Short and Sweet – 43 Fish on a Quick Afternoon
CLIENTS: This afternoon, Tuesday, November 25, I fished a short two hour, 40 minute trip with a crew of three young people. Mr. Max Jordan from the Belton area gathered three grandkids together – – Houston Brown, and Maeve and AJ Lantham, and accompanied them on this afternoon‘s trip before packing up and heading back to Austin after we returned to the dock at 4:30 following our 1:50 PM start time.
TODAY’S DATE: Tuesday, 25 November 2025 (PM)
NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING: Monday, 01 December 2025 (AM or PM)
PHOTO CAPTION: Maeve Lantham was our big fish winner this afternoon. This 3.75-pound hybrid striped bass raced up off bottom in 49 feet of water for a full 15 feet before catching up with her lure and striking it.
PHOTO CAPTION: From left: A.J. Lantham, Houston Brown, and Maeve Lantham landed 43 fish in a short, 2.5 hour afternoon trip on Lake Belton. They worked MAL Dense lures vertically the entire outing.
FIND LURES HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:
Our conditions were difficult this afternoon, and that is putting it mildly. We had bright skies and calm conditions until the last 20 minutes of the trip.
Our forecast called for a 5 to 6 mph north northwest wind all day, and we did see that develop in the morning, but no such luck this afternoon. We had no problem finding fish, but, these fish would only express interest in our presentations for the first few minutes after arriving at a location and getting our baits down to them. Hence, even on such a short trip, we did a lot of hopping around to put together the 43 fish catch the kids made.
Deep water is often my go-to solution for tough weather conditions. This afternoon, we fished between 44 and 51 feet to find the active fish we found.
Once found, we continued using one lure (the MAL Dense with silver body) one way (with a vertical “smoking” tactic). As we reeled up for the last time at 4:25 PM, the kids had put together a catch of 43 fish including 42 white bass and one legal hybrid striped bass.
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:
-After yesterday’s mild, wet front pushed through, we had a clearing north breeze for about 3 hours this morning and found the fish in a solid, feeding mode; once the wind died, it stayed calm until around 4P, making the afternoon fishing very tough.
-No helpful bird action on Lake Belton this trip.
LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE: Measured around 6:30 AM on Saturday, 22 Nov. 2025…
0 feet 69.8
5 feet 70.8
10 feet 71.0
15 feet 71.0
20 feet 71.2
25 feet 70.5
30 feet 70.0
35 feet 69.8
40 feet 69.4
45 feet 69.1
50 feet 68.8
55 feet 68.4
60 feet 68.1
Compare to temps taken on Lake Belton around 7AM, Saturday, 08 November…
0 feet 69.6
5 feet 69.6F
10 feet 69.6F
15 feet 69.6F
20 feet 69.6F
25 feet 69.4F
30 feet 69.0F
35 feet 68.8F
40 feet67.4F
45 feet 66.9F
50 feet 66.9F
55 feet 66.8F
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 1:50P
End Time: 4:30P
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 72F
Elevation: Belton is 0.26′ low with a .02′ rise in the last 24 hours. USACE is releasing 26 CFS.
Water Surface Temp: 70.1F on the surface.
Wind Speed & Direction: Calm until 4P, then NW3-5
Sky Condition: Clear, post-frontal “bluebird” skies
Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 25% illumination.
GT = 15
Wx SNAPSHOT: N/A
AREAS FISHED WITH MOST SUCCESS:
Area B0042C – 6 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures (all whites)
Area 1945 – 18 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures (1 hybrid, 17 whites)
Area 2255/150 – 5 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures (all whites)
Area 1392/1386- 4 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures (all whites)
Area vic 1277 – 2 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures (all whites)
Area 0008 – 8 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures (all whites)
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