CLIENTS: This morning, Thursday, October 23, I fished with Todd and Anne Churchill, and JR and LaVonna Briant, all from near Lake LBJ in the Texas Hill Country. We fished a half day (4 hour) white bass trip on Lake Belton.
TODAY’S DATE: Thursday, 23 October 2025 (AM)
NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING: Tuesday, 11 November 2025 (AM or PM)
PHOTO CAPTION: From left: J.R. and LaVonna Briant and Todd and Anne Churchill with a portion of their 78-fish catch made on Lake Belton. The white bass bite cooled down just a bit as the water warmed back up, but, there are several more cold fronts on the way which should continue to fuel the fall bite.
FIND THE LURES WE USED HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:
Today’s bike was a bit diminished versus the earlier part of the week, thanks to returning warmth, high humidity, and nearly 100% cloud cover. This slowed the brightening of the sky in the morning and impacted the first hour of the day. At no time did the winds exceed 7 mph, so that was not helpful, either.
We began the trip casting in 18 feet of water and shallower for white bass, which were schooled together, tight to bottom, and roaming rapidly. We approached these fish with a sawtooth method using the MAL original.
I tried one stint of downrigging, and although we immediately hit a triple, I didn’t feel it was a good fit for this crew under the circumstances we faced. From that point on, we used the MAL Originals with a vertical, “smoking“ tactic for fish, which ranged from ‘glued to bottom’ to as much as 10 feet off of bottom. The activity of the fish rose fell with light level and wind speed. We saw the bite slow at about 10:50 and finally come to a close by 11:30. By this time, my four man crew had amassed a catch of 78 fish including 76 white bass, one largemouth bass, and one freshwater drum.
RESULTS: 78 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 0.67′ low with a 0.05 fall in the last 24 hours with USACE releasing 43 CFS.
- Despite less than optimal conditions (post-frontal bright, clear, calm, cool skies) the bite was still moderate all morning, then spiked once the wind began to blow around 10:25AM
- The water temperature (surface) was back up to 76.4F after overnight temperatures only fell to 70F
LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE: Taken on Lake Belton around 6:40AM, Saturday, 18 October…
Compare to 2 PM, Sunday, 12 October …
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 7:20A
End Time: 11:35A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 70F
Elevation: Belton is 0.71′ low with a 0.01′ fall in the last 24 hours with USACE releasing 43 CFS.
Water Surface Temp: 76.4F on the surface.
Wind Speed & Direction: Light S5-7
Sky Condition: 70-80% grey cloud cover all morning.
Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 4% illumination.
GT = 80
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