Fishing Report | Holding The Line Guide Service

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

These Chiropractors Needed No Adjustments — 130 Fish on MAL Lures

October 26th, 2024October 26th, 2024 by Bob Maindelle

CLIENTS: This morning, Saturday, 26 Oct., I fished with returning guest Dr. Patrick Lin. Pat was joined by his office staff, including Jen Joyner, Malia Monroy, and Julissa Gomez — all first time guests of mine. Pat and his wife, Dani, run Symmetry Health Chiropractic Center in Round Rock, TX.

DATE: Saturday, 26 October 2024 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATES: Next open dates: 18-22 November (weekday AMs and PMs). Next Saturday opening: 14 December (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION: Dr. Patrick Lin brought his chiropractic office staff out for some fun on the water and wound up catching our biggest fish of the trip. This “magnum” white bass measured 15 9/16″ and was released in excellent condition. It was caught on an MAL Original with chartreuse tail.

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Patrick Lin, Malia Monroy, Jen Joyner, and Julissa Gomez with a few of the 130 Lake Belton white bass they caught as a late October mild, dry cold front reinforced the already solid fishing for this species which kicked off very suddenly on September 6th, following the fall season’s first cold front.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

This morning saw a continuation of the excellent white bass fishing on Lake Belton which has been taking place since Sept. 6 when the fall season’s first short cooldown occurred. This was bolstered by another cold front on Oct. 16, and then, again, overnight, a very mild, dry front pushed in, shifting the winds to the NW at a speed of 8-10 mph all morning.

The fishing followed a normal- or “bell-shaped” curve this morning, starting off slowly around 8:15, rising to a plateau from about 9:15 to 11:00, then falling off around 11:20, ending at near zero activity by noon.

We needed only one presentation with one lure this morning to seal the deal on a 130-fish catch, and that was a “smoking” retrieve using the MAL Original Lure (with chartreuse tail) presented vertically.

For better or worse, there always seems to be those few anglers who like to creep uncomfortably close on weekends — and today was no exception. If nothing else, they allow me to do an anecdotal comparison on how my clients are doing versus whatever lure or method these others employ. It was really eye-opening how few fish were caught by those yanking slabs up and down all morning, and how few fish were caught by those who could not or would not sit still enough to allow a bite to form beneath them.

Over the four hour span, we fished six areas and caught 130 fish, including 122 white bass and 8 short hybrid stripers.

Garmin LiveScope was certainly instrumental in accounting for a significant portion of these fish, as it allowed my crew to know exactly when suspended fish were passing beneath the boat, thus allowing them to time the rise of their lure so as to tempt those fish. The LiveScope also allow each to keep their lures at rest on bottom while awaiting an incoming school of bottom-hugging fish to make their way over to the commotion the “smoking” method and the caught and released fish were generating.

No, these folks from the chiropractic practice really needed no adjustments today!! Their technique was well-aligned with exactly what the fish wanted.

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 MAL Originals vertically 100% of the time today. Find all MAL Lures and White Tornados here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 130 fish, including 8 hybrid striped bass and 122 white bass.

OBSERVATIONS:

1) The number of bottom-oriented schools of white bass now found in deep water AND showing a willingness to remain stationary long enough to allow for presentations to be made for substantial lengths of time have increased sharply; these fish are there to stay, likely until the water temps drop below 60F.

2) Mornings are much more productive than evenings at this point in the fall.

3) For the third consecutive trip now, I saw multiple large (several hundred individuals) schools today in multiple locations as the fish begin to coalesce heading into the fall/winter.

4) A small flock of gulls overnighted out in open water, but flew away from the lake at dawn.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Here was the water temperature profile for Lake Belton, measured with a FishHawk TD device around 7:30 AM on Saturday, 26 Oct….

0 feet 75.6F

5 feet 76.1F

10 feet 76.4F

15 feet 76.4F

20 feet 76.3F

25 feet 76.3F

30 feet 76.1F

35 feet 76.1F

40 feet 76.1F

45 feet 75.9F

50 feet 75.7F

55 feet 75.3F

60 feet 75.2F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:55A

End Time: 12:00 Noon

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 63F

Elevation: 2.07′ low and falling slowly with a 43 cfs flow; .01′ fall in last 24 hours

Water Surface Temp: 75.6F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: NW8-10 all morning

Sky Condition: 75% white-grey cover on a blue sky.

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 28% illumination.

GT = 55

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 1482- 12 fish smoking MAL Originals

Area 1552 – 47 fish smoking MAL Originals

Area 1325 – 15 fish smoking MAL Originals

Area vic B0308G/B0310G – 21 fish smoking MAL Originals

Area 1743 – 32 fish smoking MAL Originals

Area vic B0225G – 3 fish smoking MAL Originals

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

We Were Banking on Side-Imaging — 100 Fish, MAL Originals & White Tornados

October 23rd, 2024October 23rd, 2024 by Bob Maindelle

CLIENTS: This morning, Wednesday, 23 Oct., I fished a trip with solo returning guest Mr. Gary Jones, a retired banker from Temple, TX. Gary and I first got to know one another when he and some buddies bid on a trip I had donated to the local Ralph Wilson Youth Club. We hit it off, and he’s now been with me on numerous occasions. He is a great combination of financial savvy, local history, a family man, a godly man, and a well-rounded outdoor enthusiast, plus he loves dogs!!

DATE: Wednesday, 23 October 2024 (PM)

NEXT OPEN DATES: Next open dates: 5, 7, 13 & 18 November (weekday AMs and PMs). Next Saturday opening: 30 November (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION: Gary Jones of Temple, TX, with a few of the beefy white bass landed on MAL Originals and 1 1/8 oz. White Tornados.

PHOTO CAPTION: Side-imaging showing hundreds of fish in a single school in 37 feet of water.

PHOTO CAPTION: Close-up of the same image shown above.

PHOTO CAPTION: Side-imaging showing hundreds of fish in a single school in 49 feet of water.

PHOTO CAPTION: Close-up of the same image shown above.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

The fishing got off to a sluggish start this morning as the fish began feeding around 8:10A, but were none too enthusiastic about chasing very far or fast. It stayed this way until the end of our second hour on the water, with a catch of 21 fish/hour in our first hour, and 24 fish/hour in our second hour.

Around 9A, the wind picked up and the fishing picked up, but not dramatically so. Up to this point in the morning our best results came on presenting MAL Originals vertically with a smoking tactic used in conjunction with Garmin LiveScope.

We continued in this manner until around 10:15A when the fishing picked up and stayed strong right up to a very definite stop at 11:44A.

During this time, fish in deep water began to fan out and feed over a gently sloped (nearly flat) bottom, allowing us to cast and work 1 1/8 oz. White Tornados (white color) using a sawtooth method. This deep horizontal fishing is where these baits really shine, as they sink very quickly and can be thrown very far, thus allowing a lot of ground to be covered on each cast.

We ended the morning right at 11:58A, as our 100th fish came over the gunwale. This catch included 91 white bass and 9 hybrid striped 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 used MAL Originals and Heavies in both vertical and horizontal modes this evening. Find all MAL Lures and White Tornados here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 100 fish, including 9 hybrid striped bass and 91 white bass.

OBSERVATIONS:

2) Mornings are much more productive than evenings at this point in the early fall.

3) I saw multiple large (several hundred individuals) schools today in multiple locations as the fish begin to coalesce heading into the fall/winter.

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, 18 Oct….

0 feet 76.8F

5 feet 77.0F

10 feet 77.1F

15 feet77.1F

20 feet 77.1F

25 feet 77.3F

30 feet 77.3F

35 feet 77.3F

40 feet 77.3F

45 feet 77.3F

50 feet 77.1F

55 feet 77.1F

60 feet 77.1F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:50A

End Time: 12:00 Noon

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 67F

Elevation: 2.02′ low and falling slowly with a 43 cfs flow; .02′ fall in last 24 hours (w/ inflow from Proctor)

Water Surface Temp: 76.8F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: S5-8 all morning

Sky Condition: No cloud cover on a hazy blue sky.

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 57% illumination.

GT = 205

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area B0100G- 13 fish smoking MAL Originals

Area vic B0025G – 15 fish smoking MAL Originals

Area vic 187 – 41 fish smoking MAL Originals

Area vic B0107G – 6 fish smoking MAL Originals

Area vic 1783/346 – 25 fish sawtoothing 1 1/8 oz. White Tornados

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

Coin of Justice — 66 Fish

October 22nd, 2024 by Bob Maindelle

CLIENTS: This past Tuesday evening I fished with Justices of the Peace Larry Wilkey and Dan Hause. Both men took office over two years ago with Larry in one of the Temple precincts, and Dan serving out near Lampasas. Both fellows have fished with me previously, but, this go-round Larry invited his son, Bryce, who has just begun his career as a firefighter in Jarrell. As we parted ways in the parking lot at nightfall, Larry was kind enough to present me with a Justice of the Peace coin. I’ve received coins before, but never from other than a military-connected source, so, this was very unique and appreciated (pictures below).

DATE: Monday, 21 October 2024 (PM)

NEXT OPEN DATES: Next open dates: 5, 7, 8 November (weekday AMs and PMs). Next Saturday opening: 30 November (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION: From left, Bryce and Larry Wilkey and Dan Hause with a few of the 66 white bass they landed on a work-shortened 3-hour evening trip on Lake Belton.

PHOTO CAPTION: This is a snapshot of both sides of the coin “JP” Larry Wilkey presented me with at the end of our trip.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

After last week’s cold front came in and really made a drastic improvement in the already solid fishing, I let Larry know I felt like our chances were good for a productive outing since he’d recently inquired about a trip.

Unfortunately, with his job demands, all we could squeeze in was a short, 3-hour trip, and we had to make it during the evenings, as he works each morning, and my next weekend opening wasn’t until late November.

As I’ve reported many times in these writeups, both Belton and Stillhouse tend to have a longer, stronger bite in the mornings. Regardless, we found and caught fish, and, as is often the case on evening trips, the best fishing came right at the end after a slower start.

We really had no problem finding fish, and we caught fish everywhere we found them, but, the level of aggression amongst those fish we found was very low right up until the final 50 minutes or so, and, even then, it wasn’t just through the roof as it can be this time of year.

We spent our first 2+ hours finding fish in 30-40′, and tempting them with MAL Originals and MAL Heavy Lures (both with chartreuse tails) as we observed the fish response on sonar. More often than not, the fish would somewhat lazily follow the lure, just 2 or 3 fish at a time instead of 10 or 12 fish racing competitively after these lures as has been the case on my last month’s worth of morning trips.

We put together a catch of 29 fish through 6:25P at which time I began to see fish and bait make a transition to shallower water. From that time and until the fish quit at dark (around 7:20P), we more than doubled our catch, finishing up with a total of 66 fish.

Once the fish came up shallow, I changed everyone over from fishing vertically to fishing horizontally with a sawtooth method. Then, in the final 10 minutes of the trip, we actually caught a few by sight-casting to individual fish popping shad right on the surface here and there. These were all single fish, and not the great schools often seen feeding on top around dusk in the summer months.

When all was said and done, these men’s 66 fish catch consisted of 9 short hybrid striped bass, 1 drum, and 56 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 used MAL Originals and Heavies in both vertical and horizontal modes this evening. Find all MAL Lures and White Tornados here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 66 fish, including 21 short hybrid striped bass, 1 freshwater drum, 3 largemouth bass, and 305 white bass.

OBSERVATIONS:

2) Mornings are much more productive than evenings at this point in the early fall.

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, 18 Oct….

0 feet 76.8F

5 feet 77.0F

10 feet 77.1F

15 feet77.1F

20 feet 77.1F

25 feet 77.3F

30 feet 77.3F

35 feet 77.3F

40 feet 77.3F

45 feet 77.3F

50 feet 77.1F

55 feet 77.1F

60 feet 77.1F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 4:10P

End Time: 7:20P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 87F

Elevation: 2.10′ low and falling slowly with a 43 cfs flow; .01′ fall in last 24 hours (w/ inflow from Proctor)

Water Surface Temp: 76.8F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: SE6-8

Sky Condition: No cloud cover on a hazy blue sky.

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 77% illumination.

GT = 40

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area vic 085 – 18 fish smoking MAL Originals

Area vic 1798 – 11 fish smoking MAL Originals

Area vic 009/813 – 37 fish smoking MAL Originals & sawtoothing MAL Heavy Lures

Bob Maindelle

Full-time, Professional Fishing Guide and Owner of Holding the Line Guide Service

Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide

254.368.7411 (call or text)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Lake Belton Doesn’t Get Any Better Than This — 330 Fish on MAL Originals

October 21st, 2024 by Bob Maindelle

CLIENTS: This past Friday morning I hosted members of the David Goode family once again for the third time this fall. Joining me were David Goode, his daughter and son-in-law, Sarah and Joe Cambra, and his grandsons, Luke Bauser (16) and Rylan Smith (13)

DATE: Friday, 18 October 2024 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATES: Next open dates: 5, 7, 8 November (weekday AMs and PMs). Next Saturday opening: 30 November (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION: From left, David Goode, Sarah Cambra, Rylan Smith, Luke Bauser and Joe Cambra landed 330 fish on Belton Lake on Friday morning over a four-hour span. All fish were taken on the MAL Original worked with a “smoking” tactic.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

The excellent early autumn fishing pattern which developed very quickly in early September was reinforced and enhanced by another dry, mild cold front which blew in on Wednesday, 16 October.

We had a stiff southeasterly breeze all morning with about 25% cloud cover which helped keep the bite going for a full 4 hours.

In short, this crew of five caught fish from start to finish as the fish fed very aggressively. David and Sarah had previous experience, so there was no learning curve for them, and Rylan, Luke, and Joe all had fished plenty before, so they caught onto the smoking tactic very quickly. We did have some other boats come in on top of us, and that gave us all a chance to see how the smoking tactic compared with yo-yo fishing a slab. The MAL Lure used vertically was outcatching the slab at least 10 to 1.

We fished 6 areas only until the bite began to slack off (not until it died completely). Since the conditions were so good, I did not hesitate to leave fish to find more aggressive fish, and that gamble paid off.

100% of this morning’s fish came on the MAL Original with chartreuse tail raced up off the bottom using the smoking tactic explained in the link below.

One tip I passed on to the crew was to leave at least 2.5 to 3 feet of line between the rod tip and the fish while swinging the fish from the water into the boat. Leaving any less line results in fish being lost at the boat quite frequently.

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 99% of the time for our white bass this morning. Find all MAL Lures and White Tornados here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 330 fish, including 21 short hybrid striped bass, 1 freshwater drum, 3 largemouth bass, and 305 white bass.

OBSERVATIONS:

2) Around 10A, we spotted a very large migratory school of gulls, numbering several hundred birds. These were not “on fish” and did not help us find fish, but, it was good to see the seasonal changes coming in with the cold fronts.

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, 18 Oct….

0 feet 76.8F

5 feet 77.0F

10 feet 77.1F

15 feet77.1F

20 feet 77.1F

25 feet 77.3F

30 feet 77.3F

35 feet 77.3F

40 feet 77.3F

45 feet 77.3F

50 feet 77.1F

55 feet 77.1F

60 feet 77.1F

And here was the water temperature profile from the week before taken around 7:30 AM on Thursday, 10 Oct….

0 feet 79.2F

5 feet 80.2F

10 feet 80.5F

15 feet 80.5F

20 feet 80.7F

25 feet 80.7F

30 feet 80.5F

35 feet 80.5F

40 feet 80.5F

45 feet 80.5F

50 feet 80.2F

55 feet 79.7F

60 feet 79.2F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:50A

End Time: 12:10P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 64F

Elevation: 1.87′ low and falling slowly with a 43 cfs flow; .01′ fall in last 24 hours (w/ inflow from Proctor)

Water Surface Temp: 76.8F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: ESE9-13

Sky Condition: 25% white cloud cover on a hazy blue sky.

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 98% illumination.

GT = 30

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area vic 2054 (2 short hops) – 141 fish smoking MAL Originals

Area vic 2055 – 21 fish smoking MAL Originals

Area vic 083 – 45 fish smoking MAL Originals

Area B0310G – 44 fish smoking MAL Originals

Area 1385 – 32 fish smoking MAL Originals

Area vic 953 – 47 fish smoking MAL Originals

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