Reeling in a white bass will not disappoint, at least not the ones we caught at Stillhouse Hollow Lake in Belton.

"That's about a 13-inch white bass right there," Bob Maindelle pointed out about a fish caught on our trip with him.

Maindelle, a fishing guide with Holding the Line Guide service, shared some of his secrets with us.

"All your major reservoirs that are fed by a river system all have white bass," he said.

That's where you can find them in Texas. Spring and summer are some of the best times to be on the prowl for these types of fish.

"There's periods of great activity early in the morning and late in the evening and then periods of moderate to no activity typically in the middle of the day," Maindelle said.

The technique Maindelle used is a bit more advanced. First he scopes out the area using sonar.

"Those kind of formless masses there are all bait fish," he said, pointing to what looked like clouds on the screen.

The schools of shad, the bait fish, will lead him to the catch, the big fish who feed on the little ones.

He used what's called a downrigger, a tool that helps lower the bait to the depths of the target. In this case, he lowered the line 25 feet deep in our case with a simple lure on the line.

"What I'm using is called a pet spoon. It's just a little stamped piece of metal and it has a little tail on it," he said.

If you don't have a boat or downrigger, that’s not a problem.

"There are places that white bass can be accessed from the shore line. Typically, that's at night near lighted docks, lighted fishing piers, lighted marinas," Maindelle said.

That still gives you a chance at hooking this fighting member of the bass family.