CLIENTS: This morning I welcomed back Mr. David Goode, this time accompanied by his son, David Jr., and his daughters, Amanda Bauser and Sarah Goode, after David brought a handful of his employees from Goode Towing out last Wednesday.
DATE: Tuesday, 08 October 2024 (AM)
NEXT OPEN DATES: Next open dates: 21, 23, 24 Oct. (weekday AMs and PMs). Next Saturday opening: 02 November (AM)
PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Amanda Bauser, Sarah, David Jr., and David Goode, with 8 of the 216 fish they landed on this early October white bass fishing trip on Lake Belton. This crew raced MAL Originals upward off bottom through active fish to put together this solid catch.
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:
Today was a continuation of the excellent white bass fishing for high numbers of fish which began quite suddenly on Sept. 6th with a 4-day long dip in our temperatures. Since that time only a handful of children’s trips have not exceeded 100 fish caught in a four-hour morning, with one 300+ fish trip, and several 200+ fish trips now in the books, including this morning’s trip.
Fishing was very simple today. We found them, parked atop them, presented MAL Originals vertically using a “smoking” tactic, and enjoyed the catching from that point on. We did this at four distinct locations today. At the first three, the fish were on the bottom and we enjoyed at least a bit of wind.
The wind quit around 9:25 and the fishing slowed, but was still productive. At the last place we fished, I was drawn to the area by some light topwater action. As I drove to it and slowed down to let sonar work, I could see a band of fish between 35-40′ down over a 63′ bottom with some timber sprinkled in. I let everyone know not to let down to bottom as they watched Garmin LiveScope, but rather to let down to just 2-3 feet below the deepest fish showing on sonar. This worked like a charm. My crew of 4 landed 138 of their 216 fish from this large, suspended shoal of fish.
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 or White Tornado: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3FMEQHOMQ
LURES USED SUCCESSFULLY ON THIS TRIP: We smoked MAL Originals vertically 100% of the time. Find all MAL Lures and White Tornados here: https://whitebasstools.com/
TALLY: 216 fish, including 9 short hybrid striped bass, 1 blue catfish, 1 largemouth bass, and 205 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; these fish are there to stay, likely until the water temps drop below 60F.
2) Watching for late-morning, light topwater action was a key to finding fish after the winds stopped blowing this morning around 9:25.
3) Migratory birds are becoming more and more numerous, including osprey, gulls, terns, cormorants, coots, and pelicans.
LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:
Here was the water temperature profile for Lake Belton, measured with a FishHawk TD device around 7:30 AM on Friday, 04 Oct….
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 7:45A
End Time: 11:15A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 64F
Elevation: 1.60′ low and falling slowly with a 43 cfs flow; .02′ fall in last 24 hours (w/ inflow from Proctor)
Water Surface Temp: 81.3F on the surface.
Wind Speed & Direction: NNW4-6, then slacking off to near calm by 9:25
Sky Condition: 0% cloud cover on a light blue sky.
Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 27% 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