DOWN TO THE WIRE – 42 FISH

by Bob Maindelle
WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Wednesday, August 18th, I fished with first-time guests Roy, Julie, and Austin Gann (age 13), from Academy, Texas.
Roy and Julie run their own HVAC/plumbing business, and Julie also serves as a volunteer, leading the Academy FFA Booster Club. It was through that FFA Booster Club connection that I connected with the Ganns.
After donating to the FFA for a few years now, Julie thought they’d give coming out and fishing with me a try and see what these trips they’d been raffling off were like.
With Academy schools going back in session tomorrow, the Ganns got this trip in just under the wire. According to Roy, it served as good practice for getting up early tomorrow (and for the rest of the school year!).
PHOTO CAPTION: Although there were three or four times where we had at least three fish on the line at one time which would allow for a nice family photo, I was hesitant to stop fishing to take pictures since the fishing was tough and we didn’t want to let an opportunity slip by with a big school of fish under the boat. White bass taken from deep water in the summer don’t last long if not released promptly, so, instead of putting fish in the livewell and risking it, we went with multiple photos today in the interest of conservation.
PHOTO CAPTION: If Austin is as good a student in the classroom as he was on the water, he’ll do well this year in eighth grade. Whenever I observed something in Austin’s technique which I felt would cost him fish, I let him know, and he straightened it out quickly.
PHOTO CAPTION: MAL Heavy Lures with white blade ready for action this morning with rainy conditions called for throughout the day.
WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow
WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday (AM), 18 August 2021
HOW WE FISHED:
Our unstable weather continued this week with fluctuating wind and sky conditions and splotchy rain across Central Texas since last Saturday’s cold front pushed through. Unstable weather leads to tougher fishing, and that is what we experienced this morning.
There was next to no low-light downrigger bite this morning as the skies stayed heavily overcast until after 7:40. We landed only one fish on the ‘riggers.
Once the skies brightened a bit and the wind came up to about SSE9, a tentative bite began. From that point forward we worked MAL Heavy Lures with white blades vertically for a solid 3+ hours to piece together a catch, catching 5-6 fish here, another 7 or 8 there, and always the bite was best as soon as we began presenting to these fish. Without exception, the longer we stayed, the slower the bite got. If there was a “peak” this morning, it was a soft one, around 8:15 – 8:50 AM. During this time we witnessed the fastest rate of movement amongst the fish was observed on LiveScope, and, these fish generally were up higher in the water column and were the most prone to chase our presentations of all the fish we encountered. We fished only two general areas, but made multiple “short hops” at each one. We had to go to the fish, as the fish would not come to us.
I see a lot of fish come over the side of the boat each year on both Belton and Stillhouse. This morning, Roy landed a true 16.00″ white bass with excellent body condition. It was good to see that kind of quality, especially in the summer.
Although we really had to work today for our catch, Roy put things in perspective letting me know the that 42 fish we caught was, give or take, about 41 more than they usually catch on their own fishing excursions. I appreciated that.
No sooner did the Ganns clear the parking lot, then it started pouring rain as I was getting the boat prepped to trailer back home. Good timing! Thank you, Lord, for the rain, and for allowing us to get in a full morning of fishing, as well.
We landed 42 white bass.
MAL Lures are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/
TALLY: 42 fish caught and released
OBSERVATIONS: 1) No topwater activity observed this morning. 2) Not a single fish we caught regurgitated any shad prior to our last stop around 9:55AM; 2 out of every 3 fish at this area threw up young-of-the-year threadfins here.
TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 6:50A
End Time: 11:00A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 74F
Elevation: 0.40′ high, .03′ 24-hour fall, and a flow of 1cfs
Water Surface Temp: 84.2
Wind Speed & Direction: SSE7 at first light, increasing to SSE12 by trip’s end
Sky Condition: 100% thick grey clouds all morning
Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 81% illumination
GT = 0
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area 1569 through 1419 – multiple short hops using MAL Heavy in white blade/chart. tail
**Area 194 – multiple short hops using MAL Heavy in white blade/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) Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

BACK TO SCHOOL BLAST — 41 FISH

by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Monday, August 16th, I fished with returning guests father-and-son team Trent and Jackson (age 11) Huey, joined by first-time guests Kortny Huey (Trent’s wife), and Olivia (age 5) and Kinley (age 8) Huey (Trent and Kortny’s daughters).

Some time ago Trent contacted me about getting a fishing gift certificate for Kinley’s birthday which happened back in July.

With only two days to go until public school begins in Crawford, TX, the Huey’s decided it was time to cash in the certificate and have one last shot at some family fun before academics come calling.

I should note here that I’ll be forever grateful to the Huey family for putting me onto Guess Family BBQ in Waco.  Although our favorite will always be Miller’s Smokehouse in Belton,  Guess’ trademark appetizer — deviled eggs with pimento cheese and brisket jam — is now something we look forward to when travelling north.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left:  Olivia, Kinley, and Jackson Huey, each with a white bass they truly worked for this morning under tough, post-frontal conditions complete with bluebird skies, bright sun, and calm winds.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday (AM), 16 August 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

As far back as last Wednesday, NOAA predicted a cold front would impact our weather over the forthcoming weekend (14 & 15 Aug.).  As the weekend approached, the details and timing got a bit more exact.  When all was said and done, the cold front actually entered into Central Texas “air space” around 7pm on Saturday, bringing a windshift to the NE, along with a temperature drop, and spotty rain.  A second round of rain with continued north winds came through from 10AM to 1PM on Sunday, then clearing began to take place.

As I made a call as to what to do about this trip on Saturday evening, the winds were supposed to be S5-8 this morning with 30-40% cloud cover.  No cause for panic in that forecast — it wouldn’t be like the stable-weather fishery of last week, but I felt we’d catch fish with no problem.

Then reality struck!  As I got up this Monday morning, skies were absolutely clear and there was not a breath of wind.  I then got a bit panicky.

Trent and the gang showed up and we got going.  The areas which gave up between 16 and 31 fish on downriggers in the first hour of light last week gave up 2 fish and 1 missed fish in about 70 minutes of effort.   Not good.

Eventually, a NW ripple developed with perhaps a 4 mph wind behind it.  I changed us over to a vertical approach, literally parking us precisely on top of hand-picked schools of white bass which I felt had enough individual fish in them to cause some competition within the school as my crew worked MAL Heavy Lures through the fish assisted by LiveScope.

Jackson worked independently and did well.  Trent covered down on Kinley and aided her, while Kortny covered down on Olivia and helped her.  Eventually, Kinley got the hang of things so Trent could work a rod of his own.

We began to catch fish, and slowly but surely, put together a solid catch of 41 fish on a super-tough morning.  The key was to make the most of the initial expression of interest the fish exhibited as soon as our lures got down to them and for the first few minutes which followed, then to move on to a fresh batch of fish as soon as the excitement level of the fish began to wane.  The later it got, the shorter the time the fish stayed interested, until, finally, by the four hour mark, the fish had come full circle and would no longer even flinch as our baits went by.

We landed 40 white bass and 1 freshwater drum for a total of 41 fish.

MAL Lures are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 41 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:  1) A short burst of topwater action by largemouth bass, which lasted about 25 minutes, broke out as the wind velocity peaked, vic Area 1433.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:50A

End Time: 10:50A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 72F

Elevation:   0.45′ high, no 24-hour elevation change due to local rain over the past 2 days, and a flow of 1cfs

Water Surface Temp: 83.1

Wind Speed & Direction: Calm at sunrise and until ~9A, then WNW1-5

Sky Condition: Cloudless all morning

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 60% illumination

GT = 80

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**AreaSH0032G – only gave up 2 fish downrigging until the skies brightened

**Area SH0064G through 1433 – multiple short hops using MAL Heavy in silver blade/white tail

**Area  SH0067G – MAL Heavy in silver blade/white tail and MAL Heavy in white blade/chart. tail

**Area vic 878/879  – MAL Heavy in silver blade/white tail and MAL Heavy in white blade/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) Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle

#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

BOB, THIS IS GONNA BE AN EXPENSIVE TRIP – 100 FISH

by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Thursday, August 12th, I fished with three first-time guests.  Joining me were Charles Stichler and his son, David, as well as Charles’ friend, Terry Lockamy.

This trip was in celebration of David’s birthday.

Charles and Terry live in the Georgetown area and are retired from Texas A&M’s agricultural extension program, and David, who lives out between Lakes Waco and Whitney, is a sales director for a major agriculture-oriented company.

Although they’ve been doing a lot of fishing, they hadn’t been enjoying much catching since June rolled around.  They came to learn what approach they might need to take to become more consistent on summertime white bass.

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left: David & Charles Stichler, and Terry Lockamy with a few of the 100 white bass we took under continued stable weather conditions this morning.  16 fish fell to the downriggers; 84 fish came on the MAL Heavy Lures (including the new version with colored blade).

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday (AM), 12 August 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

The fishing just keeps getting better as this run of stable weather continues on.  With fish doing the same things in the same places and at the same times each day for several days now, it has been pretty easy to put together a “milk run” and stay on fish for a full morning.  Looks like this will all come to an end around 7P Saturday as yet another cold front comes down.  We’ll have to figure it all out again Monday!

This morning we downrigged until the skies got bright, putting 16 fish in the boat, including 3 sets of doubles and 1 triple.  Once I saw fish beginning to coalesce, we changed over to vertical work with MAL Lures and then stuck with that until the fish quit right around 11AM.

As we made this transition, unlike the past three mornings, we experienced a lull in the wind, with a calm surface for about a 35 minute span.  The fishing was tougher during this run, but, eventually a SSW ripple turned into waves, which turned into occasional white caps, and then it was game-on.

We worked a combination of MAL Heavy Lures (with both the new white blades and with standard silver blades) in conjunction with Garmin LiveScope to land another 84 fish from 3 distinct areas.

We had exactly 95 fish in the boat by 10:45.  I told the fellows we’d stay until 11AM or 100 fish, whichever came first.  Well, they caught three fish nearly the instant those words left my mouth, but, we came right down to the wire with barely more than a minute to spare when Terry “Blind Sow” Lockamy came up with an acorn.

David, who had his first exposure to Garmin LiveScope technology on this trip, came away committed to having LiveScope technology aboard his own NauticStar Hybrid within the week (right after he checks with his wife)!!!

To their credit, these fellows were all solid anglers, they all took the time to watch my MAL Lure fishing tutorial before the trip, and they were all willingly coached when I saw shortfalls in their technique.

As many anglers do on their first experience using MAL Lures, the tendency to set the hook, and the tendency to reel too slowly, were things we were able to quickly address so everyone could cash in on this morning’s solid bite.

In all, we landed 100 white bass this morning.

MAL Lures are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 100 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:  1) No topwater action was observed this morning. 2) High pressure sitting atop us has fish in a good, predictable groove.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:45A

End Time: 11A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 75F

Elevation:   0.49′ high, .02′ fall, and a flow of 1cfs

Water Surface Temp: 84.4

Wind Speed & Direction: Calm at sunrise and until ~8:15, then coming up SSW and steadily increasing to SSW12-13

Sky Condition: Cloudless at sunrise, increasing to 20% white clouds on blue sky by trip’s end

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 17% illumination

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**AreaSH0032G – this was “center of mass” for downrigging for 16 fish until the skies brightened

**Area vic 1417 – MAL Heavy in silver blade/white tail and MAL Heavy in white blade/chart. tail worked vertically for solid results on white bass

**Area vic 1569 – MAL Heavy in silver blade/white tail and MAL Heavy in white blade/chart. tail worked vertically for solid results on white bass

**Area vic SH0066G/1244 – MAL Heavy in silver blade/white tail and MAL Heavy in white blade/chart. tail worked vertically for solid results on white bass

 

Bob Maindelle

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

Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide

254.368.7411 (call or text) Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle

#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

GOT ME A FISHIN’ BLISTER — 66 FISH

by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Wednesday, August 11th, I fished with two first-time youngsters —  Shona Rogers (age 12) and Blake Rogers (age 11) from Belton, Texas.

Back in the spring, I had a friend of mine who wanted to anonymously sponsor a few kids who may not otherwise have an opportunity to go fishing over the summer.

I reached out to my niece who is part of the Belton Independent School District for some help in identifying kids who would genuinely benefit from such and thing, and enjoy it, as well.

She didn’t have to think too long or hard before recommending Shona and Blake.  We worked through the proper channels to reach out to the kids’ mom, Carolyn, and, long story short, everything came together very nicely this morning.

 

PHOTO CAPTION: Blake and Shona Rogers of Belton had their back-to-school fishing trip sponsored by an anonymous Salado donor.  The kids landed 66 fish in 3 1/2 hours.

 

PHOTO CAPTION: Blake was a real trooper.  Despite getting a blister on his hand about halfway through the trip due to all the reeling he was doing as we used MAL Heavy Lures, he pressed on and kept fishing to the end of the trip.

 

PHOTO CAPTION: I was eager to try out my newest color combination for the MAL Heavy.  I think it’s gonna become a ‘new favorite’.  Besides all that, Blake thought it looked “cool”!

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday (AM), 11 August 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

When I saw this week’s weather forecast developing back last Saturday, I was as excited about fishing as I’ve been since May.  June and July’s crazy, atypical weather with high water, dam discharges, rain, and multiple cold fronts really had the fishing off.  But, this week called for stable, high pressure with nearly identical weather each day, which meant predictable fishing.  We cashed in on that for the third consecutive day.

This morning’s downrigger bite was the longest and strongest of the week thus far, contributing 31 of our 66 fish, of which 10 came as doubles, and 3 came as a triple, all on the trusty 3-armed umbrella rig with Pet Spoons affixed.  The downrigging bite lasted until just after 8AM.

Next, we were blessed with spotting some light topwater action, mainly by small, schoolie-sized largemouth bass.  However, this mean shad were getting pushed around, and, that in turn often attracts white bass.  This morning was no exception.

We fished a full two hours in an area perhaps 250 yards in diameter, hopping (using the Minn Kota Ulterra’s jogging function) from one school of active fish to another.  The fish would respond best when we first presented our lures to them, then they’d cool off and we’d cruise to another school, and so on.

These fish were just suckers for the MAL Heavy, including a new version I have just worked out with Mepps which has colored blades (white or chartreuse) instead of silver metallic ones.  I’m excited about these!!!!

We watched as school after school of fish meandered beneath the boat just cruising and feeding on shad.  When the time was right, as revealed by Garmin LiveScope, we’d bring the MAL Lures up through these fish and watch them pursue until they hooked themselves over and over again.

With the kids being young and inexperienced (neither had ever been on a boat before), there was certainly potential to catch more than we did, but what we caught I was grateful for.  By the time we hit that 3.5 hour mark, the kids were doing more resting and snacking than fishing, so, we knew it was time to head on in.

In all, we landed 66 white bass this morning.

MAL Lures are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 66 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:  1) First light topwater action in quite some time was observed. 2) USACE stopped releasing water at both Belton and Stillhouse this past weekend. 3) High pressure sitting atop us has fish in a good, predictable groove.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:40A

End Time: 10:30A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 75F

Elevation:   0.51′ high, .02′ fall, and a flow of 1cfs

Water Surface Temp: 84.4

Wind Speed & Direction: S8 at sunrise, steadily increasing to S13  by trip’s end.

Sky Condition: 40-50% white cloud cover all morning

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 10% illumination

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 1397 to SH0031G – downrigging for 31 fish until the skies brightened

**Area 910 to 1968 – MAL Heavy in silver blade/white tail and MAL Heavy in white blade/chart. tail worked vertically for solid results on white bass; 7 short hops in 250 yard area

 

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

#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

FISHIN’ WITH DAD & UNCLE KEVIN – 77 FISH

by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Tuesday, August 10th, I fished with three first-time guests —  father and son T.J. & Tommy Yagalla (age 8), and T.J.’s brother, Kevin.

T.J. owns Elite Heating and Air Conditioning offering HVAC service, repair, and installation, as well as duct-cleaning and insulation services.

This trip was a gift to T.J. from the Deorsam family presented to him for his birthday last October.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left: T.J., Tommy, and Kevin Yagalla with three Stillhouse white bass landed just seconds apart as LiveScope revealed a school of fish below us, allowing all three anglers to time the rise of their MAL Heavy Lures through the school for a hookup.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday (AM), 10 August 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

Thanks to the stable, “cookie-cutter” weather this week, the fishing today was nearly identical to how it was yesterday in that the fish did the same things in the same places and at the same times as they did the day before.

This predictable behavior will likely continue until we get a “wrinkle” in the weather (likely on Saturday, according to the current forecast).

We began the day putting singles and four sets of doubles in the boat for a total of 16 white bass caught and released inside an hour’s time from sunrise (which was obscured by cloud cover) through about 7:35.  Once this action dwindled, we did not stick around in this vicinity, as yesterday’s results indicated that doing so would be a less productive option than moving and finding more aggressive fish elsewhere.

As the interest in downrigged Pet Spoons presented on 3-armed umbrella rigs dwindled, we made the change over to MAL Heavy Lures in white color and used these vertically in conjunction with Garmin LiveScope for the remainder of the trip.

We hit three separate areas and found fish at each (again, avoiding the areas at which we found no fish yesterday, thus enhancing our efficiency).  Normally, the bite dies down pretty quickly by 10:00A, but, this morning around that time we had a spike in the wind from S13 to S16, and the fish turned on to that.  We landed our final 15 fish inside our last 30 minutes on the water.

In all, we landed 77 white bass this morning.

MAL Lures are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 77 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:  1) No topwater action observed. 2) USACE stopped releasing water at both Belton and Stillhouse this weekend. 3) High pressure sitting atop us has fish in a good, predictable groove.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:40A

End Time: 11:10A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 79F

Elevation:   0.53′ high, .03′ fall, and a flow of 1cfs

Water Surface Temp: 83.9

Wind Speed & Direction: S9 at sunrise, steadily increasing to S15-16  by trip’s end.

Sky Condition: 40-50% white cloud cover all morning

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 4% illumination

GT = 100

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 1397 to SH0031G – downrigging for 16 fish until the skies brightened

**Area SH0064G – MAL Heavy in white worked vertically for solid results on white bass; 1 stop

**Area SH0065G – MAL Heavy in white worked vertically for solid results on white bass; 2 short hops

**Area SH0066G – MAL Heavy in white worked vertically for solid results on white bass;  1 stop

 

 

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

#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

SUMMER’S LAST HOORAH! — 63 FISH

by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Monday, August 9th, I fished with three returning guests — Dr. Jim Wood of McGregor, TX, and two of his grandkids, Jack (age 12), and Charlotte Bailey (age 9), from Colleyville, TX.

The kids head back to school next Wednesday and this was the last “big event” on their calendar for the summer of 2021.

PHOTO CAPTION: Charlotte and Jack Bailey were treated to a morning of white bass fishing by their grandpa, Jim Wood.  The trio landed 63 fish this morning using downriggers early on, then working white MAL Heavy Lures vertically for the final 45 fish.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday (AM), 09 August 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

There is a bit of a “back story” before getting to the fishing.  First, over the weekend the USACE closed the dams at both Belton and Stillhouse for the first time in many weeks, so, we now have a no-flow scenario which is more normal for summertime.  Next, we’ve finally settled into a more normal summer weather pattern with a ridge of high pressure sitting atop us, thus making for “cookie cutter” weather from this past Saturday through at least the end of the week.  Under such conditions the fish get very “patternable”.  So, the trick today was to figure out that pattern so we could catch fish today, and plan for success for the remainder of the week.

Hence, I paid very close attention to the times we fished the various locations we fished, and noted when the fish started biting at a given area, when they stopped biting there, and how relatively aggressive that bite was.

The fishing started this morning close to 7A, just as the sun cleared the eastern horizon and the low bank of clouds just above it.

We took our first 18 fish on downriggers as the fish and bait began to “come alive” with the brightening sky.  Of these 18, eight fish came as doubles on the 3-armed umbrella rigs we were using (x2), each equipped with Luhr Jensen Pet Spoons.

By 7:40A, the fish began to come off that “low-light” feed which, in the summer, is normally the strongest feeding time.

From that point on, we hunted packs of fish in open water, relying on well-tuned sonar and looking specifically for fish holding tight to the bottom.  When we found them, we all worked white MAL Heavy Lures vertically in conjunction with Garmin LiveScope to dupe them into biting.

We had to move often, and all the more so as the morning got later and the fish grew less and less willing to chase.  We wound up fishing 4 distinct areas and doing a few “short hops” at each to keep our strings stretched.  In the end, we added another 43 white bass and 2 freshwater drum to our tally with this approach.

By the time we finished up around 10:50, the winds were going straightline at 16mph with higher gusts, and building.  Today was to be the windiest day of the week, with southerly winds called for all week.

In all, we landed 61 white bass and 2 freshwater drum this morning.

MAL Lures are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 63 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:  1) No topwater action observed. 2) USACE stopped releasing water at both Belton and Stillhouse this weekend.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:40A

End Time: 10:50A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 78F

Elevation:   0.56′ high, .02′ fall, and a flow of 1cfs

Water Surface Temp: 84.9

Wind Speed & Direction: S11 at sunrise, steadily increasing to S16 with higher gusts by trip’s end.

Sky Condition: 40-50% white cloud cover all morning

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 1% illumination

GT = 60

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 1397 to SH0031G – downrigging for 18 fish until the skies brightened

**Area SH0062G – MAL Heavy in white worked vertically for solid results on white bass

**Area SH0061G – MAL Heavy in white worked vertically for solid results on white bass; 2 short hops

**Area 1224 to SH0059C – MAL Heavy in white worked vertically for solid results on white bass; 2 short hops

**Area SH0063G – MAL Heavy in white worked vertically for solid results on white bass

 

 

Bob Maindelle

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

Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide

254.368.7411 (call or text) Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide

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AS SEEN ON TV — 22 FISH @ BELTON

by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Thursday, August 5th, I conducted the season’s 8th SKIFF program fishing trip for kids whose parents are separated from them due to military duty.

Joining me were the three sons of U.S. Army Sergeant First Class (SFC) Edwin Villalobos — Damion Guillen (age 16), Damien Villalobos (age 16), and Xavier Guillen (age 13).

Also aboard for a portion of the trip was Olivia Levada, a reporter with Spectrum News 1 Texas.  She heard of the SKIFF program and decided to do a story about it.  She met with the kids prior to the trip and interviewed them, then joined us this morning to gather some on-the-water footage. The story should run the week of Aug. 9th.

SKIFF is an acronym for Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun. It is a program now in its 12th year, sponsored by the Austin Fly Fishers, and supported by individuals and entities, all of whom desire that kids separated from a parent by that parent’s military duty, be given an opportunity to experience the outdoors through fishing during that time of separation, free of charge.  The program offers a time of respite for the home-front parents who may need a short break from single-parenting.

The boys’ father has been in the military for 16 years.  He is currently serving as a mechanic and has been deployed to Poland for several months.  He is due to redeploy during the month of August.

Those interested in a SKIFF fishing trip may simply call me at 254.368.7411 to coordinate.

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left, Xavier Guillen, Damien Villalobos, and Dameon Guillen with a few of the white bass they worked for this morning.  The boys were treated to this outing through the SKIFF program while their dad is deployed to Poland.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday (AM), 5 August 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

Some quirky weather produced some quirky fishing this morning, but, despite their inexperience, the boys listened well, learned quickly, stayed optimistic, and, in the end, were rewarded with a decent catch.

The cold front which moved through early in the week pushed back north as a warm front about mid-day.  Although the weatherman said we’d have southeasterly winds this morning, they were actually still blowing ENE, thus greatly diminishing the likelihood of a topwater bite, which was the whole reason I’d chosen to take the boys to Lake Belton in the first place.

A few minutes after sunrise, we noticed a very light topwater feed and landed our first few fish of the morning while sight casting to those fish.

Olivia got a few photos, asked a few more questions, and by then had all she needed for the story, so, we dropped her off and continued fishing.

Our best action came from 10:00 to 10:45 as we found a school of white bass in a neutral mood laying on bottom as we observed side-imaging.  I positioned the boat so the boys could cast off the port side as they stood abreast of one another.  We used a sawtooth tactic to work MAL Heavy Lures back to the boat successfully, taking our morning’s catch to a total of 22 fish.

The boys really had to stick with it to accomplish this, but, in the end, each of them cast to, retrieved, hooked, landed, and released their own fish a few times over and even asked for an “extension”, so, we spent another 45 minutes on the water before mom’s deadline kicked in and we had to wrap up.

We ended up with exactly 22 white bass this morning.

MAL Lures are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 22 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: Stillhouse was still releasing at 201 cfs this morning.  Only saw three brief instances of topwater action all morning.  All were light and short-lived.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:  6:30a

End Time: 10:45a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 74F

Elevation:   0.37′ high, .02′ fall, and a flow of 1590cfs

Water Surface Temp: 85.7F

Wind Speed & Direction: ENE under 4 mph all morning.

Sky Condition: Skies were 30% cloud covered at trip’s start, with coverage growing greyer and thicker as the morning moved on with an approaching warm front.

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 9% illumination

GT = N/A

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic 1642 – light topwater just after sunrise for ~10 minutes

**Area vic 172 – sawtooth method with MAL Heavy Lures from 10:00 to 10:45 after a slow mid-morning period

 

 

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

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide

#BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing

#bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport

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#Fitec

SOLO SIXTY – 60 FISH @ STILLHOUSE

by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Wednesday, August 4th, I fished with first-time guest John Gossard of Morgan’s Point Resort, Texas.

John retired from the U.S. Air Force, then went on to retire from 3M after working at their Austin location.

As we got to comparing notes about places the military and fishing had taken us both, he had especially fond memories of catching blue and striped marlin out of Cabo San Lucas.

PHOTO CAPTION: John Gossard effectively worked an MAL Heavy Lure all morning in conjunction with Garmin LiveScope to put together a solo 60-fish, 4 hour morning.  Multiple fish exceeded 14 inches.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday (AM), 04 August 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

I shared with John about this morning’s trip being the only one of the week I was a bit concerned about after studying the wind and weather forecast.  We are still in a post-frontal situation following the passage of two cold fronts in rapid succession on Sunday evening and on Monday morning.

Today’s winds were supposed to be light and from the ENE, with less cloud cover than we’ve enjoyed the past several days.  Had the forecast had calm winds and clear skies, I would have postponed the trip.  As it was, we were due to have a little of both, so I felt we’d be okay.

As I prepared the boat after launching, I was glad to see more wind and cloud cover already in place than the weatherman guesstimated, and we found the fish in fine form this morning.

We downrigged for our first 9 fish, including two sets of triples, a double, and a single all in a matter of 10-15 minutes before the thin cloud cover let enough light through to illuminate the depths and get the white bass patrolling for shad.

Once I saw fish hunting forage, we immediately changed over to MAL Heavy Lures (I used chartreuse, John used white, and we did equally well) in conjunction with Garmin LiveScope.

John watched the pre-trip video I sent him describing the “dos and don’ts” of working the MAL Lure, and did well coming out of the blocks.  With very little coaching, he was effectively using the lure and catching fish steadily.

We looked at five areas this morning, finding fish at three of them, with the results declining at each as the morning moved on, the skies brightened, and the wind settled.

By 10:10 things ground to a halt, and by 10:30 we were back at the dock.

In all, we landed 60 white bass this morning.

MAL Lures are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 60 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:  1) Very light topwater action by schoolie largemouth was witnessed as the winds went nearly calm around 10am, but the action was so widespread that it was not enough to stop and fish for. 2) USACE is still releasing at 1,589 cfs on Belton.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:30A

End Time: 10:30A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 70F

Elevation:   0.74′ high, .06′ fall, and a flow of 201cfs

Water Surface Temp: 84.9

Wind Speed & Direction: ENE6-7 at sunrise, slowly tapering to near calm by 10:30.

Sky Condition: Thin grey cloud cover for the first 2 hours after sunrise, then clearing to a hazy, brighter sky.

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 16% illumination

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 1424 – downrig w/ transition to vertical MAL Lure work as skies brightened

**Area 910/1102 – MAL Heavy in white & in chartreuse worked vertically for solid results on white bass; 2 short hops

**Area SH0059G9 – MAL Heavy in white and in chartreuse worked vertically for solid results on white bass

 

Bob Maindelle

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

Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide

254.368.7411 (call or text) Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle

#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

STILL BLOWIN’ NORTHERLY – 72 FISH

by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Tuesday, August 3rd, I fished with returning guest Stiles Parker, joined by first-time guest Steve Parker, Stiles’ dad.

Stiles works as a commission-only salesman in the construction industry, and resides in the Georgetown, TX, area.

He and his wife, Sarah, are excitedly anticipating the arrival of their second child, a daughter, in September.

PHOTO CAPTION:   From left, Stiles and Steve Parker with a pair of quality white bass, representative of the quality of fish we took all morning, primarily fishing MAL Heavy Lures vertically in conjunction with Garmin LiveScope.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday (AM), 03 August 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

Yesterday’s on again/off again rain showers fueled by the passage of a low-level cold front (in the wake of Sunday’s cold front) stopped just before sunset yesterday, leaving cool, cloudy conditions in place for this morning’s fishing.

Stiles and Steve arrived early so as to see how I use my bungee-cord contraption to quickly launch my boat solo.

After that demo, we loaded up and made our way to the fishing grounds.

Steve was excited to see the Garmin LiveScope in action as the last sonar he used had rolls of temperature-sensitive graph paper in them!!  Aside from that, Stiles had really “talked up” the technology from his several previous trips out with me.

With the low-light level made dimmer than usual by the clouds, the deep-water bite didn’t immediately fire up, so, we took a couple of downrigger passes catching fish on each pass until the fish came alive and began to reveal themselves positioned up off bottom and in a feeding posture.

We worked 3-armed umbrella rigs on a pair of identical, limber, fiberglass downrigger rods, with each umbrella equipped with Pet Spoons selected to match the approx. size of the forage.

From that point on we worked MAL Heavy Lures in white color for the remainder of the trip, sitting on our first area for an unusually long hour-plus.  After that, around 9:00, as the bite began to wane, we moved and more briefly fished four additional areas, three of which produced fish for us, through about 10AM, when the fellows decided to call it a great day in the outdoors and head back in.

In all, we landed 72 fish, including 71 white bass and 1 freshwater drum.

MAL Lures are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 72 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: 1) Saw a handful of grey terns this morning and yesterday morning.  2) USACE is releasing at 1,590 cfs on Belton.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 6:30A

End Time: 10:10A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 75F

Elevation:   0.77′ high, .04′ fall, and a flow of 201cfs

Water Surface Temp: 85.4F

Wind Speed & Direction: NNE6-9 all morning

Sky Condition: Light grey cloud cover all morning

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 24% illumination

GT = 85

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 1424 – downrig w/ transition to vertical MAL Lure work as skies brightened

**Area 1968 – MAL Heavy in white worked vertically for solid results on white bass

**Area vic 198 – MAL Heavy in white worked vertically for solid results on white bass

**Area SH0052C/1569 – MAL Heavy in white worked vertically for solid results on white bass

 

Bob Maindelle

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

Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide

254.368.7411 (call or text) Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide

#BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing

#bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport

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#Fitec #mepps

AN AUGUST COLD FRONT — WHAT UNIVERSE IS THIS? — 61 FISH

by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Monday, August 2nd, I fished a “Kids Fish, Too!” trip with cousins Luke and Liam Shinners and Cooper Wankerl, all from the Georgetown area. The twins are headed into 5th grade this coming school year, and Cooper joins the 4th grade ranks.

The boys came out with me exactly one year ago on this date, accompanied then, as they were today, by the twins’ dad, Brian Shinners, and Steve Murphy, the boys’ grandfather.

On that trip, the boys landed exactly 70 fish, of which 23 were sunfish.  I normally reserve sunfishing for younger and/or less experienced kids.  This morning we pursued only white bass, given the boys’ ages, experience level, and level of interest.  They stuck with the program and did very well.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:   From left, Luke Shinners, Cooper Wankerl, and Liam Shinners with the “first fruits” of our morning effort on Stillhouse on a morning greatly influenced by an atypical summer cold front’s arrival.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday (AM), 02 August 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

The 800-pound gorilla in the room this morning was weather.  We had a cold front move over Central Texas around 5pm last night, and then a mild, low level cold front pass this morning.  I felt that as long as we had wind and cloud cover, we’d be able to catch fish.

We delayed our intended 6:30A start to 7:00A as an ominous storm cell worked its way toward us from the Florence area.  It fizzled within 30 minutes, after which we got down to business.

The morning activity started strong and slowly but steadily tapered to nil by 11:15A.

We bounced back and forth between downrigging with Pet Spoon-equipped 3-armed umbrella rigs and using white MAL Heavy Lures presented vertically with the aid of Garmin LiveScope, finding quality fish all morning within 4 feet of bottom.

As we came off the water, the ambient air temperature had risen from 75F to only 78F, and would only make it to the mid-80’s in the heat of the afternoon.  Crazy!  And wonderful to be out in!

MAL Lures are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 61 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: 1) The shad which our fish regurgitated this morning was of a much greater size than the young of the year shad I’ve seen of late.  2) USACE is releasing at 1,595 cfs on Belton.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:  7:00a

End Time: 11:15a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 75F

Elevation:   0.82′ high, .05′ fall, and a flow of 201cfs

Water Surface Temp: 87.3F

Wind Speed & Direction: WSW3-9 all morning

Sky Condition: Varying degrees of cloud density with completely greyed skies all morning; three brief shots of light rain.

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 32% illumination

GT = 20

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area triangulated by SH0048G/258/950 – downrigging, transitioning to vertical MAL work with LiveScope & back again for 58 fish

**Area 1741 – downrigged for 3 fish from the same suspended school at trip’s end

 

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

#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