WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Saturday morning I fished with Brett Williams and his two kids, 23-year old Brett II, and 10-year-old Trinity.

I got to know Brett last year when the two of us met at Rogers Park boat ramp on Belton following a morning of fishing.  Brett serves as the executive director at the Ralph Wilson Youth Club in Temple and was recently re-elected as a trustee for the Killeen Independent School District.

We talked about the possibility of getting RWYC kids out fishing during the summer months, but, COVID-19 neatly curtailed that idea, at least for the summer of ’20.

Brett II is soon to graduate from Texas A&M with a degree in civil engineering, and Trinity is working her way through 5th grade in the Killeen ISD.

 

 

PHOTO CAPTION #1:   From left: Brett Willams I, Trinity Williams, and Brett Williams II, each with a pair of the white bass we’d landed up to our trip’s mid-point.  The Willams crew would go on to land a total of 106 this morning, despite high winds hindering our efforts.

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED: Saturday (AM), 14 November 2020

HOW WE FISHED:   

The wind forecast I woke up to this morning was very different from the one I studied heading to bed the night before; so different, in fact, that I made a last-minute change to our meeting location so as not to launch from a ramp it would be dangerous (or impossible) to return to by boat should the winds get as bad as forecast, or worse.  This turned out to be a good move.

As I launched, the pre-dawn air was humid, with grey cloud cover keeping the previous day’s heat in, and leaving the air temperature right at 70F.  A southerly breeze around 10 was already blowing.

As the Williams family arrived, we did a launch site train-up on the technique we’d employ with the MAL Lures once I found sufficiently congregated fish to fish for.

We then headed out to hunt for fish.  I passed on two locations, each with fish on them, but with those fish showing to be super-tight to the bottom and only in small clusters.

At the third area I searched, we found what we were after — a large congregation of fish (perhaps 30-40 yards in diameter) which were already rising off the bottom to feed as indicated by obvious target separation on both down-imaging and colored sonar.   I got the boat in “Spot-Lock” directly over top of these fish and we went to work on them, with the Williams employing their newly practiced vertical fishing skills very well.

The first few fish hooked allowed me to do some further coaching, and from that point on we caught fish continuously right up until they ground to a halt between 11 and 11:30 AM.

All things being equal, I like to be in open, wind-blown areas, but today, by 10:15AM, that was no longer safe, so, we retreated to more protected waters which I had not fished during the mornings in a white, but which have consistently held fish during my recent afternoon outings.

As we checked our very first wind-protected area, side-imaging indicated a nice school of fish out to our left.  Using the i-Pilot Link feature, I directed the trolling motor to that school of fish, just hoping they’d stay put long enough for us to catch just one and thereby get the entire school enticed to stay in our vicinity.  That soon became a reality, and, despite the wind, we were able to put a final 26 fish in the boat to take our morning’s tally up over 100 fish, including 1 largemouth bass, 1 drum, and 104 white bass.

Brett was, literally and figuratively, blown away.  Blown away literally by the stiff wind, but, more importantly, blown away by the real-world application of sonar technology which led to our fishing success this morning.  As owner of a bass boat equipped with Lowrance sonar, he realized he is not getting near the full potential out of his equipment, and came away with a number of lessons learned which will help him in his own pursuit of fish going forward.

See the MAL Lure here: https://whitebasstools.com/

See tutorial video on how to work the MAL Lure here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE&t=239s

TALLY: 106 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:  7:15A

End Time: 11:15A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 70F

Elevation:  0.64 low with a 0.03’ 24-hour rise and 0 CFS flow thru the dam

Water Surface Temp: 66.6F

Wind Speed & Direction:  Winds were S all morning, starting a 10-11, and increasing quickly to 16+ by 10AM, then slowly going even higher between 10A and 11A forcing us off of more open water areas

Sky Condition: Varying between 75 and 100 % grey cloud cover

Moon Phase: Waning crescent at 1% illumination

GT = 10

Wx SNAPSHOT:  Check out that wind scenario!

 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 958; 51  white bass on MAL Lures (SP)

**Area B0055G; 30 fish on MAL Lures (SP)

**Area B0056G; 26 fish on MAL Lures (SP)

 

 

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

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide

#BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing

#bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport

#fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday

#Fitec

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Friday morning I fished with a couple from Burleson, TX, — the Wiggins.

Originally, this trip was booked by Linda Hankins of the Belton Small Animal Clinic to share with her friends, the Wiggins, but, overnight, Linda’s dad had some medical issues which landed him in the hospital with Linda and his wife there looking after him (he’s stable now!).

Linda insisted that Dana and Kelly continue their plans to fish with me, so, we did just that.

Dana is a plumber and, although Kelly’s career has been founded in veterinary medicine, she’s currently teaching anatomy and physiology at Tarrant County College, doing everything online.

Although both Dana and Kelly had fished before, neither had ever specifically pursued white bass in the manner we did today.

Kelly told a great story today about attending a veterinary conference in which a well-meaning gentleman signed her in and obtained Kelly’s name badge for her by telling a white lie about Kelly being laid up in a hotel room nursing her twin babies, thus being unable to sign herself in by the evening’s deadline.  When this man met Kelly for the first time through a mutual friend, he introduced himself to her as the father of her twins — a title which has “stuck” for that fellow, whom Kelly became friends with, ever since!

 

PHOTO CAPTION #1:   From left: Kelly and Dana Wiggins of Burleson, TX, caught and released 120 fish on Belton this past Friday morning fishing MAL Lures in deep (35-52′) water using a vertical tactic.

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED: Friday (AM), 13 November 2020

HOW WE FISHED:  Morning trips with winds sufficient to ripple Lake Belton’s surface have been pretty “cut-and-dried”, and if any cloud cover develops, that has been like icing on the cake.  On these 4-hour morning trips, the first hour has been consistently slow; the middle two hours have seen the majority of the catching, and, from around 10:15 to 11:15, there has been a gradual slowdown to nil by 11:15 or so.

We fished four areas today.  I normally will not stop the boat to fish this time of year unless I see an abundance of bottom-hugging fish on sonar.  Such was the case at the last three of these areas we fished.  Knowing the first hour has been slow, I’ve been willing to stop atop more marginal sonar readings during that time.

Once we found fish, the MAL Lure took care of the rest provided it was used with good technique.

Before leaving the dock, I have found it useful to do a “demo” of the technique, and then check each angler out on their own technique so we don’t miss any fish to poor technique once the fish are found.

At our second stop of the morning, I’ll “layer in” the use of Garmin LiveScope, and then sit back and just tactfully coach, take off fish, and generally be helpful as my folks have fun catching.

Our four stops this morning produced 8 fish, 45 fish, 51 fish, and 16 fish, respectively for a total of 120 fish, which included 1 drum, 1 largemouth bass, and 118 white bass.

See the MAL Lure here: https://whitebasstools.com/

See tutorial video on how to work the MAL Lure here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE&t=239s

TALLY: 120 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:  7:15A

End Time: 11:15A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 61F

Elevation:  0.64 low with a 0.01’ 24-hour drop and 0 CFS flow thru the dam

Water Surface Temp: 66.1F

Wind Speed & Direction:  Winds were NNE 6-10 all morning following an overnight wind shift from the S.

Sky Condition: ~75% grey cloud cover

Moon Phase: Waning crescent at 4% illumination

GT = 100

Wx SNAPSHOT:  

 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 958/B0149G; 8 white bass on MAL Lures (SP)

**Area B0053G; 51 fish on MAL Lures (SP)

**Area B0002C; 45 fish on MAL Lures (SP)

**Area B0148C; 16 fish on MAL Lures (SP)

 

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

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide

#BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing

#bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport

#fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday

#Fitec

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Wednesday evening I fished with 12-year-old Colby Anthony and his grandfather, Doug Streater.

Doug serves on the board of directors for the Ralph Wilson Youth Club in Temple and, after Mrs. Sharon Wilson won a fishing gift certificate which I had provided at their recent fundraiser, she turned around and put that gift certificate back up for auction.  Doug bid on it and won, and the date for that trip was set for today after finding a clearing in Colby’s school and athletic schedule.

 

PHOTO CAPTION #1:   Doug Streater and his grandson, 12-year-old Colby Anthony, landed 94 fish on a very tough afternoon, “featuring” calm winds, clear skies, and a glassy lake surface.

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday (PM), 11 November 2020 (Veterans’ Day)

HOW WE FISHED:

Conditions don’t get much tougher than the ones we faced this afternoon.  Despite NOAA’s call for a NE breeze at 5-6, we had a glassy surface and cloudless skies for the majority of this afternoon’s trip.

I told Doug and Colby right from the get-go that we’d likely have a slow first hour and a slow final hour, with all of our catching taking place in the middle 2 hours of the afternoon, and that is exactly how it laid out today.

We searched high and low for evidence of fish for a full 75 minutes before I spotted just a little glimmer of hope in about 51 feet of water.  Even on a 15-inch sonar screen, what I spotted wasn’t much, but I was confident it was white bass.  We Spot-Locked, got baits down, and the bottom just lit up.  We put 2 shy of 50 fish in the boat at that first stop before it played out, using  MAL Lures to catch them.

Our second stop was in slightly deeper 53 feet of water.  These fish were more fired up than the first bunch we encountered, but did not stay fired up as long as the fish at the first area did.  Using the MAL Lure in a vertical presentation, we put another 26 fish in the boat.  By now, the sun was getting low and I felt the deep bite would not last long, so, I moved us to shallow water for our last shot at fish.

After searching several areas unsuccessfully, we located a batch of fish — most small — in about 26 feet of water.  We landed exactly 20 fish before the sun set below the horizon and the bite died nearly instantly.  In total, we boated 94 fish on a very tough evening.

See the MAL Lure here: https://whitebasstools.com/

See tutorial video on how to work the MAL Lure here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE&t=239s

TALLY: 94 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:   Deep water was insurance against the impacts of post-frontal weather both AM and PM today.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:  1:30P

End Time: 5:50P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 74F

Elevation:  0.62 low with a 0.01’ 24-hour drop and 0 CFS flow thru the dam

Water Surface Temp: 70.6F

Wind Speed & Direction:  Winds were N1-4 all morning, then went flat calm this afternoon

Sky Condition: Post-frontal, bluebird skies with 20% white cloud cover all morning which would later clear to 0% around 1PM.

Moon Phase: Waning crescent at 11% illumination

GT = 100

Wx SNAPSHOT: N/A

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area B0052G; 48 white bass on MAL Lures (SP)

**Area 717; 26 fish on MAL Lures (SP)

**Area 380; 20 fish on MAL Lures (SP)

 

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

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide

#BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing

#bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport

#fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday

#Fitec

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Wednesday morning I fished with Anthony and Sheila Johnson of Killeen.

I first got to know the Johnsons when I went out on their boat to provide them with on-the-water sonar training on the Lowrance equipment they owned at that time.  As we wrapped that effort up, they asked about peak times of year for the fisheries on Lake Belton and Stillhouse Hollow. I told them about the underappreciated autumn fishery for high numbers of white bass we see each fall.

They put a date with me on the calendar on the spot, and today was the day.

Like many Texas anglers, the Johnsons normally hang up their fishing gear one the warm weather passes, not picking it back up again until the spring warmup.  They walked away today with their eyes opened to a winter-long fishery right in their own backyard.

 

PHOTO CAPTION #1:  Sheila and Anthony enjoyed the learning as much as they did the catching this morning as they put together a 171 fish trip under tough conditions.

PHOTO CAPTION #2:  Sheila landed our largest fish of the trip.   This recent arrival to deep water was taken over a 51′ bottom.  It was one of four largemouth taken from that same depth as a bycatch as we focused on white bass.

 

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday (AM), 11 November 2020 (Veterans’ Day)

HOW WE FISHED:

Today was going to be difficult according to the forecast as post-frontal high pressure built in, skies cleared, temperatures dropped, and winds went nearly slack.

Unfortunately, the weatherman got it just about right this go-round.  Our saving grace was that the north wind blew just enough to ripple the water all morning — we never went flat calm (until the afternoon, but, that’s the topic of my next report).

We started right at 7AM with  the sun cracking over the eastern horizon right at 6:56AM.  The fish were very sluggish for the first hour or so during which time I found fish, but after initially dropping into them and creating some commotion, the fish became disinterested, only half-heartedly chasing our MAL Lures.  We landed only 3 fish, with more than that missed thanks to “rookie” mistakes which everyone makes the first time they have my MAL Lure on the end of their line, despite doing a practice session before leaving the launch site.

After a lot of searching and hardly any finding, I saw a small pack of fish holding off a slope in 52 feet of water.  It didn’t look like much, but, when conditions are tough, I will go ahead and try to fish for “marginal” action knowing that as a bite builds, such a thing can turn into more.

This is exactly what happened to us.  Once we got those deep water fish going, they never slowed down until about 10:35, and then didn’t quit until around 11:05.

We put together this morning’s trip on just one stop, and landed 168 of our 171 fish on the on stop.  This catch included 1 hybrid striped bass, 4 largemouth bass, and 166 white bass.

Every fish we caught today was taken on a white or chartreuse MAL Lure worked vertically.

The Johnsons very much wanted to see the approach I took to finding and catching fish this morning.  Learning was to them even more important than catching, and they both asked smart questions all through the morning as they thought about how to take what they were learning and apply it to their own approach, given the equipment they now have.

Whenever Anthony hinted that an equipment upgrade to sonar or trolling motor, etc. might need to be considered, Sheila would bring him back to reality and remind him that Ramen noodles would be on the menu frequently if his spending plan went through.

As Anthony kept on dreaming, Sheila doubled-down and told him Ramen may become a delicacy if he kept on with the big ideas, and that catsup soup might just become the standard fare, instead.

One thing the two did agree upon  —  that was to book a spring-time hybrid striper trip with me so as to see live shad fishing first hand.

See the MAL Lure here: https://whitebasstools.com/

See tutorial video on how to work the MAL Lure here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE&t=239s

TALLY: 171 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:   Deep water was insurance against the impacts of post-frontal weather.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:  7:00A

End Time: 11:30A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 50F

Elevation:  0.62 low with a 0.01’ 24-hour drop and 0 CFS flow thru the dam

Water Surface Temp: 65.3F

Wind Speed & Direction:  Winds were N1-4 all morning

Sky Condition: Post-frontal, bluebird skies with 20% white cloud cover all morning which would later clear to 0% around 1PM.

Moon Phase: Waning crescent at 11% illumination

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT: N/A

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area B0112C; 3 white bass on MAL Lures (SP)

**Area 1743; 168 fish on MAL Lures (SP)

 

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

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide

#BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing

#bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport

#fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday

#Fitec

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Tuesday morning, November 10^th, I fished with returning guest Steve Murphy.  Joining Steve this go-round was his son, Ron, and Ron’s son, Ronnie.

This was a farewell trip of sorts, as Ronnie, age 23, is headed off to basic training with the U.S. Navy in December.  He’ll be headed to the Great Lakes for basic and then off to advanced training as a yeoman.

Steve is a U.S. Army veteran and is now retired, and Ron is both employed by Suddenlink and operates his own landscaping company.

PHOTO CAPTION #1: From left: Ron, Steve, and Ronnie Murphy — 3 generations aboard my boat for a farewell trip for Ronnie before he heads to basic training in the U.S. Navy.

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday (AM), 10 November 2020

HOW WE FISHED:

We enjoyed pre-frontal fishing during the last 2 hours of this trip, complete with a windshift from SW through the W, then slightly NW.  As the wind shifted, we watched a line of light rain move towards us from the west (as well as on weather radar, which showed it would be light and short-lived).

The fishing was best just before and just after the rain band passed, although we also caught fish during the brief rain event.

Fishing was just so-so for the first 90 minutes or so this morning as the winds were light and variable and as the sun shone intermittently through high, quickly moving cloud cover.

Once the bite started, it stayed solid right up until it died quickly, right at 11:18AM.

We fished five areas this morning, with each giving up fish to the MAL Lure presented vertically.

The third area we fished was in shallower water than I’ve routinely been fishing in.  I gave it a try when several consistently producing deeper areas failed to show fish present on sonar.  In 26 feet of water and on a gently sloping bottom, we got into the single best runs of fish of the trip, which also corresponded with the winds swinging through the west.  Our previous two stops had produced 13 fish and 5 fish, respectively.  This area produced 58 fish.

After it played out, we moved just as the winds were swinging slightly north of west.  The first area we stopped at had previously not held fish earlier in the morning.  It produced 51 fish.

Our final stop got us to the 150 fish mark, producing a final 23 fish.

 

See the MAL Lure here: https://whitebasstools.com/

See tutorial video on how to work the MAL Lure here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE&t=239s

TALLY: 150 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:   No helpful bird activity witnessed this morning.  I found solid fishing mid-morning in under 35’ of water (26’) for the first time in quite a while (although I haven’t been routinely checking shallower areas).

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:  7:00A

End Time: 11:18A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 64F

Elevation:  0.61 low with a 0.03’ 24-hour drop and 0 CFS flow thru the dam

Water Surface Temp: 65.8F

Wind Speed & Direction:  Winds were light and variable for the first 2 hours, then during the last 2 hours of this trip, we had classic pre-frontal weather, complete with a windshift from SW through the W, then slightly NW.

Sky Condition: We had fast-moving, high altitude cloud cover which caused the light level to go from dark to bright and back again, although winds were light at the surface.

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous at 40% illumination

GT = 20

Wx SNAPSHOT: N/A

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area B0201C; 13 fish on MAL Lures (SP)

**Area B0118C; 5 white bass on MAL Lures (SP)

**Area B0133C; 58 white bass on MAL Lures (SP)

**Area vic 1482; 51 white bass on MAL Lures (SP)

**Area 1753; 23 vic white bass on MAL Lures (SP)

 

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

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide

#BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing

#bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport

#fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday

#Fitec

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Monday morning, November 9th, I fished with two fellows who’ve been fishing buddies for decades: Brad Phillips and Jim Davis.

Brad ran an industrial supply business in Temple for many years and currently does home inspections.  Jim recently retired from the commercial banking business.

Brad received this trip in the form of a gift certificate from Linda Hankins, a close friend of his who operates the Belton Small Animal Clinic.

Linda, Jim, and Brad (and a few others) have travelled internationally to fish together through the years, and I enjoyed having experienced anglers aboard.

 

PHOTO CAPTION #1:  Jim Davis with one of the hybrid we took while fishing MAL Lures vertically primarily for deep white bass this morning.

PHOTO CAPTION #2:  This 4 lbs. largemouth was a bit of a surprise.  I came up off bottom after Brad’s MAL Lure as we fishing in 47 feet of water.  Most largemouth I take as bycatch when fishing for white bass tend to be smaller 1 to 2.5 pound class fish.

PHOTO CAPTION #3:  We caught a nice mess of white bass today, with above average-sized fish being the norm today as compared to the last 6 weeks’ worth of trips which have included a lot of small fish.

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday (AM), 09 November 2020

HOW WE FISHED:

As we got to know each other a bit at the start of the trip, I learned that Brad and Jim were both experienced, well-travelled anglers.  This actually concerned me a bit because oftentimes experienced anglers (and especially male experienced anglers) will not follow the guidance I provide very closely and wind up doing below average as a result.

Fortunately, when I tried to tactfully express this concern, both men understood what I was getting at, and had witnessed examples of other who failed to follow their guide’s suggestions do poorly.

Both fellows got the hang of using the MAL Lure very quickly and, as a result, they caught fish consistently from start to finish, landing 134 fish.

Things started a bit slow with a surprise layer of light fog settling in just before sunrise.  However, it dispersed quickly and we then got down to catching and stayed catching right up until the fish quit at around 11:30.

In all, we hit 5 areas, and each produced white bass which began on bottom (where we located them with sonar) and then climbed higher into the water column as the fish we caught created commotion and drew them upwards.

In all, we landed 134 fish, including 2 legal hybrid striped bass, 4 legal largemouth bass, and 129 white bass.

See the MAL Lure here: https://whitebasstools.com/

See tutorial video on how to work the MAL Lure here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE&t=239s

TALLY: 134 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:   No helpful bird activity witnessed this morning.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:  7:00A

End Time: 11:30A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 64F

Elevation:  0.59′ low with a 0.01’ 24-hour drop and 0 CFS flow thru the dam

Water Surface Temp: 65.8F

Wind Speed & Direction:  Winds were ~S6 with the fog, then picked up to S12-14 after the fog lifted.

Sky Condition: Light fog developed right before sunrise, then remained for about 40 minutes thereafter.  When it dissipated, 100% grey skies remained then began clearing around 10AM.  By trip’s end we had 50% white cloud cover on blue skies.

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous at 40% illumination

GT = 40

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 1152; 49 fish on MAL Lures (SP)

**Area B0157C ; 6 white bass on MAL Lures (SP)

**Area B0051G; 20 white bass on MAL Lures (SP)

**Area vic 593; 14 white bass on MAL Lures (SP)

**Area vic 346; 45 white bass on MAL Lures (SP)

 

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

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide

#BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing

#bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport

#fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday

#Fitec

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Saturday morning, 07 November, I fished with the Thornal family — Eric and Michelle, and their kids, Camden and Maddie.  Michelle’s mom, Donna, also joined us.  This event was in celebration of Camden’s 8th birthday. It was a “Kids Fish, Too!” trip specifically for the kids, so the duration was shorter than for an adult trip, and only the kids did the fishing.

Camden, who, according to his mom, watches hours and hours of fishing videos on YouTube, must have asked a thousand questions this morning, but, his first one was the one that impressed me most.  He asked, “Will we be using the MAL Lure today?!?”.

I said, “Wow, you must have done your homework.”  He explained that his neighbor, Mr. Holle, had told him about the lure, after which Camden went and watched the tutorial video about that bait.

I greatly appreciate the Niemeier/Haberer crew referring this family my way.

 

PHOTO CAPTION #1: From left: That’s 8-year-old Camden, the birthday boy, joined by his mom and dad, Michelle and Eric, and by his 10-year-old sister, Maddie.  The kids landed exactly 100 fish this morning.

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED: Saturday (AM), 07 November 2020

HOW WE FISHED:

Well, we pulled a rabbit out of the hat this morning!  Under clear, calm conditions, we fished just two areas and pulled 91 white bass from Lake Belton in right at 3 hours’ time before the white bass put on the brakes.  This family must be living right, because those kind of results don’t typically happen with that kind of weather.

We found one small patch of white bass in about 36 feet of water just as the sun was rising and caught our first 8 fish there (at Area 1791) and, more importantly, got the kids trained up on how to use the MAL Lure, working the kinks out of their retrieve and cadence.  These fish only stayed fired up around 15 minutes or so.

We moved on and searched out a group of fish near the old river channel.  They were hard to made out on sonar because of the presence of timber, but, once we got them fire up, they stayed active for nearly 2 solid hours.  Many of these were small fish, but, with kids, quantity is much more important than quality, so we stuck with these fish as long as they lasted.  Once the kids showed they were able to use the MAL Lure  well, I layered in Garmin LiveScope, and, with mom and grandma Donna helping Maddie and Eric helping Camden.

By the time 9:45 rolled around, our fish count stood at 91 white bass and the fishing was dying hard.  I wasn’t sure if the shallows would warm up enough to draw sunfish given the cool overnight temperatures, but, I brought sunfish tackle so as to be able to offer the kids variety.

We put our final 30+ minutes into sunfishing up shallow and, by 10:35, put our 100th fish in the boat.  The 9 sunfish the kids landed included bluegill, green, and longear sunfish.

See the MAL Lure here: https://whitebasstools.com/

See tutorial video on how to work the MAL Lure here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE&t=239s

TALLY: 100 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:   No helpful bird activity witnessed this morning.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:  6:45A

End Time: 10:30A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 50F

Elevation:  0.56′ low with a 0.02’ 24-hour drop and 0 CFS flow thru the dam

Water Surface Temp: 65.5F

Wind Speed & Direction:   Light and variable all morning

Sky Condition: Clear skies and calm winds all morning

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous at 61% illumination

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 1791; 8 white bass on MAL Lures (SP)

**Area 355/1152 ; 83 fish (1 largemouth, 82 white bass) on MAL Lures (SP)

**Area B0045G; 9 sunfish on bait under slipfloats

 

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

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide

#BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing

#bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport

#fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday

#Fitec

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Friday morning I welcomed back the great crew of anglers (mainly) from Bates Nissan over in Killeen.  Clay O’Dell, the corporate manager, ramrodded the whole event and was joined by his brother, Robin O’Dell, a product specialist, and by Mike Farris, the parts director.  Robin’s son, Tyler, who owns a trucking company in the Cedar Park area joined us, as did a newbee — Mike’s 19-year-old son, Josh Farris.

Josh quickly earned the nickname “The Situation” for reasons only previously known to the rest of the crew, but now herein shared freely with all of you:  tangled lines, fish reeled in too far, more tangled lines, being the youngest guy in the group and therefore the butt of most jokes, etc., etc.   All of this builds character on one’s journey from occasional fisherman to accomplished angler.  Josh made big strides this trip toward this end (according to him!).

All kidding aside, Josh was very conscientious about following my guidance for working the MAL Lure consistently all morning, and his results were right up there with everyone else’s.  To his credit, Josh landed the first hybrid striped bass of his life toward the close of this trip.

PHOTO CAPTION #1: This was my crew for 06 November: from the back, forward:  Josh Farris, Mike Farris, Robin O’Dell, Tyler O’Dell, and Clay O’Dell.

PHOTO CAPTION #2:  Clay O’Dell with a nice Lake Belton hybrid striped bass taken on the MAL Lure.   If you peek at that LiveScope screen behind Clay, you’ll see there were more hybrid where that one came from!

PHOTO CAPTION #3: That’s Josh “The Situation” Farris with the first hybrid striped bass of his fishing career!

 

PHOTO CAPTION #4: And that’s Tyler O’Dell with a hybrid of his own.

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED:  Thursday (AM), 06 November 2020

HOW WE FISHED:

This morning brought with it the warmest and most overcast morning of the week.  We had both heavy grey cloud cover and patchy fog (for the first hour or so).

I really prefer some cloud cover, as I believe it extends the overall length of the feeding period, but, it also causes the feed to begin later.

We had a slow 35 minutes at the front end of the trip, but, the fish stayed biting until right around 11:35, which is about an hour longer than normal, so, we netted about 30 more minutes of fishing versus a day with clear skies.

Long story short, these fellows put noses to the grindstone and kept their technique sound for the entire morning, resulting in a catch of 288 fish which included a single smallmouth bass, a single freshwater drum, 5 legal hybrid striped bass, and 281 white bass.

Thanks to a prolonged warming spell with southerly winds all week, the water temperature saw a net rise for the week, settling in the mid-60’s.

We caught fish at 4 distinct areas this morning, all in 34-44 feet of water.  The first area gave up 56 fish, the second areas gave up 65 fish, the third area gave up 136 fish, and then the bite died as we fished our fourth area, which gave up a final 31 fish.

Every last fish was landed on either a chartreuse or white MAL Lure retrieved with a moderate cadence.  I layered in the use of LiveScope at our last three areas once everyone had the baseline retrieve method down pat.

The use of LiveScope increases efficiency because it allows each client to stop their retrieve and allow their lure to return to bottom if no fish are seen responding, and because it allows each client to continue their retrieve as fish are seen chasing and overtaking their bait.

See the MAL Lure here: https://whitebasstools.com/

See tutorial video on how to work the MAL Lure here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE&t=239s

TALLY: 288 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:   No helpful bird activity witnessed this morning.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:  6:45A

End Time: 11:35A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 61F

Elevation:  0.50′ low with a 0.02’ 24-hour drop and 0 CFS flow thru the dam

Water Surface Temp: 65.5F

Wind Speed & Direction:  SSE breeze blowing ~8 the entire trip

Sky Condition: 100% grey skies with thin fog in the first hour, clearing to 90% white/grey cloud cover by trip’s end

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous at 71% illumination

GT = 70

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 083/2055 – slow bite under murky grey skies and light fog; 56 fish  (SP)

**Area B0201C; 65 fish (SP)

**Area B0050G; 136 fish (SP)

**Area 1209; 31 fish  (SP)

 

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

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide

#BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing

#bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport

#fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday

#Fitec

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Wednesday morning I fished a daddy-daughter trip with Brad Allen of Killeen, and his daughter, 8-year-old Peyton Allen.  Brad received a fishing gift certificate from his wife over the summer and we scheduled the trip for early last week, but the cold, rainy conditions just weren’t right to have a child out on the water, so, we rescheduled for today and hoped for good weather, which we were afforded.

Brad is the service manager at a commercial truck company in Waco, and Peyton is working her way through grade school at the same school in the Killeen Independent School District where her mom teaches both in-person and online classes.

PHOTO CAPTION #1: Brad and Peyton Allen with our largest fish of the trip, a nice 19.5″ hybrid weighing in at 3 1/8 pounds.  This one fell for a chartreuse MAL Lure.

 

PHOTO CAPTION #2: This freshwater drum was Peyton’s largest fish of the trip.  

 

PHOTO CAPTION #3:  The majority of our catch was comprised of white bass in the 0-3 year class.  All 134 of our fish caught this morning came on either chartreuse or white MAL Lures.

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED:  Wednesday (AM), 04 November 2020

HOW WE FISHED: 

As good as the fall fishing is, if there is one thing to fault about it, it is that it can be a bit one-dimensional.  Nearly every last one of my trips since turnover has involved 4+ hours of working MAL Lures vertically, and today was no exception.  Downrigging and sunfishing are still possibilities, but, to her credit, Peyton stayed engaged in the vertical presentation from start to finish.

For the second consecutive morning, a handful of gulls indicated right where we needed to begin our fishing as they circled and dipped to the water, sipping crippled shad from the surface — shad which were injured by gamefish below.

We fished only three distinct areas this morning, and found prolonged action at each.  Our first area (under those birds) produced 43 fish, our second stop produced 56 fish, and our final stop (with 2 short hops) produced a final 35 fish.

Our catch consisted primarily of white bass with a sprinkling of hybrid stripers and drum.

Thanks to cool nights and warm days balancing one another out, the water temperature has remained stable in the mid-60’s this week.

See the MAL Lure here: https://whitebasstools.com/

See tutorial video on how to work the MAL Lure here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE&t=239s

 

TALLY: 134 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:   Just a handful of gulls pointed the way to our first bit of action this morning.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES: 

Start Time:  6:45A

End Time: 10:45A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 46F

Elevation:  0.50′ low with a 0.02’ 24-hour drop and 0 CFS flow thru the dam

Water Surface Temp: 64.5F

Wind Speed & Direction:  SSE breeze blowing ~8 the entire trip

Sky Condition: <5% white cloud cover on a blue sky

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous at 87% illumination

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:  

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic 083/1483 — 43 white bass on the MAL Lure (SP)

**Area vic B0157C — 66 white bass on the MAL Lure (SP)

**Area vic 152/1385 — 2 short hops: 15 white bass on the MAL Lure @ 1st hop and 10 more @ 2nd hop (SP)

 

 

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

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide

#BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing

#bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport

#fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday

#Fitec

WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Tuesday evening, Election Day 2020, I fished with Killeen Police Department’s Sergeant Shawn Dejournette.

Shawn is a husband, father, U.S. Army veteran, Christ follower, and beekeeper originally from Missouri and although he had fished before and owned a bass boat at one point in time, he’d never fished as we did today.

Shawn was eager to learn and willingly coached, and his results reflected that.

 

PHOTO CAPTION #1:  The photo is a bit grainy because we worked right up until the fish absolutely quit at dark in our efforts to put 100 fish in the boat this evening, which we did by right around 6PM, well after the sun had set.

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED:  Tuesday (PM), 03 November 2020

HOW WE FISHED: 

Shawn and I got going at 1:30PM.  To his credit, he had done his homework and watched my MAL Lure tactic video before arriving, so he was already familiar with the “tutorial” I provided him in preparation for using the MAL Lure as our primary tool to catch white bass.

This afternoon’s bite was definitely not as intense as either the morning bite or the afternoon bite on those afternoon trips I’d fished as recently as last Saturday.

As you can see from the list of areas we had to stop at to put together our catch, it far exceeded the typical 3-4 stops it normally takes to make a solid trip.

The fishing was the same at each location right up until the sun dipped below the western horizon.  Up until sunset we “parked” atop strong congregations of white bass and fished the MAL Lure vertically with a moderately-paced “smoking” style retrieve.  After sunset, as the depths dimmed, those fish remaining active shifted briefly toward the surface and began feeding in the top 7 feet of the water column.  As we watched the nearly calm surface, we could see them form individual boils of water and/or shad skipping away from them.  About one in three casts resulted in a hookup over a ~25 minute span to help up land our final 17 fish, and eclipse the 100 fish mark.

TALLY: 104 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:   This afternoon’s bite was a bit tougher than expected, especially given a mild warming trend and southerly breeze.  The fish weren’t locked down, but just a bit lackadaisical.

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES: 

Start Time:  1:30P

End Time: 6:00P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 76F

Elevation:  0.50′ low with a 0.02’ 24-hour drop and 0 CFS flow thru the dam

Water Surface Temp: 66.3F

Wind Speed & Direction:  SSE breeze blowing ~12 at trip’s start, slowly tapering to light and variable by sunset

Sky Condition: <5% white cloud cover on a blue sky

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous at 93% illumination

GT = 55

Wx SNAPSHOT:  

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic 192 — 22 white bass on the MAL Lure in our first 35 minutes  (SP)

**Area vic 993/1814 — 14 white bass on the MAL Lure (SP)

**Area vic 0153 — 15 white bass on the MAL Lure  (SP)

**Area vic 310 — 14 white bass on the MAL Lure (SP)

**Area vic 709 – two short hops here for 11 white bass on the MAL Lure (SP)

**Area vic 192 (revisited) – 11 white bass on the MAL Lure (SP)

**Area 1657 – sight casting to whites feeding near (not at) the surface for a final 17 white bass

 

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

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide

#BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing

#bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport

#fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday

#Fitec