WHO I FISHED WITH:  This morning, Wednesday, Oct. 27, I fished with returning guest Gary Jones.  Gary is retired from the banking business and makes his home in Temple.  We first got acquainted when he and some buddies came out after bidding on a gift certificate at a local fundraiser for the Ralph Wilson Youth Club.  Since then he’s come out on his own with the goal each time of “getting smarter” on fishing Lake Belton before his new Boston Whaler delivers in November.

Gary was originally scheduled for Thursday, but my “read” on the weather told me today would be the day, so, I shared my hunch with Gary and, fortunately, his schedule was flexible.   Here’s how it went…

______________

My next three openings will be on 6, 7, and 8 December.  Weekday mornings are always best.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:    Gary Jones of Temple, TX, with 1% of our 200-fish catch made under pre-frontal conditions this morning on Lake Belton working MAL Heavy Lures vertically.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday (AM), 27 October 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

I’d been watching the weather forecast (actually, multiple forecasts) like a hawk since late Monday, trying to see when this most recent cold front was going to come, and how soon and how strong the winds would be after the stormy lead edge moved east of us.

It could not have worked out any better.  The storm front arrived around 4:30AM with the usual wind, rain, and lightning.  Once that violent weather moved east, a period of gentler, steady rain fell until right at 7:30AM.  We got an accumulation of 0.8 inches.

I’d planned to meet Gary at 7:20.  We sat in the cab of his truck and caught up a little and went over the morning’s game plan as I glanced routinely at weather radar watching the last of the rain move out.  We were on our first fish by 7:45AM.

The clouds in the eastern sky kept the sunrise light levels low, so the bite got off to a slow start, but, once the skies cleared and the winds came westerly, it was game on for a full four hours.

We fished six areas this morning.  The fish at the first area were a bit hesitant as the winds were calm and the light level low.  The fish at the second area were all smallish, so we went hunting better size.  The last four areas we hit all had solid numbers of solid fish, so we fished each one until the bite peaked and then began to taper.  As soon as a hint of decline in activity was detected, we moved on to find more fish.  This was possible because the fish were absolutely tearing it up this morning, feeding hard, and were positioned up off bottom so they were very easy to detect on sonar.  I therefore had no qualms about leaving fish to find fish because I had full confidence that we’d find more.

All but two of our 200 fish came on the MAL Heavy with silver blade and white tail fished vertically in the lower third of the water column in conjunction with Garmin LiveScope.  Those other two came as I attempted a sawtooth retrieve, but, as has been the case in the past as the water cools, the fish demonstrate a definite preference for vertical movement over horizontal movement.  To wit, I removed my downriggers for the season early last week as I saw this trend developing.

Gary was great to have aboard.  When I saw minor flaws in his technique, he gave me permission to point them out, was appreciative of the observations, and made good adjustments which resulted in more fish in the boat for him.

By the 4 hour mark, we lacked 18 fish for a 200-fish morning.  We fished another 16 minutes to catch those last 18 fish, and then headed in for lunch right at noon.

Of the 200 fish landed, 187 were white bass, with 9 juvenile hybrid striped bass, 1 freshwater drum, and 3 largemouth bass mixed in.

MAL Lure fishing tutorials:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViVz6D91brM

MAL Lures are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 200 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:  1) High wind warnings are now posted from mid-day, 27 Oct. through sunset 29 Oct.  2) Fish are becoming increasingly focused on vertical presentations over horizontal presentations.  3) I saw the first buck running two does in heat yesterday.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:45A

End Time: 12:01P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  63F

Elevation: 1.17 feet low, 0.05 rise, 59 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 75.3F

Wind Speed & Direction:  Calm at trip’s start, with a gentle breeze from due west rapidly building to

Sky Condition: Gloomy grey skies all morning with 100% cloud cover.

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 63% illumination.

GT = 225

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

CAPTION: This was a snapshot of the front’s progress about 2 hours out from our start time this morning.

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 1671 – 32  fish, all on MAL Heavy Lure with silver blade/white tail fished vertically

**Area 788 – 22 fish, all on MAL Heavy Lure with silver blade/white tail fished vertically

**Area 171 – 46  fish, all but two on MAL Heavy Lure with silver blade/white tail fished vertically

**Area 378 – 17  fish, all on MAL Heavy Lure with silver blade/white tail fished vertically

**Area B0072C – 65 fish, all on MAL Heavy Lure with silver blade/white tail fished vertically

**Area 0499/709 – 18 fish, all on MAL Heavy Lure with silver blade/white tail fished vertically

 

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 #mepps

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This morning, Tuesday, Oct. 26, I fished with Will Phillips and two of his three sons, Luke (age 12) and Lawson (age 10) on Lake Belton.

Will is an anesthesiologist at one of our local hospitals and had been out with me once before in May of 2017, when he chaperoned a group of three boys in celebration of Luke’s 8th birthday.

Here’s how things unfolded today…

______________

My next three openings will be on 2, 7, and 8 December.  Weekday mornings are always best.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:   From left: Luke, Will, and Lawson Phillips worked and stayed focused from start to finish today to achieve a 200 fish catch.  We used MAL Heavy Lures with silver blades and white tails fished vertically for 100% of our catch.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday (AM), 26 October 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

With a significant cold front due to enter Central Texas airspace around 3AM on Wednesday, the atmosphere was being squeezed and warmed today by pre-frontal, compressional warming.  We had grey skies, high temperatures, and high humidity.  In our final hour on the water a few sprinkles actually fell.

This murky sky condition caused the fishing to ease to a start instead of jump to a start, but, once it started, it was game-on until right around 11:15, then, things got tough.

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” applied today.  We kept right on doing what has been working like a charm to put, literally, several thousand white bass in the boat on Lake Belton since turnover.  That is — using the MAL Heavy Lure in a vertical fashion to tempt bottom-oriented white bass into chasing and striking this shad-imitating bait.

We fished only four areas this morning and, thanks to the cloud cover, saw fish at each location come way up off the bottom once we got a frenzy going beneath the boat.  I suspect they were using the greater amount of light there to help them hunt.  No matter where we went, it seemed that 20 feet beneath the surface was about as far as the fish would voluntarily go.  If they hadn’t struck the MAL Lure they were following by then, they would typically turn back and not strike.

The boys really enjoyed watching the fish pursue their presentation on Garmin LiveScope, and, I’ve noted over time that all of my anglers stay more engaged and work their baits more thoroughly when they know (and see) that there are actually fish present to work for.

The boys were very willing to be coached as they wanted to be successful.  As a result, they maximized their catch, minimized time consuming tangles, and helped us all be efficient in our approach to fishing productive waters and leaving less productive waters behind.

Our fish tally stood at 174 fish at 11AM.  The fish activity rapidly tapered off between 11 and 11:15AM as the morning bite wound down.  The boys earnest desired to hit the 200 fish mark.  I told them we’d give it some extra time (to 11:45 if need be) to achieve the goal, but that they’d really need to stay focused in order to transform each strike into a landed fish.

By 11:35, we’d landed our 200th fish.

Of the 200 fish landed, 188 were white bass, with 9 juvenile hybrid striped bass, 1 freshwater drum, and 2 blue cats mixed in.

MAL Lure fishing tutorials:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViVz6D91brM

MAL Lures are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 200 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:  

I took a temperature reading at 5′ increments down to 60′ before our front hits so as to compare that with our post-frontal temps later in the week.

0 feet 78.1 F
5 feet 78.1 F
10 feet 77.9 F
15 feet 77.4 F
20 feet 77.3 F
25 feet 77 F
30 feet 76.7 F
35 feet 76.6 F
40 feet 75.9 F
45 feet 75.2 F
50 feet 74.3 F
55 feet 74 F
60 feet 74 F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:20A

End Time: 11:35A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  72F

Elevation: 1.19 feet low, 0.03 fall, 59 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 75.1F

Wind Speed & Direction:  SSE11-13 all morning

Sky Condition: Gloomy grey skies all morning with 100% cloud cover.

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 72% illumination.

GT = 100

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area  fish, all on MAL Heavy Lure with silver blade/white tail fished vertically

**Area vic 0177 – 15  fish, all on MAL Heavy Lure with silver blade/white tail fished vertically

**Area vic 0154 – 70  fish, all on MAL Heavy Lure with silver blade/white tail fished vertically

**Area vic B0119C – 45 fish, all on MAL Heavy Lure with silver blade/white tail fished vertically

**Area vic 098 – 70 fish, all on MAL Heavy Lure with silver blade/white tail fished vertically

 

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 #mepps

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This morning, Monday, Oct. 25, I fished Lake Belton with a crew of three.  My two returning guests were Jered Benedick and his father, Don Benedick.  Joining me for the first time was Jered’s 12-year-old daughter, Jenna Kate.

Ron is a retired pastor from the Ardmore, OK, area; Jered is a former youth pastor who now offers mental health counseling to youth, and Jenna Kate is a seventh grade student in the Belton school district where she currently runs cross country and plays the cello.

Jenna Kate’s singular goal this morning, it seemed, was to see to it that the trio’s catch exceeded the total catch made when her brother, Tyler, came out with me back in April of this year.  That morning produced a catch of 150 white bass.

Here’s how this morning went…

______________

My next three openings will be on 2, 6, and 7 December.  Weekday mornings are always best.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:   From left: Jered, Jenna Kate, and Don Benedick with a portion of their 208-fish catch taken on MAL Heavy Lures fished vertically.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday (AM), 25 October 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

I hate to sound like a broken record, but, from the initial breakdown of the thermocline and until the water temperature falls to 58F, the fishing is predictably predictable.  These 200-some fish we caught today have been doing the same things at the same times and in the same places for nearly a month now, and will continue to do so until at least mid-December, if history is any teacher.  Local weather is the big wildcard, with dark early morning skies consistently keeping the bite at idle until the skies brighten to “squinting level” through the clouds.  Clear skies, like we enjoyed this morning, lead to a sudden brightening of the skies and a much more definitive start to the morning bite.

This morning we fished 6 locations.  Once we hooked the first “ice breaker” fish at each location, we kept the school of fish that first fish came from interested for 30-40 minutes at at time.  The fishing, thanks to the clear skies, was pretty evenly distributed with right at 100 fish in our first 2 hours, and another 108 fish in our final 90 minutes (we wrapped up a bit early to stay in mom’s good graces and get Jenna Kate back to school for her afternoon classes, as this was, after all, a school day).  This decision was made much easier because, at this time, the fog burned off, the wind stopped, the sun’s heat grew more intense, and the fish just quit biting.  Staying any longer was going to be anticlimactic and Jered recognized this.

Our six stops produced 38 fish, 31 fish, 21 fish, 21 fish, 36 fish, and 61 fish, respectively.  Once again, the strongest bite took place right before the fish finally quit, right around 3.5 hours past sunrise.

Although we took a few fish by casting horizontally using the sawtooth method, this was really just to introduce my crew to that method for their own use.  The fish really preferred the vertical presentation today.  Equipped with a view of the underwater world via Garmin LiveScope, my crew was deadly this morning with their MAL Heavy Lures.  The fellows used silver blade/white tails and Jenna Kate used the white blade/chartreuse tail (because the reels I have for these lures have higher gear ratios and helped her move her bait at the appropriate speed).

Although small fish will always be something to contend with in the fall and winter, today’s ratio of mature fish to small fish was noticeably higher.

By 11:00, we’d landed 208 fish.

Of the 208 fish landed, 205 were white bass, with 3 juvenile hybrid striped bass mixed in.

MAL Lure fishing tutorials:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViVz6D91brM

MAL Lures are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 208 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: With no cold fronts over the past week, and shortening days combined with cool nights, this morning’s surface temperature reading was nearly identical to last week’s at ~75.1 F.  Forecast shows a pretty stiff cold front due to hit Wednesday morning, 27 Oct.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:20A

End Time: 11:00A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  66F

Elevation: 1.15 feet low, 0.04 fall, 58 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 75.1F

Wind Speed & Direction:  Light and variable from SW under 3 all morning

Sky Condition: Clear skies until 9:30A at which time an unusual mid-morning, thin layer of fog formed which cut the light and heat nicely until right at 11A

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 80% illumination.

GT = 130

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 1659 – 38 fish, all on MAL Heavy Lure with silver blade/white tail fished vertically

**Area 565 – 31 fish, all on MAL Heavy Lure with silver blade/white tail fished vertically

**Area vic 817 – 21 fish, all on MAL Heavy Lure with silver blade/white tail fished vertically

**Area B0066C – 36 fish, all on MAL Heavy Lure with silver blade/white tail fished vertically

**Area 327 – 61 fish, all on MAL Heavy Lure with silver blade/white tail fished vertically

 

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 #mepps

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This morning, Saturday, October 23, I conducted a “Kids Fish, Too!” trip for Jonathan Schmitz, accompanied by his mom, Catherine.

Jonathan is 11 years old and is a student at Oak Creek Academy in Killeen.  This is a private, non-profit schooled geared toward exceptional learners.

Jonathan is doing well there, and he did well on my boat this morning, too!

______________

My next three openings will be on 2, 6, and 7 December.  Weekday mornings are always best.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:   Talk about grinning ear-to-ear!!!  These were Jonathan’s two largest white bass of this morning’s trip.

PHOTO CAPTION:   We even had a pair of blue catfish give Jonathan a run for his money.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Saturday (AM), 23 October 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

My “Kids Fish, Too!” trips are designed just for kids.  They last a maximum of 3.5 hours versus 4+ hours for adults, and they are significantly less expensive.  Instead of focusing on numbers of one particular fish, I try to focus on variety and transitions to keep the kids engaged so that the overall experience is a positive one.

Today, for example, we fished for white bass early on.  While we could have remained in one location on Spot-Lock and done just fine, instead, I moved us multiple times as soon as I noted Jonathan getting “antsy”.  That little transition created by doing something a bit different (motoring a few hundred yards or so) helped him refocus on the fishing we would do when we arrived at our new location.

Next, we went and looked at some old house foundations on the bottom of the lake in about 50 feet of water using sonar.  We then went to the deepest part of the lake to help Jonathan answer his own question about Belton’s deepest part.

Next, we headed up shallow and targeted sunfish with worm and float.  We then finished up the trip by swinging by the waterfall, and then letting Jonathan steer the boat back to our launch site.

By 10:50, we’d landed 36 fish.

Of the 36 fish landed, 24 were white bass, with 2 blue cat, and 10 sunfish in the mix.  The whites and blues all came on the MAL Heavy Lure fished vertically with the aid of Garmin LiveScope.  The sunfish came on slipfloat rigs and poles.

MAL Lure fishing tutorials:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViVz6D91brM

MAL Lures are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 36 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:20A

End Time: 10:50A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  70F

Elevation: 1.15 feet low, 0.04 fall, 58 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 75.4F

Wind Speed & Direction:  SSE8-9 all morning

Sky Condition: 100% heavy grey cloud cover which thinned out after the first hour, but remained at 100% coverage but let more light through.

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 93% illumination.

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area B0197C/B0104C- 14 fish, all on MAL Heavy Lure with silver blade/white tail fished vertically

**Area B0012C – 12 fish, all on MAL Heavy Lure with silver blade/white tail fished vertically

**Area 1583 – 10 sunfish on worm/slipfloat pole

 

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 #mepps

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This morning, Thursday, October 21, I welcomed aboard five members of the U.S. Air Force’s 3rd Air Support Operations Group (ASOG), headquartered at Fort Hood, Texas.

Joining me were Command Chief (E9) John Stockman from Alabama, Captain (03) Steve Kim from California , and Senior Airmen (E4) Zach Bell of New York, Carlos Guadarram of California, and Tanner Williams of Virginia.  All three of the younger airmen specialize in radio repair.

All five had fished previously, and had handled spinning gear before, so, a simple introduction to our vertical and horizontal tactics prior to launching were all that was in order to set the foundation for a successful day on the water.

My crew of five would land 303 fish this morning.  Here’s how it happened…

______________

My next three openings will be on 1, 2, and 6 December.  Weekday mornings are always best.

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left: Captain Steve Kim, Command Chief John Stockman, Senior Airman Carlos Guadarram, Senior Airman Tanner Williams, and Senior Airman Zach Bell, all from the 3rd Air Support Operations Group based at Fort Hood, TX.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday (AM), 21 October 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

Although you’d have hardly noticed it by being outdoors, a very mild cold front pushed over Texas this morning.  This changed the wind direction to NW around 3AM, and brought some cloud cover and NNW winds to the area by sunrise.

The fish responded to this barometric pressure change well and fed hard right up until the winds went slack and the skies brightened, around 10:40A.

We fished eight areas today.  If we encountered only small fish right off the bat, we moved.  Or, if we encountered a mix of sizes, but then “ran out” of larger fish, we moved.  We only stopped at one location where the fish we found were not feeding well enough for us to stay at least briefly and catch fish.  The eight areas we fished, listed below, all produced best as we employed vertical tactics with the MAL Heavy Lure and Garmin LiveScope.  In fact, at most areas we fished, I did not see enough fish out to our perimeter to cause me to consider using horizontal tactics.

Due to the steadily thinning clouds and steadily brightening sky, I moved steadily deeper, from 18 feet prior to sunrise, out to around 42 feet at our final stop.

The vertical tactics we employed are explained in the video link attached to this report.

By the time 11:20 had rolled around, we’d landed 303 fish.

Of the 303 fish landed, 282 were white bass, 5 freshwater drum, and 16 juvenile hybrid striped bass in the mix.

MAL Lure fishing tutorials:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViVz6D91brM

MAL Lures are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 303 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:15A

End Time: 11:20A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  64F

Elevation: 1.09 feet low, 0.01 fall, 58 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 75.2F

Wind Speed & Direction:  NNW3-5 all morning, with occasional and increasing calm spots in the final 90 minutes

Sky Condition: Broken 30% grey cloud cover at sunrise cleared in the first hour, then returned in the final hour.

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 99% illumination.

GT = 40

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 1659 – 20 fish, all on MAL Heavy Lure with silver blade/white tail fished vertically

**Area 1620 – 43 fish, all on MAL Heavy Lure with silver blade/white tail fished vertically

**Area 1672 – 101 fish, all on MAL Heavy Lure with silver blade/white tail fished vertically

**Area B0005G – 24 fish, all on MAL Heavy Lure with silver blade/white tail fished vertically

**Area B0012C – 36 fish, all on MAL Heavy Lure with silver blade/white tail fished vertically

**Area B0128C – 6 fish, all on MAL Heavy Lure with silver blade/white tail fished vertically

**Area B0106G – 29 fish, all on MAL Heavy Lure with silver blade/white tail fished vertically

**Area B0107G – 44 fish, all on MAL Heavy Lure with silver blade/white tail fished vertically

 

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 #mepps

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This morning, Wednesday, October 20, I welcomed aboard Ray Andrews of Georgetown, his grandfather, Butch Waddell of Amarillo, and Ray’s brother-in-law, Tyler Wimberly, from the Austin area.

Ray and his family are hosting his grandparents for a few days’ visit to Central Texas, and fishing was high on the list of things to do, along with eating at the Walburg German Restaurant and Biergarten in Walburg.

Ray is in the overhead door business in the Georgetown area, Butch, at age 84, is still working construction and keeping up with farm chores in Amarillo, and Tyler works at an AT&T retail location in the Austin area.

Ray came out with me previously for on-the-water sonar training after Josh Bingham and crew got him rigged up with a Minn Kota trolling motor and sonar for his new boat some time ago.

My crew of four would land 226 fish this morning.  Details follow…

______________

My next three openings will be on 1, 2, and 6 December.  Weekday mornings are always best.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left:  Butch Waddell, Ray Andrews, and Tyler Wimberly landed 226 fish during their 4-hour morning trip.  Most of the catching was done fishing MAL Heavy Lures vertically while viewing Garmin LiveScope.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday (AM), 20 October 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

This morning’s weather was a bit funky early on.  As I launched, a few sprinkles fell under heavy grey cloud cover (neither of which was in the forecast).  Our first 70 minutes or so was the slowest 70 minutes on a morning trip in the past 3 weeks or so as the light level remained low.

Around 8:20-8:30, the grey clouds began to give way to more broken, white clouds, and the atmosphere brightened.  As it did, the fish began to feed.

We fished seven locations this morning and caught the lion’s share of our fish using MAL Heavy Lures with silver blades and white tails fished vertically in conjunction with well-tuned Garmin LiveScope.

In reality, we could have conducted the entire trip at any 2 or 3 of these areas, but, once we encountered nothing but small fish in our catch, we moved on in hopes of adding more mature fish to our catch.

White bass continue to consolidate in the 30-foot range, hugging bottom in large schools.

No resident gulls have arrived yet, but, that will be the next “big thing” for the fishery, and will just further boost the off-the-charts fishing that is taking place right now.

This slow, tapering cool-down of the reservoir is just an ideal scenario for autumn fishing.

From a guy who makes and sells slabs, I am going to encourage any of you reading this who are still stubbornly insisting on using slabs at this time of year, to tie on one MAL Heavy Lure and give it a try the next time you find the same look on sonar that would normally cause you to drop a slab.  The results will amaze you.

You can get these at National Athletic Supply in Belton, Wooded Acres Tackle in Streetman, Eagle Express in Harker Heights, or directly from me at https://whitebasstools.com/

By the time 11:30 had rolled around, we’d landed 226 fish.

Of the 226 fish landed, 208 were white bass, with 1 largemouth bass, 1 freshwater drum, and 16 juvenile hybrid striped bass in the mix.

MAL Lure fishing tutorials:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViVz6D91brM

MAL Lures are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 226 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:  I’m seeing a trend that the final area I fish in the morning, right before the fish quit feeding, tends to be the longest, strongest bite of the morning.  Then, the fish just shut down quickly, over a matter of 10 minutes or so.  Very interesting.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:15A

End Time: 11:30A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  68F

Elevation: 1.09 feet low, 0.04 fall, 58 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 74.9F

Wind Speed & Direction:  S5 at sunrise, increasing slowly to S9 by trip’s end.

Sky Condition: Grey clouds coverage at 100% in the first 90 minutes, then slowly clearing to 25% white cover by trips’ end.

Moon Phase: Full moon at 100% illumination.

GT = 80

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area B0135C  – 25 fish, all on MAL Heavy Lure with silver blade/white tail fished vertically

**Area 1659 – 18 fish, all on MAL Heavy Lure with silver blade/white tail fished vertically

**Area B0005G – 38 fish, on both MAL Heavy Lure with silver blade/white tail fished vertically & MAL Heavy Lure with white blade/chart. tail fished with sawtooth retrieve

**Area B0104G – 8 fish, all on MAL Heavy Lure with silver blade/white tail fished vertically

**Area 447 – 13 fish, all on MAL Heavy Lure with silver blade/white tail fished vertically

**Area B0105G – 44 fish, all on MAL Heavy Lure with silver blade/white tail fished vertically

**Area B0118C/B0201C – 80 fish, on both MAL Heavy Lure with silver blade/white tail fished vertically & MAL Heavy Lure with white blade/chart. tail fished with sawtooth retrieve

 

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 #mepps

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This morning, Tuesday, October 19, I welcomed aboard a U.S. Army “Gold Star” family.

A family’s receipt of a “Gold Star” is an honor no family desires.  A Gold Star Family is the immediate family member(s) of a fallen service member who died while serving in a time of conflict.

Today, I fished with Britton Shoellhorn and his wife, Hollie (both disabled veterans), their foster son, Zach, and their adopted daughter, Jayden.  Jayden’s father, Sergeant First Class William K. Lacey, died while on active duty in 2014; her mother, Sergeant First Class Melissa Wojcik, died while on active duty in 2017; then, her first adoptive father, Sergeant First Class Jason Wojcik, also died while on active duty in 2017.

The kids were treated to their excursion free of charge via the Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun (SKIFF) program.

SKIFF is now in its 12th year, sponsored by the Austin Fly Fishers, and supported by individuals and entities, like the McBride Foundation, the Sun City Women Helping Others chapter, the Sun City Rod & Gun Club, and others, all of whom desire that kids separated from a parent by that parent’s military duty, be given an opportunity to experience the outdoors through fishing during that time of separation, free of charge.  The program offers a time of respite for the home-front parents who may need a short break from single-parenting.

My crew of four would land 205 fish this morning.  Details follow…

______________

My next three openings will be on 1, 2, and 6 December.  Weekday mornings are always best.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left: Britton, Jayden (age 14), Zach (age 8), and Hollie with a portion of their 205 fish catch from Lake Belton today.

 

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday (AM), 19 October 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

This morning’s fishing was 100% vertical.  We fished only four areas using only the MAL Heavy in white tail/silver blade.

I arrayed my four anglers abreast of one another on the starboard side of the boat, with two anglers on each of the two Garmin LiveScope units networked into a single transducer covering an elliptically-shaped area directly below each of them.  Each could see his/her lure rise and fall 100% of the time, so each knew when fish were nearby and could respond accordingly.

One of the challenges today was to help keep everyone from reeling their fish in too far.  Doing so greatly increases the odds of losing a fish right at boatside. Each improved on this such that, by the end of the trip, we were losing far fewer fish at the boat before they were swung overboard.

Zach was obsessed with our fish count.  At the start of the trip I told everyone I’d keep them updated with every tenth fish we landed.  That satisfied 8-year-old Zach up to around fish number 60.  After that, I believe he asked, “What number fish was that?” after every single fish.

We had two oddities occur today.  First, three of my four anglers managed to land rocks, then, Jayden landed a white bass which was both hooked in its mouth with the MAL Heavy Lure’s treble hook, and was “lassoed” with a half-hitch around the base of its tail.  In a lifetime of fishing I’d never seen that before.

We caught lots of fish, had lots of fun, and even got Jayden to reconsider her reluctance to trying “new things”.

By the time 10:45 had rolled around, we’d landed 205 fish.

Of the 205 fish landed, 191 were white bass, with 1 largemouth bass, 1 smallmouth bass, 1 freshwater drum, and 11 juvenile hybrid striped bass in the mix.

MAL Lure fishing tutorials:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViVz6D91brM

MAL Lures are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 205 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:  After the return of south winds yesterday following Friday’s most recent cold front arrival, balmy southerly winds brought increased humidity, some grey clouds and bit more pre-dawn warmth.  Lots of ospreys seen again today.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:15A

End Time: 10:45A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  55F

Elevation: 1.05 feet low, 0.04 fall, 58 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 76.85F

Wind Speed & Direction:  S8 at sunrise, increasing slowly to S11 by trip’s end.

Sky Condition: Grey clouds coverage at ~40% all morning.

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 99% illumination.

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 0140 thru B0101G – 59 fish, all on MAL Heavy Lure with silver blade/white tail fished vertically

**Area 138 – 18 fish, all on MAL Heavy Lure with silver blade/white tail fished vertically

**Area B0188C/1624 – 51 fish, all on MAL Heavy Lure with silver blade/white tail fished vertically

**Area B0103G – 77 fish, all on MAL Heavy Lure with silver blade/white tail fished vertically

 

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 #mepps

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This morning, Monday, October 18, I welcomed back the Gann family from Academy, Texas.  Roy and Julie treated their son, Austin, to a fishing trip in celebration of his 14th birthday.  Joining Austin was his buddy, Harley Higgins, age 13, also of Academy.

The Ganns first came out with me back in mid-August this year after we got acquainted over the donation of a fishing trip to the Academy FFA Boosters, which Austin is a part of.  After pizza at home last night with family and friends, it was an early wake-up on this school holiday to a 48F morning and a boatload of white bass to be caught.

My crew of four would land 236 fish this morning.  Details follow…

______________

My next three openings will be on 1, 2, and 6 December.  Weekday mornings are always best.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left: Roy & Julie Gann, Harley Higgins, and Austin Gann, all out on the water in celebration of Austin’s 14th birthday.

PHOTO CAPTION:  The MAL Heavy Lures were a good match size-wise and color-wise for the threadfin shad the white bass were gorging on today.  On top is the MAL Heavy with white blade/chartreuse tail used for horizontal work, and beneath it is the MAL Heavy with silver blade and white tail for vertical tactics.  The shad was regurgitated by one of the white bass we landed.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday (AM), 18 October 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

It was pretty chilly this morning, in fact, this is the first time I’ve worn long pants since late April or early May.  The air was at 48F, while the water was around 76F, thus causing “sea smoke” to form to about 80 yards above the lake’s surface.  This was thin enough to let some light through, but just thick enough to make fast boat travel hazardous.  No matter … we searched carefully near our launch point and found our first bunch of catchable white bass, 41 to be exactly, chasing shad in the lower two-thirds of the water column and occasionally breaking the surface as they chased even farther.

We would go on to fish a total of six additional locations.  The fishing stayed good until the low clouds burned off.  Then, with bright, clear skies and little wind, things got slower, although we still caught fish steadily.

Around 9:30 the first wind stiff enough to ripple the surface and keep it that way began, and, from that point on, the fish loosened up, fed hard, and provided my crew with some high-numbers fishing and continuous action.

At each place we fished, save the last, we began fishing MAL Heavy Lures with silver blades and white tails vertically, then changed over the MAL Heavy Lures with white blades and chartreuse tails for our horizontal work once the vertical bite slacked off.  We typically kept fishing horizontally once we began, except when an obvious, sizeable school of white bass showed on Garmin LiveScope.  When this happened, we’d fish them until they disappeared (typically 2-4 minutes later), then returned to horizontal work until another school showed beneath us, and so on.

The best run of catching came right before the fish quit feeding altogether.  At our final stop, which we fished for only about 25-30 minutes, we landed 72 fish with all four anglers catching faster than I could run around and take their fish off for them.

We finished up with 236 fish.  As our trip concluded, Harley told the Gann’s he was going to ask for a fishing trip for his 14th birthday in April, and, he told Austin that if it worked out, he’d be invited!!

Of the 236 fish landed, 227 were white bass, with 1 largemouth bass and 8 juvenile hybrid striped bass in the mix.

MAL Lure fishing tutorials:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViVz6D91brM

MAL Lures are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 236 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:  Return of south winds following post-frontal calm meant excellent fishing.  We spotted this fall’s first migrating bald eagle.  It was a juvenile, with a fully white head but a mottled brown/white tail.  Lots of ospreys are also showing up.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:10A

End Time: 11:30A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  48F

Elevation: 1.01 feet low, 0.03 fall, 58 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 76.85F

Wind Speed & Direction:  Light S winds under 5 through 9:30, then picking up quickly to S9 thereafter.

 

Sky Condition: Clear skies all morning.

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 96% illumination.

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area B0101G – 41 fish, MAL Heavy vert. & horiz.

**Area B0102G – 39 fish, MAL Heavy vert. & horiz.

**Area 164 – 35 fish, MAL Heavy vert. & horiz.

**Area 1658 – 32 fish, MAL Heavy vert. & horiz.

**Area 409/1679 -17 fish, MAL Heavy vert. & horiz.

**Area B0186C – 72 fish, MAL Heavy vert. only

 

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 #mepps

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This past Friday morning, October 15, I fished with first-time guests Mike Hausen, and his dad, Tom Stanley, both living in the Austin area.

Tom is a retired U.S. Army non-commissioned officer who spent his career in the armor branch (tanks), and Mike has had various roles in the auto business, from fixing cars to selling them, and more.  He’s now with a Honda dealership in Austin.

We enjoyed ideal, pre-frontal weather today and Mike and Tom’s 2-man fish count of 201 fish landed was a testament to that.

______________

My next three openings will be on 1, 2, and 6 December.  Weekday mornings are always best.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  Mike Hausen and his dad, Tom Stanley were flexible as to the timing of their trip, and were willing to receive some coaching to make the most of their time on the water.  The father and son landed 201 fish under ideal, pre-frontal conditions.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Friday (AM), 15 October 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

This trip was originally scheduled for Saturday, 16 Oct.  However, when I saw the weekend weather forecast developing back on Wednesday and Thursday, I saw we would have perfect prefrontal conditions on Friday morning as the winds swung from S through W to the NW in advance of a very slow moving front.  Saturday would feature high north winds, clear skies, cool temperatures, and bright sun.  I contacted Mike and Tom to see if there was any way they could move their trip to Friday, and, fortunately, they were able.  Pre-frontal fishing is often short-lived with just a few hours’ worth of a “window” to catch fish, but, it typically can’t be beat as far as fast fishing and excellent results.

We fished four areas this morning.  In reality, we could have stayed and continued to catch fish at any one of these, but, I chose to move us after I felt the bite had gone just “past peak” in order that Tom and Mike could enjoy the full potential for continuous, fast action which this day brought with it.

We alternated between fishing the MAL Heavy Lure (silver blade/white tail) vertically and horizontally (with an MAL Heavy Lure with white blade/chartreuse tail).  My preference is for the vertical fishing because, when this is done in conjunction with Garmin LiveScope, my anglers stay engaged and the presence of fish on the screen gives them confidence.  However, fish do lose interest after they see the lure over and over again, and/or they move off chasing after shad, and the “sawtooth method” of horizontal fishing does a great job of catching as we wait for fish to return to directly under the boat.

Additionally, whenever a large school of white bass shows on side-imaging, I quickly change my clients over to targeting those fish.  This is accomplished by having 2 sets of rods at the ready — one set with a more limber action and softer tip for vertical work and another set with a stiffer tip and lighter braid for horizontal work.

There was not a single full minute during our 4 hours on the water when we had our lines in the water and there was not at least a handful of white bass showing on sonar.  The fish were just feeding hard everywhere we looked for them.  At times, fish would fill the lower two-thirds of the water column as the chased shad and our lures up off bottom in this pre-frontal frenzy.

At 11:15, our fish count stood at 175 fish.  I told the fellows we’d fish until 11:30 or 200 fish, whichever came first.  At 11:30, we’d boated 199 fish.  I told them if they didn’t mind continuing to fish while I cleaned up the boat a bit (something I normally do after clients depart), we could give it another 10 minutes (but, I had to get home to see my wife off to a lady’s church retreat!!).  By 11:40, #200 and #201 crossed the gunwale, and we sped off for home.  An awesome morning with two nice guys!

Of the 201 fish landed, 188 were white bass, with 3 blue catfish and 10 juvenile hybrid striped bass in the mix.

MAL Lure fishing tutorials:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViVz6D91brM

MAL Lures are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 201 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:  Classic pre-frontal conditions today.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:15A

End Time: 11:40A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  70F

Elevation: 0.93 feet low, 0.01 rise, 58 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 77.0F

Wind Speed & Direction: SSW7 at trip’s start, swinging thru WSW, then W, then WNW, the NW as the lead edge of cool air from the cold front moved in as we wrapped up our trip.  Here’s a nice graphic of the windshift by Channel 10 out of Waco:

Sky Condition: Decreasing clouds from 70% down to 10% over our 4 hours on the water.

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 75% illumination.

GT = 15

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 1671 – 12 fish on MAL Heavy Lure (silver blade, white tail) worked vertically

**Area vic 525/526/B0116C/1822 – 81 fish on MAL Heavy (silver blade, white tail) worked vertically & MAL Heavy w/ white blade worked horizontally

**Area 1678 – 54 fish on MAL Heavy (silver blade, white tail) worked vertically & MAL Heavy w/ white blade worked horizontally

**Area B0186C  – 54 fish all on MAL Heavy Lure (silver blade, white tail) worked vertically

 

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 #mepps

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This past Thursday afternoon, October 14, I fished with a mother and son, Criselda and Eric Linares, on a short afternoon trip on Lake Belton.

After Wednesday night’s heavy rains associated with the passage of Hurricane Pamela, calm winds and the possibility of fog were called for in the morning.  I will avoid fishing in fog at all costs, so, we moved things around due to weather, and wound up fishing in the afternoon.

The afternoon bite on Belton tends to be shorter and weaker than the morning bite, so, we were going to get in a three hour trip instead of my usual four hour trip, but, traffic delays cost us an additional 25 minutes.  By the time Criselda and Eric made it aboard, we had about 2.5 hours of useful daylight to fish.

At this time, the combined total number of fish the two had ever landed in their lives was zero.  What happened over the next few hours is detailed below…

______________

My next three openings will be on 1, 2, and 6 December.  Weekday mornings are always best.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  Criselda and Eric Linares (age 10) had never landed a fish before this evening’s trip on Lake Belton.   Their first fishing trip resulted in a catch of 93 fish.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday (PM), 14 October 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

With no prior fishing experience on Crisela and Eric’s part, and limited time to work with, I searched for aggressive fish already in a feeding mode by gauging the height above bottom at which the fish I found with sonar were holding.  Fish very tight to bottom are typically a good bit tougher to catch than those holding 12-18″ off bottom.  Fortunately, thanks to humid, breezy conditions , we had lots of options to choose from when it came to locating fish, and I was able to follow through on this plan.

We wound up fishing five locations, each in exactly the same way.  All of our fishing was vertical this afternoon using the MAL Heavy in silver blade/white tail.  I did this mainly to avoid using the limited time we had in trying to teach two folks unfamiliar with casting how to do so.

We’d find fish, Spot-Lock on them, get lures down to them, begin working the lures vertically, and gauge fish response via Garmin LiveScope.  If the response was positive, we’d stay and catch until the fish lost interest and then would immediately move once the fish showed the first signs of letting up.  If the response was lackluster, we’d move immediately.

We landed 17 fish at our first stop, 21 fish at our second stop, 25 fish at our third stop, 8 fish at our fourth stop, and 22 fish at our final stop, for a total of 93 fish before the sun set and the fish quit.  All of our fishing was in ~34 feet of water.

At each stop, Criselda and Eric’s technique and fish-fighting abilities improved, and Eric, who was pretty quiet and stoic at first, came out of his shell and got excited about fishing, catching fish, holding fish, and riding in the boat.

By the time we parted ways back at the boat ramp parking lot, my two guests’ lifetime fish count had gone from zero to awesome in 2.5 hours flat!!

Of the 93 fish landed, 84 were white bass, with 1 smallmouth bass and 8 juvenile hybrid striped bass in the mix.

MAL Lure fishing tutorials:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViVz6D91brM

MAL Lures are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 93 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: The 2020 stocking of hybrid striped bass is really looking promising.  These should be to 3 pounds and 18″ by 2023.  They are routinely showing up at about 3-4% of my white bass bycatch just about everywhere I’m fishing on Lake Belton now.  This evening, they made up 8.6% of the catch.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 4:45P

End Time: 7:15P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  79F

Elevation: 0.94 feet low, 0.26′ fall, 58 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 77.1F

Wind Speed & Direction: S7-9

Sky Condition: Clear skies all afternoon

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 65% illumination.

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area B0016G – all on MAL Heavy Lure (silver blade, white tail) worked vertically

**Area vic 0154 – all on MAL Heavy Lure (silver blade, white tail) worked vertically

**Area 1672/1815 – all on MAL Heavy Lure (silver blade, white tail) worked vertically

**Area 1619 – all on MAL Heavy Lure (silver blade, white tail) worked vertically

**Area vic 0138 – all on MAL Heavy Lure (silver blade, white tail) worked vertically

 

 

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 #mepps