Fishing After the Furlough – 143 Fish
CLIENTS: This past Wednesday morning, November 26, I fished with a returning crew of three including Shawn Leverington, Jeff Burns, and Ryan Blair.
Shawn is a U.S. Army Reserve Lieutenant Colonel whose “regular job” is as a civilian working for the government; as such, he had some “bonus” fishing time during the recent government shutdown. But, with that now in the rearview mirror, he was looking forward to getting back on the fish.
After a family illness caused my originally scheduled clients to have to back out, this crew was able to slip into an excellent weather scenario and enjoyed a 143 fish catch on Lake Belton.
TODAY’S DATE: Wednesday, 26 November 2025 (AM)
NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING: Monday, 01 December 2025 (AM or PM)
PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Shawn Leverington, Ryan Blair, and Jeff Burns with a few of the 143 fish they landed on the morning before Thanksgiving 2025.
PHOTO CAPTION: Ryan Blair managed our largest fish of the trip. Since the water has begun to cool, the incidence of hybrid as a bycatch to our white bass focus has increased noticeably. This one fell for an MAL Dense lure.
FIND LURES HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:
A mild, dry cold front began to slowly push into central Texas just around sunset yesterday, bringing the wind velocity up at that time. The winds continued to build through about 10:45 AM this morning. We got going around 7:15 AM to time the start of our efforts with the rising of the sun. We never went more than a few minutes without catching fish, and that was typically when we left one area in which the fish had begun settling down to go to a new area to try to find more aggressive fish.
We started the morning catching fish in water as shallow as 14 feet, but fish quickly moved out to the 20 foot range as soon as the sun had risen and began brightening the sky just after sunrise. While these fish were shallow, we were able to catch them fairly well fishing vertically, but reaching out horizontally using the sawtooth method turned out to be an even better option until the fish finally vacated shallow water.
From that point on, we fished vertically exclusively, using the smoking tactic with the MAL Dense Lure (silver body version).
During this full four hour trip, we hit just 5 areas and found pretty much the same behavior at each location. The fish were within 18 inches of bottom, heavily packed together, and very competitive with one another once we got our baits down to them.
All went well through about 10:45 AM. This was both the time during which the bite has been slowing over the past week or so, and it was also the time at which the wind stopped building, leveled off, and, by 11:15 had slowed. It was by this time our bite died and we decided to call it a great morning before the law of diminishing returns kicked in.
Our catch of 143 fish consisted of 141 white bass, one legal, hybrid striper, and one largemouth bass.
RESULTS: 143 fish, all caught and released
TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW “SMOKE” AN MAL LURE VERTICALLY: Click here for tutorial
TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW TO FISH AN MAL LURE HORIZONTALLY USING THE SAWTOOTH METHOD: Click here for tutorial
OBSERVATIONS:
-After yesterday’s clearing north breeze for about 3 hours in the morning was followed by a calm afternoon, stronger north winds pushed in this morning, building up to 13 mph and greatly enhancing the bite while also dropping the water temperature.
-No helpful bird action on Lake Belton this trip.
LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE: Measured around 6:30 AM on Saturday, 22 Nov. 2025…
0 feet 69.8
5 feet 70.8
10 feet 71.0
15 feet 71.0
20 feet 71.2
25 feet 70.5
30 feet 70.0
35 feet 69.8
40 feet 69.4
45 feet 69.1
50 feet 68.8
55 feet 68.4
60 feet 68.1
Compare to temps taken on Lake Belton around 7AM, Saturday, 08 November…
0 feet 69.6
5 feet 69.6F
10 feet 69.6F
15 feet 69.6F
20 feet 69.6F
25 feet 69.4F
30 feet 69.0F
35 feet 68.8F
40 feet67.4F
45 feet 66.9F
50 feet 66.9F
55 feet 66.8F
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 7:15A
End Time: 11:15A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 46F
Elevation: Belton is 0.25′ low with a .01′ rise in the last 24 hours. USACE is releasing 26 CFS.
Water Surface Temp: 68.7F on the surface.
Wind Speed & Direction: NW9 at trip’s start, building to NW13 before dying around 11A
Sky Condition: Clear, post-frontal “bluebird” skies
Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 34% illumination.
GT = 20
Wx SNAPSHOT: N/A
AREAS FISHED WITH MOST SUCCESS:
Area 192/B0011C – 18 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures (1 hybrid, 17 whites)
Area 0147 – 19 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures (all whites)
Area 2305 – 22 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures (1 largemouth, 21 whites)
Area 2306 – 24 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures (3 hybrid, 1 largemouth, 30 whites)
Area B0119C- 14 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures (1 smallmouth, 3 hybrid and 10 whites)
Area 574 – 8 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures (all whites)
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