Bob Maindelle | Fishing Report

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

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C.A.S.T. Event — 65 Fish @ Belton Lake

October 6th, 2024October 18th, 2024 by Bob Maindelle

Bob Maindelle Guide Lines Oct. 13 — Thirteen-year-old Riggin Crain of Killeen participated in the recent CAST for Kids event held last Sunday on Belton Lake. Riggin single-handedly landed 55 fish while accompanied by his stepfather, Peter Delavan.

Courtesy | Holding the Line Guide Service

Last Sunday, 27 children with various disabilities and special needs were treated to a morning of fishing, fun, food and prizes by the Catch a Special Thrill (CAST) for Kids organization, supported by a host of local volunteers.

I wrote of this event in my Sept. 22 column, and personally volunteered as a boat captain, also recruiting my brother, Andy Maindelle, as my volunteer co-captain.

Volunteers arrived at the North Point Marina at 8 a.m. and received a briefing on how the morning was to unfold. Kids, each accompanied by at least one parent or guardian, began to arrive around 9 a.m.. As they arrived, each was paired with a boat captain to head out on Belton Lake in pursuit of fish.

While most of the boat captains were from the local area, one boat crew, captained by fellow freshwater fishing guide Jason Weisberg, travelled in from Richland-Chambers Reservoir, near Corsicana.

When asked what motivated him to make the drive, Weisberg replied, “Cecilia (Weisberg’s wife) and I are the CAST for Kids coordinators for the Richland-Chambers event, and when Mrs. (Randi) Bingham asked for boats because she thought she was going to be short, I knew that feeling well and was able make the Belton event along with a fellow guide who wanted to deckhand for the event.”

Some captains opted to fish for bass, others for catfish or sunfish or hybrid striped bass. I opted to take my assigned young man, Riggin Crain, and his stepfather, Peter Delavan, out in search of white bass.

Riggin is 13 years old and attends Smith Middle School.

Delavan communicated to the CAST Program Events Director, Jim Behnken, that Riggin was a bit anxious about things because this event was well outside of the daily routine in which he functions best.

Understanding this, my brother and I tried to put Riggin at ease by explaining what we would be doing before we did it so there would be no surprises.

The four of us departed North Point Marina by boat and, after a few minutes on plane, settled down at idle speed over a patch of bottom in about 34 feet of water.

Side-imaging revealed the presence of an abundance of white bass and the threadfin shad upon which the white bass feed. I marked a particularly large school of white bass in this vicinity by touching the screen of my sonar unit, and then gave the trolling motor a command to go to that location and essentially park us over top of the fish.

I handed Riggin a light spinning outfit and stood beside him and showed him each step of the process for executing a successful retrieve. Riggin let his MAL Original Lure fall to the bottom, closed his spinning reel’s bail by hand, took up any slack in the line, and then began a series of seven handle turns with the first being faster than the remaining six so as to initiate the spinning of the blade.

Riggin landed a fish on his first attempt, and 52 additional fish would follow, all caught from the same area.

As we approached the 11:45 a.m. deadline to return to our meeting point, I saw that Riggin was getting pretty hot in the increasingly warm and windless conditions. I asked him if he would like to head back in for lunch and the awards ceremony or try for a short time to see if we could catch more than one fish at a time.

Riggin opted to fish.

I then incorporated downriggers into our approach, letting a single three-armed umbrella rig equipped with #13 Pet Spoons down to just four feet off the bottom as we trolled upstream of the area where we had just been fishing. In a matter of minutes, the bouncing rod tip telegraphed the strikes of a pair of white bass.

Riggin reeled these two fish in successfully, we added those to his total for a final count of 55 fish, and we headed back to North Point Marina, allowing the breeze generated by the boat ride to cool us down.

Once at the marina, Riggin was greeted by his mother, Danielle Delavan, and one of his siblings.

As the closing ceremony got underway, the local event coordinator, Randi Bingham of Bingham Marine on FM 439 in Belton, called each child up, took their picture, presented him or her with a plaque, a tackle box, a rod and reel, and a gift card to Walmart. All attendees were treated to a barbecue lunch, courtesy of Farm Bureau Insurance.

As scheduled, the event concluded right at 12:30 p.m. Later in the week, CAST sent out surveys asking how to make an already well-run event even better for the future.

Bingham summed up the event well, saying, “Sunday was absolutely perfect! I couldn’t have asked for a better day for these children! Every single child and their families were able to get on a boat and spend a few hours on the water fishing. This was our best year yet and we can’t wait for next year!”

On-The-Water One-Chip-Challenge — 162 Fish

October 5th, 2024October 5th, 2024 by Bob Maindelle

CLIENTS: This afternoon I welcomed aboard Julian Benitezpenuelas and his two adult sons, Diego Benitez and Niko Villa, who both flew in very early this morning for a visit from the West Coast. Julian is a retired U.S. Army Chemical Corps officer, Diego runs a telecommunications company in San Diego, and Niko oversees a door-making operation near Eugene, Oregon.

Now, this doesn’t have anything to do with fishing, but, these fellows brought a variety of “snacks”. As they offered me some beef jerky, I checked out the package first. Seeing is was a brand I was familiar with, I accepted the offer. But, later, when they broke out some other snacks I was not familiar with, and then began talking about a “one chip challenge” as they did so, I declined any further sustenance. These things looked like a cross between overgrown Cheetos and French fries, and were coated with a reddish powder looking similar to paprika. The bag was yellow, red, and orange and it had pictures of flames on it — not good for a guy who thinks Pace’s mild salsa is really hot and who uses black pepper sparingly. Then, when Julian (remember, he was a U.S. Army CHEMICAL officer) said he thought the spice on these snacks was synthetic, I knew I’d made the right call.

DATE: Friday, 04 October 2024 (PM)

NEXT OPEN DATES: Next open dates: 17, 18, and 21 Oct. (weekday AMs and PMs). Next Saturday opening: 02 November (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Niko Villa, Julian Benitezpenuelas, and Diego Benitez with 6 of the 162 fish they landed in 3 hours’ time working MAL Originals vertically up off bottom through very aggressive fish spurred on by a mild, dry cold front.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

Thanks to a mild, dry cold front which began to push into the area around 10AM, complete with a wind shift and increase in wind velocity, the fish were still very aggressively feeding as I returned for this afternoon’s trip following a 4-hour morning trip.

We only fished for three hours this evening as the men wanted to try to catch a young relative’s ball game, but, those three hours were action-packed.

We executed one technique very well, and that was “smoking” MAL Original Lures (w/ chartreuse tails) vertically up off bottom after finding large concentrations of fish using a combination of DI, SI, and 2D sonar.

Once we found them, the splasher helped to draw them in and keep them near, and my guests then observed Garmin LiveScope to watch fish respond to their presentations.

My crew’s results were enhanced by the fact that we did not have to move but twice to stay on top of fish. When we moved, it took me very little time to find additional, biting fish, thus, they maximized their catching time.

In three hours’ time, they landed 162 fish, including 9 short hybrid striped bass, 1 blue catfish, 1 freshwater drum, and 151 white bass.

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. Find all MAL Lures and White Tornados here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 162 fish, including 9 short hybrid striped bass, 1 blue catfish, 1 freshwater drum, and 151 white bass.

OBSERVATIONS:

2) The wind shift which took place due to an incoming, mild, dry cold front which hit around 10A kept fish feeding aggressively for the duration of this evening’s three-hour trip.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Here was the water temperature profile for Lake Belton, measured with a FishHawk TD device around 7:30 AM on Friday, 04 Oct….

0 feet 80.2F

5 feet 80.9F

10 feet 81.2F

15 feet 81.2F

20 feet 81.1F

25 feet 81.1F

30 feet 81.1F

35 feet 80.9F

40 feet 80.7F

45 feet 80.5F

50 feet 80.3F

55 feet 80.1F

60 feet 79.7F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 3:15P

End Time: 6:15P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 90F

Elevation: 1.50′ 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: N11-12.

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

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 3% illumination.

GT = 25

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 1386 – smoking MAL Originals for 74 fish

Area B0308G – smoking MAL Originals for 69 fish

Area vic 958 – smoking MAL Originals for 39 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

It’s “TRU”, they “HOP”ped Right on the Fish this Morning — 182 Fish

October 4th, 2024 by Bob Maindelle

CLIENTS: This morning I welcomed aboard Thomas and Tasha Brewer for a morning of white bass fishing on Lake Belton. Thomas is a long-time employee of The HOP — a regional public transit system here in Central Texas, and Tasha is a long-time employee at TRU, the manufactured housing company located in Belton’s industrial park. Most of the Brewer’s prior white bass fishing experience has been in casting from the shoreline during the spring spawning run, so, this morning’s deep, open water fishing with a sonar-intensive approach was an eye-opener for them.

DATE: Friday, 04 October 2024 (AM)

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

PHOTO CAPTION: Tasha Brewer took our largest fish of the morning. This hybrid striped bass struck here White Tornado (3/4 oz.) fished with a sawtooth method in 42′ just after a wind shift in the late morning.

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Thomas and Tasha Brewer, each with a pair of solid Lake Belton white bass. Although working the MAL Original vertically accounted for a great number of fish, the White Tornado worked horizontally put better quality fish in the boat this morning.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

We encountered yet another solid morning of high-numbers fishing for white bass on Lake Belton. The fish started biting just as the sun began to shine directly on the water (around 7:55) and never quit through our end time of 11:45 AM.

Thomas and Tasha put 144 fish in the boat doing nothing but working MAL Originals with chartreuse tails vertically up off bottom. We began the morning in 25′ and moved steadily deeper as the sun brightened, ending up in 42′.

After a great run of vertical fishing, Tasha’s wrist got sore, so, we took a bit of a break, during which I gave Thomas a downrigging demo since he expressed interest in the device. He landed a pair of triples in short order, taking our tally to 150 fish.

After that, I spotted some light topwater action out over open water just as the wind both shifted and increased, now coming N11. Thomas and I stood side-by-side for the final 50 minutes of the trip and added a final 32 fish to our count by working white, 3/4 oz. White Tornados with a sawtooth method in 42′ for fish which were uber-aggressive and shading adult shad throughout the water column.

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 for 150 fish, then “sawtoothed” White Tornados for another 32 fish. Find all MAL Lures and White Tornados here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 182 fish caught and released, including 1 largemouth bass, 1 freshwater drum, 1 blue catfish, 13 short hybrid, and 166 white bass.

OBSERVATIONS:

2) After the wind shifted NW to N and the velocity spiked suddenly from 7 to 11mph, some widespread topwater action began to crop up over open water in multiple locations. Mature 3+ inch shad were the target.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Here was the water temperature profile for Lake Belton, measured with a FishHawk TD device around 7:30 AM on Friday, 04 Oct….

0 feet 80.2F

5 feet 80.9F

10 feet 81.2F

15 feet 81.2F

20 feet 81.1F

25 feet 81.1F

30 feet 81.1F

35 feet 80.9F

40 feet 80.7F

45 feet 80.5F

50 feet 80.3F

55 feet 80.1F

60 feet 79.7F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:45A

End Time: 11:45A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 64F

Elevation: 1.50′ 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 = 5

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area vic 1604 – smoking MAL Originals for 22 fish

Area B0202C – smoking MAL Originals for 40 fish

Area vic 958 – smoking MAL Originals for 82 fish

Area B0040G/1386 – sawtoothing White Tornados for 38 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

Duck, Duck, Fish! — 72 Fish on a SKIFF Trip

October 3rd, 2024October 3rd, 2024 by Bob Maindelle

CLIENTS: This morning I welcomed Mrs. Heather Haines and two of her three children aboard — 5 year old Thaddeus, and 3 year old Teagan. The kids’ father, U.S. Army Captain Harrison Haines is a field artillery officer currently deployed to South Korea. This trip was provided at no charge via the SKIFF program. This was the 21st such trip provided to military families this year. Mrs. Haines learned of the SKIFF program through her friend, Trinity Howard, whose kids got to fish earlier this week.

ABOUT SKIFF: SKIFF trips have been provided to military families at no charge since May of 2009. SKIFF is funded by donations from Austin Fly Fishers, The McBride Foundation, & Austin Subaru. S.K.I.F.F. provides kids of military members separated from their families by duty commitments with the opportunity to fish. SKIFF trips are also provided to Gold Star families who have lost their service member. In mid-2019, SKIFF began providing trips to kids of bona fide disabled veterans. I conduct these 3.5 hour adventures on Belton Lake and Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir year ’round. Call or text 254.368.7411.

DATE: Thursday, 03 October 2024 (AM)

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

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Thaddeus, Heather, and Teagan Haines with some whopper 10″ white bass the kids caught all by themselves on this Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun (SKIFF) trip.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

As Heather and I compared notes, we agreed the kids were unlikely to make the normal 3.5 hours SKIFF trips are planned for, given the kids’ ages. So, I planned to introduce the kids to several things briefly before the novelty wore off altogether.

First came sunfishing with telescoping bream rods at two distinct locations with a nice boat ride inserted between the two. That yielded 27 fish.

Next, we fed the ducks. Then, we broke out the snacks while pulled up on the shoreline.

Then came a round of downrigging for singles, doubles, and triples using Pet Spoons behind 3-armed umbrella rigs. That yielded 18 fish.

We closed out the trip around the 2.5 hour mark after Spot-Locking atop an active group of fish we came upon while downrigging. We worked MAL Originals with chartreuse tails on light spinning gear very successfully. That effort netted another 27 fish.

Thaddeus caught on quickly to just about everything, while Teagan seemed more taken with peripheral issues, especially using my bait net to “help” return caught fish to the water.

Heather told me that Thaddeus was up most every hour of the night before this trip asking her if it was time to go yet!!!

The kids landed a total of 72 fish for their efforts.

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 used bait under floats for sunfish, downrigged #12 Pet Spoons, & smoked MAL Originals vertically this morning. Find all MAL Lures and White Tornados here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 72 fish caught and released, including 27 sunfish, 3 short hybrid, and 42 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: 7:55A

End Time: 10:35A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 66F

Elevation: 1.48′ low and falling slowly with a 43 cfs flow; .02′ fall in last 24 hours (w/ inflow from Proctor)

Water Surface Temp: 81.3F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: SSW3-7

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

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 0% illumination.

GT = N/A

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 499 & B0289G – sunfish on slipfloats for 27 fish

Area vic B0022C – downrigging for 18 fish with #12 Pets

Area 791 – smoking MAL Originals for 27 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

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