Coats on Top, Shorts on the Bottom – 158 Fish

CLIENTS: This morning, Friday, 06 Nov., I fished with the father-and-son team of Mark and Seth Whipple of Temple, TX. Mark is a U.S. Army veteran who served one enlistment as a field artilleryman. Seth is a junior in high school and is very mechanically inclined. He’s working through the school’s auto repair program and hopes to go on to a technical college for that trade.

Mark first contacted me back in September, wanting to do a birthday trip for Seth. Things were “September tough” back then, and I told him if he’d be patient and could wait until early Nov., that he’d be rewarded for that. So, instead of booking a trip, he got Seth a gift certificate, then called back some weeks later and schedule a date here in the “sweet spot” of the autumn.

With a cold front passing thru overnight, I bundled up this morning with jeans and 4 layers on top. Then Mark and Seth show up in shorts! I was a bit in disbelief and even asked if they wanted to put on any more clothing before we left the dock, but, they insisted they were good and never did seem uncomfortable. Maybe I’m getting soft in my old age.

TODAY’S DATE: 06 November 2026 (AM)


NEXT OPEN MORNING DATES: 17, 24, 30 Nov., 3, 4 Dec. 2026

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Mark Whipple and his 17-year-old son, Seth, worked through 158 fish in ~3.5 hours after a bit of a delayed start. All fish were taken on the MAL Dense (silver body, chartreuse tail) worked vertically using the “smoking” tactic in water under 30 feet.

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

In the overnight hours, the second cold front in the space of this week passed thru, shifting winds to the NW at 14-16 with higher gusts. We did not get in on the increasing wind velocity as we did earlier this week on the first cold front, so, the bite was not quite as intense, as that “tapering up” took place under cover of darkness.

Still, the fish were plenty aggressive, willing to chase long distances for a bait, and often presented on sonar well up off bottom.

We moved only four times to put together a 158-fish catch, all on MAL Dense Lures, and all on the smoking tactic. My on-board noisemaker and Garmin LiveScope helped seal the deal.

Mark and Seth went through the normal learning curve most anglers new to “smoking” go through. They had to learn to “lead” the fish by ~2 feet as they came in from the left or right, they had to restrain themselves from aggressive hooksetting, and they had to learn to keep a steady retrieve as LiveScope revealed chasing fish. But, these lessons were all learned in the first 20 minutes or so at our first stop, so, everything after that was gravy!

The 158 fish catch consisted of 3 short hybrid stripers, 1 drum, 1 largemouth bass, and 153 white bass.

RESULTS: 158 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: We enjoyed a second cold front in the space of 4 days this week and, as they typically do, this bolstered the fishing even more. By the time the sun rose the winds had plateaued, but were still blowing, and as long as that NW wind is blowing, I just know those fish will be biting. Fish are beginning to coalesce into larger schools and are using the bottom almost exclusively now.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Taken on Lake Belton on 04 Nov. 2026, approx. 6:10AM…

Taken on Lake Belton on 27 Oct. 2026, approx. 7:00AM…