MALs Made the Morning – 88 Fish
CLIENTS: This morning, Monday, April 27, I fished with fellow fishing guide Doug McClung, for his second time aboard my boat this season. Doug brought with him, for the first time, his grandson, Waden McClung, age 10, from the Georgetown area, thanks to a ‘teachers’ workday’ in this young man’s school district.
TODAY’S DATE: 27 April 2026 (AM)
NEXT OPEN DATES FOR FISHING: 02 June 2026 (AM)
PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Saltwater fishing guide Doug McClung and his 10-year-old grandson, Waden McClung worked up 88 fish on Lake Belton this morning. Our first hour was slow thanks to dark skies, but, once the wind and sun kicked in, it was game-on!
FIND LURES HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:
This morning was by far the warmest and most humid morning of Spring 2026 thus far. Fortunately, the same gray, thick, murky cloud cover, which has plagued us for nearly 2 weeks now by keeping the light levels diminished in the mornings, began to clear within an hour of our trip’s start.
As the clouds thin and the skies brightened, the catch rate increased sharply. By 9 AM, a nice southeast breeze around 8 mph had kicked in and the fish really started feeding well. Doug and Waden got the hang of the vertical “smoking” tactic very quickly and enjoyed success throughout the trip.
As with most 10-year-olds, Waden began to fade on me around the two hour mark, and by the three hour mark, he was doing more resting and snacking then he was fishing. We wound up finishing just a bit early — right at 10:45 AM — with exactly 88 fish landed.
While the skies were murky and gray in that first hour, I relied on white, three-quarter ounce, Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs in under 25′. Once the sky is brightened, but before the wind kicked in, I switched everyone over to nickel plated versions of the same slab in 30-35′.
Once the wind kicked in and the fish really started to feed hard, and started (for the first time this spring with any consistency) suspending up off the bottom for long whiles to feed, I changed everyone over to the MAL Dense Lures with silver bodies and chartreuse tails in 35-43′. There is just something about that spinning blade, which, when it is zipped past the eyes of a white bass from beneath headed upwards, just provokes them to chase and overtake in a way that a standard slab will not.
Doug and Waden’s 88 fish catch included 86 white bass, 1 largemouth, bass, and 1 short hybrid striped bass.
RESULTS: 88 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, but only for about an hour. 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: 10:45A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 76F
Elevation: Belton is 0.10 high with a +0.00′ change in the last 24 hours. USACE is releasing 61 CFS.
Water Surface Temp: 70.3F on the surface.
Wind Speed & Direction: SSE1-4 for 1 hour, then SSE6-10 the rest of the morning
Sky Condition: 100% grey clouds for an hour, then slowly clearing to about 50% white clouds on a blue sky by 10:45A
Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 84% illumination
GT = 85
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH MOST SUCCESS:
Area vic 676 – 3 fish on Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs (3/4 oz. white)
Area 156 – 8 fish on Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs (3/4 oz. white)
Area B0202C- 20 fish on Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs (3/4 oz. white)
Area vic 355- 3 fish on Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs (3/4 oz. white); 2 short hops
Area vic B0246G – 37 fish on Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs (3/4 oz. nickel) & on MAL Dense (silver body, chartreuse tail)
Area 2441 – 10 fish on MAL Dense (silver body, chartreuse tail)
Area 2407 – 7 fish on MAL Dense (silver body, chartreuse tail)
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