13-Month White Bass Study Produces Personal Best – 72 Fish

CLIENTS:  This morning, I welcomed two young men from Belton, Texas, aboard for a morning spent in pursuit of white bass on Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir as part of a 13-month-long study of the white bass populations on this reservoir, and Lake Belton.  Joining me were Morgan Locklin and Tristen Barr; the boys have been friends since 3rd Grade.

Also aboard conducting the research were Dr. Jason Locklin, Caleb Fry, and Mervin Narito – all part of the Temple College research team weighing and measuring each fish for the study.

ABOUT THE WHITE BASS STUDY:
Through April of 2026, researchers will be measuring and weighing the white bass captured by my clients to consider establish a baseline of fish quality on both lakes.  If you come out fishing with me to help collect these fish, you will get $50 deducted from your fee in exchange for allowing researchers to accompany your party on my boat.  We have designated one sampling day per lake, per month through April of 2026. We will still be catching and releasing all fish.

REMAINING OPEN DATES FOR DISCOUNTED WHITE BASS STUDY FISHING TRIPS:

January 2026                    17th Saturday – Belton – OPEN

February 2026                  14th Saturday – Belton – OPEN, 21st Saturday – Stillhouse – OPEN

March 2026                       11th Wednesday – Belton – OPEN, 12th Thursday – Stillhouse – OPEN

April 2026                          15th Wednesday – Belton – OPEN, 16th Thursday – Stillhouse – OPEN

 

TODAY’S DATE: Saturday, 25 October 2025 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING: Tuesday, 11 November 2025 (AM or PM)

 

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left:  Morgan Locklin and Tristen Barr landed 72 fish, 67 of which were useful for the ongoing Temple College study comparing the quality of white bass populations in Lake Belton and in Stillhouse Hollow.

 

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Jason and Morgan Locklin with Morgan’s “personal best” largemouth bass.  This 7.25-pound largemouth (weighed on a certified scale) eclipsed Morgan’s previous PB by 1.00 pound.  This fish shot up from off bottom, through a school of white bass, and struck Morgan’s MAL Heavy.  I was scrambling for the net before he even realized the fish was that big because I watched the white bass panic and flee on Garmin LiveScope to get out of this fish’s way as it rocketed upwards!  A fish this size would have no problem swallowing a small white bass of 8″ in length or less.

 

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

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

Fishing this morning was solid, albeit one dimensional. My two teenaged anglers worked their MAL Heavy lures vertically using a smoking tactic 100% of the time today. They were aided by Garmin LiveScope used in downward mode, and by a splashing device which drew fish him from around us and kept them underneath us once they arrived.

Turnover has definitely occurred as evidenced by a uniform water temperature from the surface down to as much as 65 feet.
This makes the fish finding a bit more challenging, as the fish can be in just about any depth now. Indeed, I found shad from 0 to 50 feet today.
This trip was part of the 13-month-long study comparing white bass populations on Belton and Stillhouse. Today’s efforts collected (then released) 67 additional fish for that study. Having fished both Belton and Stillhouse now since turnover has occurred, it is quite clear that the fish on Stillhouse are of considerably better body condition than those at Belton. I am sure this study will not only find that to be true, but will go one step further and actually quantify that.
One really cool thing happened today as we fished our last spot. Morgan and Tristen were retrieving their lures upward through a scattered school of about 15 white bass. As their lures approached those white bass from beneath, another fish signature showed charging up off the bottom after Morgan‘s lure.  As Morgan’s lure continued upwards through the white bass, the white bass began to part left and right clearing the way for what turned out to be a 7.25 pound largemouth bass to overtake Morgan’s MAL Lure and strike it. The fish was hooked with only about 15 feet of line out. Morgan, who is an experienced angler for his age, did a good job of preventing excessive jumping, and we were able to get that fish in the net. It surpassed his previous personal best by 1 pound.

 

We wrapped up at the 4.5 hour mark. By this time, my four man crew had amassed a catch of 72 fish including 69 white bass, 2 largemouth bass, and 1 freshwater drum.

RESULTS: 72 fish, all caught and released

 

TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW “SMOKE” AN MAL LURE VERTICALLY: Click here for tutorial

TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW TO FISH AN MAL LURE HORIZONTALLY USING THE SAWTOOTH METHOD: Click here for tutorial 

 

OBSERVATIONS:

  1. Stillhouse is 0.52′ low with a 0.17′ rise in the last 24 hours with USACE releasing 1 CFS.
  2. Stillhouse has undergone “turnover” with the water temperature now uniform from top to bottom.

 

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE: Taken on Stillhouse Hollow around 7:10AM, Saturday, 25 October…

0 feet 76.8F
5 feet 77.0F
10 feet 77.0F
15 feet 77.0F
20 feet 77.0F
25 feet 77.0F
30 feet 77.0F
35 feet 77.6F
40 feet 77.0F
45 feet 76.8F
50 feet 76.8F
55 feet 76.8F
60 feet 76.8F
65 feet 76.7F

 

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:40A

End Time: 12:00 Noon

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 64F

Elevation: Stillhouse is 0.52′ low with a 0.17′ rise in the last 24 hours with USACE releasing 1 CFS.

Water Surface Temp: 76.8F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: Light SW8-11 for 2.5 hours, then slowly shifting and falling to WSW5-6

Sky Condition:  100% grey cloud cover all morning.

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 15% illumination.

GT = 55

 

Wx SNAPSHOT:  

 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH MOST SUCCESS:

Area 1128/480 – 20 fish smoking MAL Heavys
Area 880/872 – 17 fish smoking MAL Heavys
Area 2269 – 5 fish smoking MAL Heavys
Area 2270 – 5 fish smoking MAL Heavys
Area 2271 – 25 fish smoking MAL Heavys

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

The Weather Warmed a Lot, and the Bite Cooled a Bit – 78 Fish

CLIENTS:  This morning, Thursday, October 23, I fished with Todd and Anne Churchill, and JR and LaVonna Briant, all from near Lake LBJ in the Texas Hill Country.  We fished a half day (4 hour) white bass trip on Lake Belton.

 

TODAY’S DATE: Thursday, 23 October 2025 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING: Tuesday, 11 November 2025 (AM or PM)

 

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left: J.R. and LaVonna Briant and Todd and Anne Churchill with a portion of their 78-fish catch made on Lake Belton.  The white bass bite cooled down just a bit as the water warmed back up, but, there are several more cold fronts on the way which should continue to fuel the fall bite.

 

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

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

Today’s bike was a bit diminished versus the earlier part of the week, thanks to returning warmth, high humidity, and nearly 100% cloud cover. This slowed the brightening of the sky in the morning and impacted the first hour of the day. At no time did the winds exceed 7 mph, so that was not helpful, either.

We began the trip casting in 18 feet of water and shallower for white bass, which were schooled together, tight to bottom, and roaming rapidly. We approached these fish with a sawtooth method using the MAL original.

I tried one stint of downrigging, and although we immediately hit a triple, I didn’t feel it was a good fit for this crew under the circumstances we faced. From that point on, we used the MAL Originals with a vertical, “smoking“ tactic for fish, which ranged from ‘glued to bottom’ to as much as 10 feet off of bottom. The activity of the fish rose fell with light level and wind speed. We saw the bite slow at about 10:50 and finally come to a close by 11:30. By this time, my four man crew had amassed a catch of 78 fish including 76 white bass, one largemouth bass, and one freshwater drum.

RESULTS: 78 fish, all caught and released

 

TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW “SMOKE” AN MAL LURE VERTICALLY: Click here for tutorial

TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW TO FISH AN MAL LURE HORIZONTALLY USING THE SAWTOOTH METHOD: Click here for tutorial 

 

OBSERVATIONS:

  1. Belton is 0.67′ low with a 0.05 fall in the last 24 hours with USACE releasing 43 CFS.
  2. Despite less than optimal conditions (post-frontal bright, clear, calm, cool skies) the bite was still moderate all morning, then spiked once the wind began to blow around 10:25AM
  3. The water temperature (surface) was back up to 76.4F after overnight temperatures only fell to 70F

 

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE: Taken on Lake Belton around 6:40AM, Saturday, 18 October…

0 feet 79.9F
5 feet 79.9F
10 feet 79.9F
15 feet 80.1F
20 feet 80.1F
25 feet 80.1F
30 feet 80.1F
35 feet 79.9F
40 feet 79.9F
45 feet 79.9F
50 feet 79.9F
55 feet 79.9F
60 feet 79.9F
65 feet 79.9F

 

Compare to 2 PM, Sunday, 12 October …

0 feet 81.9F
5 feet 81.9F
10 feet 81.9F
15 feet 81.7F
20 feet 81.7F
25 feet 81.5F
30 feet 81.5F
35 feet 81.5F
40 feet 81.5F
45 feet 81.5F
50 feet 81.2F
55 feet 80.5F
60 feet 79.7F
65 feet 78.6F

 

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:20A

End Time: 11:35A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 70F

Elevation: Belton is 0.71′ low with a 0.01′ fall in the last 24 hours with USACE releasing 43 CFS.

Water Surface Temp: 76.4F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: Light S5-7

Sky Condition:  70-80% grey cloud cover all morning.

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 4% illumination.

GT = 80

 

Wx SNAPSHOT:  

 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH MOST SUCCESS:

Area 675 – 14 whites sawtoothing MAL Original Lures; 3 on downrigged Pet Spoons
Area 328 – 9 fish smoking MAL Originals
Area B0186C/B0005G – 20 fish smoking MAL Originals
Area B0005G – 2 fish smoking MAL Originals
Area 1814 – 12 fish smoking MAL Originals
Area 2267 – 9 fish smoking MAL Originals
Area 2268 – 9 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)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle

A Nice Windy WIndow — 85 Fish

CLIENTS: This morning, Wednesday, October 22, I fished a half day (4 hour) white bass fishing trip on Lake Belton with first time clients Jack and Taylor Anderson.  Taylor arranged this trip in celebration of Jack’s 30th birthday.  Jack is originally from the UK and Taylor is a Texas native.  I give the guy credit — he got here as quick as he could!!

Having seen the shallow, low-light bite dwindle over the past 10 to 14 days, I opted to make our start time a bit later – 7:40 AM.

 

TODAY’S DATE: Wednesday, 22 October 2025 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING: Wednesday, 29 October 2025 (AM or PM)

 

 

PHOTO CAPTION:   Jack and Taylor Anderson enjoyed steady action despite early, post-frontal conditions.  Then, once the wind began, the fish really put on the feedbag and provided them with a “grand finale”.

 

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

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

As we got going, I observed a an osprey making repeated dive attempts at fish feeding on the surface. I cut the outboard about 200 yards out and trolled into the general area where the osprey had been working. There were white bass working shad on the surface and popping up one at a time over an area of about a half acre.

Since these fish were over fairly deep water (40+ feet), I felt I could get them to consolidate beneath the boat. Using the splasher, I did, indeed, get them to come under the boat, so, I had Taylor and Jack stop their lures short of the bottom and hold them still at 30 feet waiting for an opportunity to reel the lures upward through pods of fish as they passed beneath the boat between 18 and 22 feet down. This accounted for our first 11 fish of the morning.

We moved on and I found another group of fish in 18 to 24 feet of water. These fish were moving very quickly and staying very tight to the bottom. We alternated between downrigging with three armed umbrella rigs equipped with #12 Pet Spoons and casting MAL Originals out horizontally using a sawtooth retrieve. This accounted for another 25 fish. By around 9:30, as the winds went calm, the sky was clear, and the sun shown brightly, this shallow bite died hard. From this time until 10:25 when a nice southerly wind kicked in, things got a bit tough. We were still able to find and catch fish, but our catch rate dipped. Most of the fish we caught during this time were caught by smoking lures past fish which were suspended up off bottom and moving parallel to it in small schools.

Once the wind started blowing at 10:25, the fish turned on almost immediately and stayed turned on until about 11:15. We caught a disproportionate number of fish during this “windy window“. During this time, all the fish were taken via a smoking tactic with most of the fish following the lure up off bottom. I noted that the fish were much more willing to follow at a faster speed and for a greater distance thanks to the influence of the wind.

We ended up the trip today with 85 fish caught and released, including 84 white bass, of which only two were short, as well as one freshwater drum.  I feel the switch over to the slightly shorter MAL Original added a few more fish to the count today, although it could be because the fish are getting more aggressive with each day of cooling.

RESULTS: 85 fish, all caught and released

 

TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW “SMOKE” AN MAL LURE VERTICALLY: Click here for tutorial

TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW TO FISH AN MAL LURE HORIZONTALLY USING THE SAWTOOTH METHOD: Click here for tutorial 

 

OBSERVATIONS:

  1. Belton is 0.67′ low with a 0.05 fall in the last 24 hours with USACE releasing 43 CFS.
  2. Despite less than optimal conditions (post-frontal bright, clear, calm, cool skies) the bite was still moderate all morning, then spiked once the wind began to blow around 10:25AM
  3. The water temperature (surface) was at 76.4F after a morning low of 53F.

 

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE: Taken on Lake Belton around 6:40AM, Saturday, 18 October…

0 feet 79.9F
5 feet 79.9F
10 feet 79.9F
15 feet 80.1F
20 feet 80.1F
25 feet 80.1F
30 feet 80.1F
35 feet 79.9F
40 feet 79.9F
45 feet 79.9F
50 feet 79.9F
55 feet 79.9F
60 feet 79.9F
65 feet 79.9F

 

Compare to 2 PM, Sunday, 12 October …

0 feet 81.9F
5 feet 81.9F
10 feet 81.9F
15 feet 81.7F
20 feet 81.7F
25 feet 81.5F
30 feet 81.5F
35 feet 81.5F
40 feet 81.5F
45 feet 81.5F
50 feet 81.2F
55 feet 80.5F
60 feet 79.7F
65 feet 78.6F

 

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:40A

End Time: 11:45A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 53F

Elevation: Belton is 0.67′ low with a 0.05 fall in the last 24 hours with USACE releasing 43 CFS.

Water Surface Temp: 76.4F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: Light NNE0-2 until 10:25, then shifting and building quickly to ESE11.

Sky Condition:  Clear “bluebird” sky with post-frontal conditions.

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 1% illumination.

GT = 0

 

Wx SNAPSHOT:  

 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH MOST SUCCESS:

Area 2264 – 11 suspended whites smoking MAL Original Lures
Area B0293G – 25  whites sawtoothing MAL Original Lures/downrigging #12 Pet Spoons
Area 1934 – 5 suspended whites smoking MAL Original Lures
Area B0122C – 9 whites, 1 drum smoking MAL Original Lures
Area 2265 – 4 whites smoking MAL Original Lures
Area vic 1814 – 27 whites smoking MAL Original Lures
Area 2266 – 2 whites smoking MAL Original Lures

Bob Maindelle

 

 

 

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

Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle

Fall’s Fishing Doors Have Flung Open — 131 Fish

CLIENTS: This morning, Tuesday, October 21, I fished with a crew of five from Hartman pest control. Joining me were Monte Montanye, Michael Padgett, Justin Tatum, Jason Randolph, and Cory Matthews.

These five fellows represented quite a range of experience levels, so, I just kept things very straightforward, tried to explain the most essential elements of the tactics we would be using, and spelled out reasonable expectations given the season and the weather we were experiencing.

 

TODAY’S DATE: Tuesday, 21 October 2025 (AM)

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

 

 

PHOTO CAPTION:   The Hartman Pest Control Crew, from left: Monte Montanye, Michael Padgett, Justin Tatum, Jason Randolph, and Cory Matthews.  This crew landed a full, 5-man limit of over 125 white bass.  There was very little variation on size, despite finding fish spread miles apart.  Most fell right at 11 inches, and every last one came on an MAL Heavy with silver blade and chartreuse tail worked vertically.

 

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

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

Thanks to an incoming, dry cold front with wind velocity steadily rising through the four hours of this trip, we found fish particularly aggressive this morning.

Still, our first hour was a bit slow as the low light bite has really dwindled in the past week. Add to this some thin, low, gray cloud cover in the eastern sky, and we really did not have a significant brightening of the sky until about 8:30. From 8:30 until about 10:45 it was game on.

I found fish at all but one location I searched at this morning, and all of those populations I did find responded aggressively to a smoked MAL Heavy with silver blade and chartreuse tail.

My biggest challenge was simply getting everyone through the learning curve that all anglers new to using the MAL Lure go through. Fortunately, everyone was willingly coached. I was particularly impressed that Justin, with many years of tournament bass fishing experience under his belt, was able to adapt to some very different tactics this morning, including restraining his hook-setting when fish pursued and struck his lure.

When all was said and done, we had landed exactly 131 fish including a single largemouth bass, and exactly 130 white bass. Almost without exception, these fish were right at 11 to 11.25 inches — on the small side, but still legal.

At 10:45 I noticed a distinct let up in the white bass action, and from that point forward it was a slow fade to black. By 11:35 the fish were done.

RESULTS: 131 fish, all caught and released

 

TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW “SMOKE” AN MAL LURE VERTICALLY: Click here for tutorial

TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW TO FISH AN MAL LURE HORIZONTALLY USING THE SAWTOOTH METHOD: Click here for tutorial 

 

OBSERVATIONS:

  1. Belton is 0.59′ low with a 0.00 fall in the last 24 hours with USACE releasing 43 CFS.
  2. Thanks to additional cooling over the weekend, and a reinforcing cold front today, the fish were even more aggressive than yesterday — the most aggressive I’ve seen so far this fall
  3. The water temperature (surface) was at 77.0F.

 

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE: Taken on Lake Belton around 6:40AM, Saturday, 18 October…

0 feet 79.9F
5 feet 79.9F
10 feet 79.9F
15 feet 80.1F
20 feet 80.1F
25 feet 80.1F
30 feet 80.1F
35 feet 79.9F
40 feet 79.9F
45 feet 79.9F
50 feet 79.9F
55 feet 79.9F
60 feet 79.9F
65 feet 79.9F

 

Compare to 2 PM, Sunday, 12 October …

0 feet 81.9F
5 feet 81.9F
10 feet 81.9F
15 feet 81.7F
20 feet 81.7F
25 feet 81.5F
30 feet 81.5F
35 feet 81.5F
40 feet 81.5F
45 feet 81.5F
50 feet 81.2F
55 feet 80.5F
60 feet 79.7F
65 feet 78.6F

 

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:25A

End Time: 11:35A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 70F

Elevation: Belton is 0.61′ low with a 0.01 fall in the last 24 hours with USACE releasing 43 CFS

Water Surface Temp: 77.0F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: NW10 at trip’s start, increasing steadily to NW16 by trip’s end

Sky Condition: Low, thin, grey cloud cover in the eastern sky for about 40 minutes.  This pushed to the east and was replaced by a clear “bluebird” sky with the incoming, dry cold front

Moon Phase: New moon at 0% illumination.

GT = 50

 

Wx SNAPSHOT:  

 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH MOST SUCCESS:

Area B0306G – 6 whites smoking MAL Heavy Lures
Area 2263 – 19 whites smoking MAL Heavy Lures
Area 1814 – 37 whites smoking MAL Heavy Lures
Area B0122C – 23 whites smoking MAL Heavy Lures
Area 1815/1943 – 13 whites smoking MAL Heavy Lures
Area 1882 – 15 whites smoking MAL Heavy Lures
Area vic 211 – 16 whites smoking MAL Heavy Lures

Bob Maindelle

 

 

 

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

Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle

Fishing Improving with Each Passing Cold Front — 70 Fish

CLIENTS:  This morning, Monday, October 20, I conducted the seasons 11th SKIFF trip for Jackson Huffman. Jackson is the 16-year-old son (and oldest of 4 children) of U.S. Army Captain Steve Huffman and his wife.

Captain Huffman is currently a company commander over an explosive ordinance disposal (EOD) company at Fort Hood. Captain Huffman served two tours in Afghanistan, and was most recently separated from his family by a temporary duty (TDY) assignment to Colorado.  CPT Huffman has been in the military for a total of 19 years.

 

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, and VFW Post 4008 in Belton, TX.  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, and 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 to make your reservation.

 

TODAY’S DATE: Monday, 20 October 2025 (AM)

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

 

 

PHOTO CAPTION:   Jackson Huffman with two of the seventy fish landed on Lake Belton as fishing conditions slowly but steadily improve with each passing cold front.

 

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

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

After Sunday’s very stiff, dry winds out of the north following the passage of a mild cold front which came through late Saturday, the winds shifted overnight to southerly and, by 11 AM, we’re blowing over 20 mph from the southeast.

This wind shift forced a change in my game plan as some of the areas I had been fishing successfully of late were no longer accessible due to high winds.

The surface temperature this morning was 77.1, which is the lowest surface temperature reading I’ve observed since the spring.

There was definitely more enthusiasm amongst the white bass population thanks to that additional cooldown.

We used the MAL Heavy with silver blade and chartreuse tail 100% of the time today. The vast majority of that time we fished vertically using the smoking tactic in conjunction with Garmin LiveScope. At one area, we used the sawtooth method and picked up about seven fish as I could see roaming schools out to the starboard side of the boat using side imaging.

In four hours’ time we had landed 70 fish including 67 white bass, one blue catfish, and two hybrid striped bass.

Tomorrow’s forecast calls for another cold front’s arrival with high winds from the north northwest accompanying it followed by a series of cool mornings which should continue to drive an improvement in the fishery.

RESULTS: 70 fish, all caught and released

 

TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW “SMOKE” AN MAL LURE VERTICALLY: Click here for tutorial

TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW TO FISH AN MAL LURE HORIZONTALLY USING THE SAWTOOTH METHOD: Click here for tutorial 

 

OBSERVATIONS:

  1. Belton is 0.61′ low with a 0.06 fall in the last 24 hours with USACE releasing 43 CFS.
  2. Thanks to additional cooling over the weekend, the fish were as aggressive as I have seen then thus far this fall
  3. The water temperature (surface) was at 77.1F.

 

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE: Taken on Lake Belton around 6:40AM, Saturday, 18 October…

0 feet 79.9F
5 feet 79.9F
10 feet 79.9F
15 feet 80.1F
20 feet 80.1F
25 feet 80.1F
30 feet 80.1F
35 feet 79.9F
40 feet 79.9F
45 feet 79.9F
50 feet 79.9F
55 feet 79.9F
60 feet 79.9F
65 feet 79.9F

 

Compare to 2 PM, Sunday, 12 October …

0 feet 81.9F
5 feet 81.9F
10 feet 81.9F
15 feet 81.7F
20 feet 81.7F
25 feet 81.5F
30 feet 81.5F
35 feet 81.5F
40 feet 81.5F
45 feet 81.5F
50 feet 81.2F
55 feet 80.5F
60 feet 79.7F
65 feet 78.6F

 

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:30A

End Time: 11:45A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 64F

Elevation: Belton is 0.61′ low with a 0.01 fall in the last 24 hours with USACE releasing 43 CFS

Water Surface Temp: 77.1F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: SE10 at trip’s start, increasing steadily to SE20 by trip’s end

Sky Condition: 85% light grey cloud cover on a hazy white sky

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 1% illumination.

GT = N/A

 

Wx SNAPSHOT:  

 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH MOST SUCCESS:

Area 2261 – 12 whites smoking MAL Heavy Lures
Area 672 – 13 whites smoking MAL Heavy Lures
Area vic 1381 – 11 whites, 1 blue cat, 2 hybrid smoking MAL Heavy Lures
Area 2262 – 4 whites smoking MAL Heavy Lures
Area 2263 – 9 whites smoking MAL Heavy Lures
Area 1934 – 10 whites smoking MAL Heavy Lures
Area 1679 – 8 whites smoking MAL Heavy Lures

Bob Maindelle

 

 

 

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

Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle

DANG! We Sure Had a Lot of Refusals — 43 Fish

CLIENTS:  This morning, Saturday, October 18, I fished (for the second time this week) with brothers Steve and Dave Wise. The two were on the boat with me Wednesday when the party I had scheduled for this morning called to let me know they could not make it. Hearing this, and with Dave having limited time remaining in Texas until heading back to his home state of Minnesota, the two decided to come out with me once again.

This trip was one of 13 monthly trips taking place on Lake Belton from October 20 25 to April 2026 in a study being conducted by Temple Collegeto compare the weights and lengths of the fish on both Lake Belton and Stillhouse Hollow. Representing Temple College this morning was professor Jason Locklin, Caroline Vanderburg, and Yessenia Edgecomb.

ABOUT THE WHITE BASS STUDY:
Through April of 2026, researchers will be measuring and weighing the white bass captured by my clients to consider establish a baseline of fish quality on both lakes.  If you come out fishing with me to help collect these fish, you will get $50 deducted from your fee in exchange for allowing researchers to accompany your party on my boat.  We have designated one sampling day per lake, per month through April of 2026. We will still be catching and releasing all fish.

REMAINING OPEN DATES FOR DISCOUNTED WHITE BASS STUDY FISHING TRIPS:

January 2026                    17th Saturday – Belton – OPEN

February 2026                  14th Saturday – Belton – OPEN, 21st Saturday – Stillhouse – OPEN

March 2026                       11th Wednesday – Belton – OPEN, 12th Thursday – Stillhouse – OPEN

April 2026                          15th Wednesday – Belton – OPEN, 16th Thursday – Stillhouse – OPEN

 

TODAY’S DATE: Saturday, 18 October 2025 (AM)

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

 

 

PHOTO CAPTION:   Dave Wise landed this nice 19.5″ Lake Belton hybrid striper working an MAL Heavy with silver blade and chartreuse tail vertically in the 11 o’clock hour as we fish over ~40 feet of water.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  The Wise brothers contributed another 40 fish to the white bass study.  All fish taken this morning came on the MAL Lure worked vertically.

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

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

The fishing this morning was tougher than it had been earlier this week. We had clouds at sunrise which prevented the low light downrigger bite from developing, then encountered very stubborn, reluctant fish throughout the morning.  At no time did the fish really get fired up and show a willingness to leave the bottom and suspend in a feeding posture up off of it.

We got an inordinate number of refusals, where the fish would not ignore the bait, but would rather chase it a ways and not hit it, or begin chasing and quickly veer off and head back to bottom.

As I reviewed the common threads linking the fish Steve and Dave did catch today, I found that those fish were most commonly 1) caught within a few minutes of arriving at a new area (novelty factor), 2) were individual fish coming out of a much larger school of fish (competition factor), and 3) were likely in the lead position of a school of fish, moving along the bottom (i.e. not one of the straggling followers in the school).

Steve and Dave made some sound adjustments on the fly to try to make the best of a tough situation. They restrained themselves on hooksetting.  They tried to get the blade of their MAL Lures spinning as close to bottom as possible. They kept their MAL Lures moving at as low of a speed as possible while still keeping the blade turning so as to increase their lures’  “loiter time“ in that magical 4 to 5 foot band off the bottom in which a majority of the strikes were taking place. And, they waited until fish approached within 2 feet of their lure before “springing” it up off the bottom in an effort to trigger reflexive strikes.

All fish landed today came on the MAL Heavy or MAL Dense with silver blades and chartreuse tails. We wrapped up around 11:50 AM with exactly 40 white bass, 2 largemouth, and 1 legal hybrid striped bass caught and released.

RESULTS: 43 fish, all caught and released

 

TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW “SMOKE” AN MAL LURE VERTICALLY: Click here for tutorial

TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW TO FISH AN MAL LURE HORIZONTALLY USING THE SAWTOOTH METHOD: Click here for tutorial 

 

OBSERVATIONS:

  1. Belton is 0.50′ low with a 0.02 fall in the last 24 hours with USACE releasing 43 CFS.
  2. It was tougher today than on Wed. and Fri.; it was also the only morning with starting temps in the 70s with humidity and cloud cover.
  3. The fish we caught were generally caught 1) within a few minutes of arriving at a new area, 2) were individual fish coming out of a much larger school of fish (a competition factor), and 3) were likely in the lead position of a school of fish, moving along the bottom (i.e. not one of the straggling followers in the school).

 

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE: Taken on Lake Belton around 6:40AM, Saturday, 18 October…

0 feet 79.9F
5 feet 79.9F
10 feet 79.9F
15 feet 80.1F
20 feet 80.1F
25 feet 80.1F
30 feet 80.1F
35 feet 79.9F
40 feet 79.9F
45 feet 79.9F
50 feet 79.9F
55 feet 79.9F
60 feet 79.9F
65 feet 79.9F

 

Compare to 2 PM, Sunday, 12 October …

0 feet 81.9F
5 feet 81.9F
10 feet 81.9F
15 feet 81.7F
20 feet 81.7F
25 feet 81.5F
30 feet 81.5F
35 feet 81.5F
40 feet 81.5F
45 feet 81.5F
50 feet 81.2F
55 feet 80.5F
60 feet 79.7F
65 feet 78.6F

 

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:15A

End Time: 11:50A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 71F

Elevation: Belton is 0.51′ low with a 0.01 fall in the last 24 hours with USACE releasing 43 CFS

Water Surface Temp: 79.9F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: SE6 at trip’s start, building to SE12 by 9:00, then tapering down and shifting SW6-7 thereafter

Sky Condition: 85% light grey cloud cover on a hazy white sky

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 7% illumination.

GT = 55

 

Wx SNAPSHOT:  

 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH MOST SUCCESS:

Area B0026G – 11 whites smoking MAL Heavy Lures
Area B0098C  – 1 largemouth, 7 whites smoking MAL Heavy Lures
Area 714 – 5 whites smoking MAL Heavy Lures
Area  1012 – 1 largemouth, 8 whites smoking MAL Heavy Lures
Area  1548 – 6 whites smoking MAL Heavy Lures (two hops)
Area 2260 – 1 hybrid, 3 whites smoking MAL Heavy Lures

Bob Maindelle

 

 

 

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

Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle

Beginning His Switch from “Living to Work” to “Working on Living” — 67 Fish

CLIENTS: This morning, Friday, October 17, I fished with a father and his three sons in a trip coordinated by Trent Olsen‘s wife, Josie, in celebration of his October 1 retirement from the U.S. Army as a senior noncommissioned officer in the Infantry branch over 20 years.

Joining me was Trent Senior, Trent Junior, Jonathan, and Jeremiah Olsen.

 

TODAY’S DATE: Friday, 17 October 2025 (AM)

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

 

 

PHOTO CAPTION:   From left: Trent Jr., Jeremiah, Jonathan, and Trent Olsen Sr. each with white bass taken on MAL Heavy Lures fished vertically in water 30-40′ deep.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:   After our SE wind began to die around 10:40, the white bass bite fell off, so, we retooled and my crew landed 7 bluecat (and missed a few more) in just under an hour using doughbait fished near bottom.

 

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

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

We got going around 7:10 AM and immediately got into fish during the low light period between first light and the time when the sun broke over the eastern horizon. These fish were in fast moving schools just on and up off of the bottom in the 30 foot range. We caught seven fish as four singles and one triple, all on #12 pet spoons behind three-armed umbrella rigs on a pair of downriggers.

This fishing quickly dried up when the sun broke over the horizon, and from that point through about 10:40 we worked MAL Heavy Lures with chartreuse tails vertically with a smoking tactic at four distinct locations to boat an additional 53 white bass, all of legal size.

Around 10:40 AM, the southeasterly breeze we’d enjoyed all morning relaxed, and the bite quickly faded with it. I had previously baited an area with a mind to going back to that area and fishing it for catfish. I went ahead and pulled the trigger on that plan and, in the final 50 minutes of the trip this crew quickly got the hang of detecting bites, setting hooks, and landing blue catfish using doughbait fish just inches off the bottom in conjunction with Garmin LiveScope.

Our final count was 67 fish including 59 white bass, 1 hybrid striped bass, and 7 blue catfish.

RESULTS: 67 fish, all caught and released

 

TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW “SMOKE” AN MAL LURE VERTICALLY: Click here for tutorial

TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW TO FISH AN MAL LURE HORIZONTALLY USING THE SAWTOOTH METHOD: Click here for tutorial 

 

OBSERVATIONS:

  1. Belton is 0.50′ low with a 0.02 fall in the last 24 hours with USACE releasing 43 CFS.
  2. The white bass use of bottom seems to be increasing with each passing day as the water temperature continues to decrease, albeit very slowly.
  3. The water surface temperature fell below 79F for the first time since the spring warmup this morning before sunrise.

 

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

0 feet 81.9F
5 feet 81.9F
10 feet 81.9F
15 feet 81.7F
20 feet 81.7F
25 feet 81.5F
30 feet 81.5F
35 feet 81.5F
40 feet 81.5F
45 feet 81.5F
50 feet 81.2F
55 feet 80.5F
60 feet 79.7F
65 feet 78.6F

 

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:10A

End Time: 11:25A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 64F

Elevation: Belton is 0.50′ low with a 0.02 fall in the last 24 hours with USACE releasing 43 CFS

Water Surface Temp: 78.9F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: SE6 at trip’s start, building to SE9 by 9:05, then tapering off thereafter to SE4 by trip’s end

Sky Condition: 15% cloud cover on a hazy white sky

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 13% illumination.

GT = 5

 

Wx SNAPSHOT:  

 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH MOST SUCCESS:

Area vic B0039G- downrigging Pets for 6 whites, 1 hybrid
Area 1506 – 28 whites smoking MAL Heavy Lures
Area 2054  – 16 whites smoking MAL Heavy Lures
Area vic B0149C – 9 whites smoking MAL Heavy Lures
Area OCTCAT06 – 7 bluecat on doughbait

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

Getting Cooler, Getting Better — 55 Fish

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

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

 

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

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

 

 

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

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

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

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

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

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

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

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

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

RESULTS: 55 fish, all caught and released

 

TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW “SMOKE” AN MAL LURE VERTICALLY: Click here for tutorial

TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW TO FISH AN MAL LURE HORIZONTALLY USING THE SAWTOOTH METHOD: Click here for tutorial 

 

OBSERVATIONS:

  1. Belton is 0.48′ low with a 0.02 fall in the last 24 hours with USACE releasing 43 CFS.
  2. The white bass use of bottom seems to be increasing with each passing day as the water temperature continues to decrease, albeit very slowly.
  3. The water surface temperature fell below 80F for the first time since the spring warmup this morning before sunrise.

 

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

0 feet 81.9F
5 feet 81.9F
10 feet 81.9F
15 feet 81.7F
20 feet 81.7F
25 feet 81.5F
30 feet 81.5F
35 feet 81.5F
40 feet 81.5F
45 feet 81.5F
50 feet 81.2F
55 feet 80.5F
60 feet 79.7F
65 feet 78.6F

 

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:20A

End Time: 11:35A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 63F

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

Water Surface Temp: 79.9F on the surface.

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

Sky Condition: 0% cloud cover on a blue sky

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 30% illumination.

GT = 55

 

Wx SNAPSHOT:  

 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH MOST SUCCESS:

Area vic 903- downrigging Pets for 5 whites
Area B0302G – 9 whites smoking MAL Heavy Lures
Area B0025G/1740  – 4 whites smoking MAL Heavy Lures
Area vic B0098C – 6 whites smoking MAL Heavy Lures
Area vic 187 – 4 whites smoking MAL Heavy Lures
Area B0188G – 11 whites smoking MAL Heavy Lures
Area vic 1012 – 16 whites smoking MAL Heavy Lures

Bob Maindelle

 

 

 

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

Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle

Just in from Germany – 57 Fish

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

 

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

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

 

 

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

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

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

RESULTS: 57 fish, all caught and released

 

TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW “SMOKE” AN MAL LURE VERTICALLY: Click here for tutorial

TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW TO FISH AN MAL LURE HORIZONTALLY USING THE SAWTOOTH METHOD: Click here for tutorial 

 

OBSERVATIONS: Belton is 0.46′ low with a 0.02 fall in the last 24 hours with USACE releasing 43 CFS.  The white bass use of bottom seems to be increasing with each passing day as the water temperature continues to decrease, albeit very slowly.

 

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

0 feet 81.9F
5 feet 81.9F
10 feet 81.9F
15 feet 81.7F
20 feet 81.7F
25 feet 81.5F
30 feet 81.5F
35 feet 81.5F
40 feet 81.5F
45 feet 81.5F
50 feet 81.2F
55 feet 80.5F
60 feet 79.7F
65 feet 78.6F

 

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:10A

End Time: 11:10A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 63F

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

Water Surface Temp: 80.1F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: NW1-5 all morning

Sky Condition: 0% cloud cover on a blue sky

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 40% illumination.

GT = 5

 

Wx SNAPSHOT:  

 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH MOST SUCCESS:

Area vic B0039 – downrigging Pets for 9 whites
Area 346 – 3 whites smoking MAL Heavy Lures
Area 1276 – 11 whites smoking MAL Heavy Lures
Area 2259 – 34 whites smoking MAL Heavy Lures

Bob Maindelle

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

Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle

Holding Her Breath, Waiting for the Boop – 36 Fish

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

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

 

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

 

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

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

 

 

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

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

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

RESULTS: 36 fish, all caught and released

 

TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW “SMOKE” AN MAL LURE VERTICALLY: Click here for tutorial

TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW TO FISH AN MAL LURE HORIZONTALLY USING THE SAWTOOTH METHOD: Click here for tutorial 

 

OBSERVATIONS: Belton is 0.44′ low with a 0.02 fall in the last 24 hours with USACE releasing 43 CFS.  The white bass use of bottom seems to be increasing with each passing day as the water temperature continues to decrease, albeit very slowly.

 

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

0 feet 81.9F
5 feet 81.9F
10 feet 81.9F
15 feet 81.7F
20 feet 81.7F
25 feet 81.5F
30 feet 81.5F
35 feet 81.5F
40 feet 81.5F
45 feet 81.5F
50 feet 81.2F
55 feet 80.5F
60 feet 79.7F
65 feet 78.6F

 

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:10A

End Time: 10:50A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 63F

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

Water Surface Temp: 80.9F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction:  S7-11 all morning

Sky Condition: 0% cloud cover on a blue sky

Moon Phase: Last quarter moon at 51% illumination.

GT = 5

 

Wx SNAPSHOT:  

 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH MOST SUCCESS:

Area vic B0039G – 7 white bass via downrigging Pet Spoons
Area vic B0202C- 17 white bass smoking MAL Heavys
Area vic B0058G – 6 white bass smoking MAL Heavys
Area OCTCAT02 – 2 channel cats on doughbait
Area 166 – 4 panfish on bait and floats

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