Fishing Report | Holding The Line Guide Service

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

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CRUMMY WEATHER, CRAZY BITE — 145 FISH

October 17th, 2022October 17th, 2022 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Monday 17 Oct., I fished with a great crew of locals including Coach Bob McQueen of Temple football fame, Larry Bartek who retired (twice) from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Tony Fritz who retired from a lifetime of social work with the Veterans’ Admin., and Steve Theodore, the Chief Operating Officer of the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor.

Coach McQueen was the “chief instigator” of this effort, consulting me on an ideal date to show his friends a good time, then coordinating all four men’s schedules.

Well, all his efforts paid off today when the fish started coming over the side of the boat soon after we got to our first location and didn’t stop coming over the side of the boat until we called it quits just after 11AM.

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Coach Bob McQueen, Steve Theodore, Tony Fritz, and Larry Bartek, with a few of the 145 fish they landed as our season’s first major cold front worked its way into Central Texas.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday, 17 October 2022 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED:

With four men aboard and fish responding very well to vertically smoking MAL Dense Lures under similar, frontal conditions last week, I arranged everyone on the boat very intentionally this morning.

I placed my two more experienced anglers on the aft portside, sharing one Garmin LiveScope screen, and the two less experienced anglers on the aft starboard side, sharing another Garmin LiveScope screen, thus, the two pairs had their backs to one another.

In this way, I “consolidated” the commotion of all four anglers in as small of an area as possible to give the fish one area to focus on.

Long story short, we caught fish steadily from start to finish. Fish continue to bunch together in large groups on bottom and continue to push into shallower water than they’d occupied all summer. Well-tuned side imaging is the key to finding these fish.

Once we used the i-Pilot Link system to position atop these fish, we then dropped the MAL Dense Lures (white body/chartreuse tail) down to them and worked ’em over good. I never saw a need to use any other presentation nor any other bait this morning.

For their efforts the men wound up boating 145 fish including 4 freshwater drum, 4 largemouth bass, 9 short hybrid striped bass, and 128 white bass.

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

TALLY: 145 fish caught and released

Find MAL Lures here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS: This was the first trip I wore long pants and boots on since the spring. The temperature and rain forecasts were “all over the map”, so, I prepped for cold/wet weather although neither actually materialized. We picked up 0.4 to 0.6 inches of rain area-wide overnight.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:30A

End Time: 11:15A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 63F

Elevation: 12.67 feet low, 0.06′ fall in last 24 hours, 384 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 74.3F

Wind Speed & Direction: NW11 all morning

Sky Condition: Light grey cloud cover at 100% all morning

Moon Phase: Last quarter moon at 52% illumination.

GT = 35

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Areas B0064G (65 fish), B0185C (18 fish), 2041 (38 fish), and B0014C (17 fish), B0014C/B0020C (7 fish)

Bob Maindelle

Full-time, Professional Fishing Guide and Owner of Holding the Line Guide Service

Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide

254.368.7411 (call or text)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

ONE SMART LITTLE BOY, ONE BIG WHITE BASS LIMIT — 27 FISH

October 16th, 2022October 16th, 2022 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Saturday morning, October 15th, I fished with 7-year-old Jason Hubbert, son of Jason & Kara Hubbert.

Jason runs Hubbert Roofing in the Killeen area and Kara works in accounting at Ajinomoto, a food manufacturing plant which has long been based in Lampasas, Texas.

This was a 3.5-hour “Kids Fish, Too!’ package trip wherein only Jason the fishing. He earned this trip by getting straight A’s on his report card.

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

PHOTO CAPTION: 7-year-old Jason Hubbert landed multiple 14+ inch white bass on Stillhouse using the MAL Dense Lure. His trip was a reward for an excellent report card.

PHOTO CAPTION: When it comes to our local white bass fishery, Stillhouse offers quality whereas Belton offers quantity — a bit odd for two lakes located so close together. This was another of several 14+ inch white bass Jason Hubbert landed this past Saturday, Oct. 15th.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: Saturday, 15 October 2022 (PM)

HOW WE FISHED: My original plan was to take Jason fishing on Lake Belton where this week’s morning bite was especially good, however, there as both a catfish tournament and a high school bass tournament taking place there. That, plus winds forecast to gust to 20 and a lack of courtesy docks made me think twice about the wisdom of heading there on a still-warm weekend. I “audibled”, texted Kara before she left the house, and we headed to Stillhouse instead.

The fishing was pretty tough as the winds remained calm and the cloud cover remained thick through about 10AM, but right about that time the wind picked up suddenly from the southwest, the sun burned off most of the cloud cover, and the fish began biting well.

We’d landed 6 fish by downrigging early on, then picked up another 6 fish by working MAL Dense Lures vertically, so, by the time the fish turned on, Jason really had the smoking tactic nailed down.

Like a champ, he would count out his handle turns as he cranked his MAL Lure off bottom so he was sure to keep cadence with me as I fished next to him to give him that example to follow.

Although the fish have not yet turned on at Stillhouse to the extent I witnessed on Belton, the majority of the fish Jason landed were quality fish. Jason boated multiple 14+ inch long white bass this morning.

They were still patrolling in smaller schools, so, staying put and continuing to work our lures as the fish passed by routinely was a good approach.

Jason landed exactly 27 fish, including 1 freshwater drum and 26 white bass.

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

TALLY: 81 fish caught and released

Find MAL Lures here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS: The aggressive bite which typically accompanied incoming fall and winter cold front was definitely in play this morning – the most dramatic uptick I’ve seen so far this autumn. Once the wind levelled off and then began to slow down, the bite slowed back to average.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:30A

End Time: 11:30A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 74F

Elevation: 10.46 feet low, 0.04′ fall in last 24 hours, 1 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 77.4F

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE3-4 until 10A, then shifting and increasing to SSW12-13

Sky Condition: Light grey cloud cover in the eastern sky from 80-100% until 10A, then rapidly clearing to ~30% white cloud cover.

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 70% illumination.

GT = 5

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area vic SH0227G/SH0209G – limited early downrigging success; saw many more fish than we caught

Area vic SH0133 – three short hops for the majority of our fish in 40-42′ on MAL Dense Lures after 10A’s wind shift and clearing

Bob Maindelle

Full-time, Professional Fishing Guide and Owner of Holding the Line Guide Service

Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide

254.368.7411 (call or text)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

AFTER SCHOOL FISHING TRIP — 81 FISH

October 15th, 2022 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: On Thursday afternoon, October 13th, I fished with a great crew of young men from Belton. This trip was organized by Mr. Grant Yawn in celebration of the birthday of his son, Camden. Joining Camden was his older brother, Mason, and Camden’s buddy, Grant Kennedy.

This was a 3.5-hour “Kids Fish, Too!’ package trip wherein only the kids do the fishing, so, Mr. Yawn came as a chaperone to help me help the boys be successful and he did a great job of that, especially in the downrigging department!

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Mr. Grant Yawn, Camden and Mason Yawn, and Grant Kennedy with a few of the 81 fish they caught and released on their after-school trip on Thursday.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday, 13 October 2022 (PM)

HOW WE FISHED: The hot bite we had experienced in the morning as a dry, mild cold front entered Central Texas airspace simmered down a bit this afternoon after the winds peaked around 10:30AM, plateaued in the early afternoon, and then began falling off by late afternoon.

Still, we found plenty of fish, but we had to work a good bit harder to catch them.

As we arrived at our first location, I got the boat set up atop a nice bunch of fish in right around 20 feet of water, got the boys all coached up on what to do, and then dropped baits down to the fish. As I observed fish response on Garmin LiveScope, I watched with some concern as the fish barely budged. As the boys got through the learning curve involving the right combination of retrieve speed, smoothness of retrieve, etc. we were able to put a few fish in the boat per kid, but it was clear these fish were not enthusiastic.

To spice things up a bit, I enlisted Mr. Yawn’s help, showed him how to set up the downriggers so I could concentrate on driving the boat while watching sonar, thus keeping us “in the fish”. This worked very well, as it allow us to cover a lot of water and get our baits in front of the few active fish amongst a generally inactive population.

We caught a total 53 fish by way of downrigging, with an unheard of 9 sets of triples (three fish landed on one rod at the same time).

By around 6P, these fish were beginning to fade even on the downrigging approach, so we moved on and made one final stop before sunset (when the white bass quit biting for good).

We landed a total of 22 fish by fishing MAL Dense Lures vertically at this location. Once the sun dropped below the horizon, it was over.

We landed exactly 81 fish, including 4 short hybrid striped bass and 77 white bass.

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

TALLY: 81 fish caught and released

Find MAL Lures here: https://whitebasstools.com/

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 4P

End Time: 7:15P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 83F

Elevation: 12.23 feet low, 0.13′ fall in last 24 hours, 384 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 77.1F

Wind Speed & Direction: N11 at trip’s start, tapering down to N5 by trip’s end

Sky Condition: Cloudless blue sky

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 86% illumination.

GT = 20

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area vic B0153G – 6 fish on smoked MAL Dense Lures; 53 fish via downrigging

Area vic B0155G – 22 pre-sunset fish on smoked MAL Dense 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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

FANTASTIC FALL FISHING HAS BEGUN!! — 127 FISH

October 14th, 2022 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: On Thursday morning, October 13th, I fished with long-time client, accomplished multi-species angler, big-game hunter, and all-around solid outdoorsman Dave Ross of Florence, TX.

Dave has served others for many years in his capacity as a pharmacist, currently located at the Belton HEB store.

When a scheduled sonar training session fell through for this morning, I hurriedly put a posting on Facebook letting folks know I anticipated solid fishing this morning thanks to a dry, mild, incoming cold front. I was glad when Dave contacted me about going as I knew I’d have a good angler under good conditions and would wind up catching a lot of fish as a result.

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

PHOTO CAPTION: This 7.00-pound Lake Belton largemouth bass, a personal best for Dave Ross, came on a MAL Dense Lure worked vertically with a smoking tactic in approximately 28 feet of water.

PHOTO CAPTION: Of course white bass were our target species this morning and we landed 114 of them, in addition to 9 short hybrid striped bass, 2 freshwater drum, and 2 largemouth bass.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday, 13 October 2022 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED: Fishing was easy this morning thanks to a mild, dry, incoming cold front. Such fall and winter conditions always boost the fishing right up until the wind velocity of the incoming front reaches a peak, stabilizes, and then begins to fall off.

We fished five distinct areas with the same result at each … we saw fish up off bottom quite easily using well-tuned side-imaging (Humminbird Solix 15 w/ entire screen dedicated to this technology). We positioned precisely atop them using the i-Pilot Link interface between the trolling motor and the Solix control head. Then, we got down to catching, assisted by Garmin LiveScope. The more commotion we created by catching and releasing fish, the more fish came in for a look and fell victims to the MAL Dense Lure themselves.

The fish we found today tended to really bunch up under the boat where all the action was happening, thus, there were not many scenarios where I felt that using the sawtooth method would outperform the vertical smoking tactics.

As the morning moved on, the wind velocity increased, and the bite intensity increased with it. Once the wind speed levelled off, the bite did likewise, and, by 11:15 we agreed we were “past peak” and that the action was falling off rapidly. We wrapped it up right then instead of staying longer for an anticlimactic ending.

We landed exactly 127 fish, including 9 short hybrid striped bass, 2 freshwater drum, and 2 largemouth bass.

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

TALLY: 127 fish caught and released

Find MAL Lures here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS: The aggressive bite which typically accompanied incoming fall and winter cold front was definitely in play this morning – the most dramatic uptick I’ve seen so far this autumn.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:30A

End Time: 11:15A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 68F

Elevation: 12.23 feet low, 0.13′ fall in last 24 hours, 384 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 77.1F

Wind Speed & Direction: N5-7 at trip’s start, ramping up suddenly to N12-13 around 9:50A, increasing to N14-15, then levelling off at N13-14 thereafter.

Sky Condition: Cloudless blue sky

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 86% illumination.

GT = 20

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area vic B0153G – 18 fish on smoked MAL Dense Lures

Area vic B0064G– 25 fish on smoked MAL Dense Lures

Area vic B0185G– 14 fish on smoked MAL Dense Lures

Area vic 0403– 56 fish on smoked MAL Dense Lures

Area vic B0158G– our final 14 fish on smoked MAL Dense 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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

BEGGING TO GO – 119 FISH

October 13th, 2022 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: On Wednesday morning, October 12th, I fished with U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Aaron Sepaugh and his two sons, 10-year-old Braden, and 7-year-old Tucker.

The boys fished with me previously when Aaron was deployed to Europe in his role as an Apache helicopter pilot. Since his return, the boys have been begging him to go fishing again, and today was the day they made that happen on a little break from their coursework at Central Texas Christian School.

Here is how the fishing went …

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PHOTO CAPTION: Vertical and horizontal use of the MAL Original were the ticket for white bass which have now begun relating to bottom in greater numbers thanks to significant cooling of the water down to the 40-45 foot level. All of our fish were in 34 feet of water, or less.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday, 12 October 2022 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED:

The fish were very “fired up” this morning and, although we could have caught fish by employing just one of the three techniques we employed this morning, in the interest of adding variety to keep the kids’ interest, we wound up using vertical MAL Lure tactics, horizontal MAL Lure tactics, and downrigging with Pet Spoons to put together our catch.

The fishing followed a pretty obvious curve this morning with fish activity spiking at sunrise, then slowly tapering to a finish by around 11:30. As evidence, we landed 50 fish in our first hour, another 54 fish in the following 2.25 hours, and a final 15 fish in our last .75 hours.

Fall fishing (my favorite of the year) is kicking in fast. We never had to probe below 34 feet today to stay in ample concentrations of fish the entire morning.

Our first 50 fish were taken solely by working MAL Dense Lures vertically. We split our next 54 fish equally between vertical MAL Lure work followed by downrigging once the fish slowed down a bit on their chase speed. Although there was potential for catching fish with a horizontal tactic, the boys were new at casting spinning gear and that, combined with a cross wind, diminished their chances of success. Still, they caught a few fish that way.

Our final 15 fish were spread across two area which we hit quickly and fished only vertically until the fish turned off to that tactic.

The MAL Dense with white body and chartreuse tail was the charm today as the extra weight helped the boys maintain contact with their lures all the time.

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

TALLY: 119 fish caught and released

Find MAL Lures here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS: The slow arrival of a mild, dry cold front due in overnight caused a windshift from S to WSW this morning and, no doubt, enhanced the bite.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:30A

End Time: 11:35A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 70F

Elevation: 12.12 feet low, 0.12′ fall in last 24 hours, 384 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 77.1F

Wind Speed & Direction: S4-5, shifting and increasing to WSW11-12 by trip’s end. A noticeable uptick occurred right at 10A.

Sky Condition: <5% white clouds on a blue sky

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 92% illumination.

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area vic 1000 – 50 fish in the first hour, all on smoked MAL Dense Lures

Area B0085C to 0187 to B0174C – 2.25 hours to catch 54 fish with a 50/50 split on downrigging vs. smoking.

Area B0154G – 6 fish via smoking MAL Dense Lures

Area B0155G – a final 9 fish via smoking MAL Dense 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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

NEWLY RETIRED & FISHING IS IN THE CARDS — 76 FISH

October 11th, 2022October 12th, 2022 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Tuesday morning, October 11th, I fished with first-time guests Jeff and Deb Sanderson and their 22-year-old son, Blake.

Jeff recently retired and is now working through how life is going to look without a daily commitment to career to concern himself with. Fishing is definitely “in the cards”!

Jeff initially contacted me about doing sonar training, which we may still do in the future, but, after considering his whole family’s interests, Jeff opted for a fishing trip instead. During the trip he sat beside me most of the time as I searched for fish so he could see just how I was using SI, DI, and 2D technologies. Once we found fish, he was able to experience Garmin LiveScope technology first-hand.

Here is how the fishing went …

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PHOTO CAPTION: Jeff and Blake landed these two beefy Stillhouse Hollow white bass simultaneously while fishing MAL Dense Lures horizontally. Since I try not to hold fish taken from deep water in the livewell, we took this opportunity for a father-son photo and then hustled the fish back into the water.

PHOTO CAPTION: Blake landed the trip’s single largest fish this morning — a 3.25 pound largemouth which he reeled in as a “double” along with a sizeable white bass. Both fish hit a Pet Spoon on a 3-armed umbrella rig run at 38′ over a deeper bottom.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

WHEN WE FISHED: 11 October 2022 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED:

We employed three different tactics this morning: vertical (smoking) tactics with the MAL Dense Lure, horizontal (sawtooth) tactics with the MAL Dense Lure, and downrigging with 3-armed umbrella rigs equipped with Pet Spoons.

We got going shortly after sunrise, but the fishing didn’t pick up until after the sparse clouds in the eastern sky burned off. From that point forward we enjoyed a steady catch of fish until around 11A, when the bite tapered off quite quickly.

The recent drop in water temperature with the (slow) approach of fall has moved fish a bit shallower and has then banding together in larger schools than was seen over the summer.

We fished four areas and downrigged at just one of them after the action there slowed down, using the tactic as a sort of “mop up” approach to covering ground and getting our baits in front of a lot of disinterested fish, hoping to “screen” for the few active fish amongst them.

Otherwise, the horizontal (sawtooth) tactics (see video link below) was the best overall producer this morning, and the MAL Dense with chartreuse tail was the right tool for this job.

When all was said and done, we landed 76 fish, including 74 white bass and 2 largemouth bass.

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

TALLY: 76 fish caught and released

Find MAL Lures here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS: More signs of fall … the number of coots feeding on the hydrilla beds continues to increase, and some cormorants are beginning to show up on the lake. The cooling of the water is a sign of good things to come …

0 feet 77.4F
5 feet 77.9F
10 feet 78.1F
15 feet 78.1F
20 feet 78.1F
25 feet 78.1F
30 feet 77.9F
35 feet 77.8F
40 feet 77.4F
45 feet 76.4F
50 feet 71.2F
55 feet 66.9F
60 feet 62.8F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:35A

End Time: Noon

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 64F

Elevation: 10.28 feet low, 0.04′ fall in last 24 hours, 1 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 77.1F

Wind Speed & Direction: SE5-6 at trip’s start, picking up to SE12-13 w/ occasional whitecaps by trip’s end

Sky Condition: <5% white clouds on a blue sky

Moon Phase: Full moon at 100% illumination.

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 1968, SH0228G to SH0059C, vic 1425

Bob Maindelle

Full-time, Professional Fishing Guide and Owner of Holding the Line Guide Service

Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide

254.368.7411 (call or text)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

VARIETY WAS THE SPICE OF LIFE FOR THE SCHMIDT KIDS — 80 FISH

October 11th, 2022October 11th, 2022 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: Some time ago I set this past Columbus Day Monday aside to conduct SKIFF trips for soldiers’ kids since our local school districts had the day off. I had two families take me up on the offer. I fished with 8-year-old Keegan Hughes in the morning.

In the afternoon, I welcomed aboard Paisley (age 7) and Leighton (age 6) Schmidt.

In what is the exception and not the rule, the kids’ father, U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Josh Schmidt was able to accompany his children. CW2 Schmidt has served for 16 years.

CW2 Schmidt and his Warrant Officer Advanced Course class graduated a few days ahead of schedule from their course held at Fort Sill, OK. Hence, he was able to join his kids unexpectedly as he returned home to Fort Hood qualified to promote to Chief Warrant Officer 3 in the Air Defense Artillery branch where he works with the Patriot Missile system.

ABOUT SKIFF: This fishing trip was provided to this military family at no charge. S.K.I.F.F. stands for Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun. This program began in May of 2009. It is funded by the donations and fundraising efforts of the Austin Fly Fishers and other organizations they have partnered with. S.K.I.F.F. provides the children of military personnel separated from their families due to duty commitments with the opportunity to go fishing. SKIFF trips are also provided, free of charge, to Gold Star families who have lost their service member while he or she was on active duty. In mid-2019, SKIFF also began providing trips to dependents whose parents are bona fide disabled veterans. I coordinate and conduct these ~3.5-hour adventures on Belton Lake and Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir, just outside the gates of Fort Hood in Bell County, TX, year ’round. Call or text 254.368.7411.

Here is how the fishing went …

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PHOTO CAPTION: Variety was the key to holding the Schmidt kids’ interest during their 3.5 hour SKIFF trip on Lake Belton. The kids caught white bass, short hybrid striped bass, and sunfish using a mix of four different tactics.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Columbus Day Monday, 10 October 2022 (PM)

HOW WE FISHED:

As Josh and the kids showed up, I told Josh the fish were ready to bite and that the challenge was going to be getting our two young anglers to consistently do what was necessary to catch them.

Fishing MAL Lures vertically and horizontally seems pretty simple taken at face value, but things like retrieve speed, retrieve length, and initiating blade spin can be tricky.

We launched and, based on lessons learned and sonar observed both during the morning trip and over the course of an additional hour I spent scouting in advance of the Schmidts’ arrival, we drove right to the fish and Spot-Locked atop them. Sure enough, Paisley and Leighton made all the “rookie mistakes” everyone new to fishing MAL Lures does, but, Josh and I coached them through that and, before long, the kids were catching fish consistently. Before long, they had caught enough fish in a short period of time using the MAL Original Lures with chartreuse tails in a vertical (smoking) tactic that their wrists got sore and they were questionable about continuing.

Observing this, I broke out the downriggers so we could continue catching fish while eliminating the constant reeling involved with working the MAL Lures. This was also very productive as the mild temperatures and southerly winds really had the fish turned on. These downrigged fish were all taken on 3-armed umbrella rigs equipped with #12 Pet Spoons.

Eventually, the kids tired of this downrigging success (note: young kids need variety to stay interested), and I suggested we head up shallow to probe for sunfish with poles and bait. We landed 8 sunfish during this short break from the white bass, then finished up the night with a nearly 30-fish catching streak on white bass using a combination of vertical and horizontal (sawtooth) tactics.

We ended the evening with a total of 80 fish including 8 sunfish (bluegills and greens), 5 short hybrid striped bass, and 67 white bass.

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

TALLY: 80 fish caught and released

Find MAL Lures here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS: Much to report today! If you look at the water temperature profile posted below, you’ll see there has been a significant cooldown with the temperature of the water nearly uniform down to about the 40’ mark. As a result, we found abundant bait and gamefish both suspended and orienting to the bottom out to that depth. Additionally, we saw the first trickle of migrating monarch butterflies was observed today, as well as the first few small flocks of coots. The water temperature profile was as follows:

0 feet 77.1 F
5 feet 77.6 F
10 feet 77.9 F
15 feet 77.9 F
20 feet 77.9 F
25 feet 77.9 F
30 feet 77.8 F
35 feet 77.6 F
40 feet 77.3 F
45 feet 72.0 F
50 feet 66.1 F
55 feet 63.9 F
60 feet 62.4 F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 3:45P

End Time: 7:15P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 84F

Elevation: 11.87 feet low, 0.13′ fall in last 24 hours, 385 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 77.1F

Wind Speed & Direction: SE7-8

Sky Condition: <5% white clouds on a blue sky

Moon Phase: Full moon at 100% illumination.

GT = N/A

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Successful pre-trip scouting at:

B0154G, B0153G, 1000, and vic B0067G

Fish caught with clients at:

Area 369 thru B0085C (21 fish smoking MAL Originals & 23 fish on downriggers)

Area B0168C – 8 sunfish

Area vic 387 – 28 fish on MAL Originals used vert. and horiz.

Bob Maindelle

Full-time, Professional Fishing Guide and Owner of Holding the Line Guide Service

Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide

254.368.7411 (call or text)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

BUILDING ON GRANDPA JD’S FOUNDATION — 50 FISH

October 10th, 2022 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: After taking a week off the water to build a home for a family down in Juarez, Mexico, I got back into the swing of things this morning.

Some time ago I set this Columbus Day Monday aside to conduct SKIFF trips for soldiers’ kids since our local school districts had the day off.

I wound up scheduling both an AM and a PM trip. This morning I welcomed an 8-year-old young man on board by the name of Keegan Hughes.

Keegan’s dad, U.S. Army Sergeant (E-5) Vincent Garcia has been in the military for three years. He is currently deployed to Poland where he serves as an artilleryman.

Here is how the fishing went …

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PHOTO CAPTION: White bass weren’t the only fish eating shad and shad-imitating lures today! This Lake Belton smallmouth bass fell for an MAL Original Lure (white tail) as it fed amongst white bass in deep water.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Columbus Day Monday, 10 October 2022 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED:

If you look at the water temperature profile posted below, you’ll see there has been a significant cooldown with the temperature of the water nearly uniform down to about the 40’ mark. As a result, we found abundant bait and gamefish both suspended and orienting to the bottom out to that depth.

Although I don’t know the man, I am thankful to Keegan’s Grandpa JD who had taken Keegan fishing and taught him to cast. That made my job easier as Keegan was already familiar with the mechanics of casting, so, I just build on that foundation instead of having to work from scratch.

We got going around 7:15 and downrigged to cover water and get a feel for bait location, etc. until the sun rose. We continued to downrig for about 15 minutes following sunrise to see if any topwater action would develop, but none did. We landed three sets of doubles for a total of 6 fish by way of downrigging before we moved on and changed our tactics. These fish were taken with balls set between 20-24 feet over a slightly deeper bottom using 3-armed umbrella rigs equipped with #12 Pet Spoons.

For the remainder of the trip (at two distinct locations, one in 28’ and the other in 34’) we used a combination of vertical (smoking) tactics and horizontal (sawtooth) tactics to catch white bass which were both holding on bottom and/or patrolling up as much as 4’ off bottom.

Given the smaller average size of the white bass we encountered, the smaller sized bait these fish regurgitated, and the shallower water the fish were in (as compared to the 40-50’ depths we’ve been fishing all summer on Stillhouse), I opted to go with MAL Original Lures. I had one with a chartreuse tail and one with a white tail tied on and both performed identically.

We use LiveScope to assist our efforts to move these baits in front of schools of fish as they swam by. We took a total of 17 fish at our first area as young Keegan got used to the technique, polished up his casting, learned how to play and land fish, etc.

By the time we moved to our final area, he was primed and ready. In our final 45 minutes on the water, he landed more fish in that span of time (27 additional fish) than he had in twice that amount of time atop the first batch of fish we’d found.

When all was said and done at the 3.5 hour mark, Keegan had caught and released exactly 50 fish including: 1 smallmouth bass, 11 short hybrid striped bass, and 38 white bass.

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

TALLY: 50 fish caught and released

Find MAL Lures here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS: Much to report today: 1) the first trickle of migrating monarch butterflies was observed today, as were the first few small flocks of coots. The water temperature profile was as follows:

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:15A

End Time: 10:45A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 64F

Elevation: 11.87 feet low, 0.13′ fall in last 24 hours, 385 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 77.1F

Wind Speed & Direction: SE4-6 through 10A, then bumping up to SE7-8

Sky Condition: <5% white clouds on a blue sky

Moon Phase: Full moon at 100% illumination.

GT = N/A

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area B0098G/840 – downrigging for 6 fish with Pets Spoons

Area vic B0185C – 17 fish on combination of vert. and horiz.

Area vic B0005C/1325 – 27 fish on combination of vert. and horiz.

Bob Maindelle

Full-time, Professional Fishing Guide and Owner of Holding the Line Guide Service

Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide

254.368.7411 (call or text)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

REALLY “COOL” FISHING! — 77 FISH

October 1st, 2022October 1st, 2022 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Saturday, 01 October, I fished a half-day morning trip with father-and-son Michael and Jack Hoyson.

Like me, Michael runs a one-man-show as the owner/operator of Hoyson Auto Care in Killeen, located just behind Tightlines Premium Fishing Tackle.

Michael is one of those rare, conscientious fellows who really cares that his work is done right, hence, he is the (only) guy I take my guide service tow vehicle (Ram 1500) and my wife’s car (Honda CRV) to for maintenance and repair.

We experienced some really “cool” fishing both temperature-wise, and in terms of the willingness of the fish to slam artificial baits today.

Here is how the fishing went …

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PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Michael and Jack Hoyson with a few of the quality white bass they caught and released from Stillhouse Hollow this morning working MAL Lures in ~40 feet of water.

PHOTO CAPTION: White bass weren’t the only fish eating shad and shad-imitating lures today! This chunky black bass fell for an MAL Dense Lure as he fed amongst white bass in deep water.

PHOTO CAPTION: Triple!!! Michael landed three fish on one rod at the same time on a three-armed umbrella rig equipped with Pet Spoons. We downrigged after the peak action died around 10:50A.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: Saturday, 01 October 2022

HOW WE FISHED:

The recent cooldown has begun to spur the fish on to longer and stronger feeds. We fished just three areas this morning, approaching each the same way … we Spot-Locked very accurately atop fish we’d found with sonar then fished them vertically only for a brief spell as they showed interest in chasing our MAL Dense Lures upwards. Once the fish got reluctant, we started using the horizontal sawtooth method, again with the MAL Dense Lure, which produced the lion’s share of our fish.

The peak feed went from ~8:50 to 10:50, then tapered down pretty quickly.

Once the action started to drop off, we transitioned to downriggers for “mop up ” duty until the bite died around 11:25A.

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

Our tally of 77 fish consisted 74 legal white bass and 3 largemouth bass.

TALLY: 77 fish caught and released

Find MAL Lures here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS: Watch that thermometer!! On 30 September we had our first post-summer day with an ambient temperature below the surface temperature of the water. That will lead to very quick cooling of our reservoirs. Additionally, we had our lowest overnight low since May. As I drove to the ramp this morning, temps ran between 50F (in low spots) to 57F elsewhere.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:40A

End Time: 11:40A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 55F

Elevation: 9.77 feet low, 0.06′ fall in last 24 hours, 1 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 78.6F

Wind Speed & Direction: ENE2-4 for 2 hours, then shifting ESE2-4 for the last half of the trip

Sky Condition: <5% white clouds on a blue sky

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent at 33% illumination.

GT = N/A

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area vic SH0059C – 7 fish on combination of vert. and horiz.

Area vic SH0214G – 7 fish via sawtooth method

Area vic 878 – 53 fish via sawtooth method

Area 878/933/SH0033G – downrigging for 10 fish with Pets Spoons

Bob Maindelle

Full-time, Professional Fishing Guide and Owner of Holding the Line Guide Service

Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide

254.368.7411 (call or text)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com