CLIENTS: This morning I welcomed the Ellis family aboard — Mason and Emily Ellis and their two kids — Barron (age 6) and Leah (age 4). Everyone took a break from HVAC work (https://www.ellisairsystems.com/) and school today for a little bit of family fishing time before the weather gets uncomfortably cool for younger kids, and before the great variety of fishing options we have right now begins to dry up.
DATE: Thursday, 10 October 2024 (AM)
NEXT OPEN DATES: Next open dates: 18, 21, 23, 24 Oct. (weekday AMs and PMs). Next Saturday opening: 02 November (AM)
PHOTO CAPTION: The Ellis family landed 106 fish this morning. From left, that’s Barron (6), Mason, Emily, and Leah (4). The kids had never seen the Lake Belton Waterfall before, so we ran down to it to see it and used it as our family photo backdrop.
PHOTO CAPTION: Rumor has it Barron picked this habit of kissing fish up from his grandpa. Now, these were no pretend pecks from an inch or two away — no, these were full on, double-lipped smackers! When Barron pulled these fish away from his lips, they left some slime behind!!
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:
Whenever young children are involved, I like to provide some “instant gratification” to get the kids attention and let the see they are able to catch fish. Today I did that by having some sunfishing prepared as soon as the kids stepped aboard and donned lifevests. Barron and Leah landed 5 sunfish and, as they did, I assessed their abilities to follow instructions, etc., so I could plan ahead for the rest of the morning.
It was pretty clear early on that my two fishermen were going to be Emily and Barron, whereas Mason and Leah could take or leave the fishing and were content being in the outdoors, sharing snacks, and cheerleading for mom and brother.
We hit just three areas this morning for white bass and fished MAL Originals vertically at each one very successfully as a SE wind rippled the surface sufficiently to keep the fish feeding for the 3.25 hours the kids stayed engaged.
Around 10:40, topwater action began to pop up here and there allowing for sight-casting, but, that was not a good fit for my crew. So, we decided to wrap up the trip by trying for a double or a triple by downrigging around the perimeter of some of these schools of white bass showing themselves on the surface. We hooked three sets of doubles, but lost one fish on each on our first two attempts. Finally, on the third try, Barron got the double he was after, taking our final tally to 106 fish.
By this time the kids’ attention span was spent and it was time to head in.
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 99% of the time for our white bass this morning. Find all MAL Lures and White Tornados here: https://whitebasstools.com/
TALLY: 106 fish, including 6 short hybrid striped bass, 2 freshwater drum, and 98 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.
LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:
Here was the water temperature profile for Lake Belton, measured with a FishHawk TD device around 7:30 AM on Thursday, 10 Oct….
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 7:45A
End Time: 11:15A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 61F
Elevation: 1.67′ low and falling slowly with a 43 cfs flow; .03′ fall in last 24 hours (w/ inflow from Proctor)
Water Surface Temp: 79.2F on the surface.
Wind Speed & Direction: SE6
Sky Condition: 0% cloud cover on a pale blue sky.
Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 47% illumination.
GT = 40
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