CLIENTS: This evening, Sunday, October 12, I was joined by the husband and wife team of Bryan and Kelly Aspen of Belton. Kelly put this trip together in celebration of Bryan‘s birthday.  Neither husband or wife was any stranger to the outdoors. Both grew up fishing and boating in Wisconsin, and this prior experience came in handy this evening.

Kelly now works for Bird Creek Roofing after a career as a women’s volleyball coach, and Bryan educates surgeons on using medical devices which help trauma patients recover from badly broken bones.

TODAY’S DATE: Sunday, 12 October 2025 (PM)

NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING: Monday, 27 October 2025 (AM or PM)

 

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  Kelly and Bryan Aspen fished with me this past Sunday evening after Kelly coordinated this for Bryan’s birthday many weeks in advance.  The couple landed a mixed bag of 41 fish.

FIND CORK RIGS, SANDY SANDWICHES & OTHER WHITE BASS/HYBRID LURES HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

We fished from 3:15 until just after sunset at 7:15 PM. As is often the case on afternoon trips, our first hour was a bit slow, but, we still managed to find good congregations of bottom-oriented white bass in 34 to 40 feet of water. These fish were very picky. Whenever a school passed beneath the boat, as witnessed on Garmin LiveScope, the very first time we worked through them vertically from off the bottom, we would typically get aggressive chases, and, if we were going to catch fish from that school, that’s when the catch would happen. After letting the MAL Heavy lures return to the bottom, if the fish were still present, they seemed to lose interest very, very quickly.

As we moved into the 4 o’clock hour, the fish began to show signs of increasing aggression and so we stayed on them and caught fish steadily through about 5 PM. By this time, Kelly and Bryan had landed a total of 17 fish.

From 5 PM to 6:10 PM we fished over an area I baited prior to my clients’ arrival. After Spot-Locking, I freshened the area back up with some grain and we began fishing doughbait. We picked up 10 blue cat and one channel cat during this time, with several fish missed at the beginning as Kellyand Bryan went through the learning curve of detecting and reacting to a bite, and several additional fish missed simply because no one connects 100% of the time. From 6:15 until we wrapped up at 7:15 PM, we downrigged as fish transitioned from the 40 foot level into the mid 20 to 30 foot range. Kelly and Bryan landed singles and doubles routinely and we wrapped up with a total of 41 fish. Three of the fish they landed on this final downrigging effort were hybrid stripers.

 

RESULTS: 41 fish, all caught and released

 

OBSERVATIONS: Belton is 0.46′ low with a 0.03 fall in the last 24 hours with USACE releasing 43 CFS.

 

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:  Taken on Lake Belton around 6:35AM, Saturday, 04 October …

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 3:15P

End Time: 7:15P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 90F

Elevation: Belton is 0.46′ low with a 0.03 fall in the last 24 hours with USACE releasing 43 CFS.

Water Surface Temp: 81.9F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction:  S9-12 all evening

Sky Condition: 0% cloud cover on a blue sky

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 62% illumination.

GT = 55

 

Wx SNAPSHOT:  

 

 

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