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

CLIENTS:  On Sunday, October 12, I participated in the annual Lake Belton C. A. S. T. (Catch a Special Thrill) event for children with various forms of disability.

Mrs. Randi Bingham coordinated the event, and Mr. Clint Zimmerhanzel‘s Texas Farm Bureau insurance agency provided food and additional support. Joining me were two young men – Alexander Hildebrand (age 12), accompanied by his mom, LeaAnn, and Blake Eppard (age 8), accompanied by his dad, James Grunert.

ABOUT C.A.S.T.  – The C.A.S.T. for Kids Foundation (C.A.S.T. = Catch A Special Thrill) is a public charity that was formed in 1991 to join volunteers who love to fish with children who have special needs and disadvantages for a day of fishing in the outdoors. The Foundation became an official 501(c)3 in 1994 and currently hosts C.A.S.T. for Kids events in 26 states.

C.A.S.T. for Kids events enable children with special needs and their caretakers to come together with community volunteers for a fun day of fishing. These events provide a refreshing break from their daily challenges and provide them an opportunity they may not otherwise experience. Spreading a positive message that kids with disabilities can accomplish anything, our events are accessible for all disabilities. This is all made possible through national and local sponsors – people who want to make a big difference in the lives of children with special needs thus strengthening their community.

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

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

 

 

PHOTO CAPTION: From left:  LeeAnn & Alexander Hildebrand and Blake Eppert and James Grunert came aboard my boat for Belton Lake’s 2025 CAST event.  The boys split a catch of 30 fish made in right at 2.5 hours’ time.

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

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

The boat captains arrived by 7:30, the kids by 8:30, and I set out fishing with my two boys by 8:45 AM — we were due back for pulled pork, drinks, and awards by 11:15 AM.

As with any trip I conduct including elementary aged kids, I planned to do a number of different things, each for only a short while. This morning, I spent some time looking for heavily congregated, bottom-oriented fish which we could fish for vertically. I really hoped this would work out because both boys were really into video games, and the vertical tactics I use rely heavily on Garmin LiveScope. That really didn’t pan out, so, we moved elsewhere and began downrigging.

Downrigging was our most successful tactic. It put 20 of the 30 fish we caught in the boat. By working our #12 Pet Spoons on three-armed umbrella rigs behind a pair of  ‘riggers, the boys were able to catch doubles and singles routinely from out of a 300 yard stretch of water in about 30 to 34 feet.

After that played out, and with about 45 minutes remaining before we needed to head back, we headed up shallow, and the boys put an additional 10 fish in the boat using telescoping poles to catch sunfish from off of shallow cover in under 4 feet of water.

In summary, in 2.5 hours, these two boys were able to catch 30 fish which included 19 white bass, 1 blue catfish, 9 bluegill sunfish, and 1 green sunfish.

We made it back to the North Point Marina (wonderful hosts, by the way) at exactly 11:15, at which time lunch started promptly, followed by an on-time start for the award ceremony. Everything was said and done by noon.  These events really are rewarding, whether you are giving or receiving a fishing trip.  Posts are made from time to time on TFF about the need for volunteers for these event.  I encourage you to step up.

 

RESULTS: 30 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: 8:45A

End Time: 11:15A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 61F

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

Water Surface Temp: 80.1F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction:  SE7-9 all morning

Sky Condition: 0%cloud cover on a blue sky

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 62% illumination.

GT = N/A

 

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

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

 

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

CLIENTS:  This morning, Saturday, October 4, I fished with U.S. Army Chaplain, Aaron Means and his two kids, 16 year old Karleigh, and 14 year-old Landon. CPT Means won this trip in the form of the gift certificate I had donated to the (then) Fort Cavazos Spouses’ Club fundraiser back in the spring of this year.

The Means are originally from Ohio but, like most Army families, have moved around a good bit.  Chaplain Means has been in Ft. Drum, NY, Ft. Benning, GA, and Afghanistan, to name a few.

 

TODAY’S DATE: Saturday, 04 October 2025 (PM)

NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING: Monday, 06 October 2025 (PM)

 

 

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Aaron, Karleigh, and Landon Means landed 26 white bass and 34 blue catfish during their four-hour morning trip on Lake Belton.

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

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

A long run of late summer weather is still gripping Central Texas, and although we enjoyed one cold front two Wednesdays ago, we have not seen the substantial cool down we typically do by this time of year, and the fishing for white bass is still pretty tough. I planned this morning to pursue white bass via downrigging early on during the low-light period just before, during, and after sunrise. We picked up 10 fish in the first 80 minutes or so in under 30 feet of water using the three-armed umbrella rigs equipped with #12 Pet Spoons.

After this low-light bite died down, I moved us to another underwater feature and found enough fish present while downrigging to stop and use MAL vertically with a smoking tactic assisted by Garmin LiveScope to pick up a few additional fish.

Once these fish shut down we “mopped up“ with downriggers until the white bass settled down for good at about 9 AM. From that point, we started targeting catfish in roughly 35 feet of water.  I baited out two areas prior to returning them, then sweetened up these two areas with just a touch of chum upon our return, then used doughbait on treble hooks to actually catch the fish.

Two spots produced a total of 34 blue catfish, with quite a few additional fish hitting, but being missed as my crew went through a bit of a learning curve in detecting the bite, and then correctly reacting with a fast hook set.

When all was said and done, we landed a total of 60 fish, including 26 white bass and 34 blue catfish.

RESULTS: 60 fish, all caught and released

 

OBSERVATIONS: Belton is 0.13′ 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: 6:55A

End Time: 11:00A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 64F

Elevation: Belton is 0.13′ low with a 0.03 fall in the last 24 hours with USACE releasing 43 CFS.

Water Surface Temp: 82.6F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction:  ENE breeze at under 6 all morning, and going nearly calm by trip’s end

Sky Condition: Post-frontal clear, bright blue skies

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 92% illumination.

GT = 20

 

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

CLIENTS: This morning, Thursday, 02 Oct., I fished with returning guests Joshua Goodnight and Frank Ruiz.  Both have fished with me several times previously, and both had prior experience using the MAL Lure, which we relied on heavily today.

This unbroken string of bright, calm, warm days has simply prevented more seasonable fall weather from working its magic to cool the water and ignite the autumn bite.  We faced tough fishing once again.

 

TODAY’S DATE: Thursday, 02 October 2025 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING: Monday, 06 October 2025 (AM)

 

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left: Long-time friends and fellow Salado High School graduates Frank Ruiz and Joshua Goodnight worked through very tough conditions to land 15 fish as summer just refuses to capitulate to autumn and our water temperatures are still in the 80s.

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

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

This morning started with a bang, but, that bang quickly faded, just as was the case on Stillhouse this past Saturday.

We caught the majority of our fish in the first 45 minutes under low-light conditions just before, during, and after sunrise.  After the sun rose, the light SE wind which was rippling the surface stopped, and the sun burned brightly in the cloudless sky.

About the only thing really going on was topwater schooling activity by “schoolie” largemouth bass, most at or under a pound.  These fish were hunting pods of threadfin shad in small groups, occasionally giving away their location by erupting on the surface as they chased.  The key is very fast, very accurate casting with something resembling these small shad — nothing big or flashy.

Word has gotten out about this largemouth fishery — I counted 14 boats on a Thursday morning — each sight-casting to these small largemouth.   Fortunately, everyone was well-behaved and kept their distance from one another and eased away from the action without throwing a wake whenever they moved on.

We repeatedly observed fish (which were not all that difficult to find) simply ignore our presentations or just half-heartedly respond to the smoking tactic we employed.  Unfortunately, these fish were not spread horizontally over spans of bottom to allow a horizontal presentation to be effective.

We simply need fall to progress — to get a few more cold fronts and some weather changes to overcome this inertia we’ve been in since August.  For me, it can’t come soon enough.

When all was said and done, Joshua and Frank caught and released 13 white bass, 1 largemouth bass, and 1 channel catfish.

 

OBSERVATIONS: Stillhouse is 0.04′ low with a 0.02 fall in the last 24 hours with USACE releasing 1 CFS.

 

 

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:  Taken on Stillhouse Hollow around 6:35AM, Thursday, 02 October …

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:55A

End Time: 11:05A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 64F

Elevation: Stillhouse is 0.04′ low with a 0.02 fall in the last 24 hours with USACE releasing 1 CFS

Water Surface Temp: 81.3F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction:  SE4 before sunrise, then dying and staying calm all morning

Sky Condition: Continued clear, bright blue skies

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 77% illumination.

GT =35

 

Wx SNAPSHOT: 

 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH MOST SUCCESS:

 

Area vic 1976 was the only area which produced with any consistency — 10 of 16 fish taken on smoked MAL Heavy Lures

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