BEGGING TO GO – 119 FISH

WHO I FISHED WITH:  On Wednesday morning, October 12th, I fished with U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Aaron Sepaugh and his two sons, 10-year-old Braden, and 7-year-old Tucker.

The boys fished with me previously when Aaron was deployed to Europe in his role as an Apache helicopter pilot.  Since his return, the boys have been begging him to go fishing again, and today was the day they made that happen on a little break from their coursework at Central Texas Christian School.

Here is how the fishing went …

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PHOTO CAPTION:   Vertical and horizontal use of the MAL Original were the ticket for white bass which have now begun relating to bottom in greater numbers thanks to significant cooling of the water down to the 40-45 foot level.  All of our fish were in 34 feet of water, or less.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday, 12 October 2022 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED:

The fish were very “fired up” this morning and, although we could have caught fish by employing just one of the three techniques we employed this morning, in the interest of adding variety to keep the kids’ interest, we wound up using vertical MAL Lure tactics, horizontal MAL Lure tactics, and downrigging with Pet Spoons to put together our catch.

The fishing followed a pretty obvious curve this morning with fish activity spiking at sunrise, then slowly tapering to a finish by around 11:30.  As evidence, we landed 50 fish in our first hour, another 54 fish in the following 2.25 hours, and a final 15 fish in our last .75 hours.

Fall fishing (my favorite of the year) is kicking in fast.  We never had to probe below 34 feet today to stay in ample concentrations of fish the entire morning.

Our first 50 fish were taken solely by working MAL Dense Lures vertically.  We split our next 54 fish equally between vertical MAL Lure work followed by downrigging once the fish slowed down a bit on their chase speed.  Although there was potential for catching fish with a horizontal tactic, the boys were new at casting spinning gear and that, combined with a cross wind, diminished their chances of success.  Still, they caught a few fish that way.

Our final 15 fish were spread across two area which we hit quickly and fished only vertically until the fish turned off to that tactic.

The MAL Dense with white body and chartreuse tail was the charm today as the extra weight helped the boys maintain contact with their lures all the time.

TUTORIAL SMOKING VIDEO (Vertical): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE
TUTORIAL SAWTOOTH VIDEO (Horizontal): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3FMEQHOMQ

TALLY:  119 fish caught and released

Find MAL Lures here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS: The slow arrival of a mild, dry cold front due in overnight caused a windshift from S to WSW this morning and, no doubt, enhanced the bite.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:30A

End Time:  11:35A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 70F

Elevation: 12.12 feet low,  0.12′ fall in last 24 hours, 384 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 77.1F

Wind Speed & Direction:  S4-5, shifting and increasing to WSW11-12 by trip’s end.  A noticeable uptick occurred right at 10A.

Sky Condition: <5% white clouds on a blue sky

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 92% illumination.

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:  

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area vic 1000 – 50 fish in the first hour, all on smoked MAL Dense Lures

Area B0085C to 0187 to B0174C – 2.25 hours to catch 54 fish with a 50/50 split on downrigging vs. smoking.

Area B0154G – 6 fish via smoking MAL Dense Lures

Area B0155G – a final 9 fish via smoking MAL Dense Lures

 

 

Bob Maindelle

Full-time, Professional Fishing Guide and Owner of Holding the Line Guide Service

Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle

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