The Meat is More Sweet When it’s Tender on the Street – 128 Fish

CLIENTS: This past Friday morning, March 20, I welcomed back Mr. Pike Pickett of Salado for a morning of white bass fishing on Lake Belton. Joining Pike for their first time aboard my boat were his two brothers-in-law, James and Jake Bingham. The Binghams traveled in from Lake Charles, Louisiana, to visit family during the spring break week and to come out fishing with Pike.

Of course, when you have fishermen from Louisiana aboard, you have to razz them about eating roadkill, nutria rats, etc. We’ll James had a comeback for that up his sleeve. He said, “The meat is more sweet when it’s tender on the street.”. Question is: How would he know that?!?

TODAY’S DATE: 20 March 2026 (AM)


NEXT OPEN DATES FOR FISHING: 30 March (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Jake Bingham, Pike Pickett, and James Bingham with a portion of their 128 fish catch made on Lake Belton.

PHOTO CAPTION: Although not as abundant now as in years past, hybrid striped bass are still able to be caught, especially on live shad, as this one was. Jake Bingham hooked this one in 32 feet of water on a threadfin shad, although gizzard shad caught plenty of fish, as well.

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


WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton


SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

After very stable, weather conditions all week, after observing fish behavior under those conditions, and given that today was forecast to be bright and with low wind speeds, I hedged my bet by collecting live shad. I felt the live shad would be useful when active fish were found and after those active fish settled and would no longer chase artificial baits.

During this past week, whenever this situation was encountered, I would have to move and find more fish, and every time I moved, that meant less time with lines in the water. So, today, I wanted to use shad to “mop up“ at each location before having to move.

This turned out quite well. With what I would consider the toughest conditions all week, I only had to fish four areas for an excellent result of 128 fish caught by my three clients.

Each of these four areas first gave up active fish, which were willing to swim long and hard after the 5/8 ounce, white, Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs, but, once those fish settled, we were able to go right back down with shad and pull additional fish until finally those fish lost interest and or dispersed.

Of the 128 fish landed, 2 were blue cat, 2 were mature hybrid striped bass, and 8 were largemouth bass, all but one of which were of legal size. The balance of 116 white bass were all of legal size — atypical for Lake Belton which often produces smaller white bass.

We began in shallow water (16 to 22 feet deep), and ended up in 41 feet of water with two stops along the way in 25 feet and in 34 feet.

RESULTS: 128 fish, all caught and released

TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW “SLOW SMOKE” A BLADED HAZY EYE SLAB VERTICALLY: Click here for tutorial

OBSERVATIONS:

-Each passing morning this week from Tues. thru Fri. saw morning winds get lighter and lighter. Shad help compensate for the tougher bite brought on by lack of wind.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Taken on Lake Belton on 19 March 2026, approx. 7AM…

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