Making the Most of What You’ve Got – 48 Fish
CLIENTS: This evening, Friday, August 28, I fished on Lake Belton with a family from Salado. Nessa and Jake Sinclair, and Kevin Clark met me at lakeside at 4:15 PM for a four-hour trip targeting catfish, then white bass. Jake, age 12, has a 17 year-old brother, Joshua, who was also supposed to join us, but fell ill earlier in the day.
Nessa reached out to me earlier in the week to arrange this trip after seeing one of my social media posts and shared how the family had struggled in their own pursuit of fish, using a runabout style boat and an anchor since their boat lacks a trolling motor.
TODAY’S DATE: 28 August 2026 (PM)
NEXT OPEN MORNING DATES: 01, 14-17 Sep. 2026
NEXT OPEN AFTERNOON DATES: 31 Aug., 14 Sep. 2026
PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Jake and Nessa Sinclair and Kevin Clark hold a mix of blue and channel catfish they landed between 4:15 and 7PM using punchbait over areas I had previously chummed. They landed 35 catfish in all.
PHOTO CAPTION: Right around 7P we left the catfishing behind to find large, suspended schools of white bass becoming increasingly active as sunset approached. My crew landed 13 white bass coming as singles and doubles on downrigged Pet Spoons before strong winds from thunderstorms well to our south caused us to curtail our efforts about 15 minutes early.
SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:
Catfish figured well into this afternoon‘s plan because a) the catfish typically cooperate well before the white bass do during these long, hot summer days, and b) because it was something I could show this family how to do which they could duplicate given the equipment they already have.
We catfished successfully right up through 7 p.m., taking both blue cat and channel cat on punchbait at each of three previously chummed areas.
At 7 p.m., we broke away from the catfish, put downriggers down equipped with three-armed umbrella rigs terminated with #12 Pet Spoons, and caught fish continuously right through 7:55 PM when outflow winds from thunderstorms falling apart in the Austin to Georgetown area caused a sudden, hard wind shift from the SE with whitecaps developing nearly instantly driven by wind gusts over 20 mph. By this time we had added 13 white bass to our count, ending the evening with exactly 48 fish landed.
I encouraged Kevin and Nessa to do two things in order to get better in their own pursuits. The first was to focus on just one body of water and the second was to focus on just one species of fish until they develop confidence and consistency in finding and catching that species on that body of water.
Everyone enjoyed their evening on the water and were talking about coming back as the seasons change to see how the tactics and locations vary from what they experienced this evening.
RESULTS: 48 fish, all caught and released
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
FIND LURES HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/
SEE THE “SMOKING TACTIC” TUTORIAL HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3FMEQHOMQ
OBSERVATIONS:
-There was a very welcome lack of boat traffic for a Friday evening now that public school has gone back in session, both by fishing boats and recreational boats.
LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:
Taken on Lake Belton on 26 Aug. 2026, approx. 6:15AM ..
0 feet 86.7F
5 feet 86.7F
10 feet 86.7F
15 feet 86.7F
20 feet 86.5F
25 feet 85.9F
30 feet 85.3F
35 feet 84.3F
40 feet 80.2F
45 feet 74.4F
50 feet 71.5F
55 feet 70.0F
60 feet 68.4F
65 feet 65.9F
Taken on Lake Belton on 19 Aug. 2026, approx. 6:05AM …
0 feet 86.4F
5 feet 86.4F
10 feet 86.4F
15 feet 86.4F
20 feet 86.4F
25 feet 86.1F
30 feet 85.5F
35 feet 83.7F
40 feet 79.9F
45 feet 75.2F
50 feet 71.7F
55 feet 69.8F
60 feet 67.8F
.
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 4:15P
End Time: 8:00P
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 98F
Elevation – Lake Belton fell to 0.51′ low, with a 0.03′ loss in the last 24 hours. Flow rate was 52 CFS
Water Surface Temp: 91.2F on the surface.
Wind Speed & Direction: E4-8 all evening until suddenly shifting and blowing hard from the SE at 15-20 thanks to outflow winds from thunderstorms in the Austin/Georgetown area.
Sky Condition: 20% thin, hazy, white cloud cover on a light blue sky
Moon Phase: Full moon at 100% illumination
GT = 8
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH MOST SUCCESS:
Area AUGCAT03 – 9 catfish on punchbait
Area AUGCAT06 – 12 catfish on punchbait
Area AUGCAT05 – 14 catfish on punchbait
Area vic 2328 thru 014 – 13 white bass on downriggers with Pet Spoons
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: https://www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle