Fishing Report | Holding The Line Guide Service

SPRING BREAK 2020 – SKIFF TRIP #3 – 67 FISH

March 12th, 2020 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This evening, March 11th, 2020, was Day 3 of the week-long spring break for most of our local school districts.

Joining me this afternoon on Lake Belton were siblings Michael and Leilani Brown, accompanied by their mom, Santa Brown.

This trip was a SKIFF program trip which I provide, free of charge, to children who are separated from their parents by military duty.

In this case, the kids’ dad, U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Michael Brown, is away on extended field time. Brown has served in the military for 14 years and currently works with drones.

Mrs. Brown is a U.S. Army veteran who served in the Chemical Corps. I met her and her children at the Neighborhood Walmart Market about two weeks ago when I noticed the kids staring at the fish logo on my wife, Rebecca’s, car.

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.

PHOTO CAPTION: Michael Brown III and Leilani Brown show part of their catch made on a spring break SKIFF program fishing trip while their dad is away from home on military duty.

WHEN WE FISHED: 11 March, 2002, AM

HOW WE FISHED: I opted to take the kids to Lake Belton this evening, as the evening bite on Stillhouse is typically pretty weak when it comes to white bass. Also, the high numbers of small white bass now in Belton would help ensure the kids stayed engaged.

We found three different schools of willing white bass in two distinct areas and fired them up with a slow-smoking tactic.

Unlike the fish we’ve been catching at Stillhouse, these fish were not relating to the river channel, rather, they were on a gentle slope leading to a deeper basin area.

When all was said and done, the kids landed drum, largemouth, and white bass and lasted right up until sunset, amassing a catch of 67 fish. We relied on the white, 3/8 oz. Hazy Eye Slab with stinger hook to get the job done.

TALLY: 67 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: Lake Belton still has a strong bird population. We spotted strong numbers of gulls resting on the water in loose groups. The only activity from the birds was that of feeding on insects; nothing helpful to finding fish this evening.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 4:00P

End Time: 7:45P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 79F

Elevation: 0.93′ low, +0.06 24-hour change, 17 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 58.4F

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE8-9

Sky Conditions: Partly cloudy with 60% white clouds

GT = 0

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area B0195C

**Area B0130C/B0117C

**Area B0017G

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)

SPRING BREAK 2020 — NOT JUST FOR KIDS — 65 FISH

March 11th, 2020 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, March 11th, 2020, was Day 3 of the week-long spring break for most of our local school districts.

Joining me this morning was Mr. Jeff Arbogust of Kempner, TX. Jeff retired from the landscape architecture business to a ranch outside Kempner fairly recently, and gave me a call to discuss sampling the fishing this area had to offer.

Jeff previously lived east of Austin where he kept a kayak for fishing on the Colorado River, and kept a boat for fishing on Walter E. Long Reservoir.

Today we pursued white bass on Stillhouse.

PHOTO CAPTION: For a third day in a row, we took quality largemouth on deep flats while working bladebaits for white bass. This largemouth weighed 6.50 on a certified scale.

PHOTO CAPTION: Fat, egg-laden female white bass were once again ready to eat this morning.

WHEN WE FISHED: 11 March, 2002, AM

HOW WE FISHED: We enjoyed the “standard” sunrise bird action this morning, but, as soon as it was over, we experienced the deadly combination of sun and lack of wind. Things got pretty quiet until a SSW wind began to push around 9:50AM. I hated to lose that magic low light period, but, there was nothing to be done about it.

Once the wind picked up, the fish immediately went into gear and engaged in a late morning feed.

We fished under the birds for 21 fish over two distinct mid-depth flats, picked up another 25 fish as soon as the wind began blowing as we located over the river channel breakline, then finished up the trip with a final 19 fish at yet another channel breakline. We worked 3/8 oz. Hazy Eye Slabs with stinger hooks for these channel-oriented fish.

TALLY: 65 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: Temperature profile down to 35 feet:

0 feet 58.3F

5 feet 58F

10 feet 58.2F

15 feet 57.5F

20 feet 57.1F

25 feet 56.9F

30 feet 56.6F

35 feet 56.5F

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:40A

End Time: 12:10P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 67F

Elevation: 2.97′ low, +0.01 24-hour change, 1 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 58.4F

Wind Speed & Direction: Light and variable thru 9:50 when a SSW developed and ramped up over the next hour to SSW12-13

Sky Conditions: Partly cloudy with 40% white clouds on a blue sky all morning

GT = 0

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 1980 – blades for white on mid-depth flat

**Area 551/552- blades for white on mid-depth flat

**Area vic 0111/0114 – channel breakline congregation of whites

**Area vic 0234 – channel breakline congregation of whites

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)

SPRING BREAK 2020 – FOWLER/GILMORE CREW – 95 FISH

March 10th, 2020March 11th, 2020 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, March 10th, 2020, was Day 2 of the week-long spring break for most of our local school districts.

Joining me this morning were fishing buddies Caleb Fowler, age 14, and Tevin Gilmore, age 17, both of Belton.

Mr. Steve Niemeier had arranged for he and Caleb, his grandson, to fish this morning, but a death in the family kept him from participating, so, Tevin got the nod and filled in.

PHOTO CAPTION: Tevin Gilmore (left) and Caleb Fowler did some fishing on their spring break from Belton Independent School District.

PHOTO CAPTION: Tevin Gilmore with a nice deepwater largemouth caught while working bladebaits under birds.

WHEN WE FISHED: 10 March, 2002, AM

HOW WE FISHED: Fog was a bit of a curve-ball this morning. As I left the house, the skies were clear with stars shining brightly. As I approached the lake, the temperature must have just dropped to the dewpoint as the lighter it got, the heavier the fog became. That fog, and the typically windless conditions which normally accompany fog, made spotting birds tough, made travel slow, and had the fish in a bit of a funk. Thankfully, the warming water and impact it has on fish metabolism is starting to trump all else.

We fished only three locations this morning. The first, under birds, was on a mid-depth flat for fish actively patrolling for small sunfish and shad. The last two areas we hit were both on the channel breakline. We fished the fish on the flats with bladebaits and we fished the channel-oriented fish with slabs.

The flats gave up 32 fish. The first channel break gave up 16 fish, including a catfish of great proportions landed by Caleb, which will be the subject of a stand-alone article soon to follow; the last channel break gave up the remainder of our fish (47 fish), for a total of 95 fish landed this morning including white bass, several freshwater drum, one largemouth bass, and once blue cat.

We fished the Cicada blades with a “lift-drop” tactic and we fished the Hazy Eye Slabs with an easing tactic, save for about a 25 minute span when the feeding peaked and we used a slow smoking tactic.

TALLY: 95 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: Saw first flocks of north-bound Sandhill cranes migrating this past Saturday, 07 March.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:40A

End Time: 11:30A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 64F

Elevation: 2.98′ low, +0.02 24-hour change, 1 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 58.3F

Wind Speed & Direction: Light and variable

Sky Conditions: Varying densities of fog all morning

GT = 55

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic 302/SH0039C – scattered fish under gulls

**Area vic SH0014G – channel breakline congregation of whites

**Area vic 234/746 – channel breakline congregation of whites

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)

SPRING BREAK 2020 – VAN RIPER/HOWLEY CREW – 120 FISH

March 9th, 2020 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, March 9th, 2020, I kicked off the week-long spring break for most of our local school districts with a multi-generational trip for 5 eager anglers. George Van Riper, grandfather extraordinaire, planned early and reserved this date months in advance for his son, Geoff Van Riper, and three grandsons — Jacob Howley (14), Kaden Howley (11), and Greg Van Riper (8).

Fortunately, the weather, despite being quite skewed as compared to NOAA’s forecast, more than cooperated with balmy temperatures, grey skies, and light winds.

Although Lake Belton is still producing good numbers of white bass, the quality pales in comparison to the jumbo white bass on Stillhouse this season.

PHOTO CAPTION: Greg Van Riper, “Papa” George Van Riper, Kaden Howley, Jacob Howley, and Geoff Van Riper

PHOTO CAPTION: Jacob Howley with a plump 4.25 pound Stillhouse largemouth.

PHOTO CAPTION: Greg Van Riper and his dad, Geoff, with a 5.25 pound freshwater drum.

PHOTO CAPTION: Kaden Howley with his largest fish of the morning.

WHEN WE FISHED: 09 March, 2002, AM

HOW WE FISHED: As has been the case over the past month as water temperatures have hovered between 51 and 56F, we found better quality, scattered white bass on mid-depth flats primarily in the first two hours following sunrise, then found greater quantities of smaller (but still healthy) fish using the old river channel breakline and holding there.

Regardless of where we found the fish, the go-to tactic remained the same. We used an “easing” tactic with my white, 3/8 oz. Hazy Eye Slabs with Hazy Eye Stingers attached to draw fish upwards and goad them into striking. At one area we fished this morning the fish really got fired up around 10AM and we began to encounter suspended fish instead of just bottom-hugging fish. When this occurred, we changed over, briefly, to a slow “smoking” tactic with good success.

We managed to boat 5 species of fish today: white bass, largemouth bass, crappie, freshwater drum, and a bluegill sunfish.

Thanks to the clouds and wind, the birds stayed active through 10:40AM, although they only pointed us to scattered fish on the flats, not to the larger, channel-oriented groups of fish.

TALLY: 120 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:40A

End Time: 11:55A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 64F

Elevation: 3.00′ low, +0.02 24-hour change, 1 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 56F

Wind Speed & Direction: SSW2-4 all morning

Sky Conditions: 100% grey cloud cover with a light mist the entire trip

GT = 80

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area v 1960 – scattered fish under gulls

**Area v SH0002G- scattered fish under gulls

**Area vic SH0015G – channel breakline congregation of whites

**Area vic SH0016G – scattered fish under gulls

**Area vic 1502 – channel breakline congregation of whites

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)

BUDDIES SINCE BASIC — 103 FISH @ STILLHOUSE

March 3rd, 2020 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, March 3rd, 2020, I fished with Josh Abbatoye and his friend, Shawn Poole. The two men went through Army basic training together and have been friends ever since. Both have now chosen to live in the Central Texas area post-military. Josh operates a very unique small business named Spotless Crime Clean LLC in which he and his wife pick up the pieces and help families impacted by crime put their homes back in order when damage has occurred as a result of crime. Shawn is happily retired.

Josh contacted me hoping to expand his horizons when it comes to white bass fishing, particularly in the area of sonar use. Accordingly, during our trip I made every effort to point out how my electronics were helping me make decisions which got us on fish and kept us on fish. Both men walked away extremely impressed with the means by which I’ve put Garmin LiveScope to use on my boat.

PHOTO CAPTION: Despite calm, foggy conditions, the increasing day length (photo-period) and increasing water temperature (going on a 5th day of warming prior to a cold front’s arrival tonight) trumped the negatives and produced just over 100 fish for us this morning in right at 4.5 hours on the water. That’s Josh Abbatoye (left) and Shawn Poole.

WHEN WE FISHED: 03 March, 2002, AM

HOW WE FISHED: Just as Josh and Shawn arrived, a light blanket of fog began to form over the entire reservoir as the warm, damp air was chilled by the lake’s cooler surface temperature. Gulls have been very routinely starting to feed atop loons and white bass in four or five very predictable areas. These areas typically have produced moderate action until enough light begins to penetrate the depths to get larger concentrations of white bass utilizing the river channel on the move.

Without being able to see birds from any distance, I started us off at two of the general locations where these birds have been massing. Both paid off. In fact, at the first location, the fish became active enough for about the first 30 minutes that we were able to do some deep water bladebait work with Cicadas, thus covering bottom more thoroughly than we could by simply going vertical, given that we could see on sonar that multiple “wolfpacks” of white bass were moving around at a pretty fast clip over these two moderately deep flats we were working. By the time we got to the second flat, the fish had already throttled back, thus, we slowed down an went vertical from that point on.

By 8:30, despite persistent fog at lake level, the sky above was brightening, and we began to encounter fish along the river channel beginning to feed. We caught the vast majority of our fish in two such locations with one other quick stop under birds over a third mid-depth flat between those two channel-oriented stops.

The fish never got super aggressive today, which I expected thanks to the low-wind situation; and, they turned off a bit earlier today as well. We absolutely ground it out for our last few fish in order to intentionally surpass the 100 fish mark right around 11:20AM.

Both Josh and Shawn immediately appreciated the power of Garmin LiveScope. Once they got the fundamentals of our technique down, the LiveScope provided real-time input on precisely when to put the technique to use and when to be patient and allow fish to accumulate before attempting to lure them with the artificial baits we chose for today’s work.

With the exception of about a dozen whites taken early on bladebaits, the remainder of our fish came on my 3/8 oz. Hazy Eye Slab with stinger hook attached in white color. We landed about a dozen drum; all other fish were 1, 2, and 3 year old white bass and all were very healthy with plump bellies and wide backs.

TALLY: 103 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:00A

End Time: 11:30A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 64F

Elevation: 3.25′ low, +0.02 24-hour change, 1 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 56F

Wind Speed & Direction: Calm all morning

Sky Conditions: 100% grey cloud cover with a varying thickness of fog the entire trip

GT = 0

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area v 1980 – scattered fish under gulls active enough to take deep bladebaits

**Area v 1063- scattered fish under gulls with loon activity

**Area vic SH0014G – channel breakline congregation of whites

**Area vic 1528 – scattered fish on mid-depth flat

**Area vic 1154 – channel breakline congregation of whites

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)

PRE-FRONTAL WX SETUP YIELDS 106 FISH @ STILLHOUSE

March 2nd, 2020 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, March 2nd, 2020, I fished with returning guests Tommy and Sylvia Maedgen from near Troy, TX. Tommy has fished with me twice before, both in pursuit of white bass on Stillhouse. Sylvia joined him for one of those trips. Then, just last month, they both returned in their own boat to do some sonar training with new Lowrance gear installed on both console and bow. Our next trip will be after Belton hybrid in May, Lord willing.

I was excited about getting on the water this morning, as I am any time pre-frontal conditions are brewing. Making this morning even sweeter was the fact that it came on the end of a 4-day warming spell.

PHOTO CAPTION: Tommy and Sylvia Maedgen joined me for a nice Texas late winter morning of white bass fishing on Stillhouse. The couple’s last trip with me yielded 53 fish; this morning, we persisted until we doubled that figure. The grey skies and southwesterly breeze helped fire up the bite this morning until right around noon.

WHEN WE FISHED: 02 March, 2002, AM

HOW WE FISHED: As hard as it was to ignore bird activity this morning, that is exactly what it took to put fish in the boat. The “resident” population of wintering gulls on Stillhouse have become conditioned to feed every morning in about 4 distinct locations, whether or not white bass are present. Although there are a few white bass in these areas, this morning sonar quickly revealed they were few and far between. Most folks fail to recognize the root cause of the gull action right now is loon activity, not white bass activity. These loons kill and cripple sunfish which then float or linger near the surface and become easy targets for the gulls, which then draw anglers. A few anglers draw more anglers, and , before you know it, there’s a whole lot of boats and none of them catching anything. Thanks to a state holiday, a few areas with this gull/loon scenario looked like boat parking lots this morning, but few fish were taken in those areas.

Rather, the breakline dropping into the old Lampasas River channel continues to be a steady producer of not only quantities of fish, but quality fish, as well, especially in comparison to the unusually high number of smallish white bass Belton has been pumping out since September.

A few times we commented on how slowly the fish were swimming and reacting to our presentations, all because their surroundings are still in the low 50’s. Indeed, one white bass I pulled up near trip’s end when the air was warmest felt like an ice pack when touched.

Accordingly, presentations were painfully slow this morning, but consistency in that regard was rewarded over and over again as we used an easing tactic in combination with “match-the-hatch” sized 3/8 oz. Hazy Eye Slabs with stinger hooks attached. Garmin LiveScope was the ticket to knowing when to move the slab and when to lay off.

I’ve arrayed my infinitely-adjustable LiveScope transducer to view both downward and along the starboard gunwale of my boat. I position as many clients on that side as possible. I have two Garmin GPSMAP 1242xsv Touch units mounted on that gunwale so as many as 5 anglers can watch what is happening below them in real-time. Although the same raw sonar data is being fed to both units from a single transducer, the displays are independently adjustable so those toward the bow can isolate their little “patch” of bottom, and those clients toward the stern can do likewise. This way, everyone gets a zoomed view of just the vertical segment of water they are working. It is a sweet setup. It keeps everyone engaged, enhances their success, and makes us very efficient.

Every once in a while we encountered slightly more active fish up higher in the water column which required a “slow smoking” retrieve, but most fish were bottom-oriented this morning.

Our bite wound down to nothing by noon, with peak activity from 9:15 to 11AM.

TALLY: 106 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: Spotted the first couple mosquito hawks of the year last night while working outdoors.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:00A

End Time: Noon

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 65F

Elevation: 3.27′ low, +0.01 24-hour change, 1 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 54F

Wind Speed & Direction: SW8-12 the entire trip

Sky Conditions: 100% grey cloud cover

GT = 15

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 1512 – scattered fish under gulls with loon activity

**Area 988/2017- scattered fish under gulls with loon activity

**Area vic 1358 – channel breakline congregation of whites

**Area vic SH0001C – channel breakline congregation of whites

**Area 103/746 – channel breakline congregation of whites

**Area vic SH0023C- scattered fish under gulls with loon activity

**Area vic SH0014G – channel breakline congregation of whites

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)

207 FISH LANDED ON STILLHOUSE / BELTON COMBO TRIP

February 29th, 2020 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Friday I fished a full-day trip with Mike and Laurie Tomberlin from the north Austin area. Both are high school teachers in separate school districts and took the day off to spend outdoors with one another. The family owns a deckboat and Mike has his own fishing kayak. One of the main reasons Mike wanted to book the trip was to experience “off shore” fishing for freshwater pelagics wherein electronics must be relied upon for success. Mike grew up trout fishing in the West, and then became familiar with sight casting to shallow, visible cover, but knew there was another world of fishing in deeper water that he’d yet to tap into.

So as to do a “reality check” on both Belton and Stillhouse as potential kayak fishing destinations, I showed the couple, by land and by water, the majority of the kayak-friendly access points on both reservoirs.

We fished Stillhouse in the AM and Belton in the PM.

PHOTO CAPTION: For the relatively infertile waters of Central Texas, these fat egg- and milt-laden white bass are hard to beat quality-wise on Stillhouse this season.

PHOTO CAPTION: Mike took this deep-water largemouth on a slab. Like people when they spend time out of the sun for long periods of time, these fish get pale, and this fish was no exception.

WHEN WE FISHED: Friday, 28 February 2020, AM & PM

HOW WE FISHED: We fished Stillhouse from 7AM to 12:15P and then fished Belton from 2:35PM to 6:50PM.

Stillhouse summary – Thanks to a north wind (at a higher velocity than forecast) and clear skies, the bird action was cranked up a notch this morning. We found our first 3 groups of fish thanks to gull action, and found the white bass feeding in small packs up on mid-depth flats to be a bit more active than with winds from other directions. By the time the birds quit, we’d already landed over 50 fish, whereas over the past 2.5 weeks, a tally from the mid-teens to the low 30’s was where we typically stood at this point.

After the birds quit, we shifted our focus from flats to the channel and found two distinct congregations of fish right on the channel lip ready to feed. The first group yielded just shy of 30 fish, whereas the second congregation, which was deeper and much more densely packed together, gave up over 60 fish in our final 90 minutes on the water.

Every fish we landed, which included 1 largemouth and about a dozen drum in addition to all of the white bass, came on the 3/8 oz. white Hazy Eye Slab with Stinger Hook attached. A very slow easing tactic was the go-to method save for when LiveScope revealed high, moving, suspended fish. At such times a slow smoking tactic was employed.

We caught fish from 32 to 48 feet deep. We fished up the morning with 138 fish caught and released.

Belton summary – We faced tougher conditions on Belton in the afternoon in that the N wind had shifted to the SE and lightened up. There was never a time all afternoon when there weren’t at least patches of calm water and just a very slight breeze rippling the remainder of the surface. We also had minimal cloud cover until the last hour when a low bank of thin clouds in the west obscured the sunset.

Fish came in spurts this afternoon as we found small, tight groups of fish, caught them, and then had to move to find more fish. Fish were considerably shallower than on Stillhouse, with most of our catch taken in 18-30 feet of water. Tapering bottoms were the common denominator this evening, with little going on along the segments of river channel I searched.

One promising sign at the end of the evening came when Mike and I were able to do a short stint of sight-casting to shallow white bass chasing shad to the surface. This was not wide-spread, and the fish did not remain on the surface, rather, only one or two would pop a shad now and then, but the fact that we found them in 2-6 feet of water and moving that quickly was a sign that winter is relenting.

Aside from this sightcasting with bladebaits for our final 10 or so fish, we landed all of our fish on the same 3/8 oz. white Hazy Eye Slab with Stinger Hook attached which served us so well on Stillhouse. 69 fish caught and released.

TALLY: 207 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: Shallow, aggressive fish taken on bladebaits at and just following sunset on Belton in 2-6′.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:00A

End Time: Noon

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 38F

Elevation: 3.26 low, -0.01′ 24-hour change, 1 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 51.5F

Wind Speed & Direction: N7 wind through 10A, then shifting quickly to the SE3, building to SE6, then tapering to SE2 with periods of calm through the midday period

Sky Conditions: No cloud cover

Start Time: 2:35P

End Time: 7:50P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 62F

Elevation:1.55′ low, 0.03′ 24-hour change, 17 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 56.2F

Wind Speed & Direction: Calm to SE3 all afternoon

Sky Conditions: Clear until the last hour when a low bank of thin clouds in the west obscured the sunset.

GT = 0 (?!?)

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

STILLHOUSE

**Area 1512

**Area 1046/2013

**Area 339/1704

**Area 006/1715

**Area 1502

**Area SH0014G

BELTON

**Area 1077/1679

**Area B0003G

**Area vic 1882

**Area vic 1934

**Area 380/B0127C

**Area 172 – Blades 10-12′

**Area B0014G – Shallow blades

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)

RECOMMENDATIONS WORK BOTH WAYS — 90 FISH @ STILLHOUSE

February 26th, 2020February 26th, 2020 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Tuesday morning, February 25th, I fished with Brian Parker of Waco, and his friend, Lucindy Packer, of Brownwood. Brian had planned a trip with me last year which never did come together, then recently saw my card on the sonar display at Cabela’s in Waco. He is refurbishing his fishing boat with sonar and a trolling motor and wanted to pick my brain about product suggestions. He called me this past Monday and we spoke for a little while.

Long story short, he and Lucindy wound up coming along on an electronics show-and-tell/fishing trip combination the very next morning. Lucindy came to fish, and Brian came to talk equipment; I was able to meet both needs by the time 4+ hours had rolled by.

PHOTO CAPTION: Lucindy Packer and Brian Parker joined me for a combination fishing trip and electronics demo on Stillhouse this past Tuesday morning. We caught and released 90 fish.

WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday, 25 February 2020, AM

HOW WE FISHED: The white bass are in a very definite pattern each morning now. There is some moderate feeding on deep flats from first light through around 8:30 with small packs of fish hunting horizontally along the bottom for sunfish and shad, then the action moves to the “shoulders” or breakline of the river channel from that point onward until the action tapers to a stop around 11:00 to 11:30.

The technique is the same for both — slow easing with my 3/8 oz. Hazy Eye Slab/Stinger combo, only the action and catch rate immediately climb once those fish consolidate on the channel edge.

Birds remain to be a bit misleading, primarily focused on loon activity, not on fish activity.

Lucindy didn’t say much — she was too engrossed in watching LiveScope and making sure her technique was down pat. The only time we heard from her was an occasional “Oh, shoot!”, when a white bass bit, she set the hook, but came up empty.

As for Brian, I tried to very intentionally explain why I did what I did in regards to sonar use. He made a very good point about how midleading magazine photos, marketing videos, and sonar unit demo modes can be compared to “real world” sonar use. Two things he picked up on was 1) how “busy” my screen is on colored sonar because I jack my sensitivity way up so as not to miss a jot, tittle, shad, or any other small detail, and 2) how bottom-hugging fish on side imaging and in deep water don’t just glow light neon lights on the screen. Several times when I spotted fish and then set us up atop them to fish successfully he told me he would have dismissed what we saw as insignificant. So, this experience was helpful in that regard.

Brian also got to see how I make routine use of the i-Pilot Link relationship between my Humminbird Solix 15 sonar unit and my Minn Kota Ulterra. Before this trip he was considering a stick-steer trolling motor. I told him by phone he would regret that on his pontoon boat, and, by the time our morning trip was over, he appreciated what I meant by that.

Once the fish quit biting, we went out and found a number of both man-made and natural forms of cover so he could see how the various technologies portrayed each one.

Brian is a well-traveled outdoorsman having hunted and fished internationally, with some of his already accomplished bucket-list items falling in my own bucket-list’s as yet unchecked column.

I, therefore, got to pick his brain and gain some good advice normally gained only by experience on my upcoming travels to Alaska, as well as future plans to fish elsewhere outside the US of A.

We wound up with exactly 90 fish caught and released including 1 crappie, about 6 drum, and the balance white bass in the 1, 2, and 3 year class. The whites were all in really good shape with wide backs, distended bellies, and with several males beginning to drip milt.

TALLY: 90 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: The best concentrations of fish we found were immediately adjacent to the river channel once again today. Most bird (gull) action was focused on shallower, scattered fish feeding on mid-depth flats, wounding just enough sunfish to keep the birds’ attention.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:00A

End Time: Noon

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 48F

Elevation: 3.26 low, -0.01′ 24-hour change, 1 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 53.5F

Wind Speed & Direction: N wind the entire trip, starting around 6-7 and building to 10-12 by 10AM, then scaling back to a steady 7-9 for the rest of the morning

Sky Conditions: 35% white cloud cover

GT = 85

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic 551 – scattered fish under birds

**Area vic 1201/1317/SH0097C- channel breakline for plentiful whites

**Area vic 1515- channel breakline for plentiful whites

**Area SH0014G – channel breakline for plentiful whites

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)

FISH COMING OUT OF THE WOODWORK – 92 FISH @ STILLHOUSE

February 24th, 2020 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Feb. 24th, 2020, I fished with Shawn, Micah, and Kameron Chapman of Chapman Woodworking, based in Salado, TX. Back in June of 2019, Shawn’s wife, Amy, got him a fishing gift certificate for Fathers’ Day and today was the day Shawn decided to redeem it.

The three men, along with about 20 other employees of the company, design, build, and install everything from cabinetry to kitchens, baths, bars, bookshelves, mudrooms, and more.

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Shawn, Micah, and Kameron Chapman with a portion of our catch of healthy, plump, one, two, and three year-old white bass which fell for slabs worked slowly near bottom as a mild, dry cold front pushed in through the morning hours.

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday, 24 February 2020, AM

HOW WE FISHED: We began the day chasing scattered fish under birds on mid-depth flats in three distinct locations, making two short hops at each before moving to the next. Fish would patrol through in small packs and were a bit difficult to convince this morning. We’d only picked up 14 fish and missed another half-dozen by 8:30. When I felt enough light was present to illuminate some of the deeper channel segments, we switched over to fishing the channel and our results improved from that time on. Especially productive was the time from 8:45 to 9:30 when the wind shifted from WSW through W to WNW and increased. After the wind reached WNW, the bite toughened up again.

The go-to tactic all morning was easing with my small, 3/8 oz. Hazy Eye Slabs with stinger hooks attached. Used in conjunction with long rods and Garmin LiveScope, we were able to present baits very efficiently as both bottom-dwelling fish and suspended, cruising fish showed on the sonar screen.

The bite ground to a halt by 11:45. By that time we’d landed exactly 92 fish, including about 5 or 6 drum and the balance being white bass.

TALLY: 92 fish caught and released

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:00A

End Time: 11:45A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 62F

Elevation: 3.26 low, +0.04′ 24-hour change, 1 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 53.5F

Wind Speed & Direction: WSW at trip’s start, shifting slowly through the west, then to the WNW, and peaking around 9:30 at 13mph, then backing off to 10-11 mph thereafter.

Sky Conditions: 100% grey cover all morning

GT = 55

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 1980 – scattered fish under birds

**Area SH0010G – scattered fish under birds

**Area 786/SH0002G – scattered fish under birds

**Area vic SH0001C – channel breakline for plentiful whites

**Area vic 1196 – scattered fish under birds

**Area 1502 – channel breakline for plentiful whites

**Area SH0012 – channel breakline for plentiful whites

Post-trip scouting: SH0011G – scattered fish under birds

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)