Fishing Report

WHO I FISHED WITH: Yesterday morning, Wednesday, October 21, I fished with John and Mary Lou Post who recently retired to the outskirts of Lampasas, TX.

Following retirement from the U.S. Air Force, John continued working for several years in civil service.  He is originally from northern New Jersey.

Mary Lou is a retired hospital pharmacist, originally from Austin.

Our originally planned date for this trip was back on 04 September, but foul weather prevented that from taking place.  The weather more than cooperated today … grey skies and gentle SE breezes made for great fishing this morning.

PHOTO CAPTION #1: John and Mary Lou post racked up a catch of 175 fish during their 4-hour morning trip on Belton today. This catch included 170 white bass and 5 legal hybrid striped bass.  22 came on downrigged Pet Spoons; 153 came on white and chartreuse MAL Lures.

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED:  Wednesday (AM), 21 October 2020

HOW WE FISHED: 

Fishing was nearly “cookie-cutter” versus yesterday thanks to near-identical wind, weather, and sky conditions.  We put 22 fish in the boat under low-light conditions via downrigging with twin ‘riggers equipped with Pet Spoons on 3-armed umbrella rigs.  After that bite ended with the brightening of the post-sunrise sky,  we headed out into water deeper than the 30-36 foot water we’d been downrigging over and began working vertically.

We fished just 3 areas this morning, taking white bass in the 0-3 year class at each one in the lower third of the water column.  The first two stops each yielded fish for right at an hour, and the last area began to taper off after about 35 minutes.

The white MAL Lure and chartreuse MAL Lure worked equally well when worked properly.

With the water temp at about 73 degrees, the fish were very active and a fast retrieve was essential.  Slow retrieves got ignored.

We wrapped up at 11:35.  Fish were still willing to bite, but we’d seen the best of it by then, and I had to get turned around and prepped for my PM trip.

TALLY: 175 fish caught and released (170 white bass, 5 hybrid striper)

OBSERVATIONS:   Of the 175 fish landed, not a single fish was seen to regurgitate recently eaten or partially digested shad, although many did defecate at boatside.

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES: 

Start Time:  7:05A

End Time: 11:35A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 72F

Elevation:  0.26′ low with a 0.04’ 24-hour drop and 0 CFS flow thru the dam

Water Surface Temp: 73.3F

Wind Speed & Direction:  SSE breeze starting at 5 and slowly tapering up to 9

Sky Condition: Grey, cloudy skies all morning at ~80%

Moon Phase: A waxing crescent moon at 28% illum.

GT = 35

Wx SNAPSHOT:  

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic 1933 to 812  – 22 whites via downrigging in low light conditions

**Areas vic 1374 – white bass on MAL Lures, 53 fish (total 75) (SP)

**Area vic B0012C to 305 –  white bass on MAL Lures, 50 fish (total 125) (SP)

**Area vic 714 –  white bass on MAL Lures, stopped at 50 fish caught at this location, (final total of 175) (SP)

 

 

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

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Tuesday, October 20th, I fished with Ted and Shelly Helm of West, Texas.  The Helms own a small RV which they use as a family vehicle.  Since the Corps of Engineers limits camping opportunities in the winter months, the Helms camped out in the parking lot of the Belton Walmart and arrived early for this morning’s fishing trip.

The Helms enjoy team roping and have organized a 21-event series for those with like interests starting in the new year.

The Helms have laid out of fishing for about 30 years and are starting to get back into it.  Neither had ever downrigged before, and neither had ever fished with the benefit of Garmin LiveScope working for them, until today.

 

 

PHOTO CAPTION #1: Shelly and Ted Helm of West, Texas, caught and released 96 fish on this cloudy, breezy Tuesday.  20 fish were taken via downrigging and 76 fish were taken on the MAL Lure fished vertically.

 

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED:  Tuesday (AM), 20 October 2020

HOW WE FISHED: 

With abundant cloud cover, the deep water bite got going a bit later than with clear skies, so, we started off the day downrigging and rode that horse until it stalled.  We worked 3-armed umbrella rigs at 26-28 feet deep over a deeper bottom as the sun (obscured) was rising, then headed out deeper for vertical work thereafter.

We downrigged for 20 fish, including 4 sets of doubles and one hybrid, then moved on to work MAL Lures in conjunction with LiveScope.

As the wind and light levels (still through grey cloud cover) increased, the bite intensified.

We wound up with 96 fish total.  These final 76 fish came on MAL Lures “smoked” upwards with the vast majority of the fish chasing upward from off the bottom.  In the 10-11AM hour, we picked off a few smaller whites that were cruising up higher off bottom.

The fish hit the chartreuse and white equally well.

TALLY: 96 fish caught and released (94 white bass, 1 hybrids striper, 1 largemouth bass)

OBSERVATIONS:   Hundreds of migrating gulls seen formed up in V-shaped flocks of about 20 birds each headed southeast before sunrise this morning.  The number of coots coming down is also increasing daily.

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES: 

Start Time:  7:05A

End Time: 11:15A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 74F

Elevation:  0.26′ low with a 0.04’ 24-hour drop and 0 CFS flow thru the dam

Water Surface Temp: 74F

Wind Speed & Direction:  SSE breeze starting a 8 and and slowly tapering up to 13

Sky Condition: Grey, cloudy skies all morning

Moon Phase: A waxing crescent moon at 19% illum.

GT = 50

Wx SNAPSHOT:  

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic 1933   – 20 whites via downrigging in low light conditions

**Areas vic B0081C to 1482 – white bass on MAL Lures smoked from 44′

**Area vic B0075C –  white bass on MAL Lures smoked from 36′

**Area vic B0003C –  white bass on MAL Lures smoked 38′

 

 

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

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Monday, October 12^th, I fished with a great crew of 4 teens from the Leander area, accompanied by Debbie Wright, mom to two of those kids.

Debbie Heard of my guide service through a local Facebook page after a local family their reported about the fun and productive trip they had experienced.

I welcomed aboard Debbie’s son and daughter, Adam and Anya Henson, as well as Adam’s buddy, Trevor Sheehy, and Anya’s friend, Allison Trantham.

None of the kids had prior fishing experience, which is often a plus, as folks with little or no experience tend to listen well and follow the coaching I provide very closely, as all four of the kids did today.

 

PHOTO CAPTION #1:  From left: Allison Trantham, Anya Henson, Adam Henson, and Trevor Sheehy with a few of the 114 white bass they landed as a dry cool front moved in this Columbus Day 2020.

 

PHOTO CAPTION #2:  Allison Trantham landed our largest white bass of the trip.  This fish went 14 3/8″ and was likely 4-5 years old or more.

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED:  Monday (AM), 12 October 2020

HOW WE FISHED:  

We were very fortunate to hit the water right on the lead edge of an incoming, dry, and mild cold front. The front came at exactly 6:32AM as I was on the water prepping the boat for my crew’s arrival.

As white bass typically do with autumn cold fronts, the fish fed hard this morning as the wind’s velocity rose as high pressure built in.

We downrigged until around 8A for a total of 20 fish, including numerous sets of doubles using 3-armed umbrella rigs equipped with Pet Spoons.  Once the sun rose high enough to strike the water, that bite died nearly instantly.

We then headed out looking for large congregations of white bass “carpeting” the bottom after I gave everyone my MAL Lure tutorial with the boat on Spot-Lock.

We found fish at the second of two areas we searched and they were ready to go.  I always know it is going to be really good when the fish rise up off the bottom to meet our falling lures instead of just staying glued to the bottom as the lures draw nearer to them.

All four kids got the hang of the MAL Lure after just a few “real life” iterations, and from then on it was catching, not fishing.  We landed 58 fish on our first Spot-Lock, then nature called and we headed in for a restroom break.  It killed me to pull off of biting fish!

We headed back out in search of fish and, of course, those fish we were on were gone, but, I found another equally willing school of fish, this time in over 50 feet of water (the first time I’ve caught fish that deep since May).  We took another 36 fish from this school by smoking MAL Lures before the kids gave out right around the 10:30 mark.  Hunger and hurting wrists were the chief complaints.  We wrapped up with exactly 114 fish landed, 100% of which were white bass.

TALLY: 114 fish caught and released (100% white bass)

OBSERVATIONS:   The fish really put on the feedbag this morning thanks to the arrival of a dry cold front right at exactly 6:32AM.  Although gusts to 23 were forecast, we never had winds over 14 and were able to get in a full trip.

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES: 

Start Time:  7A

End Time: 10:30A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 72F

Elevation:  0.02′ low with a 0.02’ 24-hour drop and 34 CFS flow thru the dam

Water Surface Temp: 75.7F

Wind Speed & Direction:  NNW11-14

Sky Condition: Clear skies with much particulate matter in the air thanks to the incoming cold front’s wind velocity

Moon Phase: A waning crescent moon at 25% illum.

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT: N/A

 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic 1933 through 085 – 20 whites via downrigging in low light conditions with fish quitting right as the direct sun’s rays struck the water

**Areas vic 1012 to 150 – 58 white bass on MAL Lures smoked

**Area vic 1482 – 36 white bass on MAL Lures smoked

 

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

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Saturday afternoon, October 10^th, I fished with a crew hailing from West Virginia.

Mr. Jason Thompson drove down to Texas from West Virginia to visit his son, Brenden, who is a field artilleryman stationed at Fort Hood.  Accompanying Jason was his girlfriend, Heather Moore, and Heather’s 15-year-old son, T.J. Goodman.

Back in Morgantown, WV, Jason works in the maintenance field, Heather is in the handy-woman business doing cleaning and running errands for others, and T.J. is working his way toward high school graduation.

 

PHOTO CAPTION #1: From left: TJ Goodman, Jason and Brenden Thompson, and Heather Moore with a sampling of our 125 fish catch, all taken on MAL Lures worked vertically in the lower third of the water column from 35 to 44 feet deep.

 

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED:  Saturday (PM), 10 October 2020

HOW WE FISHED: 

Despite weather which was 180-degrees different from today’s morning trip, this afternoon’s efforts turned out well.

We had near-90F temperatures today with clear, bright skies and light SSW winds as upper level high pressure pushed out the last of Hurricane Delta’s anti-clockwise winds and cloud cover by mid-day.

After spending some time bringing everyone up to speed on exactly how to use the MAL Lure, we fished only two distinct areas, making multiple “short hops” at both to put a total of 125 white bass in the boat this evening in right at 4 hours.

Every last fish was taken on either a white or chartreuse MAL Lure fished with a “smoking” style retrieve in 35-44 feet of water.

I just released a new video about using the MAL Lure and so thinking through the wording on the script for that video helped me improve my coaching for clients.  You can see that video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE&t=151s

The first area we hit showed fish carpeting the bottom in 40-44 feet of water.  It produced well from 3:30P through 6P, then went flat.  We moved and fished up a bit shallower and found another hour’s worth of action in about 35-38 feet of water.  By 7P, the sun had set and I’d really talked up Miller’s Smokehouse (which closes at 8P on Saturdays), so, we reeled lines in right at 7:00 and headed to the dock so Jason and crew could enjoy some Texas BBQ before heading back east.

TALLY: 125 fish caught and released (100% white bass)

OBSERVATIONS:  We saw unseasonably high afternoon temperatures today at 91F, with a forecast for even warmer highs tomorrow, then a cold front is due in for Monday with a mid-to-late-week cooldown expected thereafter.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES: 

Start Time: 3P

End Time: 7P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 87F

Elevation:  0.03′ high with a 0.01’ 24-hour drop and 34 CFS flow thru the dam

Water Surface Temp: 77.5F

Wind Speed & Direction:  SSW3-4

Sky Condition: <5% white cloud cover on a blue sky

Moon Phase: Last Quarter (a waning moon at 45% illum.)

GT = 20

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic B0009C to B0010C to B0184C — multiple short hops through 6P for 82 fish

**Areas vic B0044G – 2 short hops from 6-7P for a final 43 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) 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

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Saturday morning, October 10^th, I fished with the Hinshaw family from right here in Central Texas.

Denny and Cindy treated their 7-year-old son, Grant, to this fishing trip for his birthday, on the recommendation of several co-workers in the anesthesia department at Baylor Scott & White in Temple where Cindy has worked for many years as a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist.

This was a “Kids Fish, Too!” packed trip, just for Grant, but, as always, I encouraged Grant’s parents to bring their licenses to they could be as “hands-on” as possible helping me help Grant be successful.

PHOTO CAPTION #1: From left: Cindy, Grant, and Denny Hinshaw with a few of the white bass we landed via a combination of downrigging and vertical jigging with MAL Lures.

 

PHOTO CAPTION #2:  Cindy Hinshaw holds our largest fish taken this Saturday morning — a 3.75 pound hybrid striped bass which raced about 25 feet off bottom to overtake her MAL Lure and grab it about 12 feet below the surface.

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED:  Saturday (AM), 10 October 2020

HOW WE FISHED: To keep things interested for 7-year-old Grant, I planned on as much variety as the weather and season would allow for.  We downrigged early, we fished MAL Lures vertically in the mid-part of our trip, and wrapped up sunfishing in the shallows.

The downrigging was as good as I’ve seen it in the past several weeks. A handful of boats, all working vertically, struck out, moved out of the area, and allow for long, full sweeps of the contours where I was finding fish.  We landed non-stop singles and doubles of 1- and 2-year class fish from the first drop of the downrigger balls just after 7A through to 8:20 when the bite slacked off.

We moved on to deeper water, found fish congregated with bait in their midst, and went to work with MAL Lures worked with a smoking retrieve in a vertical format from our fixed position above them with the boat held steady via Spot-Lock.

Grant did surprisingly well keeping the cadence necessary to do well on this tactic, landing a fish on his third iteration and then never looking back as he piled the fish in the boat.

After a 37-fish run here, it was around 9:50A, and I sensed a change of venue would be a good idea.  We retooled for shallow-water sunfishing, headed up shallow, and coached Grant to a 28 sunfish streak landed in just 30 minutes.

We wrapped up right at the 3.5 hour mark with exactly 100 fish landed for our efforts.

TALLY: 100 fish caught and released (71 white bass, 1 hybrid striper, 28 sunfish)

OBSERVATIONS:  For the second Saturday in a row lake traffic was enjoyably light thanks to archery season taking some outdoorsmen off the water, cool temperatures taking recreational boaters off the water, and the academic year pulling families away to school-related sports and activities.

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES: 

Start Time:  7A

End Time: 10:30A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 61F

Elevation:  0.03′ high with a 0.01’ 24-hour drop and 34 CFS flow thru the dam

Water Surface Temp: 75.6F

Wind Speed & Direction:  Light and variable

Sky Condition: 100% grey cloud cover all morning, with patchy fog on the drive to the boat ramp

Moon Phase: Last Quarter (a waning moon at 45% illum.)

GT = 45

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Morning:

**Area vic 488-834 – 35 whites via downrigging in extended low-light conditions thanks to cloud cover in the east

**Areas vic B0089C – 2 short hops for 36 whites and 1 hybrid on MAL Lures smoked

**Area B0045G – 28 sunfish in 30 minutes on slipfloats

 

 

Bob Maindelle

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

Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide

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

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle

#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

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Friday I fished a full-day trip with Gary and Rachel Davidson of Kerrville, TX.  Gary established a CPA firm there back in 1991 and recently stepped back into a semi-retired status.

He and Rachel are both solid anglers and good wingshots, as well.

Although I am glad to have all of my clients aboard, it’s always especially nice to have experienced anglers who, because of their abilities, are able to squeeze all of the potential out of a day on the water.

That is exactly what the Davidson’s did today, boating 262 fish in about 8 hours’ worth of effort.

After laying out of the fishing game for quite some time, the Davidson’s are in the process of procuring a new boat in ~90 days.  Gary came ready to both pick my brain on and see sonar and trolling motor technology put to use in a real-world scenario.

PHOTO CAPTION #1:  Rachel and Gary Davidson landed a total of 262 fish, with 259 of them taken on MAL Lures fished in 30-42 feet of water.

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED:  Friday (full day), 09 October 2020

HOW WE FISHED: Aside from 3 white bass caught during a slow, very murky, overcast start to the day on downriggers, every last fish we landed today was taken on either a white MAL Lure or a chartreuse MAL Lure fished with a “smoking” tactic vertically beneath the boat while we hovered atop fish we’d found with sonar.

Although the enthusiasm level of the fish waxed and waned through the course of the day, we caught fish continuously from around 8:45A through noon, then again during the entirety of our 3 hour afternoon leg, from 3-6P.

The best of the best took place from ~10:30 to 11:30A as the skies brightened (although still 100% grey) to squinting-level, and the wind went straightline ~6 with gusts to 9 from NNW.

The Davidson’s quickly comprehended the underwater environment as portrayed on Garmin LiveScope, and were very coachable when it came to their technique using the MAL Lure.  The results proved this out.

 

TALLY: 262 fish caught and released ( 2 largemouth bass, 1 hybrid, 259 white bass)

OBSERVATIONS:  Best 1-hour window took place with 100% grey skies with enough light intensity to necessitate squinting without sunglasses on, and with humidity at a highpoint for the day, just before afternoon clearing began to kick in.

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES: 

Start Time:  7A

End Time: 6P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 64F

Elevation:  0.04′ high with a 0.01’ 24-hour drop and 34 CFS flow thru the dam

Water Surface Temp: 76.25F

Wind Speed & Direction:  NNW breeze all day 3-7 mph caused by counter-clockwise rotation of the atmosphere associated with Hurricane Delta

Sky Condition: 100% grey cloud cover through noon, and 25% white cloud cover on a blue sky in the afternoon

Moon Phase: A waning gibbous at 55% illum.)

GT = 30

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Morning:

**Area vic 085 – 3 whites downrigging under low-light conditions

**Areas vic 714 – 6 whites via smoking with MAL under murky skies

**Area vic 150 – 41 whites, 1 hybrid via smoking with MAL as clouds thinned and wind increased and bite intensified

**Area vic B0002C to B0198C – 57 fish via smoking with MAL as temperature increased, & light intensity through the grey cloud cover went to “squint” level

**Area vic B0003C – 72 fish via smoking with MAL as conditions continued to be idea.  Saw light surface action and prolonged feeding activity in the lower half of the water column as viewed on LiveScope

Afternoon:

**Area vic B0172C – 11 fish via smoking with MAL

**Area vic B0080C – 44 whites via smoking with MAL

**Area vic B0044G – 47 whites via smoking with MAL

 

 

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

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Wednesday, October 7th, I fished for a second time with Cassandra Matos and her dad, Howard Davis, both of Killeen.

Cassandra contacted me a few weeks back and got a fishing gift certificate for her dad for his birthday from her and her mom.  Since their October 9th experience last year turned out well, they stuck with an early October date for their morning on the water.

Howard is a U.S. Army Vietnam War veteran who retired both from the military where he served as a combat engineer, and from civil service where he worked another 27 years in supplies and logistics.

Cassandra works as a buyer for McLane’s in Temple.

 

PHOTO CAPTION #1:  Cassandra Matos and her dad, Howard Davis, celebrated his birthday with a fishing trip on Lake Belton.  The pair boated 51 fish, including this 5.25 pound hybrid, and another 6.00 pound hybrid.

 

 

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED:  Wednesday morning, 07 October 2020

HOW WE FISHED:   Fishing was made difficult this morning by bright skies and light winds the entire morning.  When the wind did blow (SE at about 6mph for about 45 minutes), the fish responded well — we enjoyed our most productive window during this time.  Otherwise, we did a lot of moving to catch the few active fish from out of a much greater number of disinterested fish.  Unfortunately, due to terrain and timber, I was not able to downrig in these areas, so a vertical presentation had to suffice.

Other than a quick downrigger bite right at first light, all of the rest of our fish (43 out of 51) came on the MAL Lure worked vertically.

After what little wind we had died, the remaining 3 areas we fished all fished the same  — plenty of fish present, but in a negative mood and fairly transient.  I tried MAL Lures to try to excite the fish, and tried a slow, easing tactic with slabs to tempt sluggish fish, and neither really produced with consistency.

The fish at all of these post-wind areas presented in the same manner — found fish tight to the bottom in a non-feeding posture (flat to bottom).

While fishing Area 1391, we saw multiple hybrid swim by up high in the water column — landed 2.

TALLY: 51 fish caught and released ( 49 white bass, 2 legal hybrid stripers)

OBSERVATIONS:  Fish were deep and transient today.  All fish were caught in 35+ feet of water, with the deepest fish coming out of 52 feet of water.  Well-tuned sonar was key in spotting these bottom-hugging fish congregated at those depths.

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES: 

Start Time:  7:00A

End Time: 11:10A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 61F

Elevation:  0.06′ high with a 0.01’ 24-hour drop and 34 CFS flow thru the dam

Water Surface Temp: 74.0F

Wind Speed & Direction:  Light the entire trip, <5mph from SE

Sky Condition: 0% cloud cover and bright sun

Moon Phase: A waning gibbous at 74% illum.

GT = 20

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic 1804 – a brief spurt of low-light activity on the downriggers which quit right as the direct sun struck the calm surface.  We landed 8 fish, including one double before this ended abruptly.

**Areas vic  2054 – found fish tight to the bottom in a non-feeding posture (flat to bottom).  Picked up 5 fish and moved on.

**Area vic B0043G – this was our most productive area of the morning.  From 8:30 to 9:15, we picked up 26 healthy white bass here just as what little wind we had this morning began to blow, then peaked, and before it died off once again.

**Area vic 1482, 2055, and 1391 —

 

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

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Saturday evening, 03 October, I fished with returning guest Charlie Beigel and his three sons – John (18), Konig (16), and Chaz (14).  The boys are all students at Lake Travis High School north of Austin, and Charlie is nearing retirement after selling his engineering business and then working for a season for the buyer.

We had originally planned this father-sons outing back in August, but the uncertainty surrounding back-to-school plans prevented that.

PHOTO CAPTION #1: From left: Chas, Konig, John, and Charlie Beigel had an incredible 160 fish haul on Lake Belton today with manageable southerly winds and light fishing pressure thanks to cool weather and the opening of archery season for deer.

PHOTO CAPTION #2: When I say there were “hundreds of fish crawling all over the bottom” … this is what I’m referring to.  Every single one of those brighter yellow dots is an individual white bass!!

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED:  Saturday evening, 03 October 2020

HOW WE FISHED:  The fishing really fired up this afternoon from 3:30 to 6:00P, and then crashed.  It seemed every place I searched held at least a few fish, and, a handful of areas had, literally, hundreds of fish crawling all over the bottom.

Fishing was super-simple this afternoon.  We found fish using a combination of Humminbird side-imaging and Garmin 2D and down-imaging (Clear-Vu), then, with the aid of the Minn Kota i-Pilot Link technology, we parked right on top of the fish we’d found, whether they were out to the side of the boat or directly beneath us when I first spotted them.

Once the boat steadied into a hover and our lines hung plumb and vertical, we dropped our MAL Lures to bottom and cranked them up ~9 turns.  The action was always strongest as soon as we began presenting our lures, and then slowly tapered to nil at each location.

The length of time each of the four major schools we fished over stayed active increased as the afternoon moved along until, finally, they fish pulled back pretty abruptly right around 5:50P to 6P.

From 3:15P to 6:00P (2.75 hours), we landed 151 fish (that’s 55 fish per hour).  From 6:00P to 7:15P, we landed 9 fish (that’s 7.2 fish per hour).  Yes, I’d say the fish pulled back pretty abruptly!!

The last batch of fish we found was the shallowest of all, at about 22 feet.  All other fish were 30-40 feet deep.  That last batch, despite being tightly grouped and bottom-oriented, was just obstinate.  We worked MAL Lures vertically and horizontally for them, but to no avail.  Finally, we had to put downriggers in to move more quickly, thus passing the lures over many, many inactive fish to comb out that fraction of fish still willing to feed.  This is what yielded our final 9 fish for us.

We landed a lot of small fish in our mix this evening, which is pretty standard for fall fishing now that the 2020 crop of white bass spawned March-April 2020 have grown large enough to grab a bait.

Lots of action today, and that was fun!

 

TALLY: 160 fish caught and released ( 100% white bass)

OBSERVATIONS:  Traffic was light thanks to the opener for archery deer season this morning, and a cool, 52F start to the morning.

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES: 

Start Time:  3:15P

End Time: 7:15P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 81F

Elevation:  0.1′ high with a 0.05’ 24-hour drop and 51 CFS flow thru the dam

Water Surface Temp: 73.7F

Wind Speed & Direction:  10-11 mph SE breeze all morning, then lightening up in the afternoon with a SE9 breeze dying to SE2  by trip’s end.  We never saw the early afternoon wind spike forecast by NOAA.

Sky Condition: 0% cloud cover, bright sun in the morning, then a high, thin layer of white haze all afternoon.

Moon Phase: Full moon +3 today (a waning gibbous at 98% illum.)

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic  837 – 37 white bass landed by 3:50P

**Areas vic B0070C/2027 – 22 white bass landed by 4:20P

**Area vic 1934 – 30 white bass landed by 4:40P

**Area vic 327 – 62 white bass landed by 5:50P

**Area vic 171 to 2037 – a final 9 white bass landed by 7:15P

 

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

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Wednesday morning I fished with Tanya Taylor, her godson, Payton Gottschalk (age 10), and Payton’s dad, Damon Gottschalk.

Our original date was rained out and, in hindsight, that most likely worked in this crew’s favor, as such a productive day would have been much less likely in the summer heat.

Tanya does social work and counselling focused on kids with a firm in Killeen, and Damon is in commercial real estate.  Both are involved with kid-focused non-profit organizations.

 

PHOTO CAPTION #1:   From left: Damon Gottschalk and his 10-year-old son, Payton, and Payton’s godmother, Tanya Taylor, all natives of Belton, TX.

 

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED:  Wednesday morning, 30 September 2020

HOW WE FISHED: 

After several days of northerly winds, winds returned from a southerly direction this morning, and above average fishing resulted.

This morning’s trip broke down into two distinct segments — low-light horizontal work for heavily schooled, aggressive fish feeding in the lower half of the water column, followed by vertical work with MAL Lures for less aggressive, but still well-organized fish holding in a “blanketing” pattern over the bottom and less than 18 inches off of it.

The horizontal bite took place from first light through about 8:20, then a bit of a lull occurred, followed by an increasingly strong bite from 9:00 to 10:20.  The action quickly tapered to zero by 10:50.

The active, patrolling fish we caught horizontally came on downrigged Pet Spoons worked on 3-armed umbrella rigs in ~ 35-40 feet of water.

The fish we landed later were first seen on sonar; we then Spot-Locked atop of them and worked MAL Lures vertically in the lower 2/3 of the water column as sonar revealed their presence and position. On occasions when the bite slowed, a few horizontal casts would both catch fish and bring an abundance of fish from the surrounding area in following the hooked fish, thus “restocking” the area beneath the boat, allowing us to return to the more sure bet of fishing vertically for fish physically seen on sonar.

We finished up the morning with 126 fish caught and released — a personal best for all three of my crew. Tanya, Damon, and Payton, to their credit, were all willing to be coached and earnestly tried to follow the guidance I gave them, which, in turn aided their success greatly.

TALLY: 126 fish caught and released (1 hybrid, 125 white bass)

OBSERVATIONS:  Increasing sighting of migratory birds:  2 small flocks of gulls, 6 osprey, numerous flocks of teal, 1 loon, and numerous blue herons.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES: 

Start Time:  6:45A

End Time: 11:00A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 54F

Elevation:  0.24′ high with a 0.29′ 24-hour drop and 1,670 CFS flow thru the dam

Water Surface Temp: 74.25F

Wind Speed & Direction:  Light WSW breeze at ~6 the entire trip

Sky Condition: 0% cloud cover, bright sun

Moon Phase: Full moon today

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:

   

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic 1804 – low light horizontal downrigger work for 27 fish thru 8:20

**Area vic 788/B0171C – vertical work with MAL Lures for 99 fish from 9A to 10:20A, action then tapered to nil by 10:50  

 

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