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

OBSERVATIONS:

1. Belton is 0.50′ low with a 0.02 fall in the last 24 hours with USACE releasing 43 CFS.
2. The white bass use of bottom seems to be increasing with each passing day as the water temperature continues to decrease, albeit very slowly.
3. 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

CLIENTS:  On Wednesday, October 15, I fished with returning guests — the Wise brothers.  Dave is a Minnesota resident who spends a good bit of time in Texas where his father, his brother Steve and his other brother, Tim, all live.

Steve follows my reports pretty closely and saw how this fall fishing has been slow to get started due to the extended warm, dry weather we’ve been having. He thought about booking later in the fall, but, Dave heads back to Minnesota in late October, so they decided to get this trip in today and, as a result, became just the second crew to land a legal limit of white bass since the Lake Belton dam closed in August, following the July 4th flooding event.

TODAY’S DATE: Wednesday, 15 October 2025 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING: Tuesday, 28 October 2025 (AM or PM)

PHOTO CAPTION:  The MAL Heavy with chartreuse tail was the ticket today.  It triggered very stubborn white bass to follow, overtake, and strike when history has proven slabs, soft plastics, spoons, and even Gulp! and live bait just won’t do the job. Check the “smoking” YouTube tutorial link below so see how we worked this bait.

FIND THE LURES WE USED HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

Fishing this morning was nearly identical to that which I experienced yesterday. This is not surprising since the weather this morning was also nearly identical.

I moved the trip start time back 10 minutes later since our first few minutes on the water yesterday were slow. We began the day downrigging and picked up three singles and a double on #12 Pet Spoons behind three-arm umbrella rigs fish on twin downriggers.  As soon as the sun was about to break over the eastern horizon, we moved to deeper water – between 35 and 44 feet — and began working MAL Heavy lures with chartreuse tails vertically for fish which are still behaving stubbornly thanks to still-warm water temperatures. I am simply letting my clients know what to expect so they don’t get frustrated or think their technique is bad when they get a high percentage of refusals from tightly schooled, bottom-oriented, fish.

So often, these fish would show up in strong numbers – – sometimes 50 to 80 fish in a school – – and only get excited enough to chase on the very first one or two vertical retrieves made through the school. Thereafter, even when they remained heavily congregated and directly beneath the boat, they would largely ignore our presentations.

To contend with this, we made some adjustments “on the fly” by 1) moving locations more frequently so as to encounter “fresh” fish, and 2) we really observed moving schools of fish on LiveScope and tried to get the lure running vertically right off the end of the several lead fishes’ noses (and not through the school or behind the school).

We stuck with this tactic through to the end of the trip save for a 10 or 12 minute window when some widely scattered white bass begin hitting on top water individually (just as they did yesterday at this time) during which time we took them on Cork Rigs with Sandy Sandwiches behind the corks.

By the time 11:35 rolled around the wind and the bite was fading fast.  By this time Steve and Dave had landed exactly 55 fish, including 53 white bass, of which only one was short, as well as one largemouth bass, and one smallmouth bass.

RESULTS: 55 fish, all caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:

1. Belton is 0.48′ low with a 0.02 fall in the last 24 hours with USACE releasing 43 CFS.
2. The white bass use of bottom seems to be increasing with each passing day as the water temperature continues to decrease, albeit very slowly.
3. The water surface temperature fell below 80F 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: 7:20A

End Time: 11:35A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 63F

Elevation: Belton is 0.48′ low with a 0.02 fall in the last 24 hours with USACE releasing 43 CFS.

Water Surface Temp: 79.9F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: NW6 at trip’s start, falling to NW1-2 in the final 45 minutes

Sky Condition: 0% cloud cover on a blue sky

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 30% 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 Tuesday, October 14, I fished a father-and-son trip for Vince and Noah Perez of Killeen.  Vince is a U.S. Army noncommissioned officer with 23 years of service, primarily in transportation. He was back in the US for a short stint of leave from his current posting in Kaiserslautern, Germany.  Noah, age 15, is a student at one of the high schools in Killeen where he takes part in both marching band as a French horn player, and in ROTC.

TODAY’S DATE: Tuesday, 14 October 2025 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING: Tuesday, 28 October 2025 (AM or PM)

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left: Noah and Vince Perez took advantage of a short window of military leave afforded Vince from his post at Kaiserslautern, Germany, to do some fishing before he heads back to the grind in less than a week.  These fellows landed the first full, two-man limit of white bass I’ve had come aboard since the Lake Belton dam was shut in early August following the July 4th flooding event.

FIND THE LURES WE USED HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

We got going this morning at 7:10, but the fish didn’t get going until about 7:40 AM. I’m finding that as this very slow developing fall cool down is kicking in, the morning low light bite is not nearly as dependable as it had been through the heat of the summer.

We picked up nine white bass while trolling twin downriggers equipped with #12 Pet Spoons on three-armed umbrella rigs. Once the sun was about to break over the eastern horizon, this bite dried up quickly. For the next 90 minutes or so, we covered three different areas, both finding the same fishing scenario and presenting our baitss in the same way at them. Fish were holding tight to the bottom in fairly small schools of less than 30 individual fish, and would respond briefly to MAL Heavy lures with chartreuse tails worked vertically.

We found a couple of keys to getting hit consistently. First, we made sure the presentation was made in front of the fish, as the school was approaching. Second, it was helpful to get the MAL Lure’s blade spinning as close to the bottom as possible, then idling back the retrieve speed for the remainder of the retrieve.  Hence, if with a short, sharp half-turn of the reel’s handle you could get the blade spinning, you’d want to turn no more than that before slowing down to the presentation speed.

This fishery seemed to die when the light but consistent north-northwest wind we had enjoyed up to this point died, and it became just shy of glassy calm with a bright, cloudless sky.

It was around this time that, in the distance, I spotted an osprey making repeated diving attempts. I moved us over to the scene of the crime and found individual white bass attacking large shad over an area roughly 3 acres size. These fish were not working together in schools, and the surface was not disrupted by the kind of activity you would be accustomed to seeing in the summertime. Rather, single fish or making single, round sets of ripples on the surface as they came up and fed on the shad one at a time. At first, I put Vince and Noah up on the front deck with me running the trolling motor to chase after these fish while throwing the MAL Heavy out horizontally and counting it down to a six count. That worked, but I felt with all the activity in the area, we should be doing better.

Hence, I got back on sonar, found a nearby large group of whites on bottom, Spot-Locked atop them, and went back to working the MAL Heavy with a smoking tactic vertically. These fish, which were much more turned on than those we had found previously, cooperated quite well. The fish bit right up through 11:10, but quit working the surface as of about 10:45 AM. When all was said and done, this father and son team wound up catching 57 fish including 54 white bass and three hybrid stripers. This was the first two-man white bass limit I’ve had come aboard since after the gates were shut on the dam, following the release of the accumulated flood water from the July 4th flooding event.

Things are definitely picking up now as we see a net loss of water temperature with each passing day.

RESULTS: 57 fish, all caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: Belton is 0.46′ 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.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE: Taken on Lake Belton around 2 PM, Sunday, 12 October …

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:10A

End Time: 11:10A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 63F

Elevation: Belton is 0.46′ low with a 0.02 fall in the last 24 hours with USACE releasing 43 CFS.

Water Surface Temp: 80.1F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: NW1-5 all morning

Sky Condition: 0% cloud cover on a blue sky

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 40% 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

CLIENTS: This morning, Monday, October 13, I fished a “Kids Fish, Too!“ birthday trip for Kinsley Bailey, accompanied by her mom and dad, Krista and Dustin Bailey.

The fact that this young lady had prior fishing experience really shown through today and helped her do far better than average.

ABOUT “KIDS FISH, TOO!” TRIPS:  Kids Fish, Too! trips are intended just for the kids. They are considerably less expensive than standard trips ($195 for up to 2 kids vs. $295 for up to 2 adults; and more can be added), and typically go a maximum of 3.5 hours versus 4-plus hours for standard trips.  On these trips, licensed adults who desire to do so often help me help the kids be successful by baiting hooks, untangling lines, resetting our downrigger spreads, etc. so the kids’ efforts are maximized, but, the adults do not fish.

TODAY’S DATE: Monday, 13 October 2025 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING: Tuesday, 28 October 2025 (AM or PM)

PHOTO CAPTION:  Kinsley Bailey celebrated her 11th birthday on the water with her mom and dad thanks to a day off from school for Columbus Day.  She singlehandedly put 36 fish in the boat, including white bass, catfish, and panfish, using four very different tactics.

FIND THE LURES WE USED HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

I planned to break the morning down into several distinct parts, as I normally do for trips involving kids.

First, we downrigged for white bass, which were in the 30 foot range and both scattered and moving. We approached these fish with downriggers equipped with three-armed umbrella rigs terminated with #12 Pet Spoons. This accounted for our first seven fish of the morning.

Once the sun rose and killed that low-light bite, we continued looking in even deeper water, from 32 to 42 foot, for tightly schooled, bottom-hugging, white bass. I was fortunate to find what I was looking for fairly quickly. With two stops made in the same general vicinity, we picked up another 13 white bass, all on MAL Heavy lures with chartreuse tail, and all using the vertical smoking tactic.

When this area played out, I moved to a nearly identical area and we put another 10 white bass in the boat quite quickly. Kinsley had now been using the same tactic for about 90 minutes and, although we were still catching fish, I opted to change up our approach to help keep her engaged. At this point, we moved to an area I had freshened up with grain before the trip started this morning. In about 30 minutes’ time that area produced two channel catfish and several additional missed strikes.

As I coached Kinsley on what to expect from the catfish, I had her watch the rod tip as I tweaked the line with my finger to imitate the movement of the tip which the catfish would cause when they bit.  I then had her hold the rod and practice a swift, hard hookset whenever I said the word, “Boop!”.   Once we began to put these thing into practice, we kidded Kinsley as her lazer-focus on seeing and feeling the very light catfish bites led us to believe she was not even breathing for fear of adding unwanted motion to her rod tip while “waiting for the boop”!!

With about 30 minutes remaining the trip and the catfish not really putting on a great show, I decided to head up shallow and finish out the trip targeting sunfish.

With a piece of live bait under a slip float, Kinsley managed to pick up four panfish before we called it a good morning right at the 3 1/2 hour mark.

This morning‘s grand total was 36 fish. I am encouraged because the white bass response I saw today was by far the best I’ve seen thus far with this painfully slow autumn cool down.

RESULTS: 36 fish, all caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: Belton is 0.44′ 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.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE: Taken on Lake Belton around 2 PM, Sunday, 12 October …

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:10A

End Time: 10:50A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 63F

Elevation: Belton is 0.44′ low with a 0.02 fall in the last 24 hours with USACE releasing 43 CFS.

Water Surface Temp: 80.9F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction:  S7-11 all morning

Sky Condition: 0% cloud cover on a blue sky

Moon Phase: Last quarter moon at 51% 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

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

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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

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

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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