Fishing Report

CLIENTS: This morning, Tuesday, July 29, I fished with returning guests Caleb Fowler, now a college student at Texas Tech in Lubbock, and his cousin, Henry Niemeier, a high school sophomore here from Chicago visiting extended family.

The boys’ interest in fishing was first fueled by their grandfather, Steve Niemeier, who passed away unexpectedly earlier this year. When he passed, he’d already had this date booked to spend on the water with these two grandsons of his.

TODAY’S DATE: Tuesday, 29  July 2025 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING:  Tuesday, 05 Aug. (AM) 

NEXT OPEN DATES FOR SONAR TRAINING: 09 August (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left: Henry Niemeier and his cousin, Caleb Fowler, the grandsons of Lisa and Steve Niemeier, enjoyed a solid morning of summertime white bass fishing on Lake Belton using the sawtooth methods with MAL Heavy Lures to land 87 white bass.

PHOTO CAPTION: The MAL Heavy did the heavy lifting today.  It casts long, sinks quickly, spins freely, and stays near the bottom which the white bass are glued to during daylight hours in these summer months.

FIND CORK RIGS & OTHER WHITE BASS/HYBRID LURES HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

We got going around 6:35 AM, hoping to see some top water action just before, during, and after sunrise, but what little materialized only remained on the surface for seconds at a time.

We began catching fish right at sunrise as schools of frequently moving white bass began to chase shad in between 11 and 20 feet of water.

We used one lure with one technique for this scenario, and that was the MAL Heavy (with silver blade, silver body, and chartreuse tail), worked with the sawtooth method to keep it near the bottom and traveling roughly parallel to the bottom throughout each retrieve.

We moved multiple times as side imaging revealed the fish crosswind from us were either present or had moved on. Late in the 8 o’clock hour, the southerly wind at 5 to 7 mph actually went slack and the bite went slack with it. We retooled with a pair of downriggers and continued catching fish by running these downriggers within a foot of these fish which were hugging bottom. The downriggers were equipped with three armed umbrella rigs, which were terminated with #12 Pet Spoons.

Once the wind came back, the bite bounced back and we were able to close out the trip by continuing to cast with MAL Heavy Lures using the sawtooth method. I let the boys know we would have about an hour of fishing left around 9:35 AM. It was then that Henry, really feeling the heat, and soaked with sweat, said he’d like to give it about another 20 minutes and call it good. We fished until exactly 9:50 AM and wound up landing exactly 87 fish, all of which were white bass this morning.

Henry is not really a man of many words, so, when in the middle of a run of silence, he blurted out “Women fear me; and fish love me!”, Caleb and I just burst out laughing. I told him then and there that that expression was going to become the title for today’s fishing summary.… and so it is.

OBSERVATIONS: Lake Belton is now 4.04′ high with a 0.41′ fall in the last 24 hours with USACE releasing 3001 CFS. Next to no topwater action this morning.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:  Taken around 6:15AM, Monday, 21 July …

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:35A

End Time: 9:50A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 75F

Elevation: 4.04′ high with a 0.41′ fall in the last 24 hours with USACE releasing 3001 CFS

Water Surface Temp: 84.8F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction:  S5-7 all morning

Sky Condition: 0% cloud cover on a hazy sky

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 24% illumination.

GT = 100

Wx SNAPSHOT:  

AREAS FISHED WITH MOST SUCCESS:

Area vic 657 – 12 white bass sawtoothing MAL Heavys

Area B0116C – 12 white bass sawtoothing MAL Heavys

Area vic B0171C – 25 white bass sawtoothing MAL Heavys

Area vic B0114C – 38 white bass found by downrigging and capitalized on by sawtoothing MAL Heavys

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)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle

CLIENTS: This morning, Friday, July 25, I finished with a solo guest, first time client Mr. Joe Thomas, who drove three hours from San Angelo to not just fish with me, but observe and understand more about my approach to finding and catching white bass.

Joe’s home lake is O. H. Ivey, which is filled with flooded standing timber as well as salt cedar in the zone that is prone to being exposed and then flooded routinely around this reservoir’s perimeter.

TODAY’S DATE: Friday, 25  July 2025 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING:  Tuesday, 05 Aug. (AM) 

NEXT OPEN DATES FOR SONAR TRAINING: 09 August (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION:  Joe Thomas of San Angelo, Texas, with a few of the white bass he caught while taking in some approaches to white bass fishing he had not previously attempted.

FIND CORK RIGS & OTHER WHITE BASS/HYBRID LURES HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:  

In advance of this trip, I tried to understand Joe’s sonar and trolling motor setup so I could relate what he would observe on my boat to the make and model of equipment he has on his boat.

Thanks to a low bank of gray clouds in the eastern sky, we had more topwater action this morning than I’d seen the rest of the week, although that was still not much. We put about a dozen fish in the boat using Cork Rigs sight casting to the surface commotion these schooling fish were creating. Once the direct sun hit the water’s surface, the top water ended abruptly, and we began to use the sawtooth method in under 20 feet of water for these same fish which had just revealed their location as they fed on top.

After the sun continued to rise, the fish continue to push out deeper, and I then employed the downriggers to catch the fish we drove directly over top of in 19 to 30 feet of water, while at the same time closely watching side imaging for opportunities to stop the boat, use Spot Lock, and cast out to those fish on the port or starboard side, using MAL Heavy lures with a sawtooth method.

The remainder of the trip consisted of switching back-and-forth between downrigging and the sawtooth method as sonar revealed fish either beneath the boat or out to the sides.

Although not all that productive at this point in the summer season, I also demonstrated to Joe the vertical tactic of smoking with the MAL Lure used in conjunction with Garmin LiveScope for fish holding tight to bottom directly beneath the boat. He saw for himself how reluctant fish are to venture very far from the bottom. This is a situation which will change completely once turnover occurs in late September or early October.

One final thing I did with Joe was to zoom in on O. H. Ivey on my Hummingbird Apex unit, use the water level adjustment to show the actual depths and shoreline of that reservoir, and we then looked over the map and I pointed out some areas I felt would be worth checking out once he gets back to his home lake so far as white bass were concerned.

When all was said and done, we’d seen 78 fish come over the side, including two largemouth bass and 76 white bass, all of which were released in good condition.

Joe certainly carried some “take aways” from this morning’s efforts back to San Angelo, in part because he asked excellent questions and was willing to be coached.

OBSERVATIONS: Lake Belton is now 5.55′ high with a 0.40′ fall in the last 24 hours with USACE releasing 3037 CFS. Light topwater action this morning.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:  Taken around 6:15AM, Monday, 21 July …

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:35A

End Time: 10:45A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 77F

Elevation: 5.55′ high with a 0.40′ fall in the last 24 hours with USACE releasing 3037 CFS

Water Surface Temp: 83.4F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction:  S3-6 all morning

Sky Condition: Cloud cover varied between 10-40% white coverage on a hazy sky

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 1% illumination.

GT = 120

Wx SNAPSHOT:  

AREAS FISHED WITH MOST SUCCESS:

Area vic B0014G – low-light topwater action for 12 fish

Area 164 thru 2121 – 48 white bass alternating between downrigging w/ Pet Spoons and sawtoothing MAL Heavy Lures

Area vic 657 – 18 white bass alternating between downrigging w/ Pet Spoons and sawtoothing MAL Heavy Lures

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)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle

CLIENTS: This evening, Wednesday, July 23, I fished an evening “Kids Fish, Too!“ trip for the three brothers – Isaac, Nick, and Sean. The boys were all back in the United States visiting their grandparents while on summer break from school in Dubai, where their dad works for one of the airlines.

TODAY’S DATE: Wednesday, 23 July 2025 (PM)

NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING:  Monday, 04 August (AM) 

NEXT OPEN DATES FOR SONAR TRAINING: 09 August (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left: Nick, Sean, and Isaac, chaperoned by their grandfather, Wesley Nance, landed 55 white bass on Lake Belton on the hottest day year-to-date.  The boys used downrigged Pet Spoons.

FIND CORK RIGS & OTHER WHITE BASS/HYBRID LURES HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

This afternoon was the warmest afternoon of July 2025 thus far as the ambient temperature rose to 97. We begin at 5:15 as I planned for 3.5 hours, with a conclusion right at dark. Unfortunately, grandpa Wesley seriously hurt his knee taking the kids to Schlitterbahn.  As he approached the boat, he was obviously in pain.  The on-boat activity, rocking in the wind, and trying to help me help the boys did not help.

We caught fish steadily, all on downrigged Pet Spoons, coming in the form of singles, doubles, and triples.  I think Isaac and Nick could have hung with me until dark, but, at six, Sean did not last quite so long.  About 2.25 hours into the effort, Wesley thought it wise to end on a good note.

By this time the boys had put together a catch of 55 fish, with Nick and Isaac doing the rigging of the downriggers  after each catch all by themselves.

I found fish as deep as 30 feet this evening, which is the deepest I have located biting fish since the flood began over the Independence Day weekend.

100% of the catch consisted of white bass. All fish were released in good condition.

OBSERVATIONS: Lake Belton is now 6.34′ high with a 0.38′ fall in the last 24 hours with USACE releasing 3037 CFS. Next to no topwater action this morning or this evening.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:  Taken around 6:15AM, Monday, 21 July …

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 5:15P

End Time: 7:30P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 97F

Elevation: 6.34′ high with a 0.38′ fall in the last 24 hours with USACE releasing 3037 CFS.

Water Surface Temp: 84.9F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction:  S11-12 all evening

Sky Condition: 10% white cloud cover on a hazy sky

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 2% illumination.

GT = 60

Wx SNAPSHOT:  

AREAS FISHED WITH MOST SUCCESS:

Area vic 778  thru 818 and Area 437 thru 615  – 55 fish downrigging twin umbrellas, each with three #12 Pet Spoons, for singles, doubles and triples

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)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle

CLIENTS: This morning, Wednesday, July 23, I fished with returning father-and-son Aaron and Captain Thompson.  Joining the two was first-time guest, Skye Thompson, Captain’s older sister.  This was a “Kids Fish, Too!“ Trip where the kids did the fishing, and Dad helped me help the kids be successful.

Skye is an aspiring marine biologist whose interest in the subject has stuck since her early elementary school years.  She recently attended “Sea Camp” on the Gulf Coast and enthusiastically told stories about what she experienced there.  According to his dad, Captain works a mean Rubik’s Cube and, more recently, has taken up juggling (which is rumored to have kept him up late last night).

TODAY’S DATE: Wednesday, 23 July 2025 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING:  Monday, 04 August (AM) 

NEXT OPEN DATES FOR SONAR TRAINING: 09 August (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left: Aaron, Skye, and Captain Thompson with a portion of their morning haul taken primarily via down rigging.

FIND CORK RIGS & OTHER WHITE BASS/HYBRID LURES HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

Although I came prepared for, and looked for, topwater action this morning, it has really fizzled ever since the July 4 flooding brought lake levels up suddenly. That poor topwater action continues now that a drawdown is taking place.

After determining that topwater was not going to develop, we began downrigging and continued downrigging for a full two hours until both kids wore out on me. Dad credited that to staying up a little too late and not being in the habit of getting up early thanks to a more slack summertime schedule.

In the 2 1/2 hours the kids fished, they wound up landing 61 fish altogether. Three times as we downrigged, I spotted large schools of white bass out to the port or starboard side of the boat, put the boat on Spot Lock, and had the kids cast MAL Heavy lures and use the sawtooth method to retrieve their lures through those fish. At each of those stops, the kids picked up a handful of fish until the school dispersed, after which we continued downrigging.

We wrapped up right around 9:10 AM. All 61 fish were white bass, and all were released in good condition.

OBSERVATIONS: Lake Belton is now 6.34′ high with a 0.38′ fall in the last 24 hours with USACE releasing 3037 CFS. Next to no topwater action this morning.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:  Taken around 6:15AM, Monday, 21 July …

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:35A

End Time: 9:10A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 75F

Elevation: 6.34′ high with a 0.38′ fall in the last 24 hours with USACE releasing 3037 CFS.

Water Surface Temp: 84.2F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction:  S6 increasing to S10

Sky Condition: 30% white cloud cover on a hazy sky

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 2% illumination.

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:  

AREAS FISHED WITH MOST SUCCESS:

Area vic 615  thru B0171C – 61 fish primarily downrigging twin umbrellas, each with three #12 Pet Spoons, for singles, doubles and triples; stopped occasionally to sawtooth MAL Heavy Lures to large schools seen on SI

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)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle

CLIENTS: This evening, Tuesday, July 22, I fished with the Young family for their first time aboard my boat.   Joining me was Dr. William Young, his 15-year-old daughter, Millie, and his 11-year-old son, Hub. William is originally from the Temple, Texas, area but has since moved to the Lubbock area where he has establish a practice in the healthcare field.  Although I normally prefer to fish mornings, I simply did not have a morning available in the short window of time they would be in the area visiting family.

TODAY’S DATE: Tuesday, 22 July 2025 (PM)

NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING:  Monday, 04 August (AM) 

NEXT OPEN DATES FOR SONAR TRAINING: 09 August (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left: William, Hub, and Millie Young with a trio of Lake Belton white bass they landed using a variety of tactics during their recent evening trip.

FIND CORK RIGS & OTHER WHITE BASS/HYBRID LURES HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

We fished the last three hours of light today and caught fish by way of downrigging, with a horizontal approach using the sawtooth method and MAL Heavy lures, and with vertical tactics by using a smoking retrieve with that same lure.

The combination of downrigging and well-tuned side-imaging sonar is a powerful summertime tool. I can use the side-imaging to spot schools of fish to the port or starboard side, mark them, and quickly maneuver the boat to go over them while presenting my baits behind the downrigger balls with great precision.

On occasion, we found large schools of fish to the left or right, particularly while I was motoring directly upwind. With the trolling motor already deployed, all I had to do is hit the Spot Lock button, and we would essentially park crosswind from the schools out to the left or right of the boat, allowing some horizontal work to be done with the sawtooth method and MAL Heavy.

I was hopeful that sunset would bring some topwater action, despite having next to none this morning. However, as that magic window approached just before sunset, there was still quite a stiff breeze; if the fish were there, they were not visible to me. We ended up with exactly 80 fish landed including two largemouth bass, two blue catfish, and 76 white bass.

OBSERVATIONS: Lake Belton is now 6.72′ high with a 0.34′ fall in the last 24 hours with USACE releasing 3037 CFS. Next to no topwater action this morning.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:  Taken around 6:15AM, Monday, 21 July …

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 5:30P

End Time: 8:40P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 95F

Elevation: 6.72′ high with a 0.34′ fall in the last 24 hours with USACE releasing 3037 CFS.

Water Surface Temp: 84.9F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction:  S10-12 all evening

Sky Condition: 30% white cloud cover on a hazy sky

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 6% illumination.

GT = 100

Wx SNAPSHOT:  

AREAS FISHED WITH MOST SUCCESS:

Area vic 788 thru 164 and Area 188 thru 657 – 80 fish downrigging twin umbrellas, each with three #12 Pet Spoons, for singles, doubles and triples

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)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle

CLIENTS: This morning, Tuesday, July 22, I conducted a “Kids Fish, Too! Trip for three kids, very capably chaperoned by their grandpa and grandma, Gary and Sherrie Delz. The three kids handling the rods this morning were Caroline Herrera, age 12, her brother, Luke Herrera, age 6, and their cousin, Dylan Delz, age 11.

To their credit, Gary & Sherrie prepared the kids for success by taking them down to a pond and making sure they were able to cast well the day before boarding the boat this morning.

TODAY’S DATE: Tuesday, 22 July 2025 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING:  Monday, 04 August (AM) 

NEXT OPEN DATES FOR SONAR TRAINING: 09 August (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left: Gary and Dylan Delz, Caroline Herrera, Sherrie Delz, and Luke Herrera — three young anglers and their “grand” deckhands worked up a 11 fish catch under flooded conditions as Lake Belton stood 6.72 feet high following flooding which began on Independence Day weekend.

FIND CORK RIGS & OTHER WHITE BASS/HYBRID LURES HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

Stable weather influenced by a high-pressure system sitting to the north and east of Texas kept our skies partly cloudy and winds sufficiently high to both ripple the water and keep the temperature tolerable for late July in Texas.

I had hoped for more topwater action this morning, especially since the moon is waning, but it did not really materialize. The kids picked up three fish on top water before the sun’s direct rays pushed those fish down and out away from the shallows for good.

As the sun was rising in the first hour of light, I found a group of fish holding fairly steady in about 22 feet of water. I Spot Locked the boat and had my clients cast out with MAL Heavy Lures and work these lures back with a sawtooth method. This put right at a dozen fish in the boat before those fish moved off, thanks to a careless boat getting too close to us, driving right over top of these fish, and spooking them.

From then on, we did nothing but downrig. The kids enjoyed it, and Gary and Sherrie both got the hang of helping them get the downriggers re-rigged after fish were caught, so we worked very efficiently and, in the end, wound up with a total catch of 111 fish Including 110 white bass and one largemouth bass.

There is really no way the kids would have landed that many without their grandparents’ help.  If I had to watch the kids, unhook all the fish, undo all the tangles, and reset all the lines, those bait would not have spent near the amount of time in the water that they did.

The downrigging is hard to beat right now because, with the water temperature high, and fish metabolism high, these fish are moving very, very rapidly and frequently. Downrigging combined with well-tuned side-imaging helps me pinpoint where the fish are, then maneuver the boat to get to them before they have a chance to move off.

The downriggers were equipped with three-armed umbrella rigs terminated with #12 Pet Spoons.

OBSERVATIONS: Lake Belton is now 6.72′ high with a 0.34′ fall in the last 24 hours with USACE releasing 3037 CFS. Next to no topwater action this morning.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:  Taken around 6:15AM, Monday, 21 July …

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:35A

End Time: 10:05A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 75F

Elevation: 6.72′ high with a 0.34′ fall in the last 24 hours with USACE releasing 3037 CFS.

Water Surface Temp: 84.2F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction:  S4 increasing to S10

Sky Condition: 50-60% white cloud cover on a hazy sky

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 6% illumination.

GT = 50

Wx SNAPSHOT:  

AREAS FISHED WITH MOST SUCCESS:

Area vic  527 – brief, sparse topwater yielded 3 fish on Cork Rigs

Area vic 2119 –   sawtoothing MAL Heavy Lures for 12 fish

Area vic B0170C to 499 – 96 fish downrigging twin umbrellas, each with three #12 Pet Spoons, for singles, doubles and triples

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)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle

CLIENTS:  This morning, Monday, July 21, I fished with returning father and son team, Rick and Cody Vincent of Salado. The fellows were joined by the ladies of the family for their first time award my boat – – Angela Vincent, and their daughter, Kristy Solis.

This was a bit of a family reunion as Cody returned home for some leave time from the U.S. Navy, where he is currently stationed in Virginia serving as a gunner’s mate in his first enlistment.  Rick is a U.S. Army veteran and retiree.

TODAY’S DATE: Monday, 21 July 2025 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING:  Monday, 04 Aug. (AM) 

NEXT OPEN DATES FOR SONAR TRAINING: 09 August (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left:  Cody Vincent and Christie Solis and their parents, Angela and Rick Vincent, celebrated Cody’s leave from the U.S. Navy with a family fishing trip.  They landed 173 fish using three summertime tactics.

FIND CORK RIGS & OTHER WHITE BASS/HYBRID LURES HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

The, long run of stable weather we’ve enjoyed stayed put over the weekend with high pressure in control, but not sitting right over top of us, thus actually making the weather somewhat bearable for late July in Texas.

Add to that some 50 to 70% cloud cover and a bit of breeze, and we really never felt the heat until we were wrapped up and heading back in for the morning.

We employed three tactics this morning. First, we looked for, found, and took advantage of white bass schooling on the surface. This action was sporadic and fairly localized, and did not last long, but, because my crew were all able to cast very well with spinning gear, they took full advantage of what the situation presented and wound up landing 22 fish before the brightening skies drove these fish away.

From that point, about 45 minutes after sunrise, and until we concluded around 10:30, we simply alternated between downrigging to find fish and using the MAL Heavy Lure with a sawtooth tactic to capitalize on what I saw on side-imaging as we downrigged.  We moved frequently to keep up with these summertime fish.  Their metabolisms are at an annual high and they feed fast and often to keep up with their bodies’ demand for food.  Numerous times we caught fish which regurgitated multiple shad which had not yet been digested.

By the four hour mark, this combination of downrigging for single fish, doubles, and occasional triples, and my crew routinely landing fish on the sawtooth method, we took our final fish count up to 173 fish caught and released. This included three blue catfish, two largemouth bass, and 168 white bass, including one white bass from this year’s year class.

OBSERVATIONS:  USACE is dumping water at over 3,000 cfs and shedding about 1/3 of a foot of flood water daily.  The temperature profile shown below shows how the flooding has caused mixing and disrupted the thermocline.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:  Taken around 6:15AM, Monday, 21 July …

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:30A

End Time: 10:30A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 77F

Elevation: 7.18′ high with a 0.31′ fall in the last 24 hours with USACE releasing 3041 CFS.

Water Surface Temp: 82.9F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction:  S6 increasing to S11

Sky Condition: 60% grey cloud coverage decreasing to 50% white coverage by trip’s end

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 12% illumination.

GT = 105

Wx SNAPSHOT:  

AREAS FISHED WITH MOST SUCCESS:

Area vic 183 – 19 white bass, 2 small largemouth bass on Cork Rigs at obscured sunrise

Area 614 thru 0190, Area 615, and Area B0171C thru 163 – 152 white bass alternating between downrigging w/ Pet Spoons and sawtoothing MAL Heavy Lures

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)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle

CLIENTS:  This morning, Friday, July 18, I fished a “Kids Fish, Too!” trip with the Denman/Cousens families of Salado. Providing the supervision and greatly appreciated assistance was grandpa Bob Denman, and his daughter, Courtney Cousens. Doing the fishing were five-year-old Colson Cousens, seven year-old Adley Cousens, and the kids’ 35-year-old uncle (Courtney‘s brother), Skylar Denman.

TODAY’S DATE: Friday, 18 July 2025 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING:  Monday, 04 Aug. (AM) 

NEXT OPEN DATES FOR SONAR TRAINING: 09 August (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left: Courtney and Adley Cousens, Bob Denman, Colson Cousens, and Skylar Denman.

FIND CORK RIGS & OTHER WHITE BASS/HYBRID LURES HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

Today’s weather was a continuation of the mild weather we’ve enjoyed all week, and today’s fishing was a continuation of the solid fishing we’ve enjoyed all week, greatly supported by that weather.

When summertime weather gets stable, the fishing gets very consistent — and all of this, despite the fact that we still have a great amount of flood water on our area lakes.

We got going at 6:40 AM, experienced about 45 minutes’ worth of light topwater action spread over a good bit of acreage. Once the sun rose and cleared the clouds in the eastern sky, that topwater action ended for good. For the next 2+ hours we did very well with the kids staying engaged in the downrigging.

We ran two downriggers, each with an umbrella rig equipped with three #12 Pet Spoons. The kids continuously landed singles, doubles, and triples. Although side-imaging routinely revealed large schools of fish out to the port or starboard, I found these fish move so quickly in the hot, summertime water that trying to Spot Lock on them, then get baits down to fish effectively can typically not be done by the time the fish move off. I tried this one time this morning, and given the kids’ limited experience with fishing vertically with spinning tackle, decided it was not more productive than downrigging, and we went back to that method.

We closed out the trip leaving the last 30 minutes or so open for fishing up shallow for sunfish mainly as an activity we could transition to knowing that the kids would get bored with the downrigging sooner or later, even though it was producing fish so well. The flooded brush makes the shallow water sunfishing more difficult than it would be otherwise, but, the kids managed to land eight sunfish under balsa floats, using bits of worm as bait.  They landed 4 panfish each.

We closed out the trip right at the 3.5 hour mark with exactly 82 fish landed.

OBSERVATIONS:

1. Fishing is getting “summertime tough” with white bass suspending more than using bottom, and focused on young-of-the-year shad which are hard to imitate with live or artificial baits.  If no topwater is encountered, the trip is going to be a tough one so far as white bass are concerned.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:40A

End Time: 10:10A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 74F

Elevation: 7.88′ high with a 0.20′ fall in the last 24 hours with USACE releasing 3047 CFS.

Water Surface Temp: 82.9F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction:  S2 increasing to S11

Sky Condition: 30% grey cloud covering increasing to 60% white cloud cover on a hazy sky

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 42% illumination.

GT = 40

Wx SNAPSHOT:  

AREAS FISHED WITH MOST SUCCESS:

Area vic 183 – 12 white bass, 4 small largemouth bass on Cork Rigs at obscured sunrise

Area B0016C to B0125C – 62 white bass on downrigged Pet Spoons w/ one stop to smoke/sawtooth MAL Heavy Lures

Area 504 – 8 panfish on bait under slipfloats

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)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle