A Solid Tooth-to-Tail Ratio – 81 Fish
FISHING REPORT BY LAKE BELTON FISHING GUIDE BOB MAINDELLE: This morning,
Saturday, 01 November, I fished a “Kids Fish, Too!” trip with brothers Grayson and Evan Ilse of Belton. The boys already had an interest in fishing and had been fishing previously and enjoyed it, so, mom and dad thought a fishing birthday present would be a good idea.
So, in celebration of Grayson’s 13th birthday and Evan’s 10th, we set out on the waters of Lake Belton for a morning in the pursuit of white bass.
As we wrapped up today, Jordan asked his sons if he could join in on the photo even though he didn’t catch any – Jordan and I then explained how his willingness to be in a support role made the two of them more successful than they would have been without him. He was the tail supporting the teeth!
ABOUT “KIDS FISH, TOO!” TRIPS: Kids Fish, Too! trips are intended just for the kids. They are considerably less expensive than standard trips ($195 for up to 2 kids vs. $295 for up to 2 adults; and more can be added), and typically go a maximum of 3.5 hours versus 4-plus hours for standard trips. On these trips, licensed adults who desire to do so often help me help the kids be successful by baiting hooks, untangling lines, resetting our downrigger spreads, etc. so the kids’ efforts are maximized, but, the adults do not fish.
TODAY’S DATE: Saturday, 01 November 2025 (AM)
NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING: Tuesday, 12 November 2025 (AM or PM)
PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Jordan, Evan, and Grayson Ilse with 6 of the 81 fish the boys landed using a variety of tactics under a variety of sky and weather conditions. Two of these exceeded 14″.
PHOTO CAPTION: This beautiful double rainbow formed over Lake Belton this morning as pre-dawn showers passed to the south of the reservoir, along with quite a lightning show.
FIND LURES HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:
We met up at 7:20AM but did not set out until 7:50 thanks to some questionable weather to the SW of the lake putting on a bit of a lightning show. The weather remained unstable all morning, alternating between fully cloudy to partly cloudy with occasion bursts of sun, as well occasional drops of rain. Fortunately, the winds minded their manners and we were able to fish with a little chop on the water.
As they have done all week, fish started up shallow in under 20 feet of water thanks to the cloud cover extending the low-light time just after sunrise (obscured).
As we waited for the weather to straighten out, I did some practice casting with the boys, so, once I found fish, they were all ready to take advantage of what we’d found.
I started them out with MAL Heavy baits worked with a horizontal sawtooth method so long as the fish stayed fairly stationary. Once the clouds thinned and the skies brightened, the fish began to move and patrol, and pinning them down got tougher.
At this point, I began to downrig (for variety’s sake, too) and the boys, with the help of their dad, kept the downrigger balls tracking at just the right depth to tempt the white bass. The boys landed singles, doubles, and even a pair of triples simultaneously!
When this area began to slow down, I demonstrated the vertical “smoking” tactic before moving on so once we found fish, the boys wouldn’t be going through the learning curve and losing the opportunity to catch fish. We were blessed to have a few cooperative white bass chase and strike during the demo, so, the boys got a real good intro before we moved.
From this point on, with the sky getting brighter, the fish moved even deeper and we spent the remainder of the trip fishing MAL Heavy baits vertically with the “smoking” tactic.
We found the fish in a neutral mode, so, good technique normally provoked strikes, but any variation from that got ignored.
When all was said and done, the boys landed exactly 81 fish, including 79 white bass, 1 freshwater drum, and 1 largemouth bass.
RESULTS: 81 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:
-Belton is 0.40′ low with a 0.02 fall in the last 24 hours. USACE is releasing 43 CFS.
-Fall conditions are peaking with a surface temp. now at around 72F
LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE: Taken on Lake Belton around 7AM, Saturday, 01 November…
0 feet 73.5F
5 feet 73.5F
10 feet 73.8F
15 feet 73.8F
20 feet 73.8F
25 feet 73.8F
30 feet 73.8F
35 feet 73.8F
40 feet 73.1F
45 feet 72.8F
50 feet 72.8F
Compare to temps taken on Lake Belton around 7AM, Monday, 27 October…
0 feet 77F
5 feet 77.1F
10 feet 77.1F
15 feet 77.1F
20 feet 77.1F
25 feet 77.1F
30 feet 77.3F
35 feet 77.1F
40 feet 77.1F
45 feet 76.8F
50 feet 76.7F
55 feet 76.7F
60 feet 76.7F
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 7:50A
End Time: 11:30A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 53F
Elevation: Belton is 0.40′ low with a 0.02 fall in the last 24 hours. USACE is releasing 43 CFS
Water Surface Temp: 73.5F on the surface.
Wind Speed & Direction: NW3-4 for 1.25 hours, slowly shifting thru N to NE to E to SE5-6 by trip’s end
Sky Condition: Clear blue skies all morning with lake-specific fog for 1.5 hours.
Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 80% illumination.
GT = 55
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH MOST SUCCESS:
Area vic B0114C – 46 whites, 1 largemouth sawtoothing/smoking MALs & downrigging
Area vic 1658– 8 whites smoking MAL Heavy Lures
Area 1675 – 5 sawtoothing MAL Heavy Lures
Area 1869 – 14 whites smoking MAL Heavy Lures
Area 1916 – 7 whites smoking MAL Heavy Lures
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