CLIENTS: This S.K.I.F.F. (Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun) trip was provided, free of charge, to Javon Miller, the son of Command Sergeant Major Michael Miller. CSM Miller is assigned to Fort Cavazos here in Texas, but his family resides back at Fort Knox, Kentucky. The summer break from school afforded Javon a chance to visit with his dad before heading back to Kentucky at the end of July.



DATE: 18 July 2024 (PM)



NEXT OPEN DATE: Thursday, 01 Aug. (AM)






PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Command Sergeant Major Michael Miller and his son, Javon, with a portion of their 90-fish evening catch from Lake Belton during Javon’s visit with his dad from Fort Knox.






PHOTO CAPTION: CSM Miller kindly presented me with this beautiful unit coin on behalf of the Sergeant Audie Murphy Club for community service to the families of Fort Cavazos.



WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton



SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED: I have not fished an evening trip in a long while, but, with a full schedule thanks to many parties rescheduling after 7 weeks of our local lakes being shut down, I did what I could to fit CSM Miller and his son in before Javon heads back to Kentucky. We downrigged for the first 90 minutes, then, as the light level began to fade and fish began to move up off bottom and move toward shallower water, we began to Spot Lock and work MAL Dense Lures with silver bodies using the sawtooth method. Eventually, just before sunset, fairly consistent topwater action began, and the pair was able to sight-cast to nearby schools using MAL Minis. They took 44 fish prior to the topwater action beginning, and 46 fish thereafter.



LURES USED SUCCESSFULLY ON THIS TRIP: The white bass we landed on downriggers all struck #12 Pet Spoons attached to 3-armed umbrella rigs fished precisely with downriggers to control the depth they were presented at. Active bottom-oriented fish were taken on the MAL Dense with silver body using a sawtooth method. Topwater fish were all taken on the MAL Mini. Find umbrella rigs and MAL Lures here: https://whitebasstools.com/



TALLY: 90 white bass caught and released



OBSERVATIONS:

1) The lake is still 1.28′ 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 21′.



LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Here was the water temperature profile for Lake Belton, measured with a FishHawk TD device around 10AM on July 17 …

0 feet – 86.4F
5 feet – 86.4F
10 feet – 86.4F
15 feet – 86.1F
20 feet – 86.1F
25 feet – 85.9F
30 feet – 85.5F
35 feet – 84.5F
40 feet – 83.4F
45 feet – 81.9F
50 feet – 81.2F
55 feet – 80.3F
60 feet – 79.7F


WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:10P

End Time: 8:55P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 94F

Elevation: 1.28 feet high and falling with a 541cfs flow, resulting in a 0.14′ fall over the last 24 hours

Water Surface Temp: 89.6F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: NNW breeze all evening starting around 8mph at trip’s start, tapering down to 3 by dark.

Sky Condition: High, thin white cloud cover by trip’s end with grey clouds in the western sky which partially obscured the setting sun.

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 90% illumination.

GT = N/A



Wx SNAPSHOT:







AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 1604 to 1041 - downrigging
Area vic B0018G to B0154C - downrigging leading to sawtoothing with MALs
Area 011 to 021 - topwater with 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: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle

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Outstanding!

Solid post. The smiles keep coming.


Side note: As mentioned above. "Outstanding"