CLIENTS: This evening, Tuesday, June 10, weather dictated that we fish an evening trip, after an eastbound storm system dropped a third of an inch of rain over a two hour span between 9 and 11 AM this morning, complete with thunder, lightning, and high, gusty winds.

Joining me this evening were long-time, returning guests spanning three generations: Joe Oliver, his son, Corey, and Corey’s three kids, Cullen, Presley (15 year old twins), and Harper (age 13).This multigenerational summertime fishing trip has been a tradition since the kids were in elementary school.

DATE: Tuesday, 10 June 2025 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING:  19 June (AM) 

NEXT OPEN DATES FOR SONAR TRAINING: 12 July (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION:    Under the light of a nearly full moon, these fish, most taken just minutes prior, waited until almost sunset to become active.  We found them by downrigging and worked them horizontally until they drove shad all the way to the surface and gave their position away by feeding on the top.  That’s Corey, Presley, Cullen, Joe, and Harper Oliver.

PHOTO CAPTION: The MAL Heavy Lure continues to produce while being fished vertically through suspended white bass.

FIND LURES HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

I have consistently held that February and June are the two toughest months of fishing all year, and evening trips in June are especially difficult. It just seems that the bite gets consolidated into just a short span of time stretching just over an hour right around sunset.

This evening was no exception. I cut an hour off the trip as it was knowing that we would experience a slow bite, but even then, the action was slow right up until about 7:50 PM.

Up to that point, we had only landed seven fish.  These first seven fish were taken on MAL Heavy fished vertically with a smoking tactic.

I used the downriggers for the very first time this season to put 13 additional fish in the boat before some light top water action broke out around 8:20.  I had twin ‘riggers working, each with 3-armed umbrella rigs equipped with #13 Pet Spoons, hence, 6 baits in the water.  I kept the baits 2-3 feet above the fish wherever they showed on sonar by having the kids standing at the downriggers with fingers on the keypad ready to make quick adjustments.

Once the topwater materialized, I set the downriggers aside and relied on the very brief review of horizontal casting I did with my three younger clients earlier in the trip to get us through the remainder of the trip.

By putting all five folks abreast of one another either on the port side or the starboard side, I knew no one would get hooked accidentally, but the potential for getting lines crossed did exist and reared its ugly head just a few times. In our last 25 minutes on the water, everyone caught repeatedly and took our count up to 44 by landing a final 24 fish from out of the light top water action.

Everyone threw MAL Heavy Lures, and manually closed the bail and immediately began reeling as soon as the bait hit the water in order to keep it from sinking below the fish.

OBSERVATIONS:

1. White bass are clearly disassociating from the bottom, choosing instead to suspend.
2. Scant “last light” topwater action spotted today.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 5:45P

End Time: 8:53P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 79F

Elevation: 1.03′ low with a 0.03′ rise in the last 24 hours

Water Surface Temp: 83.8F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: Steady NE5-6

Sky Condition: Hazy skies with 60% light grey cloud coverage.

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 100% illumination.

GT = 35

Wx SNAPSHOT: N/A

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

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

CLIENTS:  This morning, Thursday, June 5, I welcome to board a grandfather – granddaughter pair, Steve and Owen, age 9. Owen is visiting grandparents over the summer break from the Texas panhandle, and has, for the past few years, really looked forward to this summer fishing trip with her grandpa.

DATE: Thursday, 05 June 2025 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING:  12 June (AM) 

NEXT OPEN DATES FOR SONAR TRAINING: 12 July (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION:   During this “Kids Fish, Too!” trip, only Owen did the fishing while her grandpa Steve just helped me help her be successful.  She landed 81 fish all by herself, including white bass, a freshwater drum, and a mix of sunfish species.

PHOTO CAPTION: The MAL Heavy Lure continues to produce while being fished vertically through suspended white bass.

FIND LURES HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

I believe the very first question Owen asked when she got on the boat was, “Are we going to be able to fish for the little, tiny fish?“.

By this, she meant going up into the shallow water and fishing for sunfish as we have done in the past. With elementary-aged kids, this shallow water panfishing allows for the kind of instant gratification that it takes to get kids interested and keep their attention, as they’ve got to keep the rod in their hands and their eyes on the float and are rewarded for just a little bit of patience on a routine basis.

After landing a mixed bag of 15 sunfish of various species, the skies had begun to brighten and a little wind had begun to blow.

I suggested that we turn our sights on some larger fish in open water. We then began our pursuit of white bass. We found white bass at two distinct locations and wore out Owens right and left wrists by the time her 35th white bass came over the gunwale. These fish were taken using the MAL Heavy vertically with a “smoking” retrieve, aided by Garmin LiveScope in downward mode.

With 50 fish now landed and no strength left in her wrists, I proposed we go back to sunfishing in order to close the 24 fish gap between our current tally and her Summer 2024 catch.

We hit two different areas, one with aquatic vegetation, and the other with woody cover. The sunfish cooperated and allowed us to meet and then exceed her prior catch.

We wound up with an additional 31 sunfish for a grand total catch of 81 fish by the 3 1/2 hour mark.

It was about 10 or 11 minutes back to the boat ramp. Owen, with her knees on the lower deck and her head resting on the upper casting deck, actually fell asleep on the boat ride back in.

This was a “Kids Fish, Too!“ Trip just for children.  Steve just came to help me help Owen be successful, and that was certainly accomplished this morning.

OBSERVATIONS:

1. White bass are clearly disassociating from the bottom, choosing instead to suspend.
2. No bird action or topwater action spotted today.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:45A

End Time: 10:15A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 74F

Elevation: 2.11′ low with a 0.03′ rise in the last 24 hours

Water Surface Temp: 81.2F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: Steady SSE5-7

Sky Condition: Hazy skies with full cloud coverage at trip’s start, decreasing to 50% white cloud cover by trip’s end.

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 74% illumination.

GT = 25

Wx SNAPSHOT: 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

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

CLIENTS: This morning I ran a “Kids Fish, Too!” trip wherein only the kids did the fishing.  Joining me were Jose Luis Guerrero and Gary Emory, the boys’ grandfathers, and Matias, Isaac, and Micah Guerrero.

DATE: Wednesday, 04 June 2025 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING:  12 June (AM) 

NEXT OPEN DATES FOR SONAR TRAINING: 12 July (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION:    Back row from left: the boys’ paternal and maternal grandfathers – Jose Luis Guerrero and Gary Emory; front row from left: Matias, Isaac, and Micah Guerrero.  With the boys (only) fishing today, they netted 110 fish in just 3.5 hours, and did it in the rain!

PHOTO CAPTION:  MAGNUM WHITE!  Micah latched onto this 17 1/8″ white bass with his MAL Heavy worked in about 32 feet of water.  This is the largest white bass any client of mine has landed since January of 2024 when another young man landed the current Junior Angler C&R lake record, taping 17.25 inches.

PHOTO CAPTION: The MAL Heavy Lure continues to produce while being fished vertically through suspended white bass.

FIND LURES HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

After soaking rains fell for about 2 hours in the early morning between 3 and 5 AM, it looked like it was going to dry out even though cloud cover would remain in place.  However, after getting going at 6:45AM, we no sooner stopped at our first fishing location than the skies opened once again and doused us all.

T think the boys hardly noticed, though, as they immediately got onto fish and stayed on fish for a full 3-plus hours this morning.  The best of the bite this morning took place up until 8:15.  After that, the fish got less aggressive and we had to move more often to stay in the fish, but, they really did not shut down until about 10:05A.

By this time, the boys had landed a grand total of 110 fish, including two largemouth bass and 108 white bass.

Every last fish this morning was taken on the MAL Heavy with chartreuse tail and silver blade worked with a “smoking” tactic.

OBSERVATIONS:

1. White bass are clearly disassociating from the bottom, choosing instead to suspend.
2. No bird action or topwater action spotted today.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:45A

End Time: 10:15A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 72F

Elevation: 2.14′ low with a 0.12′ rise in the last 24 hours

Water Surface Temp: 80.9F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: Steady NNE11-12

Sky Condition: Fully grey skies all morning with some form of precip. over the entire trip

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 65% illumination.

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT: 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

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

CLIENTS: This evening, Tuesday, June 3, I fished with returning guest, Mr. Bob Keith, accompanied by his two grandsons, Zach and Keith Freeman, ages 13 and 11, respectively.

My preference in the summer months is to avoid fishing on afternoon/evenings for several reasons, but this was all my schedule and the boys’ schedule allowed for during the timeframe they were visiting with their grandfather.

As afternoon trips often do, this trip started slowly, but ended well.

DATE: Tuesday, 03 June 2025 (PM)

NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING:  12 June (AM) 

NEXT OPEN DATES FOR SONAR TRAINING: 12 July (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION:    From left: Keith and Zach Freeman and their grandfather, Bob Keith, with a few of the 87 fish this trio nabbed from Lake Belton on an evening where the fishing was consolidated into a short span of time as the sun’s light began to dim down.

PHOTO CAPTION: The MAL Heavy Lure continues to produce while being fished vertically through suspended white bass.

FIND LURES HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

I thought we might beat the trend today as I found a nice group of active white bass on bottom in about 30 feet of water about 15 minutes before this crew showed up at 4:30 PM. I picked them up, took care of all the admin. details, and got everyone ready to fish, but, upon returning to the fish I had just left biting, we found nothing.

We generally struggled right on through about 7 PM when we were able to pick up about 10 fish in one area as I saw white bass begin to make a move as the evening sun grew dim.  During our struggles, we successfully found fish, but just could not get them to “fire up” and do anything more than half-heartedly chase our baits for a short distance before just giving up.

So, it was now after 7 PM and our grand total now stood at 14 fish.

I made another, final move and although I think it was more about the time of day than the location we went to, we began to encounter the first somewhat aggressive fish of the entire trip. Between roughly 7:30 and 8:50, this crew would put exactly 73 additional fish in the boat to bring the night’s total to 87. I suppose when you’re dealing with kids, it’s better to start slow and end well than vice versa!

The last 38 fish of the evening came from a school of topwater fish of all sizes (from 1 to 3 years of age) which we spotted in the distance as a pair of blue herons repeatedly showed interest in this particular patch of water.  I simply had everyone line up abreast of one another on the starboard gunwale and got the boat to within casting distance of these fish.  I had everyone lob their MAL Heavy Lures (which were a bit too heavy for this application, but, I didn’t want to waste valuable time changing over to MAL Originals) completely over the school and then close their bails and start reeling as soon as the lures hit the water to keep them from sinking below the fish.

My parting words to the boys as we went our separate ways in the parking lot was, “Well, that was surely a lesson in how persistence pays off.”.

Our final tally of 87 fish consisted of 85 white bass, one freshwater drum, and short hybrid striped bass.

OBSERVATIONS:

1. This afternoon’s action was consolidated into a roughly 110 minute span which ended at 8:50pm.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 4:30P

End Time: 8:50P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 91F

Elevation: 1.77′ low with a 0.02′ fall in the last 24 hours

Water Surface Temp: 81.1F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: Steady SSE13-14 through 6:30P, then dropping to SSE11-12

Sky Condition: 80% white-grey cloud cover on an otherwise hazy sky with heavy grey cloud banks to the NW

Moon Phase: First quarter moon at 55% illumination.

GT = 155

Wx SNAPSHOT: 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

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

CLIENTS: This morning, Tuesday, June 3, I fished with a party of three – – Gary Emory, his son-in-law, Jim Stephens, and Jim’s son, Nolan, age 13. Gary and Nolan had fished with me previously, and this was Jim’s first time aboard.

DATE: Tuesday, 03 June 2025 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING:  12 June (AM) 

NEXT OPEN DATES FOR SONAR TRAINING: 12 July (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION:    From left: Gary Emory, and Nolan & Jim Stephens with a sampling of the 184 fish they landed in just under four hours’ time.

PHOTO CAPTION:    Nolan had neck veins popping out as he held on tight after this Stillhouse Hollow largemouth bass took his bait.

PHOTO CAPTION: This storm cell pushed us back to the dock about 12 minutes early, but, the fishing was great all morning in advance of its arrival.

PHOTO CAPTION: The MAL Heavy Lure continues to produce while being fished vertically through suspended white bass.

FIND LURES HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

Our focus this morning, as it will be for most of the summer, was to find and catch white bass using artificial lures.

We enjoyed fully clouded skies all morning and a southeasterly breeze between 11 and 13 mph. We were blessed to find and catch fish from start to finish, although we had to move a few times in order to accomplish that.

This morning, the fish we caught during the first 90 minutes all came from off of bottom between 30 and 35 feet deep. Later in the morning, we found fish in even deeper water, but these fish were suspended between 32 and 38 feet.

Regardless of whether the fish showed on bottom, or were suspended, our approach was the same – we used MAL Heavy Lures (silver blade with chartreuse tail) worked with a vertical, “smoking” tactic.

With rain approaching from the west, we ended the trip just 10 or 12 minutes early. By that time my crew of three had amassed a catch of 184 fish, including two large largemouth bass, and four freshwater drum with the balance being quality white bass.

OBSERVATIONS:

1. White bass are clearly disassociating from the bottom, choosing instead to suspend.
2. No bird action or topwater action spotted today.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:45A

End Time: 10:35A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 72F

Elevation: 2.24′ low with a 0.02′ fall in the last 24 hours

Water Surface Temp: 82.1F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: Steady SSE11-13 all morning

Sky Condition: Fully grey skies all morning.

Moon Phase: First quarter moon at 55% illumination.

GT = P

Wx SNAPSHOT: 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

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

CLIENTS: This morning, Monday, June 2, I fished with returning guests – the father and son team of Dayton and Mike Collinsworth. Dayton works as an architect here in the Central Texas area, and Mike is working his way through high school.

After avoiding the weekend craziness, including a boating-while-intoxicated incident on Lake Belton which saw a pleasure boat driven several yards out of the water with four occupants aboard, it was nice to get back to weekday fishing, with light pressure, uncrowded boat ramps, and plenty of fish to go around.

DATE: Monday, 02 June 2025 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING:  12 June (AM) 

NEXT OPEN DATES FOR SONAR TRAINING: 14 June (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION:   Dayton Collinsworth and his son, Mike, landed 139 fish during their 4-hour morning trip.  Three of those fish exceeded the TPWD 15-inch threshold for trophy white bass status.  All fish came on the MAL Heavy worked with a vertical “smoking” retrieve.

PHOTO CAPTION: The MAL Heavy Lure continues to produce while being fished vertically through suspended white bass.

FIND LURES HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

With stable weather, southerly winds, and the first three hours of the trip with skies graying over with 90 to 100% cloud cover, the conditions were right for a solid result.

The cloud cover built in just after sunrise, but sunrise itself was unobscured, which triggered the fish to begin feeding a bit earlier than they had all last week when skies were leaden and gray.

Today was one of those neat days when the fish cooperated from start to finish. We never had a lull in the action of more than just a few minutes. Most of our fish were caught in the 30 to 40 foot depth range, with our early fish coming off the bottom, and fish in the latter half of the morning all coming from suspended schools.

Dayton and his son do a good bit of fishing together, especially on Navarro Mills Lake, so they did not have much of a learning curve to work through before they started to connect with white bass consistently. Like a lot of folks coming from bass fishing background, they had to learn to restrain their tendency to do a sweeping, hard hook set, but once they got a grip on that, the rest was gravy. Dayton and Mike used the MAL Heavy with silver blade and chartreuse with a single vertical tactic — that of “smoking“, to catch 100% of the 139 fish they landed today.

Of the 139 fish, two were largemouth bass, and only three were short white bass. Three of the fish were legitimate trophy-sized, 15-inch plus white bass.

OBSERVATIONS:

1. White bass are clearly disassociating from the bottom, choosing instead to suspend.
2. No bird action or topwater action spotted today.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7A

End Time: 117A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 73F

Elevation: 2.22 low with a 0.03′ fall in the last 24 hours

Water Surface Temp: 79.6F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: Steady SSE7-11 all morning

Sky Condition: Fully grey skies for 3 hours after a clear, sunny sunrise.  Clouds burnt off quickly to a hazy sky by 10A

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 46% illumination.

GT = 25

Wx SNAPSHOT: 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

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

CLIENTS:  This morning, retired U.S. Air Force veteran Mike Stock, a former A-10 pilot, joined me once again for a morning of white bass fishing.  Last time, some of the airmen from his unit joined him; this time his middle two (of four) sons, Gavin and Tyler, accompanied him.

Mike has now transitioned into a commercial pilot’s role, Gavin is Texas A&M bound in August, and Tyler is working his way through high school.

Rumor has it Mrs. Stock may join us in the fall!!

DATE: Friday, 30 May 2025 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING:  12 June (AM) 

NEXT OPEN DATES FOR SONAR TRAINING: 14 June (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left:  Tyler, Mike, and Gavin Stock with a few of the hefty white bass they took working MAL Heavy Lures vertically under grey cloud cover after an overnight cold front’s passage.

PHOTO CAPTION: The MAL Heavy Lure continues to produce while being fished vertically through suspended white bass.

FIND LURES HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

The impact of last night’s wet cold front’s passage had me a bit concerned this morning.  Normally, increasing wind velocity from a northerly direction after a front moves through is a good thing, especially as skies clear.  This morning, we had the wind, but the skies remained leaden grey.  Our first solid group of fish showed up at 8:15AM and we’d only landed on other fish prior to these fish getting turned on.

The key to our success today was “sitting still“.

Most of you reading this know that white bass, and other temperate bass (stripers and hybrid striped bass) are very much attracted to commotion.  This is why devices like splashers and thumpers have become so popular in the pursuit of these species.

Temperate bass are also a schooling species.  When you find one, others (often many others) are sure to be around.

By sitting in one spot, all of the commotion I can create with my boat via use of a splasher (my choice in the warm months from early April to mid-December), and the additional commotion created by my clients as they work their lures through the water column, and the additional commotion created when fish are hooked, landed, and released, all work together to draw other fish from around the area to directly beneath my boat.

Once there, these fish can be tracked via Garmin LiveScope and then targeted and caught by my clients.

Failure to sit still presents these already scattered fish with a moving target they will never really home in on.

So, the upshot here is: once you find fish, stay put, create commotion, and allow the fish to come to you.

From time to time, even when the fishing is going great, there will be lulls in the action.  Avoid the temptation to move too soon.  I will normally give it four to five minutes of inactivity after a strong bite before I will consider leaving an area which has been producing well for me.

All the fish my clients landed this week were caught quite simply with just one lure and using just one tactic.  I had only the MAL Heavy with silver blade and chartreuse tail tied on for my clients this week (and for the previous two weeks), and they fished this lure vertically by dropping it to bottom (or to a depth about four feet below suspended fish which were positioned well up off the bottom) and then cranking it six handle-turns upward while observing Garmin LiveScope for a positive reaction by the fish showing on the monitor.

We ended this week up with 587 fish landed over the course of 4 trips; an average of 146 fish/trip.  Every last fish was caught as I’ve described above and on the MAL Heavy Lure.

OBSERVATIONS:

1. White bass are clearly disassociating from the bottom, choosing instead to suspend.
2. Despite a rise of over 1.20′ in 48-hours due to heavy rainfall on Monday, May 26, the fish were still plenty turned on this morning.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:55A

End Time: 11:12A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 68F

Elevation: 2.16 low with no rise for the first time in four days following Memorial Day’s heavy rainfall

Water Surface Temp: 79.1F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: Steady NE breeze at 10-12 all AM

Sky Condition: Moderate grey cloud cover at 100% all morning.

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 17% illumination.

GT = 50

Wx SNAPSHOT: 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

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

CLIENTS:  This morning, five active duty soldiers stationed at Ft. Cavazos (formerly, Ft. Hood) joined me for a morning of fishing on Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir.   This trip was undertaken through the longstanding B.O.S.S. program (Better Opportunities for Single Soldiers).

Joining me were Amber Solis, Jess Davis, Erik Jimenez, Martha Land, and Danika Guillory.  SGT Solis is assigned as administrative support to the BOSS program, while the other four soldiers are in the same route clearance platoon in an Army engineering unit.

DATE: Thursday, 29 May 2025 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING:  12 June (AM) 

NEXT OPEN DATES FOR SONAR TRAINING: 14 June (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left: Amber Solis, Jess Davis, Erik Jimenez, Martha Land, and Danika Guillory each with a white bass exceeding 14 inches.  Every one of the 203 fish landed today were landed on the MAL Heavy shown below, using a vertical “smoking” tactic.

PHOTO CAPTION: Danika Guillory caught all three of the trip’s largest fish today, including this 4.25-pound largemouth and an even larger freshwater drum.

PHOTO CAPTION: The MAL Heavy Lure continues to produce while being fished vertically through suspended white bass.

FIND LURES HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

Despite a slow start thanks to moderately heavy fog, we made up for lost time from around 8:15 AM through around 10:10AM.

Light rain combined last night combined with this morning’s dewpoint made for fog area wide.  We never did see the fog clear completely until the 9 o’clock hour, and, even then, the skies stayed heavily overcast and grey through the trip’s end.

We fished only four areas, finding fish at the last three of them.  There were catchable fish at our first stop, but the fish were reluctant to follow, and my crew was starting from scratch in learning to use spinning gear and the necessary tactics.  After working out the kinks and missing a few fish at this first area, everyone was much more well-equipped to do business at the remaining locations we fished.

The fishing was pretty easy after the finding was done, and the finding was made easier by 2D sonar and the ability it has to differentiate between white bass and other species when properly tuned.

Once we found fish and I got Spot-Locked on them, the splasher held them in place and my crew worked them over using the MAL Heavy with silver blade and chartreuse tail using the smoking tactic explained in the video below.

The fishing went strong until 10:10 when our already light winds went nearly calm and the fish settled down almost immediately.

This crew landed a total of 203 fish, including 4 freshwater drum, 3 largemouth bass and 196 white bass.

OBSERVATIONS:

1. White bass are clearly disassociating from the bottom, choosing instead to suspend.
2. Despite a rise of over 1.20′ in 48-hours due to heavy rainfall on Monday, May 26, the fish were still plenty turned on this morning.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7A

End Time: 10:30A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 68F

Elevation: 2.16 low with a 0.04′ rise in the last 24 hours

Water Surface Temp: 78.1F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: Light NE breeze at 5-8 all AM, going slack by 10:10

Sky Condition: Moderate fog coverage for first two hours, giving way to 100% grey cloud cover the rest of the AM

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 9% illumination.

GT = N/A

Wx SNAPSHOT: 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

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

CLIENTS:  This morning, six active duty soldiers stationed at Ft. Cavazos (formerly, Ft. Hood) joined me for a morning of fishing on Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir.   This trip was undertaken through the longstanding B.O.S.S. program (Better Opportunities for Single Soldiers).  All six are in the midst of their first enlistment.

Joining me were Anthony Rodriguez, Jean Ville, Noarse Partee, Pete Peterson, Kaileb Escontrias, and Amber Solis.

DATE: Wednesday, 28 May 2025 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING:  12 June (AM) 

NEXT OPEN DATES FOR SONAR TRAINING: 14 June (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left: Anthony Rodriguez, Jean Ville, Noarse Partee, Pete Peterson, Kaileb Escontrias, and Amber Solis

PHOTO CAPTION: The MAL Heavy Lure continues to produce while being fished vertically through suspended white bass.

FIND LURES HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

This morning began a 3:55AM with a phonecall from me to the Ft. Hood BOSS program letting them know that, after I checked weather radar, we would be able to get this trip in after overnight storms had just passed, but before rain began again later in the day.

Stillhouse has now risen 1.20 feet since Memorial Day’s heavy rains, yet, the water is fairly clear in the lower two-thirds of the reservoir, flotsam is minimal, and, best of all, the fish are still biting well.

This morning I was planning for four Ft. Cavazos soldiers to join me for the third scheduled BOSS (Better Opportunities for Single Soldiers) trip this spring, but, had six show up.  Thankfully, I always carry spare rods in case one goes down or two get tangled badly, so, I was able to fish all six as I kept my fingers crossed that the lines stayed uncrossed!

The fish began to get active around 7:20A, and stayed biting through around 10:20, with the best action from ~8:15 to 9:50AM.

I hate to sound like a broken record, but, all we did once fish were found was drop the MAL Heavy Lure down to bottom and crank it up at a moderate cadence, being sure to get the blade spinning by doing the first turn of the reel’s handle harder and faster than the remaining turns after removing all of the slack from the line first.

Garmin LiveScope was a huge help in letting my guests know when to reel up through fish passing by, and when to leave their lure motionless on bottom awaiting the next pod of arriving fish.

2D sonar was worth its weight in gold today as it provided the clearest imagery of the small pods of suspended fish I was searching for.  Using the i-Pilot Link positioning system, I got back to these fish very quickly and used the splasher to keep them nearby, as well as to draw other fish in.

This crew landed a total of 117 fish, including 2 freshwater drum and 115 white bass.

OBSERVATIONS:

1. White bass are clearly disassociating from the bottom, choosing instead to suspend.
2. Despite a rise of over 1.20′ in 48-hours due to heavy rainfall on Monday, May 26, the fish were still plenty turned on this morning.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:40A

End Time: 10:35A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 72F

Elevation: 2.20 low with a 0.19′ rise in the last 24 hours

Water Surface Temp: 78.1F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: Light NE breeze at 6-9 all AM

Sky Condition: Moderately thick grey cloud cover at 100% all morning

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 4% illumination.

GT = N/A

Wx SNAPSHOT: 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

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

CLIENTS:  After laying low over the Memorial Day weekend I was back on the water this morning and found the lake nearly deserted.  Between folks going back to work and a violent wind/thunderstorm overnight, very few were out and about early this morning.

Joining me were Doug Staines, originally from Canada and now living near Lake Belton, and his about-to-turn-fourteen year old grandson, Noah Keeter.

DATE: Tuesday, 27 May 2025 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING:  12 June (AM) 

NEXT OPEN DATES FOR SONAR TRAINING: 14 June (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION:  Noah Keeter landed the first fish of his life this morning — and it was a beauty.  His first fish was a white bass which measured 15.00 inches!  Noah’s grandfather, Doug Staines, kept the trip a secret right until they pulled into the boat ramp parking lot.

PHOTO CAPTION: The MAL Heavy Lure continues to produce while being fished vertically through suspended white bass.

FIND LURES HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

Despite a rise of 1.01 feet in a 24-hour period, the white bass continue to suspend just above the developing thermocline, as do the baitfish they feed upon. Fishing was very straightforward this morning.

I relied primarily upon 2D sonar to find small pods of white bass suspended above the developing thermocline, then Spot-Locked on them and put the splasher to work to draw fish in toward the boat where we could watch their behavior on Garmin LiveScope and present to them very precisely.

The fishing improved in the 7-8 AM time frame, peaked from 8-10 AM, then began to settle back in the final hour from 10-11 AM.

Once again (going on three weeks now) the MAL Heavy was the only lure I had tied on for my clients.  They worked these lures vertically all morning using a “smoking” tactic, and, at one location where side-imaging revealed fish to our port side for a while, they used the sawtooth method to present these same lures horizontally with good success.

When all was said and done, the pair landed 115 fish, of which 114 were white bass with 1 freshwater drum thrown in for good measure.

For his efforts, Noah will receive a TPWD “First Fish Award”.

OBSERVATIONS:

1. White bass are clearly disassociating from the bottom, choosing instead to suspend.
2. Despite a rise of over 1′ in 24-hours due to heavy rainfall on Monday, May 26, the fish were still plenty turned on this morning.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7A

End Time: 11A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 72F

Elevation: 3.51′ low with a 0.02′ drop in the last 24 hours

Water Surface Temp: 79.2F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: Light NE breeze at 2-6 all AM

Sky Condition: Bright blue with less than 5% cloud cover all morning.

Moon Phase: New moon at 1% illumination.

GT = 20

Wx SNAPSHOT: 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

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