CLIENTS: This past Wednesday morning I was joined by the Rowe family from Killeen. Melvin and Leslie Rowe came as non-fishing participants while their sons, Elijah (11) and Braylon (15) fished. This was actually our second attempt at making this come together. With both local lakes flooded back in May, the Rowes agreed to meet me at Lake Georgetown, instead. We no sooner started fishing than an unexpected rain, complete with cool wind gusts, pushed us back to the ramp and forced a reschedule.



DATE: 24 July 2024 (AM)



NEXT OPEN DATES: Monday, 29 Jul. (AM), and Thursday, 01 Aug. (AM)




PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Elijah and Brayton Rowe of Killeen with four fistfuls of white bass they worked for this July 24th morning on Lake Belton.



WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton



SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED: This morning’s trip broke down into three parts: low-light downrigging for shallow fish, shallow water panfishing, and mid-morning downrigging for suspended fish. For going on two weeks now, the best action for quality fish took place before and at sunrise; after that, the bite get beyond tough for “keeper” sized white bass. Oh, about that “first time for everything” … well, Mr. Eli was the first client I had go over the side of my boat since I brought it home new from New Hampshire in January 2016. One second he was sitting on the gunwale as we trolled along, the next second he was in the water after losing his balance. As a guide, you never want this to happen, but, being prepared for when it does makes all the difference. Eli’s life vest kept him afloat, the spare set of clothes and towel I keep aboard helped him get comfortable after drying off, and were were able to “continue the mission” unscathed, despite the mishap.



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: 77 fish caught and released, including 31 white bass (12 short, 19 legal), and 46 panfish



OBSERVATIONS:

1) Zero topwater action this morning, which wasn’t surprising given we had some fog following yesterday’s rains.

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: 6:35A

End Time: 10A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 72F

Elevation: 0.83 feet high and falling slowly with a 325cfs flow, resulting in a 0.02′ fall over the last 24 hours

Water Surface Temp: 84.1F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: NW breeze at <5 all morning

Sky Condition: Light fog gave way to

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 87% illumination.

GT = 30



Wx SNAPSHOT:







AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area vic 014 – downrigging under low-light conditions for quality white bass
Area B0029G – panfishing
Area 1579 – mid-morning downrigging for small, suspended white bass



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

Great post and solid fish. Smiles say it all. Good job.

Always enjoy your posts. Is Stillhouse open yet?

...

doctorb, yes, Stillhouse reopened at the beginning of July. It is still ~2' high, but USACE has shut the gates, so there is no more flow. All ramps are open except Cedar Gap Park, near the bridge.

Thank you!