CLIENTS: This morning, Friday, October 17, I fished with a father and his three sons in a trip coordinated by Trent Olsen‘s wife, Josie, in celebration of his October 1 retirement from the U.S. Army as a senior noncommissioned officer in the Infantry branch over 20 years.
Joining me was Trent Senior, Trent Junior, Jonathan, and Jeremiah Olsen.
TODAY’S DATE: Friday, 17 October 2025 (AM)
NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING: Tuesday, 28 October 2025 (AM or PM)
PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Trent Jr., Jeremiah, Jonathan, and Trent Olsen Sr. each with white bass taken on MAL Heavy Lures fished vertically in water 30-40′ deep.
PHOTO CAPTION: After our SE wind began to die around 10:40, the white bass bite fell off, so, we retooled and my crew landed 7 bluecat (and missed a few more) in just under an hour using doughbait fished near bottom.
FIND THE LURES WE USED HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:
We got going around 7:10 AM and immediately got into fish during the low light period between first light and the time when the sun broke over the eastern horizon. These fish were in fast moving schools just on and up off of the bottom in the 30 foot range. We caught seven fish as four singles and one triple, all on #12 pet spoons behind three-armed umbrella rigs on a pair of downriggers.
This fishing quickly dried up when the sun broke over the horizon, and from that point through about 10:40 we worked MAL Heavy Lures with chartreuse tails vertically with a smoking tactic at four distinct locations to boat an additional 53 white bass, all of legal size.
Around 10:40 AM, the southeasterly breeze we’d enjoyed all morning relaxed, and the bite quickly faded with it. I had previously baited an area with a mind to going back to that area and fishing it for catfish. I went ahead and pulled the trigger on that plan and, in the final 50 minutes of the trip this crew quickly got the hang of detecting bites, setting hooks, and landing blue catfish using doughbait fish just inches off the bottom in conjunction with Garmin LiveScope.
Our final count was 67 fish including 59 white bass, 1 hybrid striped bass, and 7 blue catfish.
RESULTS: 67 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 0.50′ low with a 0.02 fall in the last 24 hours with USACE releasing 43 CFS.
- The white bass use of bottom seems to be increasing with each passing day as the water temperature continues to decrease, albeit very slowly.
- The water surface temperature fell below 79F for the first time since the spring warmup this morning before sunrise.
LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE: Taken on Lake Belton around 2 PM, Sunday, 12 October …
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 7:10A
End Time: 11:25A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 64F
Elevation: Belton is 0.50′ low with a 0.02 fall in the last 24 hours with USACE releasing 43 CFS
Water Surface Temp: 78.9F on the surface.
Wind Speed & Direction: SE6 at trip’s start, building to SE9 by 9:05, then tapering off thereafter to SE4 by trip’s end
Sky Condition: 15% cloud cover on a hazy white sky
Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 13% illumination.
GT = 5
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