The Fish Were Already Wet – 118 Fish

CLIENTS: This morning, Monday, 09 Nov., I welcomed back the Barfield family from the Georgetown area: Trey and Ann and their two boys, Jon and Brandon. Trey and Ann make a living servicing air filtration and fire suppression needs, Jon is in his senior year at the Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, NY, and Brandon works as a lineman for the Pedernales Electrical Co-op and has wedding plans for June 2027.

TODAY’S DATE: 09 November 2026 (AM)


NEXT OPEN MORNING DATES: 17, 24, 30 Nov., 3, 4 Dec. 2026

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Trey, Ann, Brandon, and Jon Barfield with a portion of their 118-fish catch made as a low pressure system dropped the last of its rain on us after a 2+ day rain event. The fishing was good in the rain, got better as the transition from rain to clearing was occurring, then got tough as the first blue appeared in the western skies.

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

I’m thankful that the Barfield’s trusted me on the weather. They were willing to set aside the discomfort/nuisance of light rain to cash in on the normally good fishing which accompanies low pressure systems. While not the white-hot fishing that we get with incoming cold fronts in the autumn, low pressure systems and the rains, gentle winds, and cloud cover which accompany them typically produce a solid catch.

With a limited “window” of time to get the entire family together at one place and one time, we decided to don raingear and make the best of it.

So it was this morning as the Barfields worked MAL Dense Lures (white blade, silver body, chartreuse tail) under dark, heavily clouded skies, fishing these lures vertically using the “smoking” tactic, aided by Garmin LiveScope and a splashing device.

The fishing was good in the rain, got better as the transition from rain to clearing was occurring between 8:30 and 9AM, then got tough as the first blue appeared in the western skies, from about 9:20AM on. During that 8:30-9A window, we saw the best catch rate as the crew landed over 20 fish in that short period of time. During that time, fish just went ballistic, swimming faster than at any other point in the morning, and chasing the MAL Lures up higher off bottom than at any other time.

RESULTS: 118 fish, all caught and released

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

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

SEE THE “SMOKING TACTIC” TUTORIAL HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3FMEQHOMQ

OBSERVATIONS: The positive impacts of last week’s pair of cold fronts largely diluted out over the weekend as a low pressure system swooped in behind the front and brought beneficial rains late Saturday, all day Sunday, and into the early morning today. Fish behavior settled back from the fevered pitch we saw as the cold fronts came in, but, the fish was still solid in keeping with the fall cooldown.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Taken on Lake Belton on 04 Nov. 2026, approx. 6:10AM…

Taken on Lake Belton on 27 Oct. 2026, approx. 7:00AM…