WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Friday, October 12th, I fished with Jerry Worley, owner of the Worley Insurance Agency of Harker Heights, and his friend, retiree Jerry Blalack, also of Harker Heights. Both men came out with me previously this past spring.
Jerry Blalack of Harker Heights with one of many hybrid we landed as incoming fresh runoff from Tuesday’s rains pushed the lake elevation up 0.70 feet.
Jerry Worley with a pair of nice Lake Belton hybrid striped bass taken on the downriggers set around 40′ and equipped with a trio of medium-sized Pet Spoons on each rod.
WHAT WE FISHED FOR: This was a multi-species trip focused on white bass. We landed white bass, hybrid stripers, smallmouth, and largemouth.
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
WHEN WE FISHED: Friday morning, October 12, 2018
HOW WE FISHED:
We found that downrigging in the vicinity of topwater commotion would provide steady action. This also allowed us to cover water while catching fish until we either witnessed topwater schooling action or witnessed tightly grouped fish at depth on sonar.
When we encountered fish on the surface, we sight-cast to them. When we encountered fish at depth, we hovered atop of them using the Spot Lock feature on my Minn Kota Ulterra trolling motor and then fished vertically for them using slabs.
After observing the size of the bait the fish were herding to the surface, I changed my downrigger presentations over to size #13 Pet Spoons, and we used my own Hazy Eye Shad slabs with stinger hooks in the three-quarter ounce size to imitate the shad.
I also noted that when we were on fish which had been schooling on the surface and those fish then sounded, we continued catching them well by counting our slabs down to a 15-count and then retrieving them rapidly (at the same speed we had used when fishing near the surface).
OBSERVATIONS/NOTES: 1) the fresh water from Tuesday’s rains bumped the lake level up 0.7 feet and pushed fish and bait toward the surface, 2) Thermocline observations taken on 12 Oct. The temperature down to 40 feet was 2.1F cooler than this past Monday:
0 feet 77.9°
5 feet 78.1°
10 feet 78.1°
15 feet 78.1°
20 feet 78.1°
25 feet 78.1°
30 feet 70.1°
35 feet 78.1°
40 feet 78.1°
45 feet 74.4°
50 feet 67.4°
55 feet 64.3°
60 feet 62.9°
TALLY: 78 fish, all caught and released
TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 7:15 am
End Time: 11:50 am
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 61F
Water Surface Temp: 77.9F
Wind Speed & Direction: SSE7 at trip’s start, shifting to the SE at 14 by trip’s end.
Sky Conditions: 20% grey clouds on blue skies all morning with just a bit of increased clouding in the last hour as the wind rose.
Water Level: 4.29 feet low and falling
GT = 60
Wx SNAPSHOT: N/A
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area 1556 and to the ESE for a full mile out over open water
**Area 489-344 vertical work for whites after finding them on a 12′ incline via downrigging
**Area B0094C – largemouth and smallmouth taken in the top 1/3 of the water column after giving their location away by popping shad on the surface
Bob Maindelle, Belton Lake Fishing Guide
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