CLIENTS: This morning I was joined by the Mann family from the Georgetown, TX, area. Mark and Caitlyn Mann chaperoned their three kids, Bruce (9), Evelyn (7), and Bryant (5), but did not fish themselves, as this was a “Kids Fish, Too!” trip, intended just for the children. Such trips are both less expensive and of a shorter duration than my standard adult trips.

DATE: 22 July 2024 (AM)



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






PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Bryant, Mark, Bruce, Caitlyn, and Evelyn Mann with a portion of their summer morning catch of 66 fish in celebration of Bruce’s 9th birthday today.



WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton



SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED: Our approach today remained the same as it has been since the high flow of water out of Lake Belton slowed and the fishing began to improve. We began the morning downrigging for fish which began up shallow and gradually moved deeper in the water column, further from shore, and grew increasingly disinterested. By 8:20 the fishing for quality white bass was over (which was about 20-30 minutes more than last week, thanks to today’s cloud cover extending the low-light period). After downrigging, we headed up into shallow brush and targeted panfish, leaving about 30 minutes at the end of the trip for a final round of downrigging which resulted in additional white bass, most of which were small.



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. Panfish were all taken under floats on bait. Find umbrella rigs and MAL Lures here: https://whitebasstools.com/



TALLY: 66 fish caught and released, including 54 white bass (11 short, 43 legal), 1 hybrid striped bass, and 11 panfish



OBSERVATIONS:

1) With multiple, mild cold fronts having just passed, and a low pressure system controlling the weather for the next several days, I found the morning low-light bite was not as aggressive or as lengthy today as it was Mon. – Thurs. last week with high pressure conditions.

2) 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: 6:25A

End Time: 9:50A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 75F

Elevation: 0.93 feet high and falling with a 325cfs flow, resulting in a 0.09′ fall over the last 24 hours

Water Surface Temp: 85.6F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: Variable winds puffing up to 4 mph all morning from both N and S.

Sky Condition: Moderately dark grey cloud cover all morning at 100% coverage. A light rain fell on the lake just before first light.

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 98% illumination.

GT = 100



Wx SNAPSHOT:







AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 811, scant results during low-light downrigging
Area 1656 to B0019G – best area for legal whites just after sunrise in 20+ feet via downrigging
Area 1118-1591 – small whites via downrigging
Area B0291G – sunfish on bait under floats
Area 1041 to 687 – small whites via downrigging
Bob MaindelleFull-time, Professional Fishing Guide and Owner of Holding the Line Guide ServiceBelton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide254.368.7411 (call or text)
Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle

Great looking family making memories.

Awesome catch, well done 🎣🙌🎣

Great Report

Always love those smiles you put on those kiddos....