Rainy Day in Sun City — Seminar on Belton & Stillhouse, 11 Feb. 2014

At the invitation of club officer Mr. Jim Key, I presented a
seminar today before a strong showing of the Sun City Hunting and Fishing
Club.  About 200 Sun City club members
turned out on this cold, dreary day with a light freezing rain falling.

Mr. Jim Key presents me with a Sun City Hunting and Fishing Club hat and honorary membership in the club. 



Over 200 members turned out from this Del Webb retirement community club.

We gathered in the warm main auditorium of the Social Center
at 2 Texas Drive for a 2pm start.  After
a few matters of housekeeping I took the podium and spoke about fishing through
the seasons on Belton & Stillhouse for about 30 minutes.  The main purpose of the presentation was to
introduce those who weren’t aware of the Belton/Stillhouse fishery to these
fisheries just 50 minutes to their north. 
I also compared and contrasted the two fisheries and shared with them
the various services I provide as a guide.

At the close of the presentation I fielded questions from
the audience and then held over to the close of the meeting to speak one-on-one
with those who wanted to dig deeper and put hands on some of the rod and reel
combinations I used.

The club generously presented me with a speaker’s fee, an
embroidered fishing hat, and an honorary membership in the club.

I have visited with many of our local clubs through the
years providing such seminars and this was by far the largest local club I’ve
interacted with.  Their membership stands
at over 350 and nearly two-thirds turned out for this monthly meeting.   I attribute this to both the retired status
of the membership, but also to the very active schedule of events they keep,
and to a solid, conscientious leadership structure.

Scouting Pays Dividends — Lake Belton, 29 Oct. 2013, 67 Fish

After returning home to central Texas after my annual trek to Juarez,
Mexico, to build a home with teammates from my church, I got on the
water to do some scouting and get back in touch with fish locations and movements, bait location, and to check if any helpful migratory birds had yet come down this way.

The photo I’ve attached shows gamefish throughout the water column
after I “worked them up” by catching a few in rapid succession.

I headed over to Belton Lake as it tends to fish a bit better than
Stillhouse through around Thanksgiving time as the water begins to cool.

As I do on most of my scouting trips, I tried today simply to locate
gamefish willing to bite, catch a few to verify that they are gamefish,
that they are willing to bite, and to check on their size. I typically
shoot for catching just a few fish and then moving on instead of sitting
in one area catching all I can.

Today, that practice allowed me to identify 6 distinct areas where I felt confident that fish would continue to use.

At each location, due to the low pressure conditions, the fish were
sluggish and had to be finessed a bit to provoke the school into biting.
The first fish was always the hardest to dupe, then the others
“loosened up” and bit more willingly.

All of my fishing today was done with either a 3/8 or ¾ oz white TNT 180 slab.

TALLY = 67 FISH, all caught and released

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 7:25a
End Time: 11:15p
Air Temp: 73F at trip’s start.
Water Surface Temp: 70F
Wind:Winds were SSE8-10.
Skies: 100% heavy grey cloud cover with
drizzle for the first 2.5 hours after sunrise.

Areas Fished with success:
** 1271
** 843/845
** 1272
** 840
** 1269
** 1270

Bob Maindelle
Holding the Line Guide Service
254-368-7411
www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
Salado, Texas