CLIENTS:  This past Tuesday morning, Nov. 12, I welcomed aboard returning guest Frank Sumner, accompanied by first-time guest Mike Tracy for a morning of all catch-and-release white bass fishing on Lake Belton.

Frank is a retired U.S. Army veteran and a faithful member of, and volunteer at, New Beginnings Church, an Assembly of God church located in Harker Heights, Texas.

Due to the forecast for very low wind velocity following a cold front’s passage this past Friday/Saturday, I postponed my trip on Monday, and, about an hour into this trip, wondered if I should have done likewise.  Here’s how it went…

 

DATE: Tuesday, 12 November 2024 (AM)

 

NEXT OPEN DATES: 29 November, 2-6 December (weekday AMs).  Next Saturday opening: 14 December (AM)

 

PHOTO CAPTION:   From left: Frank Sumner and Pastor Mike Tracy with a few of the 93 fish they landed working shad-imitating baits vertically and horizontally on Lake Belton.

 

PHOTO CAPTION: This is what I am looking for before directing my clients to switch from vertical presentations over to a horizontal “sawtooth” method using White Tornados.  Literally hundreds of white bass were out to the portside of the boat within easy casting range.

 

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

As the wind went, so went the fishing this morning.  We caught not a single fish in our first hour as the surface remained glassy and calm … I simply found no fish to fish for.  Entering into our second hour, the wind began to stir from the SE (it was forecast to be SE6-7 all morning).  We began to find fish in the 30′ range, and we began to catch them fishing MAL Originals vertically with a smoking tactic in conjunction with Garmin LiveScope.

As the winds built, the bite improved and we began to see more fish beneath us and out to our left and right as we remained in place.  Soon, the fish beneath us began to come up off bottom and feed throughout the water column, and large, roving schools could be seen on side-imaging.

As I saw these schools, and knew they were directly in-line with the transducer on my transom, I directed the fellows to cast White Tornados out into them and work them with a sawtooth method successfully.  These lures are designed to get to bottom VERY quickly (at 1 3/8 oz.) and have their blade spin reliably without too much effort on the angler’s part.

As the bite peaked in this area, about 4-5 gulls took notice of the occasional shad skipping out of the water as white bass chased them to the surface.

As the wind died down, the bite died down, but by this time Mike and Frank had landed 49 fish.

We moved on and found another, smaller, less aggressive school of fish on bottom, also in the 30′ range.  This yielded another 14 fish.

After this area settled, I noted the wind was picking up again, so, we revisited the first area which had produced so well.  It yielded another 30 fish, allowing these fellows to really make good on a day which started poorly.

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

 

RESULTS: 93 fish, all caught and released

 

LURES USED SUCCESSFULLY ON THIS TRIP:  We primarily used MAL Originals (w/ chartreuse tails) vertically, and White Tornados (white, 1 3/8 oz.) horizontally today.  Find all MAL Lures and White Tornados here: https://whitebasstools.com/

 

OBSERVATIONS:

1) The long run of fantastic fall fishing which began in early September has now begun to be impacted by increased frontal activity.  The fishing has now become cyclical, following the arrival and departure of cold fronts.  The more wind, the better.  Fishing will be poor with calm conditions.

2) Mornings are much more productive than evenings at this point in the fall.

 

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Here was the water temperature profile for Lake Belton, measured with a FishHawk TD device around 7:00 AM on Saturday, 10 Nov….

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:15A

End Time: 11:40A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 54F

Elevation: 2.39′ low and falling slowly with a 43 cfs flow

Water Surface Temp: 72.7F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: Calm at trip’s start & for 1 hour, then going quickly SE6-7 thereafter

Sky Condition: Light blue, cloudless skies

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 86% illumination.

GT = 5

 

Wx SNAPSHOT: 

 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:  

Area 1177/B0119C   – 49 fish smoking MAL Originals & sawtoothing White Tornados

Area vic B03119C/1506  – 14 fish smoking MAL Originals

Area 1177/B0119C (second visit)  – 30 fish smoking MAL Originals

 

 

 

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

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