Fishing Report | Holding The Line Guide Service

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide #BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing #bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport #fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday #Fitec #mepps

FIRST FISH & A FATHER’S FAREWELL – 73 FISH

August 2nd, 2022August 2nd, 2022 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Tuesday, August 2nd, I conducted the ninth Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun (SKIFF) trip of the 2022 season.

I welcomed aboard 9-year-old Emerson Rayburn and her 7-year-old brother, Weston Rayburn. Prior to this morning’s trip, neither child had ever caught a fish before.

The kids’ father, U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer Chris Rayburn is a fixed-wing aircraft pilot for the Army’s military intelligence branch. He recently received orders taking him on a months-long mission to Africa.

Knowing he was going to be separated from his kids for quite some time to come, he contacted me to see if he could take a pre-departure fishing trip with them. We (the SKIFF organization) gladly granted that request this morning.

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.

My next open date for a free SKIFF trip for qualifying families will be on August 25th.

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Weston Rayburn, Chief Warrant Officer Chris Rayburn, and Emerson Rayburn during the kids’ farewell fishing trip prior to their dad’s departure on a mission to Africa.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday, 02 August 2022

HOW WE FISHED:

This hot, dry, high-pressure weather continues to have the fish behaving in much the same ways day after day.

We had a pretty steep learning curve to get through today, as neither child had ever caught a fish before, so, everything from how to hold a rod, to how to open and close the bail, to how to retrieve a lure at the right speed, etc., had to be learned from scratch.

Even so, Emerson was a quick study, and with dad’s help and my own, Weston landed his fair share of fish, keeping pace with his sister in the final third of the trip.

We landed exactly 73 fish this morning, and every last one of them came on a vertically worked MAL Dense Lure with chartreuse tail. We watched every fish we caught chase and overtake our lures on Garmin LiveScope. This technology allowed me to advise the kids on when to continue their retrieves and when to allow their lures to return to bottom — for this reason alone, it was invaluable.

With the fishing being so “cookie-cutter” thanks to the very stable weather, I’ve noted that the bite is strongest at sunrise and slowly fades to black by about 10:30. The fish we encounter later in the morning simply do not stay as aggressive for as long as the fish we discover early on.

Of the 73 fish landed, 72 were legal-sized white bass, with 1 freshwater drum thrown in for good measure.

The smoking tactic we used is demonstrated here (skip to 2:26): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE

The entire family of MAL Lures is found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 73 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: Continued hot, dry, high-pressure conditions continue to fuel a consistent, albeit technical bite at Stillhouse. Winds up over 13 mph today kept the topwater largemouth schooling largely at bay.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:55A

End Time: 10:35A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 79F

Elevation: 7.65 feet low, 0.05′ fall in last 24 hours, 1 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 85.0F

Wind Speed & Direction: SSW11-15

Sky Condition: Cloudless, pale blue skies

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 21% illumination.

GT = 60

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area SH0214G – smoking MAL Dense Lures for 11 fish

Area SH0059G – smoking MAL Dense Lures for 19 fish (2 short hops)

Area SH0215G – smoking MAL Dense Lures for 23 fish

Area SH0216G – smoking MAL Dense Lures for 20 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

SOLDIERS’ KIDS & A TORNADO OF FISH — 83 FISH

August 1st, 2022 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Monday, August 1st, I conducted the eighth Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun (SKIFF) trip of the 2022 season.

I welcomed aboard 10-year-old Braden Sepaugh, 7-year-old Tucker Sepaugh, and their mom, Mrs. Amber Sepaugh.

The boys’ dad, U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Aaron Sepaugh, a U.S. Army helicopter pilot, has served in the military for 14 years. He is deployed to Europe from Fort Hood. Mrs. Sepaugh will be teaching elementary-aged kids at Central Texas Christian School in Belton as the new school year begins.

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 to 4 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.

My next open date for a free SKIFF trip for qualifying families will be on August 23rd.

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Braydon, Amber, and Tucker Sepaugh with a pair of fish the boys landed simultaneously. We release 100% of our catch, and have since going into business on “Day 1”. These fish on Stillhouse are coming out of deep, cool water and will perish very quickly if not released immediately, thus, I do not hold them in the livewell.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday, 01 August 2022

HOW WE FISHED:

It was 100% “smoking”, 100% of the time, for a catch consisting of 100% white bass — 83 of them to be exact.

The boys arrived with just enough prior fishing experience under their belts to be able to take instruction on the proper use of spinning gear to work the MAL Dense Lures (with chartreuse tail) using a “smoking” tactic. We invested some time doing a “practice round” of this near the launch site before unleashing the boys on fish.

This investment paid big dividends. Braydon got right down to catching fish as soon as we halted the boat over top of the first of four schools of deep water white bass we’d find and work over. Tucker, being younger, took a bit longer to get through the learning curve, but, by mid-trip he was holding his own.

When the first large school of white bass showed up on Garmin LiveScope, Braydon exclaimed, “Whoa, it’s like a tornado of fish!”.

The MAL Dense with its white body and chartreuse tail really drew the strikes today and kept the boys busy to the point that downrigging and/or sunfishing for variety’s sake was not necessary to keep them engaged for the trip’s 3.5 hour duration.

The boys’ final tally was 83 fish which consisted of all white bass with only 1 short fish in the bunch.

This hot, dry, stable weather is super helpful to the fishing, as the fish are in a very predictable routine, behaving in much the same ways at the time times and same places on a daily basis.

The smoking tactic we used is demonstrated here (skip to 2:26): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE

The entire family of MAL Lures is found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 83 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: A high pressure “dome” continues to be solidly set up over Texas which, according to meteorologists, will stay with us for the foreseeable future. Although north Texas was influenced by a mild cold front which drove south late Friday evening, no effects were apparent here today. If history is any teacher, this bodes well for fishing. Topwater schooling by largemouth bass continues.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:55A

End Time: 10:25A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 79F

Elevation: 7.60 feet low, 0.05′ fall in last 24 hours, 1 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 84.7F

Wind Speed & Direction: SSW6-9

Sky Condition: Cloudless, pale blue skies

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 13% illumination.

GT = 40

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area SH0150G/SH0032G – smoking MAL Dense Lures for 41 fish

Area SH0211G – smoking MAL Dense Lures for 17 fish

Area SH0212G – smoking MAL Dense Lures for 12 fish

Area SH0213G – smoking MAL Dense Lures for 13 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

LIVESCOPE TO THE RESCUE – 102 FISH @ STILLHOUSE

July 30th, 2022 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Friday morning, July 29th, I fished with returning guest Doug Streater of Temple, TX.

Doug is part of the executive leadership team at Extraco Bank and has been out with me previously in all season and in all weather.

This morning’s trip was focused on the success of his grandkids, Colby (13) and Camryn (10). Colby has been out with me before and is a solid fisherman. This was Camryn’s first time on my boat, and I discovered she was a good listener which makes her a fast learner.

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Doug, Colby, and Camryn Streater with a few of the well-proportioned deep water white bass we landed this morning — 102 in all, and each taken on the MAL Dense Lure.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: Friday, 29 July 2022

HOW WE FISHED:

The fish on Stillhouse right now play to my strengths in that they are deep and scattered, making it a must to have excellent sonar and be able to both adjust it on the fly and interpret images from deep water.

Investing the time to slowly, methodically sweep over large tracts of bottom will, with a bit of patience, eventually result in finding concentrations of fish worth setting up on and fishing for.

I’ve also found, as my good friend Clay L. at Respect the Fish, has observed and shared, that a handful of summertime fish on sonar can quickly blow up into a multitude of catchable fish which seemingly materialize out of nowhere.

Such was the way we pieced together this morning’s trip. We searched with sonar, we found fish, we Spot-Locked atop them, we fished for them as long as they stayed interested, and then we moved on and repeated the process once the bite at a given area went soft. A few times we found fish which never really did “fire up” for us, but that was the exception, not the rule.

LiveScope was key today in helping keep my young clients engaged, and in letting everyone know what the fish were doing in relation to their retrieve. LiveScope made it clear when fish were following our baits so everyone knew when to continue to retrieve. LiveScope also made it clear when fish broke off the chase so everyone knew it was then okay to let their lures return to bottom, thus making everyone very efficient.

At each location, before moving, I scrutinized my side-imaging screen to see if there were any congregations of fish to my port or starboard. If they were their, we’d cast horizontally and use the sawtooth method. Otherwise, “smoking” the lures up off bottom vertically was the default method today.

At no point did we need to use downriggers today as the fish stayed active through nearly 11AM.

The MAL Dense Lure with white body and chartreuse tail was the only lure we used all morning.

Our final tally was 102 fish, including 101 white bass and 1 channel catfish.

A tutorial of the smoking method we used is found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE

The entire family of MAL Lures is found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 102 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: “Schoolie” largemouth continue to feed on topwater over large expanses of open water.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:10A

End Time: 10:55A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 79F

Elevation: 7.39 feet low, 0.06’ fall in last 24 hours, 1 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 84.8F

Wind Speed & Direction: SSW10-12 all morning

Sky Condition: Pale blue, cloudless skies all morning.

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 1% illumination.

GT = 60

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area SH0150G/1424 – 28 fish smoking only

Area SH0209G – 2 hops – 62 fish smoking and sawtooth

Area SH0210G – 12 fish smoking only

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

TEAMWORK MADE THE DREAM WORK — 119 FISH @ STILLHOUSE

July 26th, 2022July 26th, 2022 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Tuesday, July 26th, I fished with a portion of the Oliver family — Temple-Belton natives from “way back”.

Mr. Joe Oliver and two of his three adult children, Thomas and Amber, were joined by Amber’s three kids, Ben (15), Beau (8), and Addie (7).

Corey, Joe’s other son, also has three kids. They’ll be fishing with me next Wednesday!

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

PHOTO CAPTION: From left, back row: Joe, Thomas, and Amber Oliver; from left, front row: Addie (7), Ben (15), and Beau (8). As Beau said a few time this morning, “Teamwork makes the dream work.” Once everyone got into a groove, stayed in his or her own “lane” when retrieving their lures, moved hooked fish away from the person to their left or right, etc., catching the fish became a regular occurence.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday, 26 July 2022

HOW WE FISHED:

After Belton’s topwater action went on a 3-day AWOL status, I moved on over to Stillhouse to offer kid-friendly fishing which did not require casting to my three young anglers this morning.

We fished MAL Dense Lures (white body, chartreuse tail) 100% of the time today across six areas to put together our 119 fish catch.

Well-adjusted sonar capable of picking out single fish on bottom in deep water (or, at best, small groups of fish) is critical right now as fish are in splintered groups here, there, and everywhere chasing after shad.

Once the fish were found, we Spot-Locked atop them and worked MAL Dense Lures vertically with a “smoking” tactic to land fish after fish. The nice thing about having multiple anglers is that there is rarely a time when a bait is not in the water, thus keeping something attractive to the fish in the water and down near the bottom where they lurk most all of the time.

We kept 3-4 rods going all the time as Thomas manned a rod and as Joe and Amber filled in when one of the kids tired or needed a snack break.

We landed 119 fish including 116 white bass (2 short), 2 largemouth bass, and 1 freshwater drum.

The entire family of MAL Lures is found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 119 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: We experienced an overnight mayfly hatch on Stillhouse. This was the first strong hatch I’ve seen this summer.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:40A

End Time: 10:20A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 77F

Elevation: 7.16 feet low, 0.06’ fall in last 24 hours, 1 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 84.9F

Wind Speed & Direction: SSW10-13 all morning

Sky Condition: Pale blue, cloudless skies all morning.

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 5% illumination.

GT = 110

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area SH0207G/SH0032G – 37 fish

Area SH0031G – 21 fish

Area vic 1412 – 22 fish

Area 872 – 5 fish

Area vic 913 – 18 fish

Area SH0208G – 16 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

DID THEY STOP ON TOP? — 70 FISH @ BELTON

July 25th, 2022July 25th, 2022 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Monday, July 25th, I fished with Tom Bohmfalk and his 13-year-old granddaughter, Annika Price.

Tom, a retired physician, was referred my way by Mr. Dwight Stone, a retired restaurateur and friend of Tom’s. I truly appreciate such “word of mouth” business!

Although I fished with Tom and his two younger grandkids last week, the attention they required prevented a whole lot of conversation. This morning, we got talk a little more and I very much enjoyed his stories of medical mission work for the cause of Christ with populations of Mexican Indians.

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Annika Price (age 13) and her grandfather, retired Dr. Tom Bohmfalk, landed 70 fish on Lake Belton. We anticipated continued topwater action, but the fish had other ideas.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday, 25 July 2022

HOW WE FISHED:

If you’ve been following my reports, you’ll recall I took Tom and his two younger grandchildren to Stillhouse late last week. At that time, both Belton and Stillhouse were fishing well, and I chose Stillhouse because the smoking and downrigging tactics I’ve been successful with would not require those younger children to cast in order to be successful.

My plan this morning was to fish Lake Belton. With only two anglers aboard, I can run the trolling motor from between my two clients on the front deck as they sight-cast to fish feeding on topwater. Since Annika is 13, I felt I could get her up to speed on her casting sufficient to allow her to catch topwater white bass consistently.

All that was well and good until the white bass failed to show up!! Sure, there was the “standard” bit of schooling on top for a few minutes right around sunrise, but the hours-long action we enjoyed last week was nowhere to be found this morning.

So, we took lemons and made lemonade by using the downriggers to catch fish and, more importantly, find large concentrations of fish which we could Spot-Lock atop of and fish vertically for.

We enjoyed two solid episodes of vertical work with downrigging before and after each and worked out way up to a final catch of 70 fish by around the 4-hour mark.

All of our fish on the downriggers (about a dozen in all) came on #12 Pet Spoons (silver, white feather) trailed behind a 3-armed umbrella rig. All of the fish we caught after finding them on side-imaging while downrigging came on the MAL Dense with chartreuse tail.

During the first bout of “smoking” vertically, as the fish settled down and showed to be thinning out on Garmin LiveScope, I spotted some out to the deeper, port side of the boat. We worked the same baits with a sawtooth pattern back to the boat with good success until that, too, played out.

Our catch consisted of 69 white bass (2 shorts), and 1 short hybrid striper.

The entire family of MAL Lures is found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 70 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: Topwater action was much reduced versus the “gangbusters” activity of the past 2 weeks. This morning’s action was limited to just a few minutes right at sunrise, and even that was far from intense.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:45A

End Time: 10:55A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 79F

Elevation: 7.08 feet low, 0.07’ fall in last 24 hours, 89 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 84.9F

Wind Speed & Direction: S10-13 all morning

Sky Condition: Pale blue, cloudless skies all morning.

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 9% illumination.

GT = 25

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 2054 to 153 – light sunrise topwater action

Area 905 to B0084G – downrigging leading to success on on smoked/sawtoothed MAL Dense Lures (chart. tail)

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

A SONAR SIGHT TO BEHOLD – 80 FISH @ STILLHOUSE

July 22nd, 2022July 22nd, 2022 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Friday, July 22nd, I fished with two of Tom Bohmfalk’s grandchildren, Abigail and Josiah Bohmfalk, as Tom capably served as “first mate” helping me help the kids be successful on this “Kids Fish, Too!” package trip.

Such trips are both shorter in duration and more economically priced than my standard 4+ hour adult trips.

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Abigail, “Poppy” Tom, and Josiah Bohmfalk with a pair of white bass the kids landed simultaneously early on in our trip using MAL Dense Lures to get to bottom quickly in deep water.

PHOTO CAPTION: A sonar sight to behold when you are trying to put 7 and 8 year old kids on fish and hold their attention!! Thank you, Lord!

PHOTO CAPTION: Abigail landed this 4.50-pound largemouth from out of 57 feet of water. It chased after an MAL Dense Lure and was mixed in with a large school of white bass.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

WHEN WE FISHED: Friday, 22 July 2022

HOW WE FISHED:

Both Lake Belton and Stillhouse Hollow are fishing well right now with stable weather setting the stage for much consistency in the fishery. I chose Stillhouse for this morning’s trip because I knew I could help the kids do well without requiring them to do a lot of casting, given their young age and lack of prior experience with spinning tackle.

We fished only three locations this morning and boated a total of 80 fish.

Our first stop came in 57 feet of water and produced 45 of our 80 fish. This area also produced longer than any of the other areas. We stayed in a single Spot-Lock position and worked MAL Dense Lures vertically while the kids watched their presentations and fish response to those presentations on Garmin LiveScope.

After this played out, we found a subtle, underwater depression which held a lot of smaller schools of white bass, each with perhaps 25-40 fish, as seen on side imaging. Since the kids’ wrists were just about shot at this point from fighting fish, we downrigged for these fish with twin ‘riggers, each equipped with Pet Spoons running behind 3-armed umbrella rigs. We took another 30 fish from this location before the bite went soft around 9:45.

We hit one last location and fished it in the same manner as our first stop of the day. The fish were really gearing down at this point in time. We took a final 5 fish in our final 35 minutes on the water, and then called it a day.

Our tally was 80 fish, including 76 white bass and 4 largemouth bass; no sub-legal fish of either species was landed.

The entire family of MAL Lures is found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 80 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: Thanks to a cooling layer of cloud cover and winds which picked up to 13 mph by mid-morning, the topwater action which has been taking place reliably through around 10A was diminished this morning.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:50A

End Time: 10:20A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 79F

Elevation: 6.98 feet low, 0.06’ fall in last 24 hours, 186.4 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 86.8F

Wind Speed & Direction: SSW10-13 all morning

Sky Condition: A solid, thin grey cloud mass stayed with us until ~9A, then began to break up. By trip’s end, we had 40% broken white cloud cover on a bright sky.

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 5% illumination.

GT = 5

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area SH0207G – 45 fish on smoked MAL Dense Lures (chart. tail)

Area vic 866-889-1134 – downrigging for 30 fish

Area SH0063G – final 5 fish on smoked MAL Dense Lures (chart. tail)

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

NOW OFFERING FISHING AT CAMP OMA — 49 FISH @ BELTON

July 21st, 2022 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Wednesday evening, July 20th, I fished with Gary and Debra Jones’ grandkids, Gunnar and Ford Jones and JuJu Holifield, as Granddaddy and Oma just sat back and watched from the bow.

I rarely run evening trips from mid-May through mid-September, but, Gary is a good client, and he and Debra had a very limited window where all of the grandkids were going to be together at one time, so, we made the best of a very hot Texas summer evening.

“Camp Oma”, as the family calls it, is the annual gathering of grandkids at Gary and Debra’s place in Temple, TX, over the summer. It’s been going on for 15 years.

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Debra, Ford, Gunnar, and Gary Jones, and JuJu Holifield wrapped up Camp Oma 2022 with an evening fishing trip on Lake Belton, landing 49 fish on a hot Texas summer night.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday, 20 July 2022

HOW WE FISHED:

Summer evening fishing on Belton is typically consolidated into the last 2 to 2.5 hours prior to sunset, and then the short span of time between sunset and nightfall. Knowing this from 30+ years of fishing Lake Belton, we planned to begin our trip around 5:30 PM instead of running a full 4-hour trip only to experience ‘hot fishlessness’ for the first hour or so.

We got lines in the water around 5:55PM, and started off downrigging. As the white bass “work up” into a feeding mode, a low percentage of them will begin patrolling earlier than the vast majority. Call these the “early bloomers”. Using downriggers, we were able to present multiple (6) baits to many fish in an effort to “strain out” those few fish which were already in a feeding mode.

We downrigged for about 30 minutes and then, seeing that the fish were becoming more aggressive and more abundant in the area we were working, switched over to using MAL Dense Lures (chartreuse tails) fished vertically with a smoking tactic while the kids watched their presentations on Garmin LiveScope. We had 12 fish in the boat before we made that transition, and landed another 11 fish going vertical. Once this area played out, we moved on.

The last move of the evening was to a deep flat where we found fish suspended from 20-25 feet deep over a deeper bottom. This scenario just screamed for a downrigging approach. By now, the kids were getting really fast and confident in setting up the downriggers and so we were more efficient now. As we made a “circuit” here, we picked up singles and doubles routinely until sunset, adding another 23 fish to our tally

At sunset, I moved us up into shallow water hoping to intercept white bass moving up shallow to do their final feed before dark. We Spot-Locked in an area with strong potential and had four large schools pass directly under us, allowing for a final 3 fish to be landed before Gary gave the “let’s wrap it up” signal and we made our way back.

I observed some very light shallow water activity as small schools of whites popped up and then disappeared, but, nothing at all like the strong topwater action the mornings have been featuring.

Our tally was 49 fish, including 2 short hybrid, and 47 white bass (with 3 shorts).

The entire family of MAL Lures is found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 49 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: A light topwater feed could be observed very briefly just before dark (between sunset and nightfall), but that paled in comparison to the morning topwater bite.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 5:40P

End Time: 8:45P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 103F

Elevation: 6.75 feet low, 0.08’ fall in last 24 hours, 89 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 86.8F

Wind Speed & Direction: S10-12 all evening

Sky Condition: Cloudless skies with just a bit of high, thin haze

Moon Phase: Last quarter moon at 51% illumination.

GT = 260

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Areas 1404 to B0030G – downrigging leading to smoking

Area B0197C to B0098G – downrigging leading to a brief, final bout of smoking

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

STILL ON TOP!! – 124 FISH @ BELTON

July 20th, 2022 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Wednesday, July 20th, I fished with Morgan’s Point Resort resident Max Jordan and his grandkids, 18-year-old Dindy Brown, and 15-year-old Houston Brown.

With very stable, high-pressure weather firmly entrenched over Texas, I bet that the topwater would turn on once again today, and that turned out to be a good wager.

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Dindy Brown, her grandfather, Max Jordan, and Houston Brown with a sampling of the white bass we took on topwater early, and with vertical and horizontal tactics later in the morning. This crew boated 124 fish in just under 3 hours and then got off the water before it got truly hot.

PHOTO CAPTION: When the bait was mature, like this threadfin shad which was regurgitated by one of the white bass we caught, the fishing was easier than when the white bass were keyed in on smaller, ~1.25″ young-of-the-year shad. Note that “yellow tail” on both lure and shad — not as brilliant as during the spawn, but present nonetheless.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday, 20 July 2022

HOW WE FISHED:

The easy fishing, fueled by a strong topwater bite, continued on Lake Belton today. Right at sunrise, smaller white bass began herding young-of-the-year shad to the surface and feeding on them aggressively.

These fish were a bit harder to fool than those we would find later in the morning, which we feeding on mature shad. To overcome the challenge, I directed my crew to consider before each cast where the “center of mass” of the fish was located, lob a cast over top of that action, and bring the lure back through as many fish as possible. In doing so, even if only 1 fish in 25 or 30 would fall for the bait (a modified MAL Original with 1 treble tine snipped off and the remaining 2 barbs mashed down), they’d still get bit nearly every time by bringing it through, literally, hundreds of fish.

We sighted our first school of fish at 6:47 AM. By 7:55 AM, the majority of the topwater action was over, and Dindy and Houston had boated exactly 60 fish as their grandfather and I just sat back, unhooked fish, and encouraged the two of them.

After the fish left the surface, I did some downrigging in the same general vicinity, but the fish were uninterested. I left this area, relocated, and, as I ran SI, DI, and 2D sonar searching for evidence, we were fortunate to happen upon a large group of bottom-oriented fish which would keep us in business until my crew called it quits early, at around 9:30 A.M.

Upon spotting these fish, I Spot-Locked atop of them, and, aided by Garmin LiveScope, we worked MAL Dense Lures (chartreuse tails) vertically using a smoking tactic. We put exactly 42 additional fish in the boat in this manner with all three of my anglers now participating.

I encouraged Max to chip in on this, because the commotion caused by a third angler working his MAL and the catching and releasing of fish which resulted from his success would continue to keep the school we’d located fired up more so than with just 2 anglers working at it.

When the vertical action slowed, I gave some quick guidance on using the “sawtooth method”, and directed everyone to cast out to the port side (deeper side) of the boat where, over the time we’d been on Spot-Lock, I’d witnessed numerous schools of fish pass through.

Everyone did their part and we added another 20 fish to the count before Max suggested we wrap up a bit early as the Texas sun began to pour on the heat.

I suggested, since we never did get to witness a fish caught by downrigger earlier, and since Max had expressed interest in it, that we close out the trip with a brief round of downrigging. We made two quick passes over the exact area we’d been fishing the MALs horizontally atop of, and took one fish on each pass. The downrigger (I only ran one for this “demo”) was equipped with a 3-armed umbrella rig to which I’d attached Pet Spoons.

Our tally today was 124 fish, including 1 largemouth bass, 5 short hybrid, and 118 white bass (with only 2 shorts).

OTHER NOTES: 1) Unfortunately, the down-side of topwater action is the “boat show” that can quickly develop with folks cutting their nose off despite their face by motoring into or near the fish and/or chasing the fish with a trolling motor. Be smart — get ahead of the fish and drift to them and through them. 2) Long casts help you avoid spooking the fish and keep the fish on top longer.

The entire family of MAL Lures is found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 124 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: This was the fourth solid episode of topwater I’ve observed under our current high-pressure weather. The times and durations vary, but no topwater has gone beyond ~10:25AM. Temperature profile was as follows:

0 feet 85F
5 feet 85.3F
10 feet 85.6F
15 feet 85.6F
20 feet 85.5F
25 feet 84.7F
30 feet 81.1F
35 feet 78.1F
40 feet 73.8F
45 feet 68.1F
50 feet 64.1F
55 feet 62.4F
60 feet 61.9F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:35A

End Time: 9:25A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 80F

Elevation: 6.75 feet low, 0.08’ fall in last 24 hours, 89 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 85.0F

Wind Speed & Direction: S10-12 all morning

Sky Condition: Cloudless skies with just a bit of high, thin haze

Moon Phase: Last quarter moon at 51% illumination.

GT = 20

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Areas 011 to 210, then 813 to 1787 for ~90 minutes of topwater action

Area vic 905 for bottom-oriented fish taken on MAL Dense lures vertically and horizontally

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

JUST FOR A SOLDIER’S DAUGHTER — 40 FISH @ STILLHOUSE

July 19th, 2022 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Tuesday, July 19th, I conducted the seventh Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun (SKIFF) trip of the 2022 season.

I welcomed aboard 8-year-old Kristyn Torres-Smith, and her mom, Erica.

Kristyn’s dad, U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Jason Torres-Smith, has served in the military for 10 years. He has been deployed from Fort Hood since February of this year, serving as a truck driver.

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 to 4 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.

My next open date for a free SKIFF trip for qualifying families will be on August 23rd.

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

PHOTO CAPTION: Meet 8-year-old Kristyn Torres-Smith! She singlehandedly landed 40 fish in the “cool” of the morning on Stillhouse Hollow.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday, 19 July 2022

HOW WE FISHED:

Since Kristyn was just 8 years of age, had never been on a boat before, and had very limited prior fishing experience, I opted to head to Stillhouse Hollow, despite very good results on Lake Belton yesterday. I did this for several reasons. First, I felt I could best help Kristyn catch white bass without requiring her to cast by fishing on Stillhouse, and, second, I felt Stillhouse would offer better variety in the form of fishing for sunfish if/when the novelty of catching white bass wore thin.

We began our day searching out heavily congregated white bass in deep water, and found them primarily with down-imaging in three distinct locations in 42 feet of water, 48 feet of water, and 36 feet of water. At each of these locations, I stood side-by-side with Kristyn as we both looked at the Garmin LiveScope monitor before us, and gave her a real-time example of what she needed to do to catch fish by “smoking” an MAL Dense Lure (w/ chartreuse tail) up off the bottom using spinning tackle.

Fortunately, she found this engaging (not all kids do!), and she was able to keep a fast, smooth rhythm which was effective at drawing strikes from the fish we’d found. Kristyn landed exactly 25 white bass in this way in about a 2-hour span.

Next, I introduced Kristyn to downrigging and let her know right from the start that our goal would be to land more than one fish at a time on the 3-armed umbrella rigs equipped with Pet Spoons. Over the next 45 minutes, we landed 9 more fish by way of downrigging, including two “doubles” — where we caught two fish at a time on the umbrellas.

The last chapter of our morning was written up shallow. We spent about a half-hour in the vast tangle of hydrilla which now lies matted around the lake’s perimeter. We presented live bait under a slipfloat to sunfish, landing 6 before calling it a great morning and heading back in.

The smoking tactic we used is demonstrated here (skip to 2:26): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE

The entire family of MAL Lures is found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 40 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: A high pressure “dome” is solidly set up over Texas which, according to meteorologists, will stay with us for the next ~9 days. If history is any teacher, this bodes well for fishing. Topwater schooling by largemouth bass continues.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:45A

End Time: 10:05A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 80F

Elevation: 6.78 feet low, 0.06’ fall in last 24 hours, 1 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 85.2F

Wind Speed & Direction: SSW9-13

Sky Condition: Cloudless skies with just a bit of haze and Saharan dust

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 61% illumination.

GT = N/A

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Areas SH0030G, SH0032G, 867 – smoking MAL Dense Lures for 25 fish

Area 867 to 878 downrigging for 9 fish

Area SH0121C – sunfishing for 6 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