Cookie Cutter Conditions- 78 Fish

CLIENTS: This morning, Wednesday, April 8, I fished with first time guests John B. and Margaret B. from here in the Temple – Belton area. The two first met through their shared interest in cycling.

Both are U.S. Army veterans – John served one enlistment as an infantryman, and Margaret is a 1984 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point who served in military intelligence and signal units.

The couple first contacted me after hearing me provide the weekly fishing report on the KTEM AM 1400 radio fishing show called “On the Dock“, hosted by Rick Smith, owner of Marine Outlet in Temple.

TODAY’S DATE: 08 April 2026 (AM)


NEXT OPEN DATES FOR FISHING: 24 & 28 April 2026 (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION: John and Margaret “worked the plan” and came up with a nice haul of 78 fish between the two of them — not bad given we worked through two hours of calm winds to start off our morning.

PHOTO CAPTION: John came up with this 4.25-pound surprise from out of a school of white bass in deep water. Oftentimes the longer you can get a school of white bass to stick around, the greater the chances of a bycatch of catfish or drum. I think the shad regurgitated by the white bass sink to bottom and give off enough odor to attract these bottom fish.

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


WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton


SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

Today was nearly a carbon copy of yesterday so far as the sky cover and the behavior of the winds, thus, today’s fishing was very similar to yesterday‘s.

Perhaps the main difference was the warmer ambient air temperature at 57°, and slightly increased humidity thanks to lingering cloud cover from the overnight hours.

Seeing this similarity, I essentially retraced the steps that provided us with success yesterday. We began up in shallow water, casting MAL Dense lures horizontally picking up a few fish before the cloud cover cleared, the brilliant sun penetrated the water, and these fish left the shallows in a hurry.

From that point on, we fished vertically the remainder of the morning. At first, we were in the 20 foot range using white, 5/8 ounce Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs. As the sun rose higher, and the wind was still nonexistent, we moved deeper and employed the three-quarter ounce nickel plated version of the same lure.

In this manner, in right at four hours’ time, John and Margaret wound up landing exactly 78 fish including 75 white bass, 1 blue catfish, and 2 hybrid striped. About 2/3 of the way through the trip, Margaret invited a critique asking if there was anything that they could do better to put even more fish in the boat. I shared with them that the one thing both of them could improve on the most was focusing on continuing their upward retrieve at a speed matched to the metronome I had playing, even when a strike occurred resulting in a miss.

After thousands of hours observing white bass with LiveScope, it has become clear to me that white bass, when formed into schools, are readily caught even if one, or two, or even three fish strike and miss, so long as the bait is not quickly jerked away from them by virtue of an overzealous hook set.

I explained this to John and Margaret, it registered, and they were able to improve on this in what remained of the trip.

RESULTS: 78 fish, all caught and released

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

OBSERVATIONS:
-Water in the tributaries is settling noticeably after getting pretty silty following Saturday’s rain and wind.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Taken on Lake Belton on 02 April 2026, approx. 7:20AM…

Taken on Lake Belton on 27 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: https://www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle