Canadian Angler Brings Own Weather with Him – 70 Fish

CLIENTS: On Saturday morning, October 17, I fished with Mr. John Cameron from Alberta, Canada. Although an accountant by trade, John grew up in the outdoors and has had a lifelong love of hunting and fishing.

John left the walleye and trout behind in the north country to pursue our warm water species with me during his visit this week to Texas. A secondary pursuit of brisket and other smoked meats was also in play!

TODAY’S DATE: 17 October 2026 (AM)


NEXT OPEN MORNING DATES: 20, 22, 26-29 Oct. 2026

PHOTO CAPTION: Former Canadian Conservation Officer turned accountant, John Cameron of Alberta, Canada, came to Texas to catch white bass, but insisted on keeping the weather more Canada-like. We started our trip in 4+ layers of clothing with a 48F air temp and a wind chill pushing it even lower.

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

There was only one trip this entire week which concerned me, and that was this morning’s trip. The strong cold front which blew into Central Texas in the overnight hours Thursday and into Friday kept our temperatures low and the wind speeds high right through sunset yesterday.

The weather forecast was all over the map as to wind speed for this morning. To play it safe, I planned to meet at a protected launch location, then branch out from there if the wind allowed.

Fortunately, the winds never got over 13 mph all morning, thus we were able to go wherever we wanted in search of fish. I found that the upper reaches of both the Leon and the Cowhouse were turbid, so we concentrated our efforts on clearer water for these white bass, which are primarily sight feeders.

We literally caught fish from start to finish this morning. I found fish up in under 20 feet of water just before sunrise. Those fish moved out deeper, but continued to use the bottom in as much as 45 feet.

The incoming cold front, which typically has a positive effect on the fish by pushing our temp water temperatures down, did just that. I observed more fish in the same locations they have been using these past two weeks, and I also observed fish in places where I had not previously found fish yet this fall.

Although John struggled a bit to restrain himself from setting the hook while using the smoking tactic (thanks to muscle memory from a lifetime of fishing), he quickly got the hang of the smoking tactic, and the use of Garmin LiveScope, which he had no prior experience with. When all was said and done this morning, John landed exactly 70 fish, including 68 white bass, 1 freshwater drum, and 1 largemouth bass.

RESULTS: 70 fish, all caught and released

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

FIND LURES HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/

SEE THE “SMOKING TACTIC” TUTORIAL HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3FMEQHOMQ

OBSERVATIONS:
-This fall’s second significant cold front came in yesterday, dropping overnight lows to 48F with winds 25-40mph all day on 16 Oct.

-Surface temp. before sunrise was down to ~76F

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Taken on Lake Belton on 14 Oct. 2026, approx. 7:20AM…

Taken on Lake Belton on 07 Oct. 2026, approx. 2:30PM ..