After enduring a 7-week shutdown due to flooding, Belton Lake and Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir are once again accessible and we're back in the saddle.


CLIENTS: Mrs. Brittani Barber chaperoned her two boys, Colton (10) and Logan (7) on this Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun (SKIFF) trip.

DATE: 12 July 2024 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATE: Thursday, 18 July (AM)






PHOTO CAPTION: The sons of U.S. Army First Sergeant Matthew Barber were chaperoned by their mother, Brittani Barber, on the first SKIFF trip I conducted since flooding closed Belton and Stillhouse in late May. Logan (left) and Colton landed 72 fish during their 3.5 hour adventure. 1SG Barber is currently deployed to Korea. SKIFF provides fishing trips free of charge to kids separated from their military parents by military duty.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED: We targeted white bass on an all catch-and-release basis during the first 2 hours of this 3.5 hour trip. During this time, the boys landed 44 fish, including 41 white bass and 3 largemouth bass. All of these fish were taken on 3- and 4-arm umbrella rigs via downrigging. During the remaining 90 minutes we fished flooded shoreline brush for panfish using poles and live bait under slipfloats.

LURES USED SUCCESSFULLY ON THIS TRIP: The white bass we landed all bit #12 Pet Spoons attached to 3- and 4-armed umbrella rigs fished precisely with downriggers to control the depth they were presented at. Find umbrella rigs here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 72 fish caught and released (41 white bass, 3 largemouth bass, & a mixed bag of 28 panfish)

OBSERVATIONS:
1) The lake is still ~3′ high, but the flow of water through the dam has decreased substantially.
2) The water looks like green/brown tea and is darker than usual.
3) All fish were taken in under 22′.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Here was the water temperature profile for Lake Belton, measured with a FishHawk TD device before sunrise on July 12 …
0 feet 86.1F
5 feet 86.8F
10 feet 86.5F
15 feet 86.1F
20 feet 85.3F
25 feet 84.7F
30 feet 83.4F
35 feet 82.7F
40 feet 82.1F
45 feet 81.2F
50 feet 79.9F
55 feet 79.2F
60 feet 78.4F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:20A
End Time: 9:50A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 73F
Elevation: 2.54 feet high and falling with a 1084 cfs flow
Water Surface Temp: 86.1F on the surface.
Wind Speed & Direction: SSW2-5 all morning
Sky Condition: Hazy, cloudless skies
Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 37% illumination.
GT = N/A

Wx SNAPSHOT:







AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
Areas 811 thru 1812 for white bass
Areas 502 & 492 for panfish

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

Glad you're back on the water...

Nice seeing smiling faces again. Great post.