Bob Maindelle | Fishing Report

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

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This Wasn’t Fishing, It Was Catching — 314 Fish

October 2nd, 2024 by Bob Maindelle

CLIENTS: This morning I welcomed aboard Mr. David Goode, founder of Goode Towing & Recovery, based in Killeen, TX. David brought out his adult grandson, Jeffrey Bauser, and three of his employees — Mark Price, Rick Alvey, and Ryan Ellis. David’s company was founded 1986, and they provide light, medium, and heavy duty towing, roadside assistance, storage, and heavy equipment transport. (https://goodetow.com/)

DATE: Wednesday, 02 October 2024 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATES: Next open dates: 17, 18 Oct. (weekday AMs and PMs), 19 Oct. (Saturday AM)

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Jeffrey Bauser, Rick Alvey, Mark Price, Ryan Ellis, and David Goode with 10 of the 314 fish they caught and released from Lake Belton on this warm, dry, early October morning.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

It was a “one trick pony” this morning, and that pony ran long and hard!! After meeting and greeting David’s crew of five just before 7:30, we went over the outlook for the morning, and, as soon as the sun rose, we headed out in search of fish, thankful that a breeze was already coming out of the NW.

We found our first solid school of white bass at 7:48 and, from then until we quit under hot, calm conditions right at 11:30, the fish never quit biting aggressively.

We fish six areas today, and, at every one of them, we left fish biting after I felt the fish had gone “past peak” in their level of aggression. These six areas produced 39 fish, 7 fish, 45 fish, 130 fish, 29 fish, and 62 fish respectively.

Every last fish was caught on an MAL Original with chartreuse tail worked with a vertical “smoking” tactic with between 5 and 7 cranks off bottom, depending on fish energy level. Garmin LiveScope was used throughout in order to see where fish were suspended in the water column (if they weren’t on bottom), and to see when fish were chasing a lure as it was being retrieved.

We enjoyed “just enough” wind to keep the fish biting and keep us comfortable until around 10:10, after which the winds went calm and it got hot quickly.

Here is a tutorial on vertically smoking the MAL Lure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE

Here is a tutorial on horizontally “sawtoothing” with the MAL Lure or White Tornado: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3FMEQHOMQ

LURES USED SUCCESSFULLY ON THIS TRIP: We smoked MAL Originals vertically 100% of the time this morning. Find all MAL Lures and White Tornados here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 314 fish caught and released, including 3 largemouth bass, 4 freshwater drum, 1 blue catfish, 9 short hybrid, and 297 white bass.

OBSERVATIONS:

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Here was the water temperature profile for Lake Belton, measured with a FishHawk TD device around 7:10 AM on Saturday, September 28…

0 feet 79.1F

5 feet 81.2F

10 feet 81.9F

15 feet 81.9F

20 feet 81.9F

25 feet 81.9F

30 feet 81.7F

35 feet 81.5F

40 feet 81.3F

45 feet 81.3F

50 feet 81.1F

55 feet 80.7F

60 feet 80.1F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:30A

End Time: 11:30A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 64F

Elevation: 1.45′ low and falling slowly with a 43 cfs flow; .02′ fall in last 24 hours (w/ inflow from Proctor)

Water Surface Temp: 80.2F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: NW0-7.

Sky Condition: 0% cloud cover on a light blue sky.

Moon Phase: New moon at 0% illumination.

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area vic B0199C – smoking MAL Originals for 39 fish

Area vic B0302G – smoking MAL Originals for 7 fish

Area 1740 – smoking MAL Originals for 45 fish

Area 714 – smoking MAL Originals for 130 fish

Area B0306G – smoking MAL Originals for 29 fish

Area B0096C – smoking MAL Originals for 62 fish

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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Mom: Toughest Job in the Army — 100 Fish

October 1st, 2024 by Bob Maindelle

CLIENTS: This morning I welcomed Mrs. Trinity Howard and her five children aboard … EllaGrace (7), Kennedy (6), Jaxon (4), Mason (2), & little Mackenzie (7 months). The three eldest kids fished with me while mom looked after the younger two. The kids’ dad, U.S. Army Specialist James Howard, is an infantryman currently deployed to South Korea. He has served for nine years, including prior service in the U.S. Marine Corps. This was the 20th SKIFF trip of the 2024 season.

To her (great) credit, Trinity has been holding down this 5-kid household (with dogs and fish included) single-handedly for 8 months now, after hurriedly moving from Georgia to Texas only to have her husband deploy while she was “very pregnant”. With no friends yet made at their new post, and no one to watch the other four kids, she opted for a home birth for Mackenzie (now 7 months old) with the aid of a mid-wife. Wow! Did I mention she homeschools? Wow again!!

DATE: Tuesday, 01 October 2024 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATES: Next open dates: 11 & 12 Oct. (AMs and PMs)

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Kennedy (6), Jaxon (4), and EllaGrace (7) with a few of the 100 fish they landed on Lake Belton. The kids fished for sunfish with bait, then we targeted white bass via downrigging, then with MAL Original Lures worked vertically.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

Fishing with young kids demands a few things: keeping it interested by building in transitions, keeping fish coming over the side of the boat routinely, and keeping an eye out for when the kids have reached their limit.

This morning was particularly challenging with my three anglers ranging from 4 (the youngest I normally allow onboard) to 7 (the age at which some kids can function pretty autonomously).

We began our trip fishing for sunfish with telescoping bream poles up in shallow water to ensure some “instant gratification” and to make sure the kids were successful right off the bat. The kids landed 30 sunfish, including 28 bluegill and 2 green sunfish.

Next, after seeing some light topwater action out over open water, I ran to it, put downriggers down, and helped the kids add another 16 fish to their tally. This included one largemouth bass, two hybrid striped bass, and 13 white bass caught as singles, doubles and triples on downrigged 3-armed umbrella rigs equipped with #12 Pet Spoons.

After a shoreline snack break, we moved to yet another area and employed our third and final tactic for the day — working MAL Originals vertically up off the bottom through heavily schooled white bass using a “smoking” tactic. By now, Kennedy had dropped out of the batting order (as she was recovering from a bit of a bug she’d caught last week). So, now I had EllaGrace to my right working an MAL Lure like a pro, and Jaxon to my left on the starboard gunwale very enthusiastic, but with limited manual dexterity and strength. So, I just let EllaGrace do her thing while I dropped the MAL Lure to bottom, reeled it up until a fish struck, then handed it off to Jaxon to reel in with the rod propped up in the downrigger’s rod holder so all he had to do was turn the reel’s handle.

We arrived at that final area with 46 fish in the boat, and those two kids landed an additional 56 fish in short order.

By 10:38, the kids had landed exactly 100 fish. The light breeze we’d enjoyed had gone flat, the temperature was rising, and the kids were spent. We called it a great morning right there and enjoyed the breeze created by the boat’s movement across the water as we made our way back.

Here is a tutorial on vertically smoking the MAL Lure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE

Here is a tutorial on horizontally “sawtoothing” with the MAL Lure or White Tornado: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3FMEQHOMQ

LURES USED SUCCESSFULLY ON THIS TRIP: We smoked MAL Originals vertically this morning. Find all MAL Lures and White Tornados here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 100 fish caught and released, including 1 largemouth bass, 28 bluegill, 2 green sunfish, 5 short hybrid, and 64 white bass.

OBSERVATIONS:

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Here was the water temperature profile for Lake Belton, measured with a FishHawk TD device around 7:10 AM on Saturday, September 28…

0 feet 79.1F

5 feet 81.2F

10 feet 81.9F

15 feet 81.9F

20 feet 81.9F

25 feet 81.9F

30 feet 81.7F

35 feet 81.5F

40 feet 81.3F

45 feet 81.3F

50 feet 81.1F

55 feet 80.7F

60 feet 80.1F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 8:00A

End Time: 10:38A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 64F

Elevation: 1.43′ low and falling slowly with a 43 cfs flow; .01′ fall in last 24 hours (w/ inflow from Proctor)

Water Surface Temp: 79.1F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: NW0-6.

Sky Condition: 0% cloud cover on a light blue sky.

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 1% illumination.

GT = N/A

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 011 – sunfish on slipfloats for 30 fish

Area vic B0022C – downrigging for 16 fish with #12 Pets

Area 1389 – smoking MAL Originals for 64 fish

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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Cool Weather Fanned the Flames on Hot Fishing — 205 Fish

September 28th, 2024 by Bob Maindelle

CLIENTS: This Saturday morning I was joined by Bobby, Andrea, & Josiah Fuentes, and by Hector & Santi Castillo. Andrea, Josiah (13), and Santi (11) did all the fishing while the dads looked on. Bobby and Hector are cousins, and both families have been in the Central Texas area for many years. This trip was in celebration of Josiah’s 13th birthday.

DATE: Saturday, 28 September 2024 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATES: Next open dates: 30 Sep. & 2, 3, 8, 11, & 12 Oct. (AMs and PMs)

PHOTO CAPTION: Front row from left: Josiah Fuentes, Santi Castillo, and Andrea Fuentes with part of their 205 fish, multi-species catch made on Lake Belton using the MAL Original with chartreuse tail & the 3/4 oz. White Tornado. Back row: Hector Castillo and Bobby Fuentes came along for the ride but didn’t fish this morning.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

The fish were in high gear this morning thanks, in part, to winds which moved the water from start to finish this morning as NW winds continued to blow following the passage of two cold fronts this week which took this morning’s pre-dawn temps down to 62F.

Fishing was super simple once the bite got going after the depths were illuminated by the rising sun. We got going around 7:30 and found our first group of interested fish by 7:55. From that point on there was no more “fishing”, as it was all catching right on through 11:30.

We hit just four areas this morning, and, at the first three, simply used the smoking tactic (see tutorial below) with MAL Originals (w/ chartreuse tails) to catch our first 125 fish as these tightly grouped, aggressive schools of bottom-hugging white bass competed with one another to beat their schoolmates to the baits.

As we move to what would be our fourth and final area, and as we were still about a half-mile away, I spotted what looked like topwater action. The conditions were really not all that suitable for topwater action, so, I really looked hard to see if I was really seeing what I thought I was seeing.

As we got closer, white bass were feeding over open water and over about an acre of surface. I switched my three anglers over to the White Tornado and had them work it with a “sawtooth method” (see tutorial below) across the bottom. This accounted for another 51 fish before the action cooled off. At this point, we went back to “smoking” MAL Originals. I let everyone know it was 11:15, and I challenged them to get our tally to 200 fish by 11:30.

Everyone really paid attention to their technique, avoided reeling hooked fish in too quickly, and avoided reeling fish up too close to the rod tip, and, by 11:30, Andrea, Josiah, & Santi landed their 205th fish of the morning.

Here is a tutorial on vertically smoking the MAL Lure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE

Here is a tutorial on horizontally “sawtoothing” with the MAL Lure or White Tornado: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3FMEQHOMQ

LURES USED SUCCESSFULLY ON THIS TRIP: We smoked MAL Originals vertically and used a sawtooth method with White Tornados horizontally. Find all MAL Lures and White Tornados here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 205 fish caught and released, including 1 blue catfish, 1 freshwater drum, 6 short hybrid stripers, and 197 white bass

OBSERVATIONS:

2) Some atypical late-morning topwater action broke out just briefly. Given northerly winds and bright sun, it was a bit of a surprise, although it didn’t last very long for these very same reasons.

3) The surface temp. fell below 80F for the first time since the summer warmup months ago.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Here was the water temperature profile for Lake Belton, measured with a FishHawk TD device around 7:10 AM on Saturday, September 28…

0 feet 79.1F

5 feet 81.2F

10 feet 81.9F

15 feet 81.9F

20 feet 81.9F

25 feet 81.9F

30 feet 81.7F

35 feet 81.5F

40 feet 81.3F

45 feet 81.3F

50 feet 81.1F

55 feet 80.7F

60 feet 80.1F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:20A

End Time: 11:30A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 62F

Elevation: 1.38′ low and falling slowly with a 43 cfs flow; .04′ fall in last 24 hours

Water Surface Temp: 79.1F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: NW8-13.

Sky Condition: 0% cloud cover on a light blue sky.

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 16% illumination.

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 0363/B0302G – smoking MAL Originals for 13 fish

Area 1740 – smoking MAL Originals for 79 fish

Area 1389 – smoking MAL Originals for 33 fish

Area vic 1944 – sawtoothing White Tornados & smoking MAL Originals for 80 fish

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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

A Birthday Fishing Trip for Dylan — 151 Fish

September 21st, 2024September 21st, 2024 by Bob Maindelle

CLIENTS: This Saturday morning I was joined by the Tribby family of Kempner, Texas, — all first-time guests. This trip was in celebration of 13-year-old Dylan’s birthday which took place just a few days ago. Dave is a retired U.S. Army Chemical Corps officer who served 23 years. He and his wife, Danielle, run Shangri-Paw dog daycare in Harker Heights, TX. (https://www.shangri-paw.com/)

DATE: Saturday, 21 September 2024 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATES: Next open dates: 23, 24, 26 (PMs), 25, 27 Sep. (AMs and PMs)

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Danielle, Dave, and Dylan Tribby with part of their 151 fish, multi-species catch made on Lake Belton. 150 of the 151 fish were caught on the MAL Original with chartreuse tail.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

As I’ve previously reported, fishing has gotten much easier and much more productive ever since the brief cold snap we experienced for a 4-day run, beginning on Sept. 6.

As I find fish using deeper bottom topographies more and more, the shallow, low-light bite has really slacked off. I started a bit later this morning and really limited the downrigging component of the trip, and was glad I did, as we only took one fish on downriggers, with the deepwater vertical bite starting around 8A, well after the sun rose.

Once we caught our first fish with vertical “smoking” tactics out deep, the action continued to build and stayed solid right through around 10:40. The fish then “pumped the brakes” at that point, as evidenced by their reluctance to venture as high up off the bottom as they had during the peak bite, and as evidenced by the much slower swimming speed they began to exhibit. At the peak, schools of fish would run the 24′ swath of bottom covered by my Garmin LiveScope in zoomed-in downward mode in a matter of seconds; as the bite began to die, the fish barely moved horizontally at all.

150 of our 151 fish came on the MAL Original with chartreuse tail. Fishing was very straightforward once we located them.

The lake was quite busy due to the Fishing for Freedom event taking place today, but, those anglers were generally fishing in much shallower water.

Here is a tutorial on vertically smoking the MAL Lure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE

Here is a tutorial on horizontally “sawtoothing” with the MAL Lure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3FMEQHOMQ

LURES USED SUCCESSFULLY ON THIS TRIP: We smoked MAL Originals vertically. Find all MAL Lures and White Tornados here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 151 fish caught and released, including 1 largemouth bass, 1 blue catfish, 2 freshwater drum, and 147 white bass

OBSERVATIONS:

2) Zero topwater action (not surprisingly, thanks to a full moon earlier this week).

3) No shallow water, low-light downrigging action (again, not surprisingly, thanks to a full moon and the fact that white bass are making great use of deep water now).

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Here was the water temperature profile for Lake Belton, measured with a FishHawk TD device around 6:35 AM on Thursday, September 19…

0 feet 83.7F

5 feet 82.9F

10 feet 83.1F

15 feet 83.1F

20 feet 82.6F

25 feet 82.3F

30 feet 81.9F

35 feet 81.9F

40 feet 81.9F

45 feet 81.5F

50 feet 81.2F

55 feet 80.7F

60 feet 80.1F

65 feet 78.1F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:05A

End Time: 11:05A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 77F

Elevation: 1.17′ low and falling slowly with a 52 cfs flow; .05′ fall in last 24 hours

Water Surface Temp: 83.7F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: S8-10.

Sky Condition: ~15% white cloud cover on a light blue sky.

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 84% illumination.

GT = 35

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 152 – smoking MAL Originals for 29 fish

Area 1743 – smoking MAL Originals for 13 fish

Area B0096C – smoking MAL Originals for 8 fish

Area B0305G – smoking MAL Originals for 101 fish

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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

A GOOD THING IS GETTING BETTER — 200 FISH ON MAL ORIGINALS

September 19th, 2024 by Bob Maindelle

CLIENTS: This Thursday morning I was joined by first-time guests Mike Burns, Mike’s nephew, Zach Friedmansky, and Mike’s neighbor, Scott Tingey. Mike and Scott are now retired, and Zach, having just graduated from high school, is looking to get into a firefighting academy in Florida to pursue a career in that field.

DATE: Thursday, 19 September 2024 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATES: 23 & 24 (PM), 25-27 Sep. (AMs and PMs)

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Scott Tingey, Zach Friedmansky, and Mike Burns with a few of the 200 fish they landed on a mid-September morning trip on Lake Belton. 198 of the 200 fish were taken on the MAL Original smoked at a moderate cadence up off the bottom.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

As I’ve previously reported, fishing has gotten much easier and much more productive ever since the brief cold snap we experienced for a 4-day run, beginning on Sept. 6.

A big, bold full moon was still shining brightly in the western sky as we launched before sunrise this morning. Not surprisingly, the shallow water bite was less productive today, with about 40-minutes’ worth of downrigging effort producing only 2 caught fish and 2 missed fish.

Even after the sun rose, it was another 25 minutes or so until the bite really got going. Once the winds came up and fanned the flames, the fishing was excellent from about 8:40 to 10:50.

During this time my crew of three worked MAL Originals with chartreuse tails vertically for fish which were found in the lower fourth of the water column in the 30 foot range, with some deeper.

The fish quickly responded to the splasher once we got Spot-Locked, moving toward the commotion in large schools. Once lures were dropped into those large schools, the fish competed with one another to get to the lure first, and this kept hooked fish coming over the side continuously.

At the 4-hour mark, they had 191 fish landed. I suggested we stay until 11:10, or until they’d landed 200 fish, whichever came first. Fish #200 came over the side at 11:07 — we then pulled the plug and the crew debated heading either for Miller’s Smokehouse in Belton, or Old Jody’s Restaurant in Temple.

Here is a tutorial on vertically smoking the MAL Lure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE

Here is a tutorial on horizontally “sawtoothing” with the MAL Lure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3FMEQHOMQ

LURES USED SUCCESSFULLY ON THIS TRIP: We smoked MAL Originals vertically. Find all MAL Lures and White Tornados here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 200 fish caught and released, including 2 short hybrids, 3 freshwater drum, and 195 white bass

OBSERVATIONS:

2) Zero topwater action (not surprisingly, thanks to a full moon).

3) No shallow water, low-light downrigging action (again, not surprisingly, thanks to a full moon).

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Here was the water temperature profile for Lake Belton, measured with a FishHawk TD device around 6:35 AM on Thursday, September 19…

0 feet 83.7F

5 feet 82.9F

10 feet 83.1F

15 feet 83.1F

20 feet 82.6F

25 feet 82.3F

30 feet 81.9F

35 feet 81.9F

40 feet 81.9F

45 feet 81.5F

50 feet 81.2F

55 feet 80.7F

60 feet 80.1F

65 feet 78.1F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:50a

End Time: 11:07a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 77F

Elevation: 1.09′ low and falling slowly with a 52 cfs flow; .02′ fall in last 24 hours

Water Surface Temp: 83.7F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: S7-12..

Sky Condition: ~15% white cloud cover on a light blue sky.

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 98% illumination.

GT = 20

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area B0302G – smoking MAL Originals for 11 fish

Area 150 – smoking MAL Originals for 16 fish

Area B0107G – smoking MAL Originals for 63 fish

Area B0301G – smoking MAL Originals for 27 fish

Area B0299G – smoking MAL Originals for 83 fish

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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

‘Twas a Tad Toasty – 141 Fish

September 18th, 2024 by Bob Maindelle

CLIENTS: This past Tuesday evening I was joined by first-time guests Ted Wong and Robert James. The two men got acquainted through their church in the Waco area. Ted works in the automotive industry, and Robert is retired from coaching football at the college level, most notably, at Baylor University.

DATE: Tuesday, 17 September 2024 (PM)

NEXT OPEN DATES: 19 (PM), 20 (AM), 23-27 Sep. (AMs and PMs)

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Robert James and Ted Wong worked in the fairly windless heat for 4 hours and were rewarded with a catch of 141 fish on Lake Belton. 130 of their 141 fish were taken on MAL Originals with chartreuse tails worked with a “smoking” tactic.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

Fishing has gotten much easier and much more productive ever since the brief cold snap we experienced for a 4-day run, beginning on Sept. 6.

Once again today, despite less than optimum wind and cloud cover, we found heavily schooled fish tight to bottom. These fish were 1) willing to chase a lure moving at a fast clip, and 2) stayed beneath the boat for long periods of time allowing a significant number of fish to be landed before having to move and find more fish.

We used the MAL Original with chartreuse tail with a smoking tactic to catch 130 of our 141 fish. We used this bait and this tactic from our start, up until about 7:10. Then, with about 40 minutes of light left, I could see fish beginning to move shallower, thru the 30 foot depths, into about 25 feet of water. As they did this, the fanned out, thus making a horizontal tactic more likely to produce.

I changed us over to White Tornados (white, 3/4 oz. version) and we wound up picking up 11 more fish right up until they quit at dark. As has been the case even before the Sept. 6 cooldown, the ratio of quality white bass increased during this brief low-light period.

This was the first trip since Lake Belton reopened in early July where I did not feel downrigging would outproduce other methods at any point during this 4-hour trip.

Here is a tutorial on vertically smoking the MAL Lure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE

Here is a tutorial on horizontally “sawtoothing” with the MAL Lure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3FMEQHOMQ

LURES USED SUCCESSFULLY ON THIS TRIP: We smoked MAL Originals vertically. We cast White Tornados horizontally. Find all MAL Lures and White Tornados here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 141 fish caught and released, including 1 largemouth bass, 6 short hybrids, and 134 white bass

OBSERVATIONS:

2) Zero topwater action at dusk.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Here was the water temperature profile for Lake Belton, measured with a FishHawk TD device around 6:35 AM on Saturday, September 7 , then again around 6:10AM on Monday, September 9…

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 3:50P

End Time: 7:50P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 92F

Elevation: 1.03′ low and falling slowly with a 52 cfs flow; .02′ fall in last 24 hours

Water Surface Temp: 85.5F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: S0-6 all afternoon.

Sky Condition: ~40% white cloud cover on a light blue sky.

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 99% illumination.

GT = 25

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 1743 – smoking MAL Originals for 43 fish

Area 1269 – smoking MAL Originals for 27 fish

Area B0107G – smoking MAL Originals for 38 fish

Area B0304G – smoking MAL Originals for 7 fish (all small, so left them biting)

Area B0245G/1506 – smoking MAL Originals for 15 fish (all small, so left them biting)

Area 1788 to B0156C – moved shallower with the fish as light failed, sawtoothing White Tornados for 11 fish

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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

They Were “Gladden” They Came Today — 204 Fish (w/ Magnum White Bass Photo)

September 15th, 2024 by Bob Maindelle

CLIENTS: This past Saturday morning I was joined by the Gladden family – Kelvin, Angela, and Tevin — for the second weekend in a row to pursue white bass on Lake Belton on an all catch-and-release basis.

DATE: Saturday, 14 September 2024 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATES: 17 (AM), and 18-19, 23-27 Sep. (AMs and PMs)

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Kelvin, Angela, and Tevin Gladden with but a few of the 204 fish they landed in just 4 hours on this September weekend trip on Lake Belton. The largest white bass of the trip, being held by Angela, went 15.75″ – a true Texas magnum.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

Fishing was very straightforward and very productive this morning. We spent a very short time between 6:50 and sunrise downrigging in water less than 20 feet deep for roving schools of white bass, catching 13 white bass before the sun’s direct rays struck the water and drove fish deeper.

From that point on, we hit only four additional areas, and “camped out” for substantial lengths of time at each, working MAL Originals with chartreuse tails vertically for an additional 191 fish landed through our quitting time around 11 AM.

In each case these fish were scattered at first, as seen on sonar. They consolidated under the boat thanks to the splasher, and they remained under the boat as the splasher and the commotion created by catching and releasing fish attracted additional fish. In each case, we left fish still biting as the action at each location peaked, and then began to taper off as I felt the conditions (with wind and cloud cover) would allow us to find additional schools of fish which were more active.

Last week, the Gladden party included 4 with their son, Kelvin, who did not make it today. This week, the three of them landed 204 versus the 117 which all four of them landed last week. I attribute this both to the returning south wind which began late this past Thursday, and the fact that the Gladdens had no learning curve to work through today.

Here is a tutorial on vertically smoking the MAL Lure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE

Here is a tutorial on horizontally “sawtoothing” with the MAL Lure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3FMEQHOMQ

LURES USED SUCCESSFULLY ON THIS TRIP: We downrigged with #12 Pet Spoons. We smoked MAL Originals vertically. Find all MAL Lures here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 204 fish caught and released, including 1 freshwater drum, 9 short hybrids, and 194 white bass

OBSERVATIONS:

2) Third day of helpful southerly winds (and with good velocity of 10+ mph) following 7 days of northerly winds.

3) The harder the wind blew, the better our result, hence a 99 fish catch at the last stop of the morning when we were just shy of whitecapping at 12-13 mph from due south.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Here was the water temperature profile for Lake Belton, measured with a FishHawk TD device around 6:35 AM on Saturday, September 7 , then again around 6:10AM on Monday, September 9…

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:45A

End Time: 11A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 77F

Elevation: 0.99′ low and falling slowly with a 52 cfs flow; .02′ fall in last 24 hours

Water Surface Temp: 80.7F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: S9-13 all morning

Sky Condition: Fair skies with high, thin, white cloud cover at ~70%

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 82% illumination.

GT = 5

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Areas 1802 & 1923 – downrigging pre-dawn with #13 Pet Spoons for 13 fish

Area B0302G – smoking MAL Originals for 55 fish

Area 683/B0301G – smoking MAL Originals for 22 fish

Area vic 1012 – smoking MAL Originals for 15 fish

Area 086/346 – smoking MAL Originals for 99 fish

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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

CALL IT A “TWO-FER” — 54 + 115 = 169 FISH

September 14th, 2024 by Bob Maindelle

CLIENTS: On Friday, Sept. 13, I saw that the north wind we’d had in place for 7 days was due to shift to the south. This usually helps the fishing, but also relocates fish. I wanted to stay on top of any fish movements, so, I took my wife on a morning scouting trip. Our intention was to check a lot of areas, catch no more than five fish in order to gauge activity level and size, then move on to the next area. Well, that effort resulted in 54 fish landed and multiple fish-holding areas identified. Just as I hopped in my truck to back down my trailer, I got a call. Long story short, Ariel and Paige Merhav were at Ft. Cavazos, visiting from Utah and wanted to go fishing. So, I met them back at Lake Belton at 4p, and we did a full 4-hour trip. He’s a firefighter, she’s a physician, and they were great anglers and great company.

DATE: Friday, 13 September 2024 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATES: 17-19, 23-27 Sep.

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Paige and Ariel Merhav landed 115 fish during their 4-hour evening trip on Lake Belton. This handsome smallmouth was the largest of the lot.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

Thanks to a bit of thin, high cloud cover and a nice, steady southerly breeze at 9-10 mph, we got right on fish this afternoon and stayed on them for a full four hours. Up until 7p, our fishing was focused on the increasing numbers of white bass beginning to occupy segments of the bottom which have not seen fish since the spring in as much as 50 feet of water.

We used one lure, one way to put 96 fish in the boat. That was the MAL Original with chartreuse tail. Ariel and Paige had lots of prior fishing experience, and that certainly helped them maximize their potential. Garmin LiveScope definitely placed a positive roll, as it showed when large schools of fish were moving in from the left or right so the two of them could time the rise of their lures correctly.

With about 20 minutes to go until dark, the fish count stood at 96, and we all wanted to break that 100 fish mark, but, the wind died and made the low-light period a bit tough (same thing is reported in my writeup from Sep. 10). After trying horizontal casting from a fixed position, I suggested we downrig in order to cover water and intersect with some of the patrolling schools of whites clearly showing on side-imaging. This worked out well. With two 3-armed umbrella rigs working 6 Pet Spoons, we put a final 19 fish in the boat coming as singles, doubles, and triples, thus ending the evening with 115 fish caught and released.

Here is a tutorial on vertically smoking the MAL Lure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE

Here is a tutorial on horizontally “sawtoothing” with the MAL Lure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3FMEQHOMQ

LURES USED SUCCESSFULLY ON THIS TRIP: We downrigged with #12 Pet Spoons. We smoked MAL Originals vertically. Find all MAL Lures here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 115 fish caught and released, including 2 smallmouth, 1 largemouth, 2 short hybrids, and 110 white bass

OBSERVATIONS:

1) The number of bottom-oriented schools of white bass encountered since the summertime patterns kicked which are “camped out” for more than just a few minutes at a time continues to increase steadily.

2) Second day of helpful southerly winds following 7 days of northerly winds.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Here was the water temperature profile for Lake Belton, measured with a FishHawk TD device around 6:35 AM on Saturday, September 7 , then again around 6:10AM on Monday, September 9…

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 4P

End Time: 8P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 91F

Elevation: 0.97′ low and falling slowly with a 52 cfs flow; .02′ fall in last 24 hours

Water Surface Temp: 80.91F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: S9-10 through 6:30P, then dropping off to S1-3

Sky Condition: Fair skies with high, thin, white cloud cover

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 73% illumination.

GT = 40

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area vic 1376 -10 fish smoking MAL Originals

Area 1012 – 28 fish smoking MAL Originals

Area B0302G – 47 fish smoking MAL Originals

Area B0303G – 11 fish smoking MAL Originals

Area 811 through 1746 -19 fish downrigging #13 Pet Spoons

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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

NO DEBATE — THIS WAS AN AFTER SCHOOL SPECIAL — 91 Fish

September 11th, 2024September 11th, 2024 by Bob Maindelle

CLIENTS: This afternoon I welcomed aboard Mr. George Garza who chaperoned his own two children, Gabrielle and George, as well as George’s friend, Jace. The boys are both 10, and Gabrielle is 15. George, a U.S. Army disabled veteran, had gone out with me previously via the Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun (SKIFF) program on a very cold morning in late winter. This afternoon there was enough daylight between the end of school and dark to get in a “Kids Fish, Too!” trip wherein only the kids did the fishing.

This is a great time to get kids out after school. My kids trip start around 4:30 and go until 8. Those times will get earlier as our daylengths get shorter

DATE: Tuesday, 10 September 2024 (PM)

NEXT OPEN DATES: 12, 16-19 Sep.

PHOTO CAPTION: George Garza with his daughter, Gabrielle (15), and one of the 91 white bass she, her brother, and his friend landed on this comfortable September evening on Lake Belton.

PHOTO CAPTION: George Garza (10) and George Garza with one of the 91 white bass the kids pulled in during their 2+ hour evening trip. The younger George was not real sure about holding the fish, even with a fish-holder attached.

PHOTO CAPTION: Jace Rivas (10), who has been friends with George Garza for about a year, help up his end of the bargain tonight, landing his fair share of the 91 fish the kids landed.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

Our original plans were just for the two boys to fish, but, at the last minute, Gabrielle’s dance practice was cancelled, so, she joined us, as well. That resulted in a bit of delay and, bottom line, this went from a 3.5 hour trip to a 2 hour, 20 minute trip. So, I had to get on fish and stay on fish to make the most of this.

Fortunately, the weather this afternoon was atypical. We had a remnant north wind from last Friday’s cold front still moving the air, and we had some outer bands of Hurricane Francine’s weather move over us from 5:40P through 7P, then clear off.

Fishing was excellent while both the wind blew and the cloud cover existed, but, at 7P, when both decreased sharply, the bite dropped off with it. To illustrate this point, the kids landed 72 fish from 5:50 through 7P, then only 19 additional fish in the final hour from 7P to 8P.

We started off downrigging with a pair of ‘riggers, each equipped with an umbrella rig sporting three #13 Pet Spoons. This was so as to have baits in the water as I covered ground with sonar looking for concentrations of fish we could hover atop of and fish for vertically.

We didn’t have to downrig long to accomplish that. The fish hit the ‘riggers faster than I could take the fish off, untangle the leaders and redeploy the umbrella rigs. Each of the kids had a turn catching fish, then, after George (who went first) finished up his second round, I stopped over a large school of bottom-hugging fish, Spot-Locked atop them, and had the kids use a smoking tactic with MAL Originals (chartreuse tails) to catch fish non-stop for right at an hour. During this time, I switched over Gabrielle to an MAL Mini. It caught more fish, but it also take a bit more finesse to get and keep the small spinner blade going, so, I kept the younger boys on the MAL Original and all was well.

At 7P, the wind stopped, the skies cleared, and the bite tailed off. We took a snack break (the kid brought an entire party tray of meats and cheeses!!), took photos while the light was still good, and then went back to fishing for fish which were now much less enthused. We primarily downrigged, adding 19 fish to the count to then the trip with a grand total of 91 fish.

Here is a tutorial on vertically smoking the MAL Lure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE

Here is a tutorial on horizontally “sawtoothing” with the MAL Lure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3FMEQHOMQ

LURES USED SUCCESSFULLY ON THIS TRIP: We downrigged with #13 Pet Spoons. We smoked MAL Originals and Minis vertically. Find all MAL Lures here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 91fish caught and released, including 1 crappie, 1 drum, and 89 white bass

OBSERVATIONS:

1) No topwater action.

2) We fished on a continuing N. wind which swept in late Friday night and both cooled and dried the atmosphere. It also started water temps trending downwards.

3) The traditional summertime “sunset bite” was weak tonight as the fish fed heavily from 7 to 8P with wind and cloud cover generating ideal conditons.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Here was the water temperature profile for Lake Belton, measured with a FishHawk TD device around 6:35 AM on Saturday, September 7 , then again around 6:10AM on Monday, September 9…

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 5:40P

End Time: 8:00P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 90F

Elevation: 0.90′ low and falling slowly with a 52 cfs flow; .02′ fall in last 24 hours

Water Surface Temp: 80.3F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: NNW8 thru 7P, then dying

Sky Condition: Light grey skies w/ clouds spinning off Hurricane Francine through 7P, then clearing

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 43% illumination.

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area vic 164 – limited time meant we’d make the most of the first concentration of fish I found. We stayed in this vicinity the entire trip.

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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com