CLIENTS: This evening, Tuesday, October 7, I ran a “Kids Fish, Too!“ trip in celebration of James Roger‘s forthcoming sixth birthday. Accompanying this young man were his maternal grandparents, Dwight (BoomPa) and Connie (Yaya) Stone of Georgetown. We originally had this on the books for this morning, but, life intervened and required that we go this afternoon.
TODAY’S DATE: Tuesday, 07 October 2025 (PM)
NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING: Monday, 06 October 2025 (AM or PM)
PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Dwight Stone, the birthday boy James Rogers, and Connie Stone with two of the 39 fish James reeled in in celebration of his upcoming 6th birthday.
FIND CORK RIGS, SANDY SANDWICHES & OTHER WHITE BASS/HYBRID LURES HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:
I arrived several hours early to get a feel for where the fish and bait were since I’ve not fished this lake in the evening for quite some time. During that scouting time, I also chummed several areas in preparation for going back and fishing those areas for blue cat.
Having many years of experience fishing with younger kids, I knew we needed to keep the multiple chapters of this trip short and successful, especially given that it was particularly toasty this afternoon.
As we began, we headed up shallow under bright, partly cloudy conditions, and targeted sunfish with live bait. We wound up with exactly 13 bluegill before closing out that chapter.
Next, I used sonar to find deep, schooled white bass congregated sufficiently to allow us to work MAL Heavy Lures vertically using a smoking tactic in 35-40 feet of water.
We landed five white bass and one freshwater drum taking our tally to 19 fish landed before closing that chapter.
We moved on to the deepest of the baited areas I had previously chummed thank to the still-intense sun and low winds. We added 7 blue catfish too our tally, all taken on doughbait in right at 50 feet of water.
We closed out the trip with an additional 13 fish (12 whites, 1 hybrid) all taken in under 34 feet of water downrigging with #12 Pet Spoons as white bass got active and began to move shallow as sunset approached.
Wisely, BoomPa and Yaya decided to wrap up at about 6:50 so as to end on a good note, just before sunset and while young James was still in a good mood and enjoying this outdoor experience.
James’ total came to 39 fish with a mixed bag which which included five different species of fish – bluegill, white bass, hybrid striped bass, freshwater drum, and blue catfish.
RESULTS: 39 fish, all caught and released
TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW “SMOKE” AN MAL LURE VERTICALLY: Click here for tutorial
TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW TO FISH AN MAL LURE HORIZONTALLY USING THE SAWTOOTH METHOD: Click here for tutorial
OBSERVATIONS: Belton is 0.21′ low with a 0.03 fall in the last 24 hours with USACE releasing 43 CFS. Saw the first flocks of coots show up today as they begin migrating south for the winter.
LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE: Taken on Lake Belton around 6:35AM, Saturday, 04 October …
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 3:45P
End Time: 7:49P
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 91F
Elevation: Belton is 0.21′ low with a 0.03 fall in the last 24 hours with USACE releasing 43 CFS.
Water Surface Temp: 84.1F on the surface.
Wind Speed & Direction: N5 all afternoon with winds beginning around 3:30P thanks to a very mild cold front.
Sky Condition: 70% white cloud cover on a blue sky as a mild cold front tried to push in
Moon Phase: Full moon at 100% illumination.
GT = 5
Wx SNAPSHOT: N/A
AREAS FISHED WITH MOST 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