Making Hay While the Sun Shone – 85 Fish
CLIENTS: This morning, Friday, April 24, I hosted part of the McLeod family from Killeen. Joining me were Travis McLeod‘s adult children, Ty McLeod and Ann Vandergriff, as well as Travis‘s grandson, Rhyder Vandergriff, a fourth grader.
Everyone had at least a bit of prior experience so I did not have to cover basics, but was able to get right down to brass tacks concerning the tactics we would employ today.
TODAY’S DATE: 24 April 2026 (AM)
NEXT OPEN DATES FOR FISHING: 02 June 2026 (AM)
PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Ty McLeod and Ann and Rhyder Vandergriff worked through murky skies and light winds until the fishing turned around as the breeze increased and the sun poked through for the first time all week. The trio landed 85 fish during their 4-hour morning trip.
FIND LURES HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:
The day started murky and dark with abundant cloud cover, and fairly light winds – – the lightest winds of any morning this week. Fishing was tough in the first two hours until the winds picked up and the clouds thinned out.
To illustrate this, consider that we landed 29 fish in the first two hours and 56 fish in the last two hours – – nearly double the catch rate in the second half of the trip versus the first, dark, less breezy portion of the trip.
Only one tactic was required this morning, and that was the vertical “smoking“ tactic. With the small Florida Fishing Products Bahia 1000 spinning reels I had everyone equipped with (geared with a 5.2 to 1 ratio), a retrieve rate of 96 to 112 handle turns per minute was just right to prompt the gamefish we found into a chasing, predatory response.
I had everyone using white Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs right up until about 10 AM. When the unobscured sun began to show through blue patches of sky, I switched everyone over to nickel-plated versions of the same three-quarter ounce slab.
We only needed to fish five areas to put together this catch. Three of those areas, all in under 30′, produced the 25 we caught under the early morning conditions, and the remaining 2/3 of our fish came off of just two stops at two distinct areas, both in right around 40 feet of water.
When all was said and done, my crew of three had landed 83 white bass, 1 hybrid striped bass, and 1 largemouth bass.
Along the way, we were treated to an aerial dog fight involving an immature bald eagle chasing an osprey with a crow hanging in the area as a spectator. The eagle was trying to harass the osprey and get it to drop a fish it had snatched from out of the water.
RESULTS: 85 fish, all caught and released
TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW “SLOW SMOKE” A BLADED HAZY EYE SLAB VERTICALLY: Click here for tutorial
OBSERVATIONS:
-The threadfin shad spawn was going full bore this morning.
-Thick, gloomy clouds were an issue yet again today. The fish stayed fairly subdued until the clouds thinned and the breeze picked up.
LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:
Taken on Lake Belton on 23 April 2026, approx. 6:50AM…
0 feet 68.6F
5 feet 68.6F
10 feet 68.6F
15 feet 68.5F
20 feet 68.5F
25 feet 68.5F
30 feet 68.5F
35 feet 68.5F
40 feet 65.6F
45 feet 63.8F
50 feet 61.7F
55 feet 60.4F
Taken on Lake Belton on 09 April 2026, approx. 6:55AM…
0 feet 69.2F
5 feet 69.4F
10 feet 69.1F
15 feet 68.4F
20 feet 67.9F
25 feet 67.6F
30 feet 66.9F
35 feet 66.0F
40 feet 64.4F
45 feet 62.3F
50 feet 61.2F
55 feet 60.3F
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 7:05A
End Time: 11:30A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 70F
Elevation: Belton is 0.11 high with a +0.01′ change in the last 24 hours. USACE is releasing 61 CFS.
Water Surface Temp: 69.5F on the surface.
Wind Speed & Direction: SSW3-5 for 2 hours, then SSW10-13 the rest of the morning
Sky Condition: 100% grey clouds all morning with little thinning until ~9:40.
Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 45% illumination
GT = 145
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH MOST SUCCESS:
Area vic 676 – 6 fish on Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs (3/4 oz. white)
Area vic 0412- 4 fish on Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs (3/4 oz. white)
Area vic 0154- 19 fish on Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs (3/4 oz. white)
Area 2260- 30 fish on Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs (3/4 oz. white); 2 short hops
Area vic 714 – 16 fish on Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs (3/4 oz. nickel)
Area 2440 – 10 fish on Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs (3/4 oz. nickel)
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