Bob Maindelle's Holding the Line Guide Service Page

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Bob Maindelle's Holding the Line Guide Service Page

My name is Bob Maindelle. I was born into a fishing family in 1969 while my dad was serving in Vietnam. My earliest childhood memories revolve around angling.

Through my business, Holding the Line Guide Service, I offer all catch-and-release fishing year 'round on Belton Lake and Stillhouse Hollow for people of any experience level. 254-368-7411. Pop Pop Hamilton was a commercial fisherman on the Mississippi, mom and dad went fishing on cheap dates as newlyweds, and Uncle Glenn ran a saltwater charter boat out of Shark River, NJ. I'm now happily married

, live in Salado, Texas, right at the eastern edge of the Texas Hill Country, and am carrying on the family tradition. I have fished all over our nation in fresh waters and salt, and with all manner of gear and tackle. In 1991, I graduated from West Point (U.S. Military Academy) with a Bachelor of Science degree in environmental engineering, and spent 8 years with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, followed by 9 years in industry. I recently retired as the Small Groups Pastor at a large church in central Texas. My business experience from my "previous life" and my flexible schedule allow me to operate "Holding The Line Guide Service" out of my home on the lakes of this region. I am physically fit, extremely well-organized, very methodical, self-disciplined and detail-oriented. I enjoy introducing beginners to the sport. I enjoy coaching those with a little experience. I enjoy fishing with great fishermen and picking up on tips and techniques from all over the country. I am not so prideful to think that I cannot still learn much from other further down the path than I.

10/09/2024

09 Sep. '24 (AM), I fished w/ Tommy & Ryan Stinson. 117 fish CPR'd at Lake Belton on downrigged Pet Spoons and smoked MAL Originals & MAL Minis.

Next open dates: 12, 16-19 Sep. (AMs & PMs)

http://HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

254.368.7411

10/09/2024

COOL MORNING, HOT FISHING — 117 FISH

CLIENTS: This morning I fished with father and son team Tommy and Ryan Stinson. This was the Stinson’s first time out with me after being pointed my way by Mrs. Terri Covington, the queen of Belton real estate. Tommy works in operations in the manufacturing industry in Temple, and Ryan is in the banking industry. Flooding forced a postponement of this trip, but, that worked out for the better. Although we may have caught as many fish over the summer, we definitely would not have enjoyed it nearly as much as we did in this morning’s autumn-like conditions.

DATE: Monday, 09 September 2024 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATES: 12, 16-19 Sep.

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Ryan Stinson and his dad, Tommy, with deepwater whites and blacks which shot up off bottom after their “smoked” MAL Lures this morning.

PHOTO CAPTION: We all watched this nice smallmouth shoot up off bottom in ~35 feet of water, overtake and then strike Tommy’s MAL Lure after running about 14 feet straight up to get it as viewed on Garmin LiveScope.

PHOTO CAPTION: This Lake Belton hybrid striped bass was mixed in with white bass and struck one of three Pet Spoons trailing behind an umbrella rig set at 24′ over a deeper bottom.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

What a pleasant morning to be outdoors, with a 55F start, a cloudless sky, and low humidity. We began our morning fancasting to scattered fish in under 15′ using MAL Originals, landing 4 fish and missing one more before the sun’s rays brightened the sky and pushed these fish down and out further.

We then retooled, got the downriggers going with the balls set at 24′ over a deeper bottom and wore out the suspended white bass until some distant topwater action got my attention. For variety’s sake, I chased these topwater fish, but the action ended by the time we made the run to them, so, I returned to the scene of the downrigging success and decided to Spot-Lock on bottom-oriented schools and work them with MAL Lures (Originals and Minis) smoked upwards off the bottom.

This turned out very well, helping us take our count to 81 fish landed by 9AM.

After a while, these fish started to trend small and thin out, so, it was time to move. I looked over two areas, only finding a few scattered fish on them. We picked up three whites at one of these two areas, and I passed on the other.

I looked for yet another area with similar depth and topography, and found yet another cooperative school on bottom. We finished up the trip here, staying on these fish for a full 50 minutes until the morning bite died. I found that the best quality fish would come first on the MAL Originals, then we could follow up with MAL Minis and continue to catch plentiful, smaller fish with that smaller bait.

In all, Ryan and Tommy landed 117 fish in right at 4 hours’ time.

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 #13 Pet Spoons. We smoked MAL Originals and Minis vertically. Find all MAL Lures here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 117 fish caught and released, including 1 smallmouth, 1 largemouth, 6 short hybrids, 1 drum, and 108 white bass

OBSERVATIONS:

1) No topwater action.

2) We fished on a continuing N. wind which swept in late Friday night and both cooled and dried the atmosphere. It also started water temps trending downwards.

3) Second consecutive trip finding bottom-oriented schools of white bass “camped out” for more than just a few minutes at a time. We were able to Spot-Lock on them, present to them, and draw responses repeatedly for up to 40 minutes at a time.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:45A

End Time:11:05A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 55F

Elevation: 0.85′ low and rising slowly with a 52 cfs flow; .03′ rise in last 24 hours

Water Surface Temp: 80.3F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: NNW7-11

Sky Condition: Light blue, cloudless skies all morning

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 33% illumination.

GT = 5

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area vic 010 – 4 fish fancasting in shallow water under low-light, pre-dawn conditions
Area B0297G – downrigging #12 Pets which lead to smoking MALs for a total of 77 fish at this area
Area B0298G – smoking MAL Minis and Originals for a final count of 117 fish by 11A

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: [email protected]

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle

07/09/2024

NUDGING TOWARD BETTER FALL FISHING — 102 Fish

CLIENTS: This morning I fished with returning guests Kelvin and Angela Gladden, and their adult sons, Kelvin and Tevin. After poor results scouting for white bass on Stillhouse this past week, I continued fishing Lake Belton with the Gladdens this morning. Autumn was in the air as a stiff north wind ushered in cooler, dryer air which will nudge us toward better fall fishing.

DATE: Saturday, 07 September 2024 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATES: 10-12, 16-19 Sep.

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Tevin, Angela, Kelvin, and Kelvin Gladden with a few of the white bass they took using downrigging and smoking tactics. In addition to 93 white bass, there were 6 short hybrid, 1 largemouth, and 2 smallmouth included in their catch.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

Generally speaking, fishing on an incoming cold front is better than average; that said, timing is the key. That span of time after any storms occur as the front’s lead edge arrives and until the wind velocity peaks is typically the best of the best. Fortunately, we got in on that this morning.

We got right down to business using downriggers to cover water and to find and catch fish. We fished two areas via downrigging with #12 Pet Spoons behind 3-armed umbrella rigs and boated 42 fish before 8AM. The 6 fish we took before the sun’s direct rays struck the water were shallow and orienting to the bottom; the 36 fish we took after the sun rose were suspended at or below 25′ and we got them with the balls set at ~24′.

Around 8:20A, the fish we found began to dissipate. I got back on fish around 9A, after stopping three different times in unsuccessful attempts to draw fish in with the splasher.

Around 9A, we picked up five more white bass via downrigging with balls set to 28′, but, as I ran over a breakline, I saw fish on bottom in as much as 36′. We put the ‘rigging gear away and spent the rest of the trip Spot-Locked atop three distinct schools of bottom-hugging white bass, all within an eighth of a mile of one another. The splasher definitely worked its magic to draw and hold these fish, and, although the MAL Original caught fish on the first few drops at each location when the fish were most fired up, the MAL Mini continued to put fish in the boat once they got finnicky. We used a smoking tactic supported by Garmin LiveScope.

This last scenario was encouraging, as it represented the first time after summertime patterns kicked in that I’ve seen fish return to bottom in deep water and stay put long enough to fish for with a positive outcome. This is a big deal which most anglers wouldn’t recognize nor see the significance of.

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 Pet Spoons. We smoked MAL Originals and Minis vertically. Find all MAL Lures here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 102 fish caught and released, including 2 smallmouth, 1 largemouth, 6 short hybrids, and 93 white bass

OBSERVATIONS:

1) No topwater action, although I was not fishing in areas where I’d anticipate topwater action would materialize.

2) We fished with rising wind velocity as a cold front passed last night and as high pressure began to build in today.

3) Found the first bottom-oriented schools of white bass I’ve encountered since the summertime patterns kicked in “camped out” for more than just a few minutes at a time. We were able to Spot-Lock on them, present to them, and draw responses repeatedly.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Here was the water temperature profile for Lake Belton, measured with a FishHawk TD device around 6:35 AM on Saturday, September 7 …

0 feet 83.1F
5 feet 83.8F
10 feet 84.0F
15 feet 84.0F
20 feet 84.0F
25 Feet 84.0F
30 feet 84.0F
35 feet 84.0F
40 feet 84.0F
45 feet 84.0F
50 feet 83.1F
55 feet 80.5F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:50A

End Time:11:00a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 73F

Elevation: 0.85′ low and rising slowly with a 52 cfs flow; .03′ rise in last 24 hours

Water Surface Temp: 83.1F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: NNW11-14

Sky Condition: Light blue, cloudless skies all morning

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 17% illumination.

GT = 0

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area vic 1746 – downrigging #12 Pets for 6 fish prior to sunrise
Area vic B0109C – downrigging #12 Pets for 36 fish between sunrise and 8A
Area 971/473, Area 971/B0022C, and Area vic B0096C – 60 fish between 9 & 11A smoking MAL Originals and 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)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: [email protected]

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle

04/09/2024

I Flip-Flopped, But, My Values Are Unchanged – 51 Fish

CLIENTS: This past Sunday evening (Labor Day weekend) I made an “exception to policy” for the Oliver family of Temple, and ran a fishing trip on a holiday weekend. I normally don’t fish on weekends between Spring Break and Labor Day, and I normally don’t fish on holiday weekends at any time of year. I just feel the extra traffic reduces the aesthetic value of a trip, and limits the number of places I can search for fish without getting close to others. But, the Olivers are one of my longest-running clients, and have booked more trips with me than any other clients. Aside from that, they are always uplifting to have aboard, so, holiday weekend or not, we went for a shortened 2 hour trip for the low-light evening bite on Lake Belton to close out the family’s mini-reunion celebrating the birthday of Betty Jean Oliver (mom, grandma, great-grandma) now in her early 90s. Aboard were Joe and Dicque Oliver, and their three adult kids, Corey, Amber, and Thomas.

DATE: Sunday, 01 September 2024 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATES: 5, 10-12 Sep.

PHOTO CAPTION: Two generations of Olivers, from left: Corey, Amber, Dicque, Joe, and Thomas. The family converged on the Temple/Belton area to celebrate Joe’s mother’s birthday. Mrs. Betty Joe Oliver is in her early 90s. After the 1p Sunday party ended, all the “young folks” went fishing with me!!

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

Although several areas have produced well in the evenings all through August, the evening bite is short, and this evening, we’d really only have enough time to hit one, or at most, two areas.

With a crew of 5, I went with a downrigging approach. Downrigging is very effective all summer when fish are moving fast and small schools tend to be scattered and often suspended.

Our first area was a bit of a bust, but, we also hit it a bit earlier than the timespan when the evening bite has really been getting underway. Additionally, due to a north wind, this area was not being as heavily impacted by wind as it had been with SE winds.

We picked up 5 fish on downrigged Pet Spoons and moved on.

The second area we hit was a bit more steeply sloped and a bit deeper. The fish here were suspended, although not more than 5-6 feet off bottom. As it turned out, these fish were all small and although they were hitting eagerly, we moved once again after everyone had a round or two catching these on #12 Pet Spoons.

The third area we went to, and the last at which we would downrig, held a mix of sizes of fish, and the fish were willing to chase and strike to some degree, although not overly aggressive. We worked this area thoroughly right up until the sun went behind a thick, grey cloud bank in the west and the light level decreased sharply. At this point we had 45 fish landed.

I headed us up shallow in hopes that a few fish would come up despite the traffic and the mild cold front. I was pleasantly surprised that there were a few fish up in under 15′. I had everyone get on one side of the boat abreast of one another and sling MAL Originals, working them back sawtooth style. My crew landed 6 final fish this way before dark, at which time the fish quit altogether.

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 sawtoothed with MAL Originals up shallow at dark. Find all MAL Lures here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 51 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:

1) No topwater action

2) Grey clouds developed with a mild cold front which brought NNE winds since late Friday

3) Fish were in a neutral mood; not turned off, but not aggressive, either.

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: 6:15P

End Time: 8:15P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 88F

Elevation: 0.73′ low and falling slowly with a 52 cfs flow; .01′ fall in last 24 hours

Water Surface Temp: 86.9F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: NNE10

Sky Condition: 100% moderate grey cloud coverage all evening

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 2% illumination.

GT = 45

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area vic 1075 & 1923 – downrigging #12 Pets for 45 fish by 7:55
Area 010 – sawtoothing MAL Originals up shallow for a final bite at dark

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: [email protected]

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle

03/09/2024

Find, Consolidate, Catch — 82 Fish

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

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)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: [email protected]

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle

02/09/2024

Wednesday’s Scouting Paid Off on Thursday — 84 Fish

CLIENTS: Earlier this week I took an evening scouting trip on Lake Belton accompanied by my brother, Andy. I’d not fished an evening trip in over 10 days, and wanted to be sure I knew right where to take my young clients, Jackson (9) and Maverick (6) Pursell, accompanied by their dad, Steve. This evening, that scouting paid off as Steve helped me help his boys be successful as they caught fish using a variety of tactics right where Andy and I had found them the evening before.

DATE: Thursday, 29 August 2024 (PM)

NEXT OPEN DATES: 3-5, and 10-12 Sep.

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Jackson, Maverick, and Steve Pursell with a sampling of the evening’s catch of white bass taken in the last 3.5 hours of light on Lake Belton.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

We began fishing downriggers equipped with #12 Pet Spoons just above the visible “band of life” down around 30′. This band shows clearly on sonar and is a concentration of life just above the level at which dissolved oxygen levels are too low to support fish life.

We put 30 fish in the boat, including singles, doubles, and triples. As has been the case all summer this year, these fish caught outside the “low light window” which exists from about 90 minutes prior to dark right up until dark, were mostly small fish.

We moved on around 5:30P and began looking for larger fish using the bottom in under 30 feet of water. Based on the prior evening’s scouting, we essentially drove right to these fish and proceeded to catch them consistently right until about 7:50. As the sun dropped into a cloud bank in the west, it got a bit too dark for the downriggers to be effective any longer, so, after finding a sizeable school of fish in about 24′ on bottom, we Spot-Locked on them and smoked MAL Originals to catch them.

Once it got too dark for the fish to feed any longer in that depth, we moved even shallower and fancast MAL Originals for our final few fish.

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

TALLY: 84 fish caught and released.

OBSERVATIONS:

1) No topwater action observed.

2) Best quality fish came in the last 75 minutes; mainly smaller fish before that.

3) Spotted the first flock of migratory teal of the fall on Lake Belton in the morning

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: 4:45P

End Time: 8:15P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 92F

Elevation: 0.68′ low and falling slowly with a 52 cfs flow; .04′ fall in last 24 hours

Water Surface Temp: 87.9F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: SE12

Sky Condition: 35% white cloud cover.

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 19% illumination.

GT = 35

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 1604 to 1404 – downrigging for mainly short fish
Area 1924 to 812 – downrigging for quality fish
Area vic B0197C – smoking MAL Originals
Area 1781 – sawtoothing 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)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: [email protected]

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle

01/09/2024

UNPOSTED NEW FISHING DATES THIS WEEK

Friends, I was due to fish with a buddy in Venice, LA, this week, but a medical issue arose in his family and we had to cancel.

So, I now have dates open this Tues., Wed., & Thur. (Sep. 3, 4, & 5) which were not previously shown as open on my calendar.

I'd love to go chase white bass with you! I'll bet you'll learn a thing or two to help you in your own fishing and sonar use.

I'm running 4 hour morning trips and 3 hour evening trips.

Expect quality fish in the first 90 minutes of light and again in the last 90 minutes of light, with lots of action on smaller fish later in the morning, and before the sunset bite kicks in in the evening.

4-hour AM trips are $295 for up to 2 anglers, add $50 for each additional.

3-hour PM trips are $225 for up to 2 anglers, add $40 for each additional.

We're 100% catch-and-release and I ask a $100 deposit to hold your date.

First come, first served. CALL or TEXT me at 254.368.7411

DO NOT USE F'BOOK MESSENGER

01/09/2024

A Very Consistent Summer Pattern – 72 Fish

CLIENTS: This past Thursday morning, I fished with Mostafa K., a single young man in his late twenties working as an accountant for a construction firm in the DFW area. Since he is able to work remotely for a portion of his workweek, he took Thursday off, headed south to visit his family in the Austin area, and came out with me on this Thursday morning before putting in a few more hours on Friday. Mostafa has fished with me several times before.

DATE: Thursday, 29 August 2024 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATES: 10-12 Sep.

PHOTO CAPTION: The MAL Original did a great job imitating the size, shape, and color of the mature threadfin shad the quality fish we found in the early part of this morning’s trip were feeding on. The shad in the photo was regurgitated by one of the white bass my client landed.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

Since our Central Texas lakes reopened in early July and after the USACE stopped running water through the dam, the fishing has become very consistent. Essentially, a fairly shallow bite for quality fish is taking place from first light and until the sun has been shining directly on the water for about 20 minutes (a total of about 80 minutes of fishing time), after which, fish move deep, scatter, and suspend. Once this dispersal takes place, the majority of my catch then is made up of small fish, most sub-legal, and the catch rate drops off.

This morning was no exception. We found fish via downrigging, caught them well and, on occasion, stopped to fish vertically or horizontally as the downrigging took us over larger concentrations of fish and/or side imaging revealed larger concentrations of fish to the port or starboard. This fishing took place from about 6:45A to about 8:00A and then quickly ended as the sun’s direct rays began to brighten the water and warm the air.

From this point on, we searched for white bass and shad with all forms of sonar, Spot-Locked atop the fish we found, used the splasher to draw them in and keep them near, and worked MAL Minis very quickly upwards off bottom with a smoking tactic to catch the rest of our fish.

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”.

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: 72 fish caught and released, including 3 freshwater drum, and 69 white bass.

OBSERVATIONS:

1) No topwater action observed.

2) Best quality fish came in the first 80 minutes; mainly smaller fish thereafter.

3) Spotted the first flock of migratory teal of the fall on Lake Belton

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: 6:15A

End Time: 10:50A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 73F

Elevation: 0.68′ 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: SE4

Sky Condition: 35% white cloud cover increasing to 75% and going gray in advance of rain coming in after dark.

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 19% illumination.

GT = 0

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area vic B0171C – downrigging #12 Pets, then sawtoothing/smoking for large groups we came upon
Area B0061C — smoking MAL Minis
Area vic 1077 – smoking MAL Minis
Area vic 565 – smoking 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)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: [email protected]

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle

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Opening Hours

Monday	06:00 - 20:00
Tuesday	06:00 - 20:00
Wednesday	06:00 - 20:00
Thursday	06:00 - 20:00
Saturday	06:00 - 20:00

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+12543687411

Website

http://www.holdingthelineguideservice.com/

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Videos

Lampasas River replenishes Stillhouse 26OCT23

The Lampasas river is recharging Stillhouse after a night of heavy rain. This video was taken around 3:30 PM on Thursday, 26 October 2023.

White Bass Gather & Attack - LiveScope Clip VIDEO CAPTION: After finding aggressive white bass using downriggers and side-imaging, we got to the "center of mass" of the school we'd found quickly and worked MAL Dense Lures (white body/chartreuse tail) through them for quite a while. This is a 2-fish catch sequence is taken off Garmin LiveScope via the ActiveCaptain app. on 23 Aug. 2022. MAL LURES AVAILABLE HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/

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