CLIENTS: This Thursday morning I was joined by first-time guests Mike Burns, Mike’s nephew, Zach Friedmansky, and Mike’s neighbor, Scott Tingey. Mike and Scott are now retired, and Zach, having just graduated from high school, is looking to get into a firefighting academy in Florida to pursue a career in that field.
DATE: Thursday, 19 September 2024 (AM)
NEXT OPEN DATES: 23 & 24 (PM), 25-27 Sep. (AMs and PMs)
PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Scott Tingey, Zach Friedmansky, and Mike Burns with a few of the 200 fish they landed on a mid-September morning trip on Lake Belton. 198 of the 200 fish were taken on the MAL Original smoked at a moderate cadence up off the bottom.
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:
As I’ve previously reported, fishing has gotten much easier and much more productive ever since the brief cold snap we experienced for a 4-day run, beginning on Sept. 6.
A big, bold full moon was still shining brightly in the western sky as we launched before sunrise this morning. Not surprisingly, the shallow water bite was less productive today, with about 40-minutes’ worth of downrigging effort producing only 2 caught fish and 2 missed fish.
Even after the sun rose, it was another 25 minutes or so until the bite really got going. Once the winds came up and fanned the flames, the fishing was excellent from about 8:40 to 10:50.
During this time my crew of three worked MAL Originals with chartreuse tails vertically for fish which were found in the lower fourth of the water column in the 30 foot range, with some deeper.
The fish quickly responded to the splasher once we got Spot-Locked, moving toward the commotion in large schools. Once lures were dropped into those large schools, the fish competed with one another to get to the lure first, and this kept hooked fish coming over the side continuously.
At the 4-hour mark, they had 191 fish landed. I suggested we stay until 11:10, or until they’d landed 200 fish, whichever came first. Fish #200 came over the side at 11:07 — we then pulled the plug and the crew debated heading either for Miller’s Smokehouse in Belton, or Old Jody’s Restaurant in Temple.
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 smoked MAL Originals vertically. Find all MAL Lures and White Tornados here: https://whitebasstools.com/
TALLY: 200 fish caught and released, including 2 short hybrids, 3 freshwater drum, and 195 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 have increased sharply; it looks like these fish are there to stay.
2) Zero topwater action (not surprisingly, thanks to a full moon).
3) No shallow water, low-light downrigging action (again, not surprisingly, thanks to a full moon).
LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:
Here was the water temperature profile for Lake Belton, measured with a FishHawk TD device around 6:35 AM on Thursday, September 19…
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 6:50a
End Time: 11:07a
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 77F
Elevation: 1.09′ low and falling slowly with a 52 cfs flow; .02′ fall in last 24 hours
Water Surface Temp: 83.7F on the surface.
Wind Speed & Direction: S7-12..
Sky Condition: ~15% white cloud cover on a light blue sky.
Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 98% illumination.
GT = 20
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