WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Thursday, October 3rd, I fished an evening trip with Baylor Scott & White hand doctor, Dr. Doug Fornfeist, and his 16-year-old son, Jacob. The two had a limited window of opportunity to make the trip happen, and between previous commitments and support of the Fishing for Freedom effort, an evening trip was all I had to offer. Although I had not fished Belton in the evening for a long while, the weather looked suitable for a good trip, so, we went for it.
PHOTO CAPTION: Jacob Fornfeist and his dad, Dr. Doug Fornfeist, with a few of the 146 fish taken on an evening trip this past Thursday on Lake Belton.
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
WHEN WE FISHED: 03 October 2019, PM
HOW WE FISHED: As with most afternoon trips, I anticipated a slow start and a strong ending. I intended to search for some deep bluecat in our first hour or so, especially since the winds were light and the the sun was bright. I as searched near the second locale I’d located catfish at with my morning crew, I hit shallower water and started seeing what looked like tightly congregated, bottom-hugging white bass in 32-35 feet of water. I scramble to get us Spot-Locked on these fish and to get baits down to them. That started a 69-fish run of white bass caught between 4:00p and 4:50p, all on tailspinners fish with a smoking-style retrieve. Eventually, these fish dispersed right after Doug hooked, played, and landed a 3+ pound yellow cat which evidently spooked the smaller white bass as it struggled during the fight.
We moved on and encountered similar action and interest at another similar bottom construct, only in slightly shallower water. We once again worked tailspinners and took our tally to 102 fish before departing, leaving these fish biting, in order to roll the dice on some low-light topwater action.
We surveyed this third area with sonar while using downriggers and put a number of 3-year class white bass in the boat while doing so, and while watching the upward and shoreward progression of fish that took place as sunset approached.
In that time between sunset and dark, the fish went truly shallow into less than 7 feet of water and allowed for a hookup on just about every cast with the Pet Spoon until, right at the end of “seeing-light”, the action ended. Between the downrigging and sightcasting, we added another 44 fish to the tally.
TALLY: 146 fish caught and released
OBSERVATIONS: This was the first evening trip I’ve fished on Lake Belton since May. The evening’s activity was very much a mirror-image of the morning as far as location and activity level of fish. Here is the temperature profile down to 60 feet measured prior to my morning trip. Seeing this, I feel “turnover” will take place soon after our first few coldfronts, as there is very little difference in the temperature (and therefore density) of the warm water above and the cooler water below …
0 feet 82.5
5 feet 82.9
10 feet 82.9
15 feet 82.9
20 feet 82.9
25 feet 82.9
30 feet 82.9
35 feet 82.9
40 feet 82.9
45 feet 82.7
50 feet 81.9
55 feet 79.4
60 feet 77.6
65 feet 76.4
TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 3:30pm
End Time: 7:38 pm
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 93F
Elevation: 1.42 feet low, 0.03′ 24-hour fall, 34 CFS flow
Water Surface Temp: 84.5F
Wind Speed & Direction: Less than SSE7-9, tapering off to SSE3-4 around sunset
Sky Conditions: About 20% white cloud cover on a blue sky.
GT = 55
#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area vic 2027 – 69 fish by 4:50p
**Area B0171C – 33 fish by 6:00p
**Area 1804-1805 – pre-sunset downrigging
**Area 018-1641 – low-light sight casting
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