WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Friday morning, October 30th, I fished with father and son team Kelly and Aaron Baggett.

Dr. Aaron Baggett, is an assistant professor on the faculty at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton, and his father, Kelly Baggett, is a retired school district superintendent from the Lubbock area.

 

PHOTO CAPTION #1:  From left: Aaron and Kelly Baggett with a few of the 121 fish we landed at the tail-end of the north wind this past Friday, following the most recent cold front’s passage.

 

 

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED:  Friday, 30 October 2020, AM

HOW WE FISHED: 

I observed that the fairly quick, horizontal presentation of downrigging was all but ignored this morning.  In the low-light period prior to sunrise which had been producing about 20 fish for me very consistently up through around 8AM, we only landed 4 fish this morning.  However, as we downrigged and my eyes were glued to my sonar screens, I noted that most of the fish I saw were suspended at 24-28 feet over a deeper bottom, and were not holding near bottom as was the case prior to this cooldown.

This led me to look up shallower where the 24-28 foot horizontal band of water intersected with the bottom, and, I found fish there.  I found white bass, hybrid striped bass, and largemouth bass.  It was interesting to note that the largemouth bass we caught were very handsomely colored, meaning they had been in shallow water very recently (as the coloration of largemouth which linger in deep water for long whiles begins to fade making them look very pale).

We caught 30 additional fish in that 28-foot water and then found fish deeper than that after the brilliant sun continued brightening the sky.

As is often the case, the fishing peaked as the wind peaked this morning, between 8:30AM and 10:40AM.  During this time we fished two more locations.  The first produced another 17 fish which were mostly small fish.  While these fish were still biting, we chose to move to see if we could find larger fish – with my clients’ blessing, of course.   Some folks prefer the action the smaller fish provide, and so I always give the option to remain on small fish.

Because it happened so suddenly, I actually noted the exact time at which the winds went calm Friday morning – 10:43AM – as we fished our third and final area of the morning.

From that point on, the fishing began to taper to nothing, and, by 11:30AM, the fish finally shut down.  This final stop produced more than half of our fish – exactly 70.

In all, we managed to catch 121 fish, the vast majority of which were white bass in the 0-, 1-, and 2-year classes.

See the MAL Lure here: https://whitebasstools.com/

See tutorial video on how to work the MAL Lure here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE&t=239s

TALLY: 121 FISH  

OBSERVATIONS: Water surface temperature fell 4.4F due to the recent extended cold snap from Mon. to present.  Temperature profile from the 5 to 65 feet deep was homogenous, at 67.8F; the surface was 67.2.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES: 

Start Time:  7:10A

End Time: 11:30A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 45F

Elevation:  0.43′ low with a 0.05′ 24-hour rise and 0 CFS flow thru the dam

Water Surface Temp: 67.2F

Wind Speed & Direction:  WNW9 until dying suddenly at 10:43A

Sky Condition: Clear skies

Moon Phase: A waxing gibbous moon at 99% illum.

GT = 55

Wx SNAPSHOT:  

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic 1804 – 34 fish in 2 short hops (SP)

**Area vic B0118C  – 16 fish, mostly small (SP)

**Area vic B0152JWCC  – 71 fish with mix of year groups (SP)

 

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

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide

#BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing

#bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport

#fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday

#Fitec

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Monday, Oct. 26th, I fished with pastors PJ Condit and Scott Smith.

The men became friends a few years ago when they attended an event at the same retreat center near Lexington, TX.

PJ is the lead minister at Community Christian Church in Round Rock, and Scott is the senior pastor at Crestview Christian Church in Copperas Cove.

My original Monday plans were to fish with a man and his 9-year-old daughter, but, on Saturday, when it looked sure that this morning’s weather was going to be only for the most die-hard of anglers, we rescheduled and I posted my “last minute” opening on Facebook.  PJ, who has fished with me previously and follows my Facebook page, was the early bird who got that worm.

 

Although it drizzled on us the entire time, we never got downpoured on, and, with a few layers of clothing and Gore-Tex on the outside, the conditions were tolerable.  It was kinda like icefishing — the wind was cold and the fishing was vertical.

PHOTO CAPTION #1:  PJ Condit came up with our best fish of the outing in the final 30 minutes of the day.  We landed two other legal hybrid, as well.

PHOTO CAPTION #2:  If you glimpse behind Scott’s right hand, you can see this largemouth bass had plenty of company down in the lower third of the water column where dozens of white bass (and other species, I’m sure) were up an feeding on shad, and on our MAL Lures.

 

PHOTO CAPTION #3:  Pastors’ Day Off!!

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED:  Monday, 26 October 2020

HOW WE FISHED: 

Yet again I was blessed to have a booked trip which coincided with pre-frontal activity.  Although none of the weather sources I use (NOAA, KCEN-TV, KVUE-TV) got it exactly right, they all agreed that the front would arrive just after noon today.  That gave me from 7:30 (when it was sufficiently light enough thorough the heavy cloud cover to turn the bite on) until around noon to take advantage of the much better than average fishing which precedes a cold front’s arrival.

Indeed, the downrigger bite, which has been going 50 minutes tops, lasted over ninety minutes this morning, giving up numerous doubles, and a total of 44 fish by 9:00AM.  We left those fish still biting as soon as I felt the bite was waning so as to get on top of an even more aggressive vertical bite.

Although the fish were fired up this morning, I noted that on any given area, they only stayed really aggressive for 20-30 minutes, thus requiring that I find fish multiple times this morning.  We wound up fishing vertically in 5 distinct areas, and caught equally well at each one.

By 10:40A, the bite began to wane, and the temperature began to drop noticeably as cold air began to filter in slowly, but surely.  We landed our final fish at 11:30A and had to work for the final 3 fish we landed.

In all, we caught and released 130 fish, with 86 of those taken on chartreuse MAL Lures.  I used white and chartreuse interchangeably most times, but, with such dark grey cover this morning, I felt a bit more confident in the brighter chartreuse model.

See the MAL Lure here: https://whitebasstools.com/

See tutorial video on how to work the MAL Lure here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE&t=239s

TALLY: 130 FISH (126 white bass, 3 legal hybrid striped bass, 1 largemouth bass)

OBSERVATIONS: 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES: 

Start Time:  7:10A

End Time: 11:30A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 61F  (and dropping to 54F by trip’s end

Elevation:  0.34′ low with a 0.01′ 24-hour rise and 0 CFS flow thru the dam

Water Surface Temp: 71.6F

Wind Speed & Direction:  WNW winds all morning, starting and staying at 10-11, then ramping up from 10:40A to NNW14 as temperature began to drop noticeably.

Sky Condition: 100% grey cloud cover

Moon Phase: A waxing crescent moon at 78% illum.

GT = 30

Wx SNAPSHOT:  

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic  B0155C to B00156C  – low light downrigging for 44 whites with balls at 26-30′.  This bite lasted 2x the duration it had been lasting over the past 2 weeks.  We left at 9AM with fish still biting to get onto the even better vertical MAL Lure bite.

**Areas vic 1012, vic 098, vic B0149C, vic 355, and vic 355  – all areas produced 20-30 minutes’ worth of vertical fishing with MAL Lures worked directly beneath the boat in the lower third of the water column (SP)

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

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide

#BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing

#bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport

#fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday

#Fitec

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Wednesday afternoon, October 21, I fished with Mr. Dennis Rocke’s two grandsons, 10-year-old Malachi, and 6-year-old Hans.  Dennis came a chaperone and able assistant to help me help the boys be successful today.

Dennis, who is working his way toward retiring from the car business, flew down from up north to visit family here in both Central Texas and in the DFW area, and planned this trip with me after his wife located me online.

The boys had limited prior experience with fishing, which, is oftentimes a good thing.  They were very willing to listen and learn and did very well as a result.

PHOTO CAPTION #1: Malachi Rocke holds one of the 105 white bass he and his younger brother caught while on an outing this past week with their grandfather, Dennis Rocke.

 

PHOTO CAPTION #2: As has been the case ever since the thermocline developed, and is now the case now that turnover has occurred, the MAL Lure has provided flawless performance, keeping the catching simple and effective.  Here, Hans Rocke holds one of the 105 fish he and his brother landed.

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED:  Wednesday (PM), 21 October 2020

HOW WE FISHED: 

Any time I have elementary-aged kids on board, I shoot for maximum variety.  Sometimes wind, weather, season, and fish behavior limit my options, but today, much was on the table.

We started and ended our afternoon trip working deep water for heavily congregated white bass using vertical “smoking” tactics on spinning rods equipped with MAL Lures.  The boys landed their first 40 fish this way, and their final 30 fish this way.

After spending some time working MAL Lures for white bass (and after Hans’ wrist started hurting thanks to all the reeling he was doing!), we switched gears, went up shallow, and pursued sunfish in the still-warm shallows.  The boys put an easy 25 sunfish in the boat, consisting of both longears and bluegill.

By the time that one stop we made for sunfish played out, we headed off to a bit shallower water and I introduced the boys to downrigging.  We landed 10 fish on the downriggers including 2 sets of triples, on double, and 2 singles.  I could tell the boys like the hands-on approach more, and, since most all of the fish we took up shallow on downriggers were smallish white bass, we broke the MAL Lures back out and fished them right up until the fish quit just minutes after the sun set in the west.

For their efforts, the boys landed a grand total of 105 fish, all released in great shape.

TALLY: 105 FISH (100% white bass)

OBSERVATIONS:    The deep bite (35+ feet) dried up right at 6:15 as the shadows lengthened toward sunset around 7P.  We had to move shallower to get bit at that time.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES: 

Start Time:  3:25P

End Time: 7P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 83F

Elevation:  0.26′ low with a 0.04’ 24-hour drop and 0 CFS flow thru the dam

Water Surface Temp: 75.2F

Wind Speed & Direction:  SSE breeze starting at 5 and slowly tapering up to 9

Sky Condition: ~30% white cloud cover on a blue sky.

Moon Phase: A waxing crescent moon at 28% illum.

GT = 45

Wx SNAPSHOT:  

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic 0147, vic B0010C, and vic 0153 – early vertical work for deep white bass on MAL Lures under our brightest conditions; 40 fish (SP)

**Areas vic  1992 – shallow sunfish; 25 fish

**Area vic  1024 – a combination of downrigging (for 10 fish), and vertical work for 12 fish (SP)

**Area vic 1077 – a final 18 white bass on MAL Lures worked in under 25 feet for a final 18 fish (SP)

 

 

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

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide

#BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing

#bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport

#fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday

#Fitec

WHO I FISHED WITH: Yesterday morning, Wednesday, October 21, I fished with John and Mary Lou Post who recently retired to the outskirts of Lampasas, TX.

Following retirement from the U.S. Air Force, John continued working for several years in civil service.  He is originally from northern New Jersey.

Mary Lou is a retired hospital pharmacist, originally from Austin.

Our originally planned date for this trip was back on 04 September, but foul weather prevented that from taking place.  The weather more than cooperated today … grey skies and gentle SE breezes made for great fishing this morning.

PHOTO CAPTION #1: John and Mary Lou post racked up a catch of 175 fish during their 4-hour morning trip on Belton today. This catch included 170 white bass and 5 legal hybrid striped bass.  22 came on downrigged Pet Spoons; 153 came on white and chartreuse MAL Lures.

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED:  Wednesday (AM), 21 October 2020

HOW WE FISHED: 

Fishing was nearly “cookie-cutter” versus yesterday thanks to near-identical wind, weather, and sky conditions.  We put 22 fish in the boat under low-light conditions via downrigging with twin ‘riggers equipped with Pet Spoons on 3-armed umbrella rigs.  After that bite ended with the brightening of the post-sunrise sky,  we headed out into water deeper than the 30-36 foot water we’d been downrigging over and began working vertically.

We fished just 3 areas this morning, taking white bass in the 0-3 year class at each one in the lower third of the water column.  The first two stops each yielded fish for right at an hour, and the last area began to taper off after about 35 minutes.

The white MAL Lure and chartreuse MAL Lure worked equally well when worked properly.

With the water temp at about 73 degrees, the fish were very active and a fast retrieve was essential.  Slow retrieves got ignored.

We wrapped up at 11:35.  Fish were still willing to bite, but we’d seen the best of it by then, and I had to get turned around and prepped for my PM trip.

TALLY: 175 fish caught and released (170 white bass, 5 hybrid striper)

OBSERVATIONS:   Of the 175 fish landed, not a single fish was seen to regurgitate recently eaten or partially digested shad, although many did defecate at boatside.

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES: 

Start Time:  7:05A

End Time: 11:35A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 72F

Elevation:  0.26′ low with a 0.04’ 24-hour drop and 0 CFS flow thru the dam

Water Surface Temp: 73.3F

Wind Speed & Direction:  SSE breeze starting at 5 and slowly tapering up to 9

Sky Condition: Grey, cloudy skies all morning at ~80%

Moon Phase: A waxing crescent moon at 28% illum.

GT = 35

Wx SNAPSHOT:  

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic 1933 to 812  – 22 whites via downrigging in low light conditions

**Areas vic 1374 – white bass on MAL Lures, 53 fish (total 75) (SP)

**Area vic B0012C to 305 –  white bass on MAL Lures, 50 fish (total 125) (SP)

**Area vic 714 –  white bass on MAL Lures, stopped at 50 fish caught at this location, (final total of 175) (SP)

 

 

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

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide

#BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing

#bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport

#fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday

#Fitec

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Tuesday, October 20th, I fished with Ted and Shelly Helm of West, Texas.  The Helms own a small RV which they use as a family vehicle.  Since the Corps of Engineers limits camping opportunities in the winter months, the Helms camped out in the parking lot of the Belton Walmart and arrived early for this morning’s fishing trip.

The Helms enjoy team roping and have organized a 21-event series for those with like interests starting in the new year.

The Helms have laid out of fishing for about 30 years and are starting to get back into it.  Neither had ever downrigged before, and neither had ever fished with the benefit of Garmin LiveScope working for them, until today.

 

 

PHOTO CAPTION #1: Shelly and Ted Helm of West, Texas, caught and released 96 fish on this cloudy, breezy Tuesday.  20 fish were taken via downrigging and 76 fish were taken on the MAL Lure fished vertically.

 

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED:  Tuesday (AM), 20 October 2020

HOW WE FISHED: 

With abundant cloud cover, the deep water bite got going a bit later than with clear skies, so, we started off the day downrigging and rode that horse until it stalled.  We worked 3-armed umbrella rigs at 26-28 feet deep over a deeper bottom as the sun (obscured) was rising, then headed out deeper for vertical work thereafter.

We downrigged for 20 fish, including 4 sets of doubles and one hybrid, then moved on to work MAL Lures in conjunction with LiveScope.

As the wind and light levels (still through grey cloud cover) increased, the bite intensified.

We wound up with 96 fish total.  These final 76 fish came on MAL Lures “smoked” upwards with the vast majority of the fish chasing upward from off the bottom.  In the 10-11AM hour, we picked off a few smaller whites that were cruising up higher off bottom.

The fish hit the chartreuse and white equally well.

TALLY: 96 fish caught and released (94 white bass, 1 hybrids striper, 1 largemouth bass)

OBSERVATIONS:   Hundreds of migrating gulls seen formed up in V-shaped flocks of about 20 birds each headed southeast before sunrise this morning.  The number of coots coming down is also increasing daily.

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES: 

Start Time:  7:05A

End Time: 11:15A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 74F

Elevation:  0.26′ low with a 0.04’ 24-hour drop and 0 CFS flow thru the dam

Water Surface Temp: 74F

Wind Speed & Direction:  SSE breeze starting a 8 and and slowly tapering up to 13

Sky Condition: Grey, cloudy skies all morning

Moon Phase: A waxing crescent moon at 19% illum.

GT = 50

Wx SNAPSHOT:  

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic 1933   – 20 whites via downrigging in low light conditions

**Areas vic B0081C to 1482 – white bass on MAL Lures smoked from 44′

**Area vic B0075C –  white bass on MAL Lures smoked from 36′

**Area vic B0003C –  white bass on MAL Lures smoked 38′

 

 

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

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide

#BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing

#bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport

#fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday

#Fitec

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Monday, October 12^th, I fished with a great crew of 4 teens from the Leander area, accompanied by Debbie Wright, mom to two of those kids.

Debbie Heard of my guide service through a local Facebook page after a local family their reported about the fun and productive trip they had experienced.

I welcomed aboard Debbie’s son and daughter, Adam and Anya Henson, as well as Adam’s buddy, Trevor Sheehy, and Anya’s friend, Allison Trantham.

None of the kids had prior fishing experience, which is often a plus, as folks with little or no experience tend to listen well and follow the coaching I provide very closely, as all four of the kids did today.

 

PHOTO CAPTION #1:  From left: Allison Trantham, Anya Henson, Adam Henson, and Trevor Sheehy with a few of the 114 white bass they landed as a dry cool front moved in this Columbus Day 2020.

 

PHOTO CAPTION #2:  Allison Trantham landed our largest white bass of the trip.  This fish went 14 3/8″ and was likely 4-5 years old or more.

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED:  Monday (AM), 12 October 2020

HOW WE FISHED:  

We were very fortunate to hit the water right on the lead edge of an incoming, dry, and mild cold front. The front came at exactly 6:32AM as I was on the water prepping the boat for my crew’s arrival.

As white bass typically do with autumn cold fronts, the fish fed hard this morning as the wind’s velocity rose as high pressure built in.

We downrigged until around 8A for a total of 20 fish, including numerous sets of doubles using 3-armed umbrella rigs equipped with Pet Spoons.  Once the sun rose high enough to strike the water, that bite died nearly instantly.

We then headed out looking for large congregations of white bass “carpeting” the bottom after I gave everyone my MAL Lure tutorial with the boat on Spot-Lock.

We found fish at the second of two areas we searched and they were ready to go.  I always know it is going to be really good when the fish rise up off the bottom to meet our falling lures instead of just staying glued to the bottom as the lures draw nearer to them.

All four kids got the hang of the MAL Lure after just a few “real life” iterations, and from then on it was catching, not fishing.  We landed 58 fish on our first Spot-Lock, then nature called and we headed in for a restroom break.  It killed me to pull off of biting fish!

We headed back out in search of fish and, of course, those fish we were on were gone, but, I found another equally willing school of fish, this time in over 50 feet of water (the first time I’ve caught fish that deep since May).  We took another 36 fish from this school by smoking MAL Lures before the kids gave out right around the 10:30 mark.  Hunger and hurting wrists were the chief complaints.  We wrapped up with exactly 114 fish landed, 100% of which were white bass.

TALLY: 114 fish caught and released (100% white bass)

OBSERVATIONS:   The fish really put on the feedbag this morning thanks to the arrival of a dry cold front right at exactly 6:32AM.  Although gusts to 23 were forecast, we never had winds over 14 and were able to get in a full trip.

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES: 

Start Time:  7A

End Time: 10:30A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 72F

Elevation:  0.02′ low with a 0.02’ 24-hour drop and 34 CFS flow thru the dam

Water Surface Temp: 75.7F

Wind Speed & Direction:  NNW11-14

Sky Condition: Clear skies with much particulate matter in the air thanks to the incoming cold front’s wind velocity

Moon Phase: A waning crescent moon at 25% illum.

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT: N/A

 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic 1933 through 085 – 20 whites via downrigging in low light conditions with fish quitting right as the direct sun’s rays struck the water

**Areas vic 1012 to 150 – 58 white bass on MAL Lures smoked

**Area vic 1482 – 36 white bass on MAL Lures smoked

 

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

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide

#BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing

#bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport

#fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday

#Fitec

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Saturday afternoon, October 10^th, I fished with a crew hailing from West Virginia.

Mr. Jason Thompson drove down to Texas from West Virginia to visit his son, Brenden, who is a field artilleryman stationed at Fort Hood.  Accompanying Jason was his girlfriend, Heather Moore, and Heather’s 15-year-old son, T.J. Goodman.

Back in Morgantown, WV, Jason works in the maintenance field, Heather is in the handy-woman business doing cleaning and running errands for others, and T.J. is working his way toward high school graduation.

 

PHOTO CAPTION #1: From left: TJ Goodman, Jason and Brenden Thompson, and Heather Moore with a sampling of our 125 fish catch, all taken on MAL Lures worked vertically in the lower third of the water column from 35 to 44 feet deep.

 

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED:  Saturday (PM), 10 October 2020

HOW WE FISHED: 

Despite weather which was 180-degrees different from today’s morning trip, this afternoon’s efforts turned out well.

We had near-90F temperatures today with clear, bright skies and light SSW winds as upper level high pressure pushed out the last of Hurricane Delta’s anti-clockwise winds and cloud cover by mid-day.

After spending some time bringing everyone up to speed on exactly how to use the MAL Lure, we fished only two distinct areas, making multiple “short hops” at both to put a total of 125 white bass in the boat this evening in right at 4 hours.

Every last fish was taken on either a white or chartreuse MAL Lure fished with a “smoking” style retrieve in 35-44 feet of water.

I just released a new video about using the MAL Lure and so thinking through the wording on the script for that video helped me improve my coaching for clients.  You can see that video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE&t=151s

The first area we hit showed fish carpeting the bottom in 40-44 feet of water.  It produced well from 3:30P through 6P, then went flat.  We moved and fished up a bit shallower and found another hour’s worth of action in about 35-38 feet of water.  By 7P, the sun had set and I’d really talked up Miller’s Smokehouse (which closes at 8P on Saturdays), so, we reeled lines in right at 7:00 and headed to the dock so Jason and crew could enjoy some Texas BBQ before heading back east.

TALLY: 125 fish caught and released (100% white bass)

OBSERVATIONS:  We saw unseasonably high afternoon temperatures today at 91F, with a forecast for even warmer highs tomorrow, then a cold front is due in for Monday with a mid-to-late-week cooldown expected thereafter.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES: 

Start Time: 3P

End Time: 7P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 87F

Elevation:  0.03′ high with a 0.01’ 24-hour drop and 34 CFS flow thru the dam

Water Surface Temp: 77.5F

Wind Speed & Direction:  SSW3-4

Sky Condition: <5% white cloud cover on a blue sky

Moon Phase: Last Quarter (a waning moon at 45% illum.)

GT = 20

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic B0009C to B0010C to B0184C — multiple short hops through 6P for 82 fish

**Areas vic B0044G – 2 short hops from 6-7P for a final 43 fish

 

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

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide

#BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing

#bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport

#fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday

#Fitec

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Saturday morning, October 10^th, I fished with the Hinshaw family from right here in Central Texas.

Denny and Cindy treated their 7-year-old son, Grant, to this fishing trip for his birthday, on the recommendation of several co-workers in the anesthesia department at Baylor Scott & White in Temple where Cindy has worked for many years as a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist.

This was a “Kids Fish, Too!” packed trip, just for Grant, but, as always, I encouraged Grant’s parents to bring their licenses to they could be as “hands-on” as possible helping me help Grant be successful.

PHOTO CAPTION #1: From left: Cindy, Grant, and Denny Hinshaw with a few of the white bass we landed via a combination of downrigging and vertical jigging with MAL Lures.

 

PHOTO CAPTION #2:  Cindy Hinshaw holds our largest fish taken this Saturday morning — a 3.75 pound hybrid striped bass which raced about 25 feet off bottom to overtake her MAL Lure and grab it about 12 feet below the surface.

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED:  Saturday (AM), 10 October 2020

HOW WE FISHED: To keep things interested for 7-year-old Grant, I planned on as much variety as the weather and season would allow for.  We downrigged early, we fished MAL Lures vertically in the mid-part of our trip, and wrapped up sunfishing in the shallows.

The downrigging was as good as I’ve seen it in the past several weeks. A handful of boats, all working vertically, struck out, moved out of the area, and allow for long, full sweeps of the contours where I was finding fish.  We landed non-stop singles and doubles of 1- and 2-year class fish from the first drop of the downrigger balls just after 7A through to 8:20 when the bite slacked off.

We moved on to deeper water, found fish congregated with bait in their midst, and went to work with MAL Lures worked with a smoking retrieve in a vertical format from our fixed position above them with the boat held steady via Spot-Lock.

Grant did surprisingly well keeping the cadence necessary to do well on this tactic, landing a fish on his third iteration and then never looking back as he piled the fish in the boat.

After a 37-fish run here, it was around 9:50A, and I sensed a change of venue would be a good idea.  We retooled for shallow-water sunfishing, headed up shallow, and coached Grant to a 28 sunfish streak landed in just 30 minutes.

We wrapped up right at the 3.5 hour mark with exactly 100 fish landed for our efforts.

TALLY: 100 fish caught and released (71 white bass, 1 hybrid striper, 28 sunfish)

OBSERVATIONS:  For the second Saturday in a row lake traffic was enjoyably light thanks to archery season taking some outdoorsmen off the water, cool temperatures taking recreational boaters off the water, and the academic year pulling families away to school-related sports and activities.

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES: 

Start Time:  7A

End Time: 10:30A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 61F

Elevation:  0.03′ high with a 0.01’ 24-hour drop and 34 CFS flow thru the dam

Water Surface Temp: 75.6F

Wind Speed & Direction:  Light and variable

Sky Condition: 100% grey cloud cover all morning, with patchy fog on the drive to the boat ramp

Moon Phase: Last Quarter (a waning moon at 45% illum.)

GT = 45

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Morning:

**Area vic 488-834 – 35 whites via downrigging in extended low-light conditions thanks to cloud cover in the east

**Areas vic B0089C – 2 short hops for 36 whites and 1 hybrid on MAL Lures smoked

**Area B0045G – 28 sunfish in 30 minutes on slipfloats

 

 

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

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide

#BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing

#bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport

#fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday

#Fitec

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Friday I fished a full-day trip with Gary and Rachel Davidson of Kerrville, TX.  Gary established a CPA firm there back in 1991 and recently stepped back into a semi-retired status.

He and Rachel are both solid anglers and good wingshots, as well.

Although I am glad to have all of my clients aboard, it’s always especially nice to have experienced anglers who, because of their abilities, are able to squeeze all of the potential out of a day on the water.

That is exactly what the Davidson’s did today, boating 262 fish in about 8 hours’ worth of effort.

After laying out of the fishing game for quite some time, the Davidson’s are in the process of procuring a new boat in ~90 days.  Gary came ready to both pick my brain on and see sonar and trolling motor technology put to use in a real-world scenario.

PHOTO CAPTION #1:  Rachel and Gary Davidson landed a total of 262 fish, with 259 of them taken on MAL Lures fished in 30-42 feet of water.

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED:  Friday (full day), 09 October 2020

HOW WE FISHED: Aside from 3 white bass caught during a slow, very murky, overcast start to the day on downriggers, every last fish we landed today was taken on either a white MAL Lure or a chartreuse MAL Lure fished with a “smoking” tactic vertically beneath the boat while we hovered atop fish we’d found with sonar.

Although the enthusiasm level of the fish waxed and waned through the course of the day, we caught fish continuously from around 8:45A through noon, then again during the entirety of our 3 hour afternoon leg, from 3-6P.

The best of the best took place from ~10:30 to 11:30A as the skies brightened (although still 100% grey) to squinting-level, and the wind went straightline ~6 with gusts to 9 from NNW.

The Davidson’s quickly comprehended the underwater environment as portrayed on Garmin LiveScope, and were very coachable when it came to their technique using the MAL Lure.  The results proved this out.

 

TALLY: 262 fish caught and released ( 2 largemouth bass, 1 hybrid, 259 white bass)

OBSERVATIONS:  Best 1-hour window took place with 100% grey skies with enough light intensity to necessitate squinting without sunglasses on, and with humidity at a highpoint for the day, just before afternoon clearing began to kick in.

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES: 

Start Time:  7A

End Time: 6P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 64F

Elevation:  0.04′ high with a 0.01’ 24-hour drop and 34 CFS flow thru the dam

Water Surface Temp: 76.25F

Wind Speed & Direction:  NNW breeze all day 3-7 mph caused by counter-clockwise rotation of the atmosphere associated with Hurricane Delta

Sky Condition: 100% grey cloud cover through noon, and 25% white cloud cover on a blue sky in the afternoon

Moon Phase: A waning gibbous at 55% illum.)

GT = 30

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Morning:

**Area vic 085 – 3 whites downrigging under low-light conditions

**Areas vic 714 – 6 whites via smoking with MAL under murky skies

**Area vic 150 – 41 whites, 1 hybrid via smoking with MAL as clouds thinned and wind increased and bite intensified

**Area vic B0002C to B0198C – 57 fish via smoking with MAL as temperature increased, & light intensity through the grey cloud cover went to “squint” level

**Area vic B0003C – 72 fish via smoking with MAL as conditions continued to be idea.  Saw light surface action and prolonged feeding activity in the lower half of the water column as viewed on LiveScope

Afternoon:

**Area vic B0172C – 11 fish via smoking with MAL

**Area vic B0080C – 44 whites via smoking with MAL

**Area vic B0044G – 47 whites via smoking with MAL

 

 

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

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide

#BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing

#bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport

#fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday

#Fitec