bass and 4 hybrid striped bass.

After the downrigging, at the younger Max Lopez’s request, we targeted blue catfish. The light winds hindered us a bit (as I’ve noted previously) as I believe the scent of the chum is not carried as far nor as quickly downwind so as to attract and consolidate fish beneath the boat. Nonetheless, we set up for bluecat using prepared bait on trebles and my crew wound up boating 11 of that species before we decided to call it a day a bit early at around 10am so as not to have the elder Mr. Lopez out in the increasing heat (which we all felt due to the low wind speed and lack of cloud cover).

We finished out the trip with 59 fish landed.

TALLY: 59 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: Lowest water temperature I’ve measured thus far since the summer warmup (81.1 pre-dawn, and down just slightly from yesterday’s temp.).

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:45am

End Time: 10:00am

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 73F

Elevation: 1.42 feet low, 0.03′ 24-hour fall, 34 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 81.1F

Wind Speed & Direction: Less than SSE-5 all morning

Sky Conditions: An unobscured sunrise was followed by a bright, blue sky with only 10% cloud cover

GT = 10

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 1716 to 794 – downrigging where indicated by topwater action under low-light conditions

**Area vic 2062 at 42’ contour – chummed up blue cat and caught them on prepared baits – 11 blue catfish

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)

THIRD TIME’S A CHARM — 105 FISH @ BELTON

October 2nd, 2019October 2nd, 2019 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, October 2nd, I fished with returning guest Dwight Stone and his friend and neighbor, Austin Donoho. This is the third trip Dwight has taken with me in as many weeks, first coming solo, then bringing a buddy, Oscar Leal, and now Austin. Dwight is really warming up to this whole retirement thing, although a few calls from the fast-food world of Sonic managed to slip in now and again. Austin runs his own framing and drywall business and grew up fishing some of the ultra-fertile east Texas lakes like Tawakoni.

Austin’s big interest was seeing sonar used in real-world scenarios and so I tried to point out as much as I could on the Garmin, Humminbird, and Lowrance units I employ for different tactics over the course of a given trip.

PHOTO CAPTION: From left, Dwight Stone and his neighbor and friend, Austin Donoho, boated 105 fish today.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: 02 October 2019, AM

HOW WE FISHED: Although we still have topwater feeding going on when the conditions are just right, we had a bit too much wind on Dwight’s first trip, and very murky, dark conditions on his second trip. The third time was indeed a charm. With winds only around 7mph and just barely enough light coming through the grey clouds in the east pre-sunrise, the fish fed long and hard this morning. We downrigged just a few minutes before they got going, then caught them on top by sightcasting for about an hour, then continued downrigging post-topwater for a few more minutes. Over this entire episode, we’d boated 49 fish during the low-light period, which was the best “first hour” fish count I’ve had clients enjoy all summer.

After the topwater was done, we moved on in an effort to demo the Garmin LiveScope for Austin. Fortunately, the fish once again cooperated. We found energetically feeding white bass holding in the lower third of the water column in about 26 feet of water. We stopped, Spot-Locked, worked tailspinners, and had barely any response from fish in 15 feet of water; then we moved 10 feet deeper, found the same look on sonar and commenced to wear ’em out. We had a lot of small fish in the mix, but the overall intent of demonstrating LiveScope was accomplished regardless of fish size. 33 fish later it was about 9:20 and Dwight was itching to go catch blue catfish and, in doing so, continue experimenting with some baits he brought and some improved versions of baits I’d created.

All went well with the bluecat, as well. We hovered in one locale over 40 feet of water and put another 23 fish in the boat with steady action the entire time. We chummed these fish in to consolidate them and then used prepared bait on trebles to close the deal.

TALLY: 105 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: Lowest water temperature I’ve measured thus far since the summer warmup (81.2 pre-dawn). There is a major coldfront now forecast for Monday, Oct. 7th — the season’s first significant cooldown.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:45am

End Time: 11:15am

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 76F

Elevation: 1.39 feet low, 0.04′ 24-hour fall, 34 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 81.2F

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE6-9 all morning

Sky Conditions: Grey skies all morning completely obscuring the sun through 10am, then some breaks of blue sky seen through 80% coverage.

GT = 35

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 015 to 1657 – chased topwater white bass for about 200 yards as they fed and slowly herded shad into the wind

**Area 1802 was center of mass for post-topwater white bass downrigging – 48 white bass and 1 hybrid taken via topwater and downrigging by the time the low-light period ended

**Area B0179C – aggressive, albeit smallish white bass taken via tailspinners fished with the aid of Garmin LiveScope – 32 whites and 1 hybrid

**Area B0178C – chummed up blue cat and caught them on prepared baits – 22 blue catfish, 1 channel catfish

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)

NOT EVERYTHING IS LEARNED IN SCHOOL — 83 FISH @ BELTON

September 30th, 2019September 30th, 2019 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, September 30th, I fished with Mr. Chris Henry, his son, Ethan, Chris’ friend, Kevin Smith, and Ethan’s friend, Grayson Ginn.

As Chris initially described it to me, his son Ethan, and Ethan’s buddy, Grayson, joined a bass fishing club in Kyle, TX, called 5th Day Anglers. The boys are scheduled to fish a Faith Angler Network tournament on Lake Belton on October 19th, and all three were hoping for a peek into fishing Lake Belton before showing up on the day of the event. Since the FAN rules place the lake off limits 7 days prior to the tournament, we got this trip in today.

I was very upfront that I do not specialize in black bass fishing. Nonetheless, all four fellows got some valuable insights into the Lake Belton fishery as we caught white bass, largemouth, smallmouth, and blue catfish over the course of our 4 hours on the water.

PHOTO CAPTION: From left – Grayson Ginn and Ethan Henry with a pair of bass the boys caught sight-casting to fish which were driving shad to the surface. That smallmouth was the first smallmouth of Ethan’s life.

PHOTO CAPTION: … and this was the first smallmouth Grayson ever landed.

PHOTO CAPTION: We caught fish in the 0, 1, 2, and 3 year classes today via downrigging and with vertically worked tailspinners. From left – Kevin Smith, Chris Henry, Grayson Ginn, and Ethan Henry.

WHAT WE FISHED FOR: White bass. largemouth & smallmouth bass, & blue catfish

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: 30 September 2019, AM

HOW WE FISHED: We had unstable weather today and that definitely impacted the fishing, but we still landed on our feet and did well. I first pursued low-light, shallow water white bass with downriggers, keeping an eye peeled for topwater action. The murkiness of the cloud cover and wind speed did not allow for topwater action but, just as was the case on Saturday, the fish still showed up, they just didn’t come all the way to the surface. We landed 21 white bass coming as singles, multiple doubles, and multiple triples on the 3-armed umbrella rig, all in our first hour on the water.

Next, we sought out topwater black bass, and landed both largemouth and smallmouth as the boys sight-cast to them in shallow water as those fish aggressively pursued shad. The boys put another 4 fish in the boat during this effort

We moved on and found 2 distinct groups of white bass. The first was totally turned off, so, we left them and went looking for more. I used the downriggers to not only eliminate unproductive water, but also to gauge white bass activity levels. Those schools of white bass which were aggressive enough to overtake and strike our downrigged presentations were good candidates for vertical work with tailspinners. By finding fish with the ‘riggers, then setting up on them to work vertically, we added 47 fish to our tally, bringing us to 72 fish landed to this point.

We set aside our last 45 minutes to pursue blue catfish. We chummed fish in and then sealed the deal with doughbaits, landing another 11 fish, and capping the trip off with a total of 83 fish coming over the gunwale this morning.

TALLY: 83 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: We had very unstable weather this morning. It was 100% cloudy the entire trip, but ranged from “squinting brightness” to periods with drizzle falling. After sunrise, the more murky and dark the skies, the less cooperative the fish. When the clouds thinned and brightened the sky (although still with 100% grey cloud cover), the fishing improved. I observed a large school of white bass (several hundred individuals) on Garmin LiveScope just milling about in the lower third of the water column totally ignore our presentations for the 10-12 minutes we stuck with them and tried to get bit. Typically, only fish glued to the bottom will behave like this, but this morning I feel the back and forth light level played into this behavior.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:45am

End Time: 10:45am

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 76F

Elevation: 1.30 feet low, 0.05′ 24-hour fall, 34 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 82.5F

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE11-14 all morning

Sky Conditions: Grey skies all morning completely obscuring the sun for the entirety of the trip. A few moments of light drizzle over the course of the last 3 hours.

GT = 55

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area B0154C to 814 – center of mass of low-light downrigging effort for 21 fish

**Area B0167C – sight-casting to topwater large/smallmout

**Area vic 788 – found white bass via downrigging, then worked them with tailspinners/Garmin LiveScope

**Area B0178C – chummed up blue cat and caught them on doughbait

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)

TEAMWORK MAKES THE DREAM WORK — 55 FISH FOR HER BIRTHDAY!

September 28th, 2019 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Saturday, 28 September, I fished with Miss Lilee Oliver and her friend, Lilli Moss, both accompanied by Lilee’s mom, Yvette Oliver. This trip was in celebration of Lilee’s 6th birthday, and was the third consecutive year the three ladies have come aboard for a fishing trip in celebration of that event.

Yvette is a public school teacher in the Killeen ISD with a heart for both the Lord and for kids, in particular special needs kids who need extra help getting through school.

PHOTO CAPTION: Neat story here … we were all working tailspinners for white bass very successfully when my rod got thumped — hard!! I set the hook and knew there was a large fish on the line — I figured a buffalo, blue cat, or drum. The two girls were fishing to my left and right as we all faced over the starboard gunwale. I said, “I’ve got a big one on. Who would like to reel it in?” Immediately, both girls said “Me!”. Upon hearing her younger friend express a desire to reel in the large fish, Lilli said, “It’s okay, you go ahead,” and she let the birthday girl, Lilee have the honors. You don’t see selflessness and consideration for others in an abundance of kids these day, so, to me, that was very encouraging! That’s Lilli, who didn’t reel the fish in, holding the fish for the photo.

PHOTO CAPTION: Once the girls got the hang of watching and responding correctly to their slipfloat being suddenly pulled beneath the surface, they started “whacking and stacking” the blue cats!

PHOTO CAPTION: … and, of course we caught plenty of white bass.

WHAT WE FISHED FOR: White bass & blue catfish

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: 28 September 2019, AM

HOW WE FISHED: Topwater action was non-existent this morning thanks to SE winds which were a bit too strong, however, the fish which would normally engage in the topwater feeding were still present, and were very cooperative on the downriggers. Using 3-armed umbrella rigs rigged up with Pet Spoons, the girls landed a total of 21 fish by 7:50am, coming in as singles, doubles, and even one triple. The downrigger bite in this area died shortly after sunrise and we moved on to chase blue cat.

The bluecat I found this morning were in a bit deeper water, holding around 35′ deep over a 40′ bottom. They responded readily to chum and took our punchbait suspended at 35′ with slipfloats quite readily. By the time the novelty wore off on catching these, there were hundreds of bluecat beneath the boat. We left them biting in order to keep things interested for the girls, but could have sat there and continued catching for quite a while longer.

Our last effort was made in targeting bottom-oriented and heavily schooled white bass using tailspinners viewed on Garmin LiveScope technology. The girls just seemed to intuitively pick up on what was what on the screen — bottom, fish, and their lures — to name a few. We landed fish after fish in a nice frenzy right up until a 4.5 pound freshwater drum entered the scene. When it got finished pulling and fighting and charging around, the smaller white bass had departed, never to return. So, we wrapped up the trip right at the 3.5 hour mark by landing a few more fish each on the downriggers and then the girls headed to Freddy’s for lunch. The girls were a pleasure to have aboard, got along well, were considerate to me, Yvette, and one another, and they sure can catch fish!!

TALLY: 55 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:45am

End Time: 10:15am

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 75F

Elevation: 1.26 feet low, 0.03′ 24-hour fall, 34 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 83.0F

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE11-14 all morning

Sky Conditions: A low band of grey, sun-obscurring cloud cover in the east formed as the sun rose, thus extending the low light period this morning; clouds continued to build in all morning, quickly gradually to 70% coverage, then reversing that trend by around 10am.

GT = 5

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 812 was center of mass for solid, low-light downrigging for fish which refused to feed on topwater, including quality whites and short hybrid

**Area vic B0178C – chummed up bluecat taken on punchbait

**Area vic 163 – vertical tailspinner work in combination with LiveScope for white bass

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)

GREY SKIES AND SOUTH WINDS A GREAT COMBINATION — 116 FISH @ BELTON

September 27th, 2019 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Friday, September 27th, I fished with Scott Herman and Paul Hattingh, both of Lago Vista, northwest of Austin near Lake Travis. Scott is retired and is assembling his own retirement fishing rig slowly but surely. Paul, born in Austria and raised in Africa, is a chemist by trade. He established a company based on a proprietary method for corrosion-proofing metals, and still works at that at the present time.

Both recently traveled to Alaska to fish, and Paul recently dove on the Great Barrier Reef off of Australia, so, we had much to talk about as we motored from place to place and over lunch.

PHOTO CAPTION: A flathead surprise — all 17 pounds of it — came to Paul Hattingh (in aqua shirt) as we worked tailspinners for white bass in about 25 feet of water. As fun as the white bass were to load up on, and as fun as this lunker cat was to have in the mix, once we caught this bad boy, those smaller white bass scattered and never really reformed well for us. Paul’s fishing buddy, Scott Herman, pitched in on the photo op.

PHOTO CAPTION: … and of course we caught plenty of white bass with southerly winds and periods of grey cloud cover!

WHAT WE FISHED FOR: White bass & blue catfish

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: 27 September 2019, AM

HOW WE FISHED: Topwater action returned this morning. As often happens, it began shallow, moved offshore, and then dissipated, with fish still catchable via downrigging for about 20-25 minutes after the last of the topwater disappeared. Pet Spoons sealed the deal for both topwater and downrigging. We finished out this part of the trip with 29 fish boated.

We moved on specifically looking for an opportunity to fish vertically for heavily congregated white bass using LiveScope because Scott just bought a LiveScope system and wanted to see a unit which was “dialed in” in use so he’d know what to expect on his own unit. After today’s trip ended and we had lunch together, we took his system out on Stillhouse and got it dialed in, as well. The fish cooperated to the tune of 72 white bass landed with the aid of LiveScope through about 9:45.

We closed out the trip today targeting blue catfish. We chummed fish in and then used punchbait to seal the deal, accounting for 13 blues and 1 channel cat.

TALLY: 116 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:45am

End Time: 11:15am

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 75F

Elevation: 1.24 feet low, 0.04′ 24-hour fall, 34 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 83.0F

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE8-9 all morning

Sky Conditions: A low band of grey, sun-obscurring cloud cover in the east formed as the sun rose, thus extending the low light period this morning; clouds continued to build in all morning, quickly increasing to 90% coverage, thus allowing for times when the sun was obscured completely for long whiles.

GT = 40+M

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 016 to 1019 to 834 – 29 fish to start the morning with low-light downrigging followed by topwater, and finished out with downrigging

**Area vic 692 – fished using LiveScope and tailspinners for 72 white bass and one large yellow cat

**Area vic 993 – finished up here on chummed bluecat on punchbait; fished ~ 75 minutes for 14 fish; left them biting.

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)