CLIENTS: This morning, Wednesday, October 22, I fished a half day (4 hour) white bass fishing trip on Lake Belton with first time clients Jack and Taylor Anderson. Taylor arranged this trip in celebration of Jack’s 30th birthday. Jack is originally from the UK and Taylor is a Texas native. I give the guy credit — he got here as quick as he could!!
Having seen the shallow, low-light bite dwindle over the past 10 to 14 days, I opted to make our start time a bit later – 7:40 AM.
TODAY’S DATE: Wednesday, 22 October 2025 (AM)
NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING: Wednesday, 29 October 2025 (AM or PM)
PHOTO CAPTION: Jack and Taylor Anderson enjoyed steady action despite early, post-frontal conditions. Then, once the wind began, the fish really put on the feedbag and provided them with a “grand finale”.
FIND THE LURES WE USED HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:
As we got going, I observed a an osprey making repeated dive attempts at fish feeding on the surface. I cut the outboard about 200 yards out and trolled into the general area where the osprey had been working. There were white bass working shad on the surface and popping up one at a time over an area of about a half acre.
Since these fish were over fairly deep water (40+ feet), I felt I could get them to consolidate beneath the boat. Using the splasher, I did, indeed, get them to come under the boat, so, I had Taylor and Jack stop their lures short of the bottom and hold them still at 30 feet waiting for an opportunity to reel the lures upward through pods of fish as they passed beneath the boat between 18 and 22 feet down. This accounted for our first 11 fish of the morning.
We moved on and I found another group of fish in 18 to 24 feet of water. These fish were moving very quickly and staying very tight to the bottom. We alternated between downrigging with three armed umbrella rigs equipped with #12 Pet Spoons and casting MAL Originals out horizontally using a sawtooth retrieve. This accounted for another 25 fish. By around 9:30, as the winds went calm, the sky was clear, and the sun shown brightly, this shallow bite died hard. From this time until 10:25 when a nice southerly wind kicked in, things got a bit tough. We were still able to find and catch fish, but our catch rate dipped. Most of the fish we caught during this time were caught by smoking lures past fish which were suspended up off bottom and moving parallel to it in small schools.
Once the wind started blowing at 10:25, the fish turned on almost immediately and stayed turned on until about 11:15. We caught a disproportionate number of fish during this “windy window“. During this time, all the fish were taken via a smoking tactic with most of the fish following the lure up off bottom. I noted that the fish were much more willing to follow at a faster speed and for a greater distance thanks to the influence of the wind.
We ended up the trip today with 85 fish caught and released, including 84 white bass, of which only two were short, as well as one freshwater drum. I feel the switch over to the slightly shorter MAL Original added a few more fish to the count today, although it could be because the fish are getting more aggressive with each day of cooling.
RESULTS: 85 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 at 76.4F after a morning low of 53F.
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: 7:40A
End Time: 11:45A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 53F
Elevation: Belton is 0.67′ low with a 0.05 fall in the last 24 hours with USACE releasing 43 CFS.
Water Surface Temp: 76.4F on the surface.
Wind Speed & Direction: Light NNE0-2 until 10:25, then shifting and building quickly to ESE11.
Sky Condition: Clear “bluebird” sky with post-frontal conditions.
Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 1% illumination.
GT = 0
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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