Much-Anticipated Cooldown Spurs Fish into Gear – 134 Fish

CLIENTS: This morning, Saturday, November 22, I fished with a crew of three – – all first time guests. The occasion for this trip was Mr. Brad Kimbrough’s 62nd birthday, which came around this past August. Joining him in the celebration was his son, Alex, and Alex‘s brother-in-law, Justin R.

Brad is recently retired from the data management field with a Central Texas-based corporation, Alex serves as a rheumatologist in the Waco area, and Justin is part of a dental practice in the Temple area.

TODAY’S DATE: Saturday, 22 November 2025 (AM)


NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING: Monday, 01 December 2025 (AM or PM)

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Brad Kimbrough and his son, Alex, celebrated Brad’s 62nd birthday with a fishing trip on Lake Belton, the men, joined by one other relative, landed 134 fish including 133 white bass and 1 largemouth bass.

FIND LURES HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/


WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton


SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:
Although my plan was to take these fellows to Stillhouse because it is producing good numbers of quality fish, Alex requested we go to Belton instead because his dad keeps a boat in a slip at one of the marinas there and the crew hoped to glean some tips and tactics they could later put to use on Lake Belton.

Thanks to a consistent northwest breeze and incoming high-pressure following yesterday‘s rain event, the fish were in overdrive this morning. The bite did not kick in well until 8:30, but once the fish started feeding, they fed heavily until almost exactly 11 AM. We managed to put only 8 fish in the boat in our first 90 minutes on the water, but then made up for lost time in a big way, finishing up the trip with 134 fish landed. We fished only one lure using one tactic this morning. That lure was the MAL Dense with silver body, and the tactic was the vertical “smoking “tactic.

Those 126 fish landed after the fish turned on were caught at just two areas. There was no need to hop from location to location as has been necessary all this past week under much less ideal conditions.

I am very hopeful for a strong run of solid fishing this forthcoming Thanksgiving week as we experience below normal temperatures all week.

Of the 134 fish landed, 133 were white bass with the additional fish being a single largemouth bass.

A significant portion of our catch consisted of smaller fish. But, I let Alex know ahead of time this was the trade-off in moving the trip from Stillhouse to Belton. After full disclosure on that, Alex and the crew were okay with it, and so we enjoyed this morning’s fast action on Lake Belton with high numbers of smaller fish.

RESULTS: 134 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:

-The mild cold front served as a much-anticipated boost to the fishing this morning. After yesterday’s AM storms and a period of post-frontal calm, winds came steadily from the NW this morning and the fish really turned on around 8:30AM.

-No helpful bird action yet on Lake Belton.



LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE: Measured around 6:30 AM on Saturday, 22 Nov. 2025…

Compare to temps taken on Lake Belton around 7AM, Saturday, 08 November…

AREAS FISHED WITH MOST 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