WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Thursday, November 3rd, I fished with returning guests Gary Jones, Pat Mullins, Harry Adams, and Guy Fowler. Joining me for the first time on this trip was Mac Purifoy.

Gary, Pat, Harry, and Guy originally came out with me in May of 2021 after Gary was high bidder on a gift certificate I had donated to the Ralph Wilson Youth Club fundraiser.

Here is how the fishing went …

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PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Gary Jones, Pat Mullins, Mac Purifoy, Harry Adams, and Guy Fowler enjoyed a morning of fishing (and poking fun at one another!) on Lake Belton in pursuit of white bass.






PHOTO CAPTION: Although I am specifically targeting white bass at this time of year, other species are often caught as we use shad-imitating lures. On this trip, we landed 7 hybrid striped bass, 3 largemouth bass, 1 smallmouth bass (caught by Harry Adams, above), and 4 freshwater drum.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday, 02 November 2022 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED:

Overnight cloud cover and SE winds brought warmer, more humid conditions this morning, with a 70F, pre-sunrise air temperature. Mist fell intermittently over the first two hours of the trip.

The grey skies and balmy winds kept the fish biting throughout the morning, although there was a bit of a slowdown between 10:15 and 11:00A when a short break in the clouds brought some brightening and a decrease in wind speed.

By noon, we had landed exactly the same number of fish we’d landed yesterday by that time — 182 fish. I gave everyone the option of sticking it out until we’d boated 200 fish, but at least one of the fellows had an appointment which beckoned, so we wrapped up right at the 4-hour mark.

Fishing MAL Original Lures with white tails was a sure bet once again today. Fish are definitely moving onto bottom topographies in great numbers with each passing day as the cooling of the water column (via the process of turnover) continues. Just about everywhere I searched held at least a few fish this morning.

Using the MAL Original with a smoking tactic was all that was required. At our first stop, I tried to identify any shortfalls in technique which anyone had, help overcome them, and, from that point on it was all gravy.

My 5-man crew landed 167 white bass, 7 hybrid striped bass, 3 largemouth bass, 1 smallmouth bass, and 4 freshwater drum.

TUTORIAL SMOKING VIDEO (Vertical): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE
TUTORIAL SAWTOOTH VIDEO (Horizontal): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3FMEQHOMQ

TALLY: 182 fish caught and released

Find MAL Lures here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS: 1) a 40cfs flow resumed today, 2) no helpful bird action, 3) here is the temperature profile I measured this morning:

0 feet 69.2F
5 feet 69.2F
10 feet 69.1F
15 feet 69.1F
20 feet 69.1F
25 feet 69.1F
30 feet 69.1F
35 feet 69.0F
40 feet 69.0F
45 feet 68.6F
50 feet 68.2F
55 feet 67.9F
60 feet 67.2F
65 feet 63.3F


WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:50A

End Time: 12:05P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 70F

Elevation: 13.24 feet low, 0.04′ fall in last 24 hours, 40 CFS flow.

Water Surface Temp: 69.2F

Wind Speed & Direction: SSE12 for all except a 45-minute span from 10:15 to 11A when the winds dropped to SSE8.

Sky Condition: 100% grey cloud cover for all except a 45-minute span from 10:15 to 11A when the skies cleared to 60% white clouds on a blue sky

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 74% illumination.

GT = 340

Wx SNAPSHOT:




AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Areas B0078C (55 fish), 1152 (30 fish), B0005C (25 fish), B0165G (30 fish), B0164G (24 fish), 1374/835 (18 fish)



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

NIce read! Spot on in my neck of the woods! Biguns came out to play. Sun came out and slowed the bite around 4pm
Some large females had eggs as well.? 2-5’ on a wind blown flat

As always. Nice post and fish. Good job.