Third Time’s A Charm — 105 Fish
CLIENTS: This past Tuesday morning, November 25, I fished with three new clients. Spanning three generations were Craig Teal, his son-in-law, Tony Hernandez, and Tony’s 13-year-old son, Rayden.
Craig is a retired machinist with 40 years in the industry, Tony is a public high school principal in the DFW area, and Rayden is working his way through seventh grade and is an avid fisherman, with both salt and freshwater experience, including fishing from a kayak, under his belt.
This trip was postponed twice due to weather and, with an unexpected hole in my schedule, we finally got Rayden on the water and he was able to enjoy both wonderful weather conditions and a strong bite.
TODAY’S DATE: Tuesday, 25 November 2025 (AM)
NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING: Monday, 01 December 2025 (AM or PM)
PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Craig Teal, Tony Hernandez, & Rayden Hernandez all managed a legal hybrid this morning as “icing on the cake” of their white bass-focused fishing trip.
PHOTO CAPTION: Belton is chock-full of white bass. I’m pointing clients to Belton for high numbers of smaller fish, and to Stillhouse for lower numbers of quality fish. Both lakes are fishing very well now that fall has finally arrived (a month late!!).
FIND LURES HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:
Because they had to drive in from the DFW area, we bumped our start time back to 7:30 AM and fished until 11 AM.
Thanks to a light northwest wind following the passage of a very mild cold front and storms yesterday, the fish were in an above-average feeding mode.
This allowed us to catch a lot of fish at just a handful of stops versus having to run here, there, and everywhere for just a few fish at each location. This simply increases efficiency.
My three man crew got the hang of fishing the MAL Dense lures we used 100% of the time today right off the bat. With good conditions, and good technique, the stage was set for an excellent catch.
Over the course of 3.5 hours, these three put 105 fish in the boat, including 2 largemouth bass, 1 smallmouth bass, 6 hybrid, striped bass, and 96 white bass.
Every fish was taken using the vertical “smoking“ tactic, which will continue to be my go-to tactic until the water temperature drops below 60°F.
RESULTS: 105 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.
-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: 7:30A
End Time: 11:00A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 53F
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: NW3-5 for 3 hours, then slacking off to near calm for balance of trip
Sky Condition: Clear, post-frontal “bluebird” skies
Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 25% illumination.
GT = 0
Wx SNAPSHOT: N/A
AREAS FISHED WITH MOST SUCCESS:
Area 192/B0011C – 18 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures (1 hybrid, 17 whites)
Area 0147 – 19 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures (all whites)
Area 2305 – 22 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures (1 largemouth, 21 whites)
Area 2306 – 24 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures (3 hybrid, 1 largemouth, 30 whites)
Area B0119C- 14 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures (1 smallmouth, 3 hybrid and 10 whites)
Area 574 – 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