CLIENTS: This past Tuesday evening I fished with returning guests — the father-and-son team of Oscar and Mateo Santiago. Although many school districts got the 2024-2025 year kicked off today, Mateo didn’t head back until the following day, so, he and dad got in one last adventure together before the academic routine kicks in.
The fishing was so good that, after landing his share of the 118 fish they landed, Mateo told his dad that his hands hurt. I suggested Mateo get a note for the first day of school letting the teacher know he would be physically unable to complete written assignments for a few days.
DATE: Tuesday, 13 August 2024 (PM)
NEXT OPEN DATES: 15 & 26-30Aug. (AM & PM)
PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Oscar and Mateo Santiago with large, well-proportioned Lake Belton white bass taken between 7P and dark on MAL Original Lures with chartreuse tails. The father-and-son team landed 118 fish.
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED: That 6:45P to 7P timeframe very consistently sees a real upshift in fish feeding behavior under this present high-pressure weather system. Prior to that time, I’m finding only small fish which respond well, albeit briefly, to the splasher. We managed to catch a few by smoking MAL Minis up through them, then they either leave, or grow used to the presence of the lures and turn off to them.
Then, around 6:45 to 7P, as the light level begins to drop and the air temperature begins to decrease, I’m finding much better quality fish consistently using the bottom in 16-24 feet of water (deeper earlier, moving shallower as sunset and dark approach). These fish also respond well to the splasher and stick around for long whiles allowing for high catch numbers. My best approach for these has been “smoking” the MAL Original with chartreuse tail up off bottom for 5-6 cranks. These fish seem unwilling to travel any further upwards than the 10 feet level beneath the surface, so, bringing the lure any higher is just wasted effort. Garmin LiveScope clearly illustrates this over and over again.
LURES USED SUCCESSFULLY ON THIS TRIP: We “smoked” MAL Minis vertically until 7P for smaller fish, then used MAL Originals vertically for the remainder of the evening to wear out the keeper white bass. Find all MAL Lures here: https://whitebasstools.com/
TALLY: 118 fish caught and released
OBSERVATIONS:
1) As we hit 8:10P and the fish began to slow down, we found that targeting the highest fish in the water column from any given school outproduced just randomly reeling up through a school of fish.
2) Nothing but undersized fish at several areas through 7P, then quality fish thereafter; this is just the opposite of what I’m seeing in the mornings.
LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:
Here was the water temperature profile for Lake Belton, measured with a FishHawk TD device around 5:50 AM on Friday, August 9 …
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 5:40P
End Time: 8:40P
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 100F
Elevation: 0.13′ low and falling slowly with a 33 cfs flow
Water Surface Temp: 88.9F on the surface.
Wind Speed & Direction: S9 all evening
Sky Condition: 25% white cloud cover on a slightly hazy blue sky
Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 59% illumination.
GT = 20
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
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
