CLIENTS: This past Friday morning I hosted members of the David Goode family once again for the third time this fall. Joining me were David Goode, his daughter and son-in-law, Sarah and Joe Cambra, and his grandsons, Luke Bauser (16) and Rylan Smith (13)
DATE: Friday, 18 October 2024 (AM)
NEXT OPEN DATES: Next open dates: 5, 7, 8 November (weekday AMs and PMs). Next Saturday opening: 30 November (AM)
PHOTO CAPTION: From left, David Goode, Sarah Cambra, Rylan Smith, Luke Bauser and Joe Cambra landed 330 fish on Belton Lake on Friday morning over a four-hour span. All fish were taken on the MAL Original worked with a “smoking” tactic.
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:
The excellent early autumn fishing pattern which developed very quickly in early September was reinforced and enhanced by another dry, mild cold front which blew in on Wednesday, 16 October.
We had a stiff southeasterly breeze all morning with about 25% cloud cover which helped keep the bite going for a full 4 hours.
In short, this crew of five caught fish from start to finish as the fish fed very aggressively. David and Sarah had previous experience, so there was no learning curve for them, and Rylan, Luke, and Joe all had fished plenty before, so they caught onto the smoking tactic very quickly. We did have some other boats come in on top of us, and that gave us all a chance to see how the smoking tactic compared with yo-yo fishing a slab. The MAL Lure used vertically was outcatching the slab at least 10 to 1.
We fished 6 areas only until the bite began to slack off (not until it died completely). Since the conditions were so good, I did not hesitate to leave fish to find more aggressive fish, and that gamble paid off.
100% of this morning’s fish came on the MAL Original with chartreuse tail raced up off the bottom using the smoking tactic explained in the link below.
One tip I passed on to the crew was to leave at least 2.5 to 3 feet of line between the rod tip and the fish while swinging the fish from the water into the boat. Leaving any less line results in fish being lost at the boat quite frequently.
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: 330 fish, including 21 short hybrid striped bass, 1 freshwater drum, 3 largemouth bass, and 305 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) Around 10A, we spotted a very large migratory school of gulls, numbering several hundred birds. These were not “on fish” and did not help us find fish, but, it was good to see the seasonal changes coming in with the cold fronts.
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, 18 Oct….
And here was the water temperature profile from the week before taken around 7:30 AM on Thursday, 10 Oct….
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 7:50A
End Time: 12:10P
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 64F
Elevation: 1.87′ low and falling slowly with a 43 cfs flow; .01′ fall in last 24 hours (w/ inflow from Proctor)
Water Surface Temp: 76.8F on the surface.
Wind Speed & Direction: ESE9-13
Sky Condition: 25% white cloud cover on a hazy blue sky.
Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 98% illumination.
GT = 30
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