A GOOD BITE, BUT THEY DRESSED LIGHT!! — 88 FISH, SKIFF PROGRAM TRIP

WHO I FISHED WITH: On Saturday, January 27, I ran the sixth SKIFF trip of the 2024 season, welcoming aboard George Garza Jr. and Cameron Garza, the sons of U.S. Army veteran George Garza Sr. and U.S. Army active duty Staff Sergeant Ayeisha Garza.

George is a 100% disabled veteran.  Injuries sustained from an improvised explosive device (IED) blast forced him to medically retire.  SSG Ayeisha Garza is still on active duty with 22 years of service under her belt.

George also paid the way for his sons’ two friends, Darryl Price and Logan Sherman, to come along this morning.

ABOUT SKIFF:  SKIFF trips have been provided to military families at no charge since May of 2009.  SKIFF is funded by donations from Austin Fly Fishers, The McBride Foundation, & Austin Subaru.  S.K.I.F.F. provides children of military personnel separated from their families by duty commitments with the opportunity to fish.  SKIFF trips are also provided to Gold Star families who have lost their service member.  In mid-2019, SKIFF began providing trips to kids of bona fide disabled veterans.  I conduct these 3.5 hour adventures on Belton Lake and Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir year ’round.  Call or text 254.368.7411.

Here is how the fishing went…

 

Here’s an up-to-date calendar so you can check availability: https://holdingthelineguideservice.com/available-dates.php

Next available dates are Jan. 30 & 31, and Feb. 1 (AMs)

 

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Darryl Price, George Garza Jr., Cameron Garza, and Logan Sherman (with no gloves or loaner gloves!) show off the biggest of the white bass they landed on a chilly, windy morning as a cold front made its way into Central Texas.

 

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

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

WHEN WE FISHED: Saturday, 27 Jan. 2023 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED: 

In summary, the fish were fired up this morning, thanks to NW winds on the rise with an incoming cold front, but the combination of snotty conditions above the water’s surface and the boys’ very light clothing caused them to get pretty cold pretty quickly.  We fished for under two hours with the entire time under steadily thinning, grey cloud cover.

 

Birds once again led the way to the fish we caught.  Most all of the action right now is taking place within 200 feet of the river channel.

 

White bass were patrolling on the flats adjacent to the channel in small groups.  By using the thumper, we drew fish in from around us, giving the boys a shot at catching each time a group cruised by on bottom directly beneath the boat.

 

I had everyone rigged up with white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs and using a slow-smoking tactic.  I helped the boys keep the proper retrieve speed by using the thumper as a metronome.  Garmin LiveScope aided the boys’ efforts.

 

The boys had very little prior fishing experience, so the learning curve was a bit steep this morning. Each took a bit of time to get used to the smooth handle-turning which the slow-smoking tactic requires, and each lost a few fish after they were hooked by either turning the spinning reel’s handle backwards or allowing slack in the line by moving their rod tips excessively while fighting fish, but they all learned from their mistakes and finished much stronger than they started.

 

The cold got to the boys and we had to head back in prior to 10AM.

 

As each hopped off the boat, I gave him a “high-five” and a little ribbing about not wearing Crocs or slippers the next time they come fishing with me in the winter.  Each sheepishly grinned!   There are just some things kids have to learn the hard way.

 

After returning the boys to civilization, the birds were still quite active, so, I headed back out to do some scouting and found fish in two additional locations adjacent to the channel.  I moved short distances at each of the two locations several times as LiveScope in forward mode and/or Humminbird Side Imaging revealed fish, catching 70 additional fish before wrapping up around 1P.

 

I alternated between using the Bladed Hazy Eye Slab vertically, and sawtoothing for shallower fish using a jighead and grub.

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: 18 fish caught and released by clients; plus 70 additional fish landed during scouting after clients’ early departure = 88 fish caught and released

 

OBSERVATIONS: 

The water temperature profile measured on Stillhouse Hollow on 27 Jan. 2024 was:

 

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 8:05A

End Time: 9:55A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 49F

Elevation: 17.30 feet low, 1 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 49.7F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: NW15-17 with slightly higher gusts all morning

Sky Condition: Grey skies until 10:30, then slowly clearing to 60% white cloud cover on a blue sky

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 97% illumination.

GT = N/A

 

Wx SNAPSHOT:    

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:  

WITH CLIENTS:
Area SH0016G – 10 fish slow-smoking white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs
Area SH0260G – 8 fish slow-smoking white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs
SCOUTING AFTER CLIENTS’ EARLY DEPARTURE
Area vic 1167 – 39 fish @ 3 short hops with 3/8 oz. jighead and white curl-tail grub
SH0271G – 31 fish @ 2 short hops slow-smoking white, 5/8 oz. Bladed 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)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide #BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing #bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport #fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday #Fitec #austinsubaru

Ryan, the 9-Year-Old with a Bucket List! — 91 Fish Before the Storm

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Veterans’ Day 2022, I conducted the 14th S.K.I.F.F. program trip of the 2022 season, welcoming aboard 9-year-old Ryan Howell Jr.

Ryan’s dad, U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Ryan Howell Sr., has served in the military for 16+ years.  He is currently deployed to Iraq as a military policeman.  Mrs. Meisha Howell arranged for this trip after Mrs. Denise Igo was kind enough to make the Ft. Hood military community aware of this opportunity (thru her Fort Hood Area Events Facebook page) I set aside for the Veterans’ Day holiday when the kids from the Killeen Independent School District would be out of school.

Ryan is quite experienced for his age, having fished with his dad and grandfather quite a bit.  He told me he was really excited when he heard his mom had arranged for the trip because catching white bass was on his bucket list!!

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-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.

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

 

PHOTO CAPTION: Nine-year-old Ryan Howell Jr. with the first two “Bucket List” white bass he landed as the fish went absolutely wild in advance of a major cold front’s arrival this Veterans’ Day 2022.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED:  Friday, 11 November 2022 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED: 

The fish were just incredibly aggressive this morning under true “pre-frontal” conditions.  As I arrived at the ramp this morning, it was uncomfortably humid, 70F, and flat calm.  By 9:45A, the temperature would drop to 55F very suddenly with the arrival of a major cold front.  That front’s lead edge caused hail, heavy rain, and severe thunderstorms all across Central Texas for about a 40-minute span.

We launched knowing that our trip would likely be curtailed by weather, and I let Ryan know that when we heard thunder rumbling in the west we’d need to pack up.

Well, he was a real trooper, donning some raingear I loaned him, his rubber boots, and some warm clothing beneath to stick it out with me in the blowing rain to cash in on this fantastic fishing.

We stayed as long as I felt was prudent.  About the time we heard the first rumble of thunder way out to the west of us, the National Weather Service sent out a severe thunderstorm warning for a “fan” from Burnett east toward Salado. We were well north of that, but didn’t want to take any chances.  We called it a great day with 91 fish taken in right at 2.5 hours of fishing.

Fishing was super simple, as the fish were present at the first (and only) two places I looked for them.  They were way up off bottom chasing bait hard and therefore showed up on sonar quite well.

We used MAL Originals with white tails to load the boat with 91 fish in a short but sweet, rapid-fire sequence.  The fish were still biting when we left.

Ryan and I fished side-by-side as we watched Garmin LiveScope and landed 77 white bass, and 14 short hybrid striped bass.

TUTORIAL SMOKING VIDEO (Vertical): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE
TUTORIAL SAWTOOTH VIDEO (Horizontal): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3FMEQHOMQ

TALLY: 91 fish caught and released

Find MAL Lures here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS: Classic pre-frontal, frenzied feeding activity was observed this morning from (obscured) sunrise until we could no longer safely stay on the water.  The fish were still biting when we departed.

 

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:55A

End Time:  9:40A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 70F (falling to 55F by 9:45A)

Elevation: 13.32 feet low, 0.01′ fall in last 24 hours, 40 CFS flow.

Water Surface Temp: 69.1F

Wind Speed & Direction:  Calm at sunrise, then quickly ramping up to NW15-17 as the lead edge of the front blew in.

Sky Condition: 100% grey cloud cover all morning, with rain added after the front moved in.

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 91% illumination.

GT = N/A

Wx SNAPSHOT: 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area vic 1000 (26 fish), Area B0184C (65 fish)

Bob Maindelle

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

Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide #BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing #bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport #fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday #Fitec #mepps

Time to “Rest & Digest” – 103 Fish @ Belton

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Friday, August 28th, I fished with Nathan and Trisha Ratliff and their four kids, Amelia (11), Hannah (10), Hunter (7), and Clara (4), of Harker Heights, TX, on a Kids Fish, Too! adventure on Lake Belton.  

 

PHOTO CAPTION #1: Back row: Nathan and Trisha; front row, from left: Amelia, Hunter, Clara, and Hannah.

 

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

 

HOW WE FISHED:   The Ratliffs arrived with no prior fishing experience and no prior boating experience, so, I planned ahead to have them show up a bit earlier than normal so as to cover things more thoroughly than I might with a family that had prior experience.

Trips like this, with quite an age spread over several kids, can be a bit tough as what it takes to interest and engage an 11-year-old is quite different from what it takes to interest and engage a 4-year-old. My plan was to seek after quantity, and let quality fall where it may so as to keep fish coming over the side of the boat and maintain the kids’ interest over the 3 1/2 hours these kid-specific trips last for.

We started out looking for topwater action which did not materialize thanks to the heavy chop on the water, but, that kept the traffic light and allowed us to get onto fish without company nearby until right as the fish were winding down their low-light feed.  We had the fish to ourselves for about 40 minutes, during which time we put singles and doubles in the boat on downriggers equipped with 3-armed umbrella rigs; only once did we stop to fish MAL Lures, primarily because in the time it would take to make everyone proficient, we’d miss a lot of opportunity for fish on the downriggers which everyone was already now familiar with. 

By the time the low-light feed was over, we’d landed 28 white bass. We gave the white bass time time to ‘rest and digest’ (Amelia really like that term) from their early morning binge by heading up shallow to do some sunfishing with plans to save our final hour to pursue additional white bass out in deeper water. The shallow sunfishing went well.  We landed 40 sunfish (bluegill, greens, and longears).  By around 8:45 AM I was hoping to get back in open water to start hunting white bass again, and, by this time, the kids had landed 30 sunfish.  Amelia asked if she could catch ‘just one more’ about 10 times!  Yep — she’s hooked!  Anyway, we sunfished another 15 minutes and put 10 more fish in the boat for a total of 40 sunfish, then, around 9AM we headed back out for a final hour’s worth of white bass fishing.

We hit two areas, finding fish suspended at 25-27′ deep at the first and finding fish on bottom in 25′ at the second.  In our final hour or so, we landed 3 sets of triples, about as many doubles, and plenty of singles, all in the 0, 1, and 2 year class.  By 10AM, the time we’d all hoped all four kids would be able to make it through, we had 94 fish in the boat.  This time it was dad urging the kids to push on ’til we’d reached 100 fish for the morning. That took all of about 12 minutes as we landed our final triple, four singles, and one double in that span of time.

It’s always nice to be able to “finish strong”, especially with kids on board.

TALLY: 103 fish caught and released (62 white bass, 1 hybrid striper, 40 sunfish)

 

OBSERVATIONS:  ~12 mph chop put would-be surface feeders down this morning, so there was no topwater action where we were.  Sonar lit up and provided ample downrigging opportunities.

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:  6:30A

End Time: 10:15A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 81F

Elevation:  2.70′ low, -0.06′ 24-hour change, 51 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp:  83.9F

Wind Speed & Direction: Light winds under 3mph from the ENE due to counter-clockwise rotation of the atmosphere impacted by Hurricane Laura Sky Condition: Hazy blue skies

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous with 78% illumination

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic 903 – combination of downrigging and working MAL Lures vertically for low-light fish away from the crowd; lasted until ~7:40

**Area B0163C – 40 sunfish

**Area vic 684 – downrigging for whites (+ 1 hybrid); fish at 25-27′ suspended, balls at 23′

**Area B0021G through B0030G  – downrigging for whites; fish at 25′ on bottom, balls @22′

 

Bob Maindelle

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

Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide

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

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide

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

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

#fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday

#Fitec

NO PET BUFFALOS – 105 FISH

 

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Wednesday morning, 29 July, I fished Lake Belton with two young lady anglers — Lils and Zoey Haberer, accompanied and assisted by their mom, Emily, and their grandfather, Steve Niemeier.

Zoey is 5 years of age, and Lils is 8.

PHOTO CAPTION #1:  That’s Emily and little Zoey with a buffalo nearly as long as Zoey is tall!

PHOTO CAPTION #2: Lils Haberer with an 11th hour largemouth we picked up downrigging after causing havoc for the local sunfish population for over 2 solid hours.

WHEN WE FISHED: 29 July, 2020, AM

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

HOW WE FISHED: With girls so young, I had a fairly limited amount of time to find some “easy” fish before they became disinterested. In a scenario nearly identical to the day before, although our forecast called for SW winds, we actually had ESE winds during that critical low-light time from just before sunrise to just after it during which much shallow water topwater feeding typically takes place. That easterly wind just seems to put the brakes on the topwater bite. We actually spotted fewer suspended fish than the day before, and saw no early topwater fish at all this morning. After patrolling, looking, and downrigging a bit, by the 1-hour mark we’d managed to lose 2 young of the year white bass (which were all of about 4″ long), and land another.

I decided at that point that we needed to provide some “instant gratification”, so, we headed up shallow and proceeded to put a hurt on the local sunfish population.

Over the next 2.25 hours, the girls landed exactly 102 sunfish, including bluegill, green, and longear sunfish. Lils was ably assisted by Steve, and Zoey was coached by her mom. This was just the ticket to refocus the girls after a very slow start.

By the time the second area we fished for sunfish played out, we were right around the 3.5 hour mark and Zoey had just about played out, and I suspected Lils wasn’t too far behind. I suggested that we give downrigging just one more try to see if we couldn’t end the day with some larger fish.

Since the girls could move around and snack while we downrigged, and because this was a change of pace from the sunfishing, that suggestion went over well.

We put in all of about 20 minutes’ worth of downrigging during which time Lils came up with a nice largemouth bass — her largest fish of the trip. Not to be outdone, Zoey (with much help from Emily, or perhaps it was the other way around), landed a 16.00-pound smallmouth buffalo.

The whole boat erupted in cheering when the fish was secured in the net. We revived the fish, took some photos, and released it. It was then that Emily noticed Zoey was pouting up in the front of the boat with her head down.

When asked what was the matter, she shared with her mom that she wanted to take the buffalo home as a pet and was therefore very sad that we had released it.

Besides that, we had a good trip even if the white bass weren’t cooperative.

TALLY: 105 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:  The presence of an easterly wind these past two mornings has just killed the low-light bite. After the sun gets up and the wind starts to move the water, occasional “popcorn” schools of briefly appearing whites could be seen for just seconds at a time out in open water.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:  6:20A

End Time: 10:15A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 75F

Elevation:  1.35′ low, 0.06′ 24-hour change, 54 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp:  84F

Wind Speed & Direction: ESE6-7 during the first 2 hours, shifting to SE thereafter.

Moon Phase: First Quarter Moon +2 (a.k.a. waxing gibbous moon)

GT = 40

Wx SNAPSHOT: 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 1583 and B0158C for sunfish

**Area vic 1604 for light action on downriggers late in the AM

 

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)

#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

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle

1st FISH OF THE A.M. = 1st FISH OF HIS LIFE

WHO I FISHED WITH: On Saturday, July 18th, I fished with Clint Tippett and his two young sons, Carter (age 7) and Carson (age 5).  We attempted to make this event happen last year, but dates didn’t work out.  Then, again in February we tried to set something up for March and COVID saw to it that those plans were foiled.  So, the third time was a charm this morning.

This trip was specifically focused on the boys’ success, so Clint, an anesthesiologist at Baylor Scott & White in Temple, helped me help them.

Prior to this morning’s trip, Carson had never landed a fish, and Carter only had a handful to his credit.

PHOTO CAPTION:   5-year-old Carson Tippett proudly displays the first fish of his life, a Stillhouse Hollow white bass landed just after sunrise while downrigging in deep water.

PHOTO CAPTION: 7-year-old Carter Tippett with the largest of the 50 fish we landed today.  This white bass fell for a Pet Spoon – one of three presented simultaneously on a 3-armed umbrella rig.

WHEN WE FISHED: 18 July, 2020, AM

HOW WE FISHED:  Clint and I spoke by phone the evening before this trip (which was originally just to include Carter) and agreed that Carson would join us.  I laid out what to expect based on my experience in fishing with kids this age and in this season of the year.

We planned to fish for white bass early on when the kids’ attention span and enthusiasm level was high, then move on to fishing up shallow for more cooperative and abundant sunfish later in the morning.

These plans worked out pretty well. The white bass action was more subdued this morning than over the past few trips, but the boys both landed 4 white bass a piece, included Carson’s very first fish ever, thus earning him a TPWD First Fish Award. By around 8:15, the deep action on white bass was waning, and so we retooled and headed up shallow.

All of these white bass came on downrigged 3-armed umbrella rigs equipped with Pet Spoons.  At no time did I see a congregation of white bass which I felt warranted stopping to work vertically for.

We made two stops up in shallow water specifically targeting sunfish.  We landed 36 sunfish at our first stop, then made a tally of 50 fish (which would require each boy catch 3 more fish) our goal at our final sunfish stop.  The boys handily met that goal and, now at the 3.5 hour mark, dad and I knew it was time to wrap up before the boys got too (choose any combination):  hot, bored, hungry, irritable, whiny, distracted, etc.  Thus, we ended on a good note with the boys landing roughly equal numbers of fish.

TALLY: 50 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:  Temperature profile at depth:

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:  6:30A

End Time: 10:15A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 75F

Elevation:  0.9′ low, 0.05′ 24-hour fall, 1 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp:  87F

Wind Speed & Direction: S6 at sunrise, increasing to SSE12 by trip’s end

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moving to a new moon on 20 July

GT = 55

Wx SNAPSHOT: 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 062 thru SH0031G – serpentine downrigging pattern for deep white bass in lower third of water column

**Area 200 and 189 – sunfish

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)

#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

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle

FISH SATURDAY … GET MARRIED MONDAY — 40 FISH @ STILLHOUSE

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This morning, Saturday, July 11th, I fished with returning guest Shawn Leverington who has been out with me twice before.  Accompanying Shawn this go-round were his sister and brother-in-law, Sarah and Matt Todd, as well as his soon-to-be father-in-law, Mike Carroll.

Shawn is to be wed this coming Monday to his fiancee, Kelly, in an evening ceremony at the Dead Fish Grill on Lake Belton, so family from both sides have come to town for the event.  Sarah, a teacher, and Matt, a federal fire fighter, drove down from Wisconsin, and Mike, a estate planning attorney, came in from Austin.

Shawn is a U.S. Army Reservist working full-time at Fort Hood as commander of the Warrior Transition Unit there.  The WTU’s stated mission is to provide command and control, primary care, and case management for soldiers in transition to establish conditions for healing and to promote the timely return to the force or transition to continue serving the nation as a veteran in their community.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:   From left: Sarah and Matt Todd, Mike Carroll, and Shawn Leverington

PHOTO CAPTION: Triple!!  3 fish on the 3-armed umbrella rig simultaneously.

WHEN WE FISHED: 11 July, 2020, AM

HOW WE FISHED: After experiencing just so-so fishing on Belton yesterday morning, and given that I expected a heavy weekend crowd there, I fished with Shawn and crew on Stillhouse today and was glad we made that call.

Summer fishing is always a challenge, but, thanks to some wind from the SSW, we did alright today.  The bite started just as the sun cleared the eastern horizon and went strong until around 8:15, after which fishing slowed dramatically.

As has been the case for the last few weeks, and will be the case for weeks to come, we found and caught fish on the downriggers, which allowed us to cover ground with sonar and to cash in on the occasional “patch” of bottom-hugging fish via vertical jigging with MAL lures.  The ‘riggers were equipped with 3-armed umbrella rigs rigged with Pet Spoons.

We actually gave vertical work a try before our first downrigger run this morning, as I saw a nice 50-60 fish school right on bottom in water just over 45 feet, but, it was still pretty dark down there and we just couldn’t get them excited.  We stopped to work vertically about 5 times this morning, catching fish on two of those pauses.

We witnessed no topwater action today, which was not surprising, as there was next to zero cloud cover.

We finished our morning right around 10:30 with 39 white bass and 1 largemouth landed.

TALLY: 40 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:  No clouds, no topwater action.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:  6:15A

End Time: 10:30A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 77F

Elevation:  0.57′ low, 0.04′ 24-hour fall, 1 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp:  83F

Wind Speed & Direction: S7 +/- 1 mph all morning

Moon Phase: Last day of the waning gibbous, moving into the last quarter moon tomorrow.

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT: 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area SH0030G to SH0031G to SH0032G  – downrigging and vertical work

**Area vic 878 –  downrigging

 

 

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)

 

#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

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle

WE WORKED FOR ‘EM TODAY — 27 FISH @ BELTON

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This morning, Friday, July 10th, I fished Billy Champlin of Killeen, TX, and his father-in-law, Tom Estes, of Florence, TX.  Billy’s wife, Teri, put the trip together as a Fathers’ Day gift to the both of them.

Billy serves as a TPWD Lieutenant Game Warden here in Central Texas and has been in law enforcement off the pavement for over 20 years now.

Tom retired from the quarry/stone business and just this year began a post-retirement job of substitute teaching in Florence’s public schools.

Both fellows had fished a good bit previously.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:   From left: Tom Estes and his son-in-law, Billy Champlin, with a few of the white bass we worked to catch from Lake Belton this morning.

WHEN WE FISHED: 10 July, 2020, AM

HOW WE FISHED: Fishing was tough today.  We had lightly whitecapping waves (w/ a ~13 mph wind) prior to sunrise and no cloud cover for about 90 minutes.  The wind relented a bit and broken white cloud cover built in as the morning progressed.  There was no topwater action in the areas I searched during the key topwater time right before, during, and just after sunrise.

We wound up covering a lot of water today with downriggers, encountering small schools of white bass with roughly 20-30 fish in each school.  These schools were typically 2-6 feet off bottom but were not carpeting the bottom, rather, they were “balled up” and appeared similar to shad when they form into bait balls, except the individual fish in the school were clearly visible, especially on Garmin DownVu.

On a number of occasions (probably 9 or 10) we saw excellent sonar returns, pulled the downrigging gear in quickly and circled back to Spot-Lock on top of the fish we’d seen, only to find them a) gone, b) present but in lower numbers than we first encountered, or c) unenthusiastic.  Over the course of our trip, we only landed 3 or 4 by fishing vertically.

Around 8:30 I noticed some light topwater action fueled by white bass chasing very large shad (4+ inches) over about a three-quarter acre area.  We tried pinning these fish down to fish for them, but they were in very small, splintered groups and moving quickly.  After failing to catch any by patiently waiting for a boil and sight-casting, we again tried a vertical approach resulting in 1 fish, and then went back to downrigging to cover water, and picked up another 4 fish this way.  Covering water was the key for these moving fish.

 

TALLY: 27 fish caught and released, including 26 white bass & 1 freshwater drum

OBSERVATIONS:  Only sporadic topwater action under a waning gibbous moon as we just passed full and are heading into the new moon which will occur on 20 July.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:  6:15A

End Time: 10:45A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 77F

Elevation:  0.05′ low, 0.02′ 24-hour fall, 34 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp:  82F

Wind Speed & Direction: S13 +/- 1 mph all morning

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT: 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area B0025G to B0026G – downrigged with some success after keying on sporadic, light topwater

**Area 1975 to 687 – downrigging

**Area vic  -1604 downrigging

 

 

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)

 

#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

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle

HE’S A TEN — 54 FISH @ BELTON

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This morning, Tuesday, July 7th, I fished yet again with Mr. Larry Brewer of Georgetown, accompanied by his life-long friend, Blake Hoekstra, and Larry’s 15-year-old grandson, Eymon McCormick.

Eymon heads into his sophomore year in high school at the end of the summer.  His visit with Larry and Mrs. Brewer has included varied activities, including driver’s education provided by Grandpa Larry.

When I asked Eymon where, on a scale of 1 to 10, he felt he currently fell in terms of his preparedness to drive, he promptly relied, “I’m a 10.”   Larry reminded him that Grandma Brewer still rated him at a minus 10, thus the average is zero.   Driver’s ed. continues …

 

PHOTO CAPTION:   From left: Larry Brewer, Larry’s grandson, 15-year-old Eymon McCormick, and Blake Hoekstra with a half-dozen of the 54 fish we managed on a morning made tough by turbulent weather.

WHEN WE FISHED:  07 July, 2020, AM

HOW WE FISHED: Bottom line this morning:  we had to work for ’em.  Thanks to very turbulent weather, we had all manner of sky conditions and light levels this morning see-sawing back and forth and never consistent for more than 20 minutes or so.

Our best run of fish came from 7:00 to 8:00 when, under completely grey skies, we downrigged and consistently pulled fish and, while doing so, noted three sizeable schools of white bass which came up on top and stayed put for perhaps 12 minutes, allowing us a quick 16 white bass, all eager to take a Hot Bite Gang Banger G2.

Around 8:15, a storm cell moved in from the west and dumped rain on the Ft. Hood training area to the west of Lake Belton, but only brought sprinkles our way.  During the entire, roughly 50-minute event with gloomy, dark skies and light drizzle, we managed only 2 fish.

Once the storm cell moved east, the skies got bright quickly, the atmosphere warmed, and we began to see signs of life again, included approximately 7 schools of white bass which fed at the surface just briefly within 100 yards of the area we’d chosen to downrig in.  We managed consistent downrigging action here, taking a number of singles and one double, before the wind picked up, the skies greyed again, and the fishing slumped once more.

From 10:20 to 11:15, yet another clearing, warming window occurred in advance of a significant line of storms which moved in from the north and dropped rain from 1 to 4 pm.  During this “window” of clearing, warming weather, we encountered another good feed, this time after most of the boats which showed this morning had already packed it up.

As we fished in ~26 feet of water after stopping in the area when Garmin down-imaging revealed a nice, bottom-oriented school of fish spread over a ~20 yard area, we took our fish count from 38 fish up to 54.  These fish were all 1- and 2-year fish and were all taken on MAL lures used with a smoking tactic.

TALLY: 54 fish caught and released, including 52 white bass, 1 largemouth, and 1 crappie

OBSERVATIONS:  As is typical for summertime fishing, we really had to hustle to get the boat positioned and lures down to the fish once we found some bottom-hugging whites, as these fish would not stay put very long.  Beating the water definitely aided in reigniting fish interest and in drawing and keeping them under the boat.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:  6:15A

End Time: 11:45A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 79F and quite humid

Elevation:  0.42′ low, 0.04′ 24-hour fall, 34 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp:  82F

Wind Speed & Direction: S10 +/- 2 mph all morning

GT = 60

Wx SNAPSHOT: 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 1606 to 181 – early downrigging

**Area 1799 to 1702 to 1791 – downrigging leading to topwater action

**Area B0024G to 099 – downrigging with moderate success

**Area B0023G – MAL’s produced a final 15 fish from a bottom-hugging school in ~26-28′

 

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)

 

#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

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle

ON THE EDGE OF TOPWATER TIME — 60 FISH

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This past Friday morning, July 3rd, I fished with first-time guests Todd Roach and Jason Walrath, both of Salado.  Todd works as a chiropractor in Killeen, and Jason, after recently retiring from the U.S. Army as an aviation officer, is now a pilot for United Airlines.

We pursued white bass on Stillhouse Hollow both because the fishing has been solid, and so as to avoid the holiday crowd on Lake Belton.

PHOTO CAPTION:  Todd Roach (left) and Jason Walrath put 60 fish over the gunwales this past July 3rd via a combination of downrigging and vertical work.

WHEN WE FISHED:  03 July, 2020, AM

HOW WE FISHED:  With fairly stable wind, weather, and water conditions each day now for well over 2 weeks, the fishing has settled into a predictable summer pattern.  All the action is above the thermocline which is set up around 35 feet in the upper 2/3rds of the lake, and deeper in the main basin.

The tactic which put fish in the boat for us this morning was to find (and catch) fish with the downriggers and then stop atop strong groups of bottom-oriented fish to work vertically for them.

The action started early today, with the strongest bite and most active fish up off bottom and up ~4-5 feet in the water column between 6:40AM and 7:50AM.

We found that the cooperative schools of fish hugging bottom which responded to our vertical tactics did not stay put long.  Once the fish cleared sonar, we moved, as these fish did not hold in the area, nor did they circulate back underneath the boat, despite efforts at thumping and beating on the water to draw them in and keep them there.

I noted today that the fish we encountered also seemed to be in smaller, more splintered groups.  By 9:15, the fish were clearly already on their way to shutting down.  For every 4 or 5 schools of fish we encountered, each with 20-40 fish per school, we’d only get one school jazzed enough to pursue baits, and even then would only get 1-3 fish out of that school.

I used a combination of #12 and #13 Pet Spoons on my 3-armed umbrella rigs today, and the fish definitely showed a preference for the slightly larger #13s.  For the vertical work, we used MAL lures.

TALLY: 60 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: Although not to the extent encountered on Wednesday under a better wind and cloud cover scenario, each location giving up white bass this morning also had, “schoolie” largemouth bass popping shad on the surface, as well.  I’m anticipating the topwater action to really come on strong over the next few weeks — very exciting!

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:  6:20A

End Time: 10:45A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 77F

Elevation:  0.22′ low, 0.04′ 24-hour fall, 1 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp:  82F

Wind Speed & Direction: SSW5 increasing to SSW11 by trip’s end with occasional gusts to 13

GT = 22

Wx SNAPSHOT: 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Areas v1423, v062, v1708, and v1146

 

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)

 

#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

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle

FIRST, LARGEST, AND MOST — 54 FISH FOR ADI

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This morning, Wednesday, July 1st, I fished a “Kids Fish, Too!” trip for Adi Zwern, the youngest granddaughter of Mr. & Mrs. Larry Brewer of Georgetown, TX.   Adi just got into town last night from Houston for about a week’s stay with her grandparents.  Adi’s sister, Finley, was treated to a similar trip last week, and the girls’ brother, Eymon, will get to go fishing next week, weather permitting.

Adi had never landed a fish before.  By the time 3 1/2 hours had passed, she’d not only landed her first fish, but (it goes without saying), the largest fish, and the most fish, as Pop Pop Larry and his buddy, Blake Hoekstra, both came along as able assistants helping me help Adi be successful.

 

PHOTO CAPTION #1:  This is the first fish of Adi’s life!!!

 

 

PHOTO CAPTION #2:   This is Adi’s current PB (personal best) — a 3 1/8 pound largemouth bass!!

 

WHEN WE FISHED:  01 July, 2020, AM

HOW WE FISHED:  Fishing was just right for having a youngster aboard today.  The fish cooperated for the entire time, thanks to a southerly wind and grey cloud cover, thus keeping fish coming over the side from start to finish, and helping Adi stay engaged.

We began our trip by probing with downriggers to which we’d attached 3-armed umbrella rigs rigged with Pet Spoons.  We caught singles and doubles steadily, most of which were suspended 3-5 feet up off bottom.  I believe these fish were up off bottom making use of the light there.  As the sun continued to climb and brightened the sky thru the thick, grey cloud cover, more and more bottom-hugging fish showed on sonar.  I believe the light was sufficient at that point to allow them to feed well at that greater depth.  Once I saw fish on sonar holding on bottom, we used a vertical tactic with MAL lures to the greatest extent possible.  The fish were mainly 2-year class fish with 1-year and 3-year fish sprinkled in.  These 2-year fish put up a good fight, especially when you’re 7 and weigh about 45 pounds!!  From time to time Adi’s arms got tired and we switched back over to downrigging until she gave us the thumbs-up that she’d recovered sufficiently to “go vertical” again.

We wound up with 37 white bass and 2 largemouth, including a nice 3 1/8-pounder before the fish started to slow down around 9:15.

At this point, we invested the rest of the trip into the pursuit of sunfish up shallow.  Adi landed 15 sunfish, including longears, redears, and bluegill.  We caught these on bait under slipfloats.

TALLY: 54 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:   Due to clouds/Saharan dust since Sunday, water surface temperature has dropped to 80 F.  Noted topwater largemouth feeding on 1.25″ shad from 1960 to SH0033C in open water.  Temperature profile was taken on Fish Hawk TD.  Note the 8 degree change in a matter of 5 vertical feet from 35 to 40 feet:

0 feet 82.1
5 feet 82.1
10 feet 82.1
15 feet 82.1
20 feet 82.1
25 feet 82.1
30 feet 81.9
35 feet 81.1
40 feet 73.0
45 feet 68.1
50 feet 63.9
55 feet 62.3
60 feet 60.9
65 feet 60.1

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:  6:45A

End Time: 10:15A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 77F

Elevation:  0.16′ low, 0.04′ 24-hour fall, 1 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp:  80F

Wind Speed & Direction: S9 at sunrise, tapering steadily up to S13-14.

GT = 55

Wx SNAPSHOT: 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area  vic 517 thru 853 to 1395 – white bass on MAL’s fished vertically after finding fish with downriggers; 39 fish

**Area 1948 – 15 sunfish

 

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)

 

#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

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle