CLIENTS: This past Saturday morning I was joined by the Gladden family – Kelvin, Angela, and Tevin — for the second weekend in a row to pursue white bass on Lake Belton on an all catch-and-release basis.
DATE: Saturday, 14 September 2024 (AM)
NEXT OPEN DATES: 17 (AM), and 18-19, 23-27 Sep. (AMs and PMs)
PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Kelvin, Angela, and Tevin Gladden with but a few of the 204 fish they landed in just 4 hours on this September weekend trip on Lake Belton. The largest white bass of the trip, being held by Angela, went 15.75″ – a true Texas magnum.
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:
Fishing was very straightforward and very productive this morning. We spent a very short time between 6:50 and sunrise downrigging in water less than 20 feet deep for roving schools of white bass, catching 13 white bass before the sun’s direct rays struck the water and drove fish deeper.
From that point on, we hit only four additional areas, and “camped out” for substantial lengths of time at each, working MAL Originals with chartreuse tails vertically for an additional 191 fish landed through our quitting time around 11 AM.
In each case these fish were scattered at first, as seen on sonar. They consolidated under the boat thanks to the splasher, and they remained under the boat as the splasher and the commotion created by catching and releasing fish attracted additional fish. In each case, we left fish still biting as the action at each location peaked, and then began to taper off as I felt the conditions (with wind and cloud cover) would allow us to find additional schools of fish which were more active.
Last week, the Gladden party included 4 with their son, Kelvin, who did not make it today. This week, the three of them landed 204 versus the 117 which all four of them landed last week. I attribute this both to the returning south wind which began late this past Thursday, and the fact that the Gladdens had no learning curve to work through today.
Here is a tutorial on vertically smoking the MAL Lure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE
Here is a tutorial on horizontally “sawtoothing” with the MAL Lure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3FMEQHOMQ
LURES USED SUCCESSFULLY ON THIS TRIP: We downrigged with #12 Pet Spoons. We smoked MAL Originals vertically. Find all MAL Lures here: https://whitebasstools.com/
TALLY: 204 fish caught and released, including 1 freshwater drum, 9 short hybrids, and 194 white bass
OBSERVATIONS:
1) The number of bottom-oriented schools of white bass now found in deep water AND showing a willingness to remain stationary long enough to allow for presentations to be made for substantial lengths of time are increasing sharply.
2) Third day of helpful southerly winds (and with good velocity of 10+ mph) following 7 days of northerly winds.
3) The harder the wind blew, the better our result, hence a 99 fish catch at the last stop of the morning when we were just shy of whitecapping at 12-13 mph from due south.
LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:
Here was the water temperature profile for Lake Belton, measured with a FishHawk TD device around 6:35 AM on Saturday, September 7 , then again around 6:10AM on Monday, September 9…
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 6:45A
End Time: 11A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 77F
Elevation: 0.99′ low and falling slowly with a 52 cfs flow; .02′ fall in last 24 hours
Water Surface Temp: 80.7F on the surface.
Wind Speed & Direction: S9-13 all morning
Sky Condition: Fair skies with high, thin, white cloud cover at ~70%
Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 82% illumination.
GT = 5
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
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