central texas fishing guide | Fishing Report

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Well, That Ended Abruptly — 57 Fish

February 9th, 2025 by Bob Maindelle

CLIENTS: This past Saturday morning I fished with three guests: Julissa Gomez, her brother, Johnathan, and Julissa’s boyfriend, Anthony Jones. Julissa first came out with me as the guest of Dr. Pat Lin of Symmetry Chiropractic in the Cedar Park area where she serves with the office staff. Julissa enjoyed the trip so much she gave Anthony a fishing gift certificate for Christmas.

Anthony, originally from North Dakota, is the foreman with a drywall company in the north Austin area and is a martial arts enthusiast. Johnathan is a senior in high school and enjoys playing soccer.

DATE: Saturday, 08 February 2025 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATES: 10-12, 18-20 February (AMs or PMs)

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Anthony Jones, and Julissa & Johnathan Gomez. Note the sky conditions in this photo compared to the sky conditions in the photo below.

PHOTO CAPTION: Fishing got off to a great start this morning with balmy overnight temperatures, grey cloud cover, and wind blowing before sunrise. My crew of three landed 44 fish in under 90 minutes before a weather change really put the fish off. During this great start, Johnathan landed two fish on one lure — one hooked on the treble and one hooked on the stinger.

PHOTO CAPTION: This is the white, 5/8 oz. slab which has produced so consistently since late November on Stillhouse. When it comes to fishing a slab in the winter, if you don’t have a stinger hook attached, you are missing fish which could otherwise be hooked and landed.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

This was the 8th and final day of an unusually long February warming trend which saw afternoon highs in the low 80 on several of those 8 days.

Things started very well thanks to balmy overnight temperatures, grey cloud cover, and wind blowing before sunrise getting both birds and fish in a mood to really gorge themselves. My crew caught fish at a very steady clip from 7:25 to 8:45, landing 44 fish during that span, all relying on the white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab to get the jog done on fish which were primarily tight to the bottom in under 30 feet of water.

Several times during this feed we observed fish regurgitating shad they had just recently eaten. Not surprisingly, one fishing buddy over on Lake Belton shared the same observation from his efforts during this same timeframe.

Then, the weather changed very abruptly and the fishing really tanked. Between 8:45 and 9:00, the winds increased sharply and the cloud cover completely dissipated. This allowed for very bright conditions to persist, and as they did, the fishing just got tougher and tougher. Bird activity and fish activity stopped in a matter of minutes. Later, some bird action resumed, but it was all driven by loons on bait with no gamefish in the equation.

After 9A, my crew added only 13 more fish to their tally, and these came just one at a time from two locations where we found suspended fish in deep water which half-heartedly responded to my thumper, swam under the boat, and presented an opportunity for a “slow-smoking” tactic to be applied.

Still, everyone had a good time, and Anthony, whom the trip was for, came away having learned some tactics he intends to use while fishing from his kayak and, eventually, from his “project” boat.

RESULTS: 57 fish, all caught and released

TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW TO DO “SLOW SMOKING”: Click here for tutorial

TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW TO SNAP-JIG: Click here for tutorial

TUTORIAL VIDEON ON HOW TO DO “EASING”: Click here for tutorial

LURES USED SUCCESSFULLY ON THIS TRIP: We primarily used the white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab to catch our fish this morning. Find all Hazy Eye Slabs here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS:

1) Water temperature has risen substantially this week (see comparison below)

2) Birds were witnessed in multiple locations and have definitely made upstream movement this week.

3) For the first time since November, the number of large, egg-laden females made up a lower percentage of our catch.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Here was the water temperature profile for Stillhouse Hollow, measured with a FishHawk TD device around 7:00AM on Monday, 03 Feb. …

0 feet 51.7F
5 feet 51.7F
10 feet 51.6F
15 feet 51.4F
20 feet 51.3F
25 feet 51.3F
30 feet 50.9F
35 feet 50.8F
40 feet 50.5F
45 feet 50.0F
50 feet 49.5F
55 feet 49.0F

And here was the reading around 7:00AM on Saturday, 08 Feb. …

0 feet 56.7F

5 feet 56.5F

10 feet 56.5F

15 feet 56.1F

20 feet 54.2F

25 feet 52.8F

30 feet 52.2F

35 feet 51.9F

40 feet 51.6F

45 feet 51.4F

50 feet 51.3F

55 feet 50.9F

60 feet 50.5F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:15A

End Time: 11:15A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 67F

Elevation: 2.78′ low

Water Surface Temp: 56.7F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: SSW9-11 thru 8:45A, then ramping up to SSW15+ with higher gusts for the remainder of the morning

Sky Condition: Moderate, grey cloud cover for 90 minutes, quickly burning off as the wind ramped up around 8:45-9A

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 85% illumination.

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT: N/A

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area vic 549 – 44 fish on slow-smoked white 5/8 oz. Hazy Eye Slabs

Area vic 106 – 5 fish on slow-smoked white 5/8 oz. Hazy Eye Slabs

Area vic 338 – 8 fish on slow-smoked white 5/8 oz. Hazy Eye Slabs

Bob Maindelle

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

Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide

254.368.7411 (call or text)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Our Warming Trend Has Almost Run Out of Rope — 75 Fish

February 6th, 2025February 6th, 2025 by Bob Maindelle

CLIENTS: This morning, Thursday, February 6th, I welcomed Bill Pasko and Mike Adams back for a second consecutive day of fishing on Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir. Mike, a Viet Nam veteran, had previously done a lot of perch and walleye fishing in South Dakota and Nebraska, and Bill, also a Viet Nam veteran, grew up in Upstate New York on the shores of Lake Ontario where he pursued everything with fins attached.

DATE: Thursday, 06 February 2025 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATES: 10-12, 17-20 February (AMs or PMs)

PHOTO CAPTION: We culled multiple 15+ inch white bass as we saved our largest four fish for this end-of-trip photo. “Slow-smoking” with a white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab was once again the key to success this morning.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

This was the 6th consecutive day in what is supposed to be an 8-day warming trend which is forecast to come to a halt this coming Sunday. Conditions were tough in the first ninety minutes as fog gave way to bright, calm conditions. During this time, fish were hard to come by, and those we found were scattered and uncooperative. Gradually, thin grey cloud cover moved in and a southerly breeze began to blow and the bite kicked in.

From 8:45 until we wrapped up at 11:15, we caught fish consistently. All but 3 of the 75 fish Bill and Mike landed today were taken on the white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab worked with a “slow-smoking” tactic.

Over this past week (having fished Mon. thru Thur. at this point) I have noted that those fish in under 30′ tend to be very tight to bottom, while those fish in deeper water (35 to 52′) are much more likely to suspend. I commented to Bill and Mike how, at this time of year, those suspended fish seem much easier to catch than those glued to the bottom. I also shared with them how, when fish are suspended in a horizontal band, those fish highest up off the bottom tend to be more aggressive than suspended fish down lower in the water column.

So, with the same boat, same guide, same clients, same lures, and same lake we wound up with 37 fewer fish than the day before — I attribute that to opportunity lost due to the clear calm conditions early on in the trip. We had only 8 fish landed by 8:45 before the wind and cloud cover set in.

RESULTS: 75 fish, all caught and released

TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW TO DO “SLOW SMOKING”: Click here for tutorial

TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW TO SNAP-JIG: Click here for tutorial

TUTORIAL VIDEON ON HOW TO DO “EASING”: Click here for tutorial

LURES USED SUCCESSFULLY ON THIS TRIP: We primarily used the white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab to catch our fish this morning. Find all Hazy Eye Slabs here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS:

1) Water temperature has risen from 48.6F to ~52F with this balmy, multi-day warming trend.

2) Birds were witnessed in multiple locations, although no location had more than 7-10 birds

3) Lots of suspended fish in the mix today — a sign of migration very common for this time of year.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Here was the water temperature profile for Stillhouse Hollow, measured with a FishHawk TD device around 7:00AM on Monday, 03 Feb. …

0 feet 51.7F
5 feet 51.7F
10 feet 51.6F
15 feet 51.4F
20 feet 51.3F
25 feet 51.3F
30 feet 50.9F
35 feet 50.8F
40 feet 50.5F
45 feet 50.0F
50 feet 49.5F
55 feet 49.0F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:15A

End Time: 11:15A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 57F

Elevation: 2.76′ low

Water Surface Temp: 54.1F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: Windless through 8:45a, then S9-12

Sky Condition: Thin, grey cloud cover after 90 minutes of bright, calm conditions after the fog cleared

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 65% illumination.

GT = 110

Wx SNAPSHOT: N/A

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area vic 1048 – 4 fish on slow-smoked white 5/8 oz. Hazy Eye Slabs

Area vic 735 – 3 fish on curltail grubs/jigheads, 1 fish on slow-smoked white 5/8 oz. Hazy Eye Slab

Area vic SH0080C – 26 fish on slow-smoked white 5/8 & 3/4 oz. Hazy Eye Slabs

Area 2019 – 19 fish on slow-smoked white 5/8 oz. Hazy Eye Slabs

Area 1267 – 9 fish on slow-smoked white 5/8 oz. Hazy Eye Slabs

Area 1063 – 13 fish on slow-smoked white 5/8 oz. Hazy Eye Slabs

Bob Maindelle

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

Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide

254.368.7411 (call or text)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Fishing with a Mission: Catching White Bass to Produce Hybrid Stripers with TPWD – 115 Fish

February 4th, 2025February 9th, 2025 by Bob Maindelle

This past Tuesday morning, Feb. 04, a group of experienced anglers put their skills to good use on the clear, cool waters of Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir in an attempt to collect mature, egg-laden white bass for use in the production of hybrid striped bass by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) personnel.

Joining me were Andy Amburn, Phil Moore, Cody Talley, and Dustin Marsh.

[Linked Image]

CAPTION: From left: Dustin Marsh, Phil Moore, Cody Talley, and Andy Amburn joined local fishing guide Bob Maindelle to collect mature female white bass to enhance hybrid striped bass production by TPWD. Right photo shows the 64 fish transferred by these efforts to the TPWD hatchery in Dundee, TX. These fish will produce millions of eggs each year they are in captivity.

I took Moore, Talley, and Marsh aboard my boat, while Amburn set out on his own boat. In this manner we were able to cover different parts of the lake and catch fish from different schools of fish, thus increasing the likelihood of dissimilar DNA being possessed by the captured fish.

We met at 7:15AM and determined that we would retain all legal (10-inch minimum) white bass which did not emit milt when their abdomens were gently squeezed, thus increasing the likelihood that only female fish were retained.

By the time the first hour had passed, those in my boat had landed over thirty fish, fifteen of which we retained.

We noted some issues with barotrauma due to the depth from which some of the fish were taken from. Fortunately, Marsh, a large animal veterinarian who specializes in dairy herd care, had some 18-gauge needles in his work truck.

We vented the fish exhibiting signs of barotrauma and got them to right themselves and got back on track thanks to Marsh’s ingenuity.

The tactics we used to capture these fish included slowly reeling white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs upwards off bottom to draw bottom-hugging fish upward, and/or reeling these same lures past suspended fish as we viewed them on Garmin LiveScope.

Occasionally, when in less than thirty feet of water, after we had fished an area thoroughly with vertical tactics, we used white, curl-tail grubs on jigheads to work out away from the boat horizontally using a “sawtooth” retrieve.

Over the course of four hours, we found fish at four distinct areas, ranging from twenty-seven feet to forty-seven feet in depth.

As we concluded our efforts around 11:15AM, we met back up with Amburn just after we had finished transferring the second batch of fish from my boat into the TPWD trailer operated by Talley.

After Amburn’s fish were transferred, the total number of white bass headed to the Dundee Hatchery for hybrid striped bass production was sixty-four. Over fifty percent of these exceeded 15 inches.

Not all the fish we landed were able to be retained. We returned all male white bass, all undersized fish, and all fish of other species to the water.
Those that were retained were transported the same day to the Dundee State Fish Hatchery near Wichita Falls, Texas.

Within a few weeks these fish will be induced to release their eggs. These eggs will be mixed by hand with the milt (fish version of semen) from male striped bass to produce a hybrid striped bass referred to as the sunshine bass.

Several million fry will be able to be produced from this small batch of sixty-four female white bass.

These will be stocked as either fry or fingerlings in reservoirs across the state to sustain the popular hybrid striped bass fisheries in those locations.

This cooperation between the TPWD and private sector has taken place for several years now and has played a part in producing and stocking hybrid striped bass more predictably and consistently.

Prior to using angler-caught female white bass, TPWD personnel relied upon the capture of female striped bass collected via electro-fishing efforts at a handful of locations in north and northeast Texas.
For various reasons, these locations have failed to consistently yield the number and size of female striped bass required to meet the statewide demand for hybrid.

Since male striped bass are not nearly as challenging to locate and collect, TPWD biologists began experimenting with using the opposite gender mix for hybrid production – something which has been done in the private sector at places like the Keo Fish Farm in Keo, Arkansas, very successfully for many years.

Amburn summarized our morning’s effort well when he said, “This was fun — it was like fishing with a mission.”.

Find, Consolidate, Catch — 82 Fish

September 3rd, 2024September 3rd, 2024 by Bob Maindelle

CLIENTS: This past Friday morning, I fished with a very nice young couple, Jesse Wright and Layne Marr. She’s a farm girl from Canada, and he’s a city kid from L.A. who made good via the military where, after leaving the U.S. Air Force as an enlisted man doing aircraft maintenance, he transitioned to the U.S. Army as a warrant officer in the Field Artillery branch.

DATE: Friday, 30 August 2024 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATES: 4, 5, 10-12 Sep.

PHOTO CAPTION: Jesse and Layne executed three tactics very well and very consistently, and put together an 82-fish morning catch on Lake Belton. The number of quality fish was enhanced this morning thanks to grey cloud cover extending the low-light period.

PHOTO CAPTION: Triple! Jesse landed these three white bass simultaneously on a 3-armed umbrella rig equipped with Pet Spoons. Downrigging served us well from about 7:15 to 8:30A as fish were active, but were also scattered and moving fast.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

We got a reprieve on the long string of bright, calm sky conditions today as clouds moved in from the east early, giving near 100% coverage with a thin grey cloud deck. This extended the low-light time period during which we’ve been catching our quality fish from about 90 minutes to right at 120 minutes this morning.

We began the morning casting MAL Originals with chartreuse tails up shallow for fish in under 15′ and did well for about 15 minutes until the ambient light reached a certain level and drove these fish deeper and caused some scattering.

We pursued these fish using downriggers equipped with 3-armed umbrella rigs armed with #13 Pet Spoons. The downrigger bite lasted until 8:30A and provided continuous action.

After this, we used sonar to search for concentrations of shad with gamefish mixed in, Spot-Locked atop these fish and worked MAL Originals vertically, aided by Garmin LiveScope. This produced well for quality fish until around 9A. The splasher was invaluable in drawing these fish to us and keeping them beneath us.

Around 9A, the now 2.5-hour long bite which had been very productive, began to wane. From this point forward, most of the fish we found were on the small side. We found them with sonar, consolidated them with the splasher, and caught them with the MAL Mini worked vertically

Remember, with these MAL Minis, if you don’t feel the blade spinning as you work it upwards, bend the shaft a bit at a time until it begins to “kick in”. It is also helpful to start the smoking retrieve with the rod tip pointed downward toward the water, then, SIMULTANEOUSLY lift the rod sharply to the point where it parallel to the water’s AND begin turning the reel’s handle. Done correctly, you’ll feel the spinner causing vibration, and you’ll see your rod tip get loaded by the resistance caused by the blade.

Here is a tutorial on vertically smoking the MAL Lure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE

Here is a tutorial on horizontally “sawtoothing” with the MAL Lure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3FMEQHOMQ

LURES USED SUCCESSFULLY ON THIS TRIP: We downrigged with #12 & #13 Pet Spoons. We smoked and sawtoothed with MAL Originals for heavily schooled and fairly stationary fish. We smoked MAL Minis in the latter half of the trip suspended fish drawn in by the splasher. Find all MAL Lures here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 82 fish caught and released, including 3 largemouth bass, 1 blue catfish, and 78 white bass.

OBSERVATIONS:

1) Literally, just seconds of topwater action observed over about a 2 acre area around 10AM

2) Best quality fish came in the first 120 minutes; mainly smaller fish thereafter – the quality fish window ran longer today thanks to grey skies extending the low-light period.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Here was the water temperature profile for Lake Belton, measured with a FishHawk TD device around 6:25 AM on Monday, August 26 …

0 feet 87.2F

5 feet 87.6F

10 feet 87.9F

15 feet 87.9F

20 feet 87.9F

25 feet 87.9F

30 feet 87.2F

35 feet 85.6F

40 feet 84.2F

45 feet 83.3F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:35A

End Time: 10:50A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 73F

Elevation: 0.72′ low and falling slowly with a 52 cfs flow; .04′ fall in last 24 hours

Water Surface Temp: 87.1F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: ESE3-4

Sky Condition: 100% light grey cloud coverage all morning helping to extend the low-light period and lengthen this morning’s bite for quality fish.

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 19% illumination.

GT = 30

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area vic 1431 – sawtoothing MAL Originals, then downrigging #12 Pets for 47 fish by 8:30

Area B0273G — smoking MAL Originals for 16 fish by 9A

Area vic 1077 to 1362 – smoking MAL Minis for a final 19 fish

Bob Maindelle

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

Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide

254.368.7411 (call or text)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

#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 #austinsubaru

That School Bell Has Yet to Ring in Cairo — 101 Fish

August 16th, 2024August 16th, 2024 by Bob Maindelle

CLIENTS: This Friday morning I fished with returning guests — the grandfather-grandson team of Charles Simmons and Caden Kimpel. Charles resides in Salado, and Caden, whose dad works in the international petroleum industry, currently resides in Cairo, Egypt. He won’t start school until early September, so, we got to enjoy a very uncrowded Lake Belton this morning.

DATE: Friday, 16 August 2024 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATES: 26-30Aug. (AM & PM)

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Nine-year-old Caden Kimpel and his grandfather, Charles Simmons, landed 101 fish on an unbusy Lake Belton using a combination of tactics between first light and 10:30AM.

PHOTO CAPTION: Triple!! Caden landed these three “keeper” white bass simultaneously on his 3-armed umbrella rig equipped with #12 Pet Spoons which did a great job imitating the smallest shad in the system right now.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED: Fishing was pretty straightforward this morning. With high pressure firmly in control of the weather, a light southerly breeze, and no boat traffic, the fish were ready to feed come first light, and stayed feeding for just shy of four hours.

We started the morning downrigging just to have baits in the water as I covered water with sonar to search for fishable concentrations of fish. After finding fish, we quickly discovered they much preferred a horizontal presentation to a vertical one, so, we kept right on downrigging as long as the fish cooperated. This accounted for 44 fish coming in as singles, doubles, and triples, all on #12 Pet Spoons behind 3-armed umbrella rigs.

Once this area quieted down, I found our next batch of fish in some timber, so, we smoked and cast MAL Originals through “lanes” in the timber working them sawtooth-style, as downrigging was not an option. There was a bit of a learning curve to this, but, Charles and Caden added 8 more fish to the count before these fish lost interest.

By now, it was hot and bright and outside the “low-light” window which has produced quality fish both AM and PM. We mostly smallish fish from this point forward, but, they were quite cooperative, responded well to the splasher, and provided lots of action. These fish were taken by smoking MAL Minis vertically using Garmin LiveScope to gauge fish response. Bending the shaft about 15-20 degrees on these tiny spinners which imitate young-of-the-year shad is a great “tackle tip” if they don’t spin easily out of the package.

The trick on the “smoking” tactic in the summer, regardless of which MAL you choose, is getting the spinner going as close to the bottom as possible, and keeping the retrieve speed down thereafter. Hence, I use 5.2:1 gear ratio reels for my clients.

Here is a tutorial on smoking the MAL Lure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE

LURES USED SUCCESSFULLY ON THIS TRIP: We downrigged as long as we were finding fish on clean bottoms with #12 Pet Spoons, then “smoked” MAL Minis and Originals for the latter portion of the trip, once the fish got lazy and pushed lower in the water column. Find all MAL Lures here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 101 fish caught and released, including 5 drum, 1 largemouth bass, and a 60/40 mix of short and keeper white bass.

OBSERVATIONS:

1) No topwater action observed.

2) Mainly undersized fish after ~8:30A.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Here was the water temperature profile for Lake Belton, measured with a FishHawk TD device around 6 AM on Friday, August 16 …

0 feet 88.2F

5 feet 88.6F

10 feet 88.8F

15 feet 88.8F

20 feet 88.5F

25 feet 87.9F

30 feet 86.7F

35 feet 85.5F

40 feet 84.8F

45 feet 83.8F

50 feet 82.1F

55 feet 80.5F

60 feet 79.7F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:20A

End Time: 10:30A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 79F

Elevation: 0.24′ low and falling slowly with a 33 cfs flow; .04′ fall in last 24 hours

Water Surface Temp: 88.2F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: S8 all morning

Sky Condition: 25% white cloud cover on a light blue sky

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 86% illumination.

GT = 65

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 1126 thru B0170C – 44 fish on downriggers

Area B0170C – 8 white bass on sawtoothed & smoked MAL Original

Area vic 565 – 49 fish on smoked MAL Minis

Bob Maindelle

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

Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide

254.368.7411 (call or text)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Cherry Pickin’ with Cowboys — 105 Fish

August 15th, 2024 by Bob Maindelle

CLIENTS: This past Wednesday evening I fished with returning guest Dustin Marsh, a large animal veterinarian based in the Bryan/College Station area who specializes in dairy herd care. Coming with Dustin for the first time aboard my boat was James Becker who makes a living doing all things cattle, including international export.

Based on my observations over the past few weeks, I knew fishing for quality fish was not going to really kick in until after 6:30, so, we met up and “cherry picked” fished in just the final two hours before dark.

DATE: Wednesday, 14 August 2024 (PM)

NEXT OPEN DATES: 15 & 26-30Aug. (AM & PM)

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: James Becker and Dustin Marsh with a few of the 105 fish they picked off using Garmin LiveScope and MAL Originals “smoked” vertically on Lake Belton.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED: With just two hours to make it happen, I went with a “high percentage” option as far as fish location was concerned, and that turned out well. We essentially drove right to the fish, Spot-Locked atop of them in ~26 feet of water and landed 63 until the dimming light pushed the fish shallower. We bumped up into 20′, Spot-Locked again, and finished out the trip on this second anchorage, taking our tally up to 105 fish, all caught and released. The only tactic necessary was “smoking” vertically with the MAL Original. This was certainly enhanced by Garmin LiveScope, but that technology was only icing on the cake.

Here is a tutorial on smoking the MAL Lure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE

LURES USED SUCCESSFULLY ON THIS TRIP: We “smoked” MAL Originals vertically for the entire evening to wear out the keeper white bass. Find all MAL Lures here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 105 fish caught and released, including 2 drum, 1 largemouth bass, 5 short white bass, and 97 legal white bass with several exceeding 14″.

OBSERVATIONS:

1) As we hit 8:10P and the fish began to slow down, we found that targeting the highest fish in the water column from any given school outproduced just randomly reeling up through a school of fish.

2) Nothing but undersized fish at several areas through 7P, then quality fish thereafter; this is just the opposite of what I’m seeing in the mornings.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Here was the water temperature profile for Lake Belton, measured with a FishHawk TD device around 5:50 AM on Friday, August 9 …

0 feet 87.6F

5 feet 88.2F

10 feet 88.5F

15 feet 87.2F

20 feet 86.2F

25 feet 85.6F

30 feet 85.3F

35 feet 85.0F

40 feet 84.5F

45 feet 83.7F

50 feet 81.9F

55 feet 80.7F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:35P

End Time: 8:35P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 100F

Elevation: 0.2′ low and falling slowly with a 33 cfs flow; .04′ fall in last 24 hours

Water Surface Temp: 88.9F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: S10 all evening

Sky Condition: 25% white cloud cover on a slightly hazy blue sky

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 68% illumination.

GT = 50

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area vic 164 – 63 fish on smoked MAL Originals

Area vic 2037 – 42 fish on smoked MAL Originals

Bob Maindelle

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

Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide

254.368.7411 (call or text)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Caught ’em Until His Hands Hurt — 118 Fish

August 15th, 2024 by Bob Maindelle

CLIENTS: This past Tuesday evening I fished with returning guests — the father-and-son team of Oscar and Mateo Santiago. Although many school districts got the 2024-2025 year kicked off today, Mateo didn’t head back until the following day, so, he and dad got in one last adventure together before the academic routine kicks in.

The fishing was so good that, after landing his share of the 118 fish they landed, Mateo told his dad that his hands hurt. I suggested Mateo get a note for the first day of school letting the teacher know he would be physically unable to complete written assignments for a few days.

DATE: Tuesday, 13 August 2024 (PM)

NEXT OPEN DATES: 15 & 26-30Aug. (AM & PM)

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Oscar and Mateo Santiago with large, well-proportioned Lake Belton white bass taken between 7P and dark on MAL Original Lures with chartreuse tails. The father-and-son team landed 118 fish.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED: That 6:45P to 7P timeframe very consistently sees a real upshift in fish feeding behavior under this present high-pressure weather system. Prior to that time, I’m finding only small fish which respond well, albeit briefly, to the splasher. We managed to catch a few by smoking MAL Minis up through them, then they either leave, or grow used to the presence of the lures and turn off to them.

Then, around 6:45 to 7P, as the light level begins to drop and the air temperature begins to decrease, I’m finding much better quality fish consistently using the bottom in 16-24 feet of water (deeper earlier, moving shallower as sunset and dark approach). These fish also respond well to the splasher and stick around for long whiles allowing for high catch numbers. My best approach for these has been “smoking” the MAL Original with chartreuse tail up off bottom for 5-6 cranks. These fish seem unwilling to travel any further upwards than the 10 feet level beneath the surface, so, bringing the lure any higher is just wasted effort. Garmin LiveScope clearly illustrates this over and over again.

LURES USED SUCCESSFULLY ON THIS TRIP: We “smoked” MAL Minis vertically until 7P for smaller fish, then used MAL Originals vertically for the remainder of the evening to wear out the keeper white bass. Find all MAL Lures here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 118 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:

1) As we hit 8:10P and the fish began to slow down, we found that targeting the highest fish in the water column from any given school outproduced just randomly reeling up through a school of fish.

2) Nothing but undersized fish at several areas through 7P, then quality fish thereafter; this is just the opposite of what I’m seeing in the mornings.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Here was the water temperature profile for Lake Belton, measured with a FishHawk TD device around 5:50 AM on Friday, August 9 …

0 feet 87.6F

5 feet 88.2F

10 feet 88.5F

15 feet 87.2F

20 feet 86.2F

25 feet 85.6F

30 feet 85.3F

35 feet 85.0F

40 feet 84.5F

45 feet 83.7F

50 feet 81.9F

55 feet 80.7F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 5:40P

End Time: 8:40P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 100F

Elevation: 0.13′ low and falling slowly with a 33 cfs flow

Water Surface Temp: 88.9F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: S9 all evening

Sky Condition: 25% white cloud cover on a slightly hazy blue sky

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 59% illumination.

GT = 20

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 0142 – 7 short whites on smoked MAL Minis

Area vic B0238G – 4 short whites on smoked MAL Minis

Area 1822 – 107 white bass on smoked MAL Originals

Bob Maindelle

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

Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide

254.368.7411 (call or text)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Fueled by Adrenaline and String Cheese — 105 Fish, MAL Heavy & MAL Dense Lures, 21 May,

May 21st, 2024May 21st, 2024 by Bob Maindelle

ABOARD THE BOAT TODAY: This morning I was joined by returning guests Dwight Stone and his granddaughter, Jemma Rogers, in celebration of her 10th birthday.

DATE: 21 May 2024 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATES: Wednesday, 22 May (AM), and Friday, 21 June (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION: Dwight Stone took his 10-year-old granddaughter, Jemma Rogers, out on Stillhouse Hollow for a morning of white bass catching. The MAL Dense and MAL Heavy, both with silver body and chartreuse tail, did the trick once again.

PHOTO CAPTION: This 3.5 pound “bonus bass” and one other just like it, along with a 6-pound drum, rounded out Jemma’s 105 fish birthday catch this morning as her grandfather, Dwight “Boom-Pa” Stone helped me help her, and cheered her on.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

SHORT SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED: The peak bite this morning ran from 8:30 to 10:00. Having seen this timing over my past three trips to Stillhouse, I put Jemma on some fast-biting sunfish up shallow beforehand, using bait and a slipfloat to land an even dozen bluegill, four of which we retained as largemouth bait once we got out into open water. Beginning around 8:30, we fished MAL Dense Lures (silver body/chartreuse tail) vertically with a smoking tactic until the fish lost interest, then, we switched over to a sawtooth tactic using MAL Heavy Lures (also w/silver body/chartreuse tail) to continue catching right on through 10:45AM. During the latter half of this white bass bite, I set out the sunfish on a downline resulting in landing a pair of 3.5 pound fish, and one white bass on the four baits.

LURES USED SUCCESSFULLY ON THIS TRIP: We used the new MAL Dense with silver body (shown above) for vertical work, and the MAL Heavy with silver body and chartreuse tail for horizontal work today. Find these lures at the Liberty Mart Exxon uphill from Temple Lake Park on Lake Belton, or go here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TUTORIAL LINK FOR SAWTOOTH & SMOKING TACTICS:

Sawtooth Method: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3FMEQHOMQ&t=89s

Smoking Tactic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE&t=56s

TALLY: 105 fish caught and released (2 largemouth bass, 1 freshwater drum, & 102 white bass)

OBSERVATIONS:

1) The lower third of Stillhouse was in good shape today with fairly clear water. The water, although clear, resembled iced tea in color and clarity at mid-lake.

2) The lake fell 0.08′ in the last 24 hours

3) The flooded vegetation has made finding fish using side-imaging very tough. We had to drive over most fish today with DI and/or 2D to get a bead on their location.

4) Due to decreasing flooding on the Brazos River’s main channel, USACE began releasing water from Stillhouse on the afternoon of 19 May 2024 at a rate of 808 CFS. That increased to 1534 CFS by mid-afternoon that same day, and continued at that rate today.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Measured with FishHawk TD device on 17 May…

0 feet 74.8F

5 feet 74.9F

10 feet 74.9F

15 feet 74.9F

20 feet 74.9F

25 feet 74.8F

30 feet 73.8F

35 feet 71.7F

40 feet 70.3F

45 feet 69.9F

50 feet 68.8F

55 feet 68.5F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:15A

End Time: 11:00A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 74F

Elevation: 10.11 feet high and slowly rising, with a 1534 CFS release.

Water Surface Temp: 77.4F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: SSW8-12 all morning

Sky Condition:100% light grey cloud cover all morning.

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 96% illumination.

GT = 5

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 239 for sunfish

Areas SHFL24015 and SHFL24013 – produced all of our 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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

BACHELOR PARTY!! — 145 FISH ON BLADED HAZY EYE SLABS

March 2nd, 2024 by Bob Maindelle

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Saturday, March 2, I fished with a crew of five on a bachelor party outing in advance of Jeff Rose’s wedding to be held in mid-March.

The five fellows joining me either are now, or have been in the past, affiliated with the Temple Independent School District where they help maintain the district’s bus fleet.

Although all had fished before, none had fished the way we approached the white bass fishing this morning.

Here is how the fishing went…

Next available dates are 27-29 Feb. (AMs)

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: John Cooper, Lindsey Davis, George Bell, James Horton, and Jeff Rose with a few of the 145 fish they caught and released this morning, March 2nd.

Find the Bladed Hazy Eye Slab here: https://whitebasstools.com/

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

WHEN WE FISHED: Saturday, 02 March. 2024 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED:

After record high temps around 90F on Monday and Tuesday, we dropped back down with highs at only 54F on Wednesday and Thursday. Friday warmed up, but the lack of cloud cover put us back at 46F on the boat ramp before sunrise this morning.

We had some light fog and (worst of all) calm winds with clear, bright skies until around 9:30. Our results up until 9:30 reflected the tough conditions with only 6 fish landed in two hours of effort. At exactly 9:34, the lightest ripple of wind approached from the SW with no calm patches remaining upwind. The fishing turned around “big time” once this wind began. From 9:30 until 12:20, my five man crew (now VERY well practiced at the tactics they needed to employ) took full advantage of the improving bite.

The fish went strong for a full hour, then slacked off as the wind slacked off for about 20 minutes — from about 10:40 to 11:00. The wind picked back up and then blew even stronger than it did earlier from 11AM until we wrapped up at 12:20.

During the entire morning we used only one tactic and only one bait. Everyone had the white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab tied on and used it with a slow-smoking tactic. The fish were very choosy as to retrieve speed. I helped everyone zero in on the correct retrieve speed by using my thumper as a metronome beating faster when the wind blew and the fish swam and chased aggressively, and beating more slowly when the wind was light and the fish were more lethargic.

We closed out the trip with a grand total of 145 fish landed, including 1 largemouth bass, 2 freshwater drum, and 142 white bass.

Here is a tutorial on the snap-jigging method … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGtrnAQ_T94&t=55s

Here is a tutorial on the slow-smoking tactic we used… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIPopSLUYoQ

TALLY: 145 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: Here was the water temperature measured in 5′ increments from the surface to the bottom in 50′ this morning, 02 March…

0 feet, 58.3F

5 feet, 58.9F

10 feet, 58.9F

15 feet, 58.7F

20 feet, 58.4F

25 feet, 58.3F

30 feet, 57.1F

35 feet, 55.6F

40 feet, 54.3F

45 feet, 53.6F

50 feet, 52.9F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:20A

End Time: 12:20A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 649F

Elevation: 16.84 feet low, 1 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 57.8F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: Calm for 2 hours, then going SW 4-11 for the rest of the morning

Sky Condition: Pale blue skies w/ no cloud cover after a light lake fog cleared by 8:10A

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 61% illumination.

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Vic 350, SH0044C, 2022, SH0260G, SH0268G, SH0269G (3 hops), SH0283G (2 hops), vic 980

Bob Maindelle

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

Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide

254.368.7411 (call or text)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com