Improvement in Several Areas – 104 Fish
CLIENTS: On Friday, May 8, I capped off a full week of fishing which was accompanied by a full week of crazy, Texas springtime weather. Joining me this morning was returning guest Gary Jones of Temple fishing solo.
Gary filled in at the last minute after a grandfather and grandson I had scheduled to take thought better of chancing the cool, damp weather forecast for this morning.
Gary runs his own well-appointed Boston Whaler with a nice sonar suite which he got a few years back, but which he hadn’t used in over a year, so he wanted to come out with me to refresh on sonar use and settings, trolling motor use, and the approaches to finding fish this time of year.
TODAY’S DATE: 08 May 2026 (AM)
NEXT OPEN DATES FOR FISHING: 15 June 2026 (AM)
PHOTO CAPTION: This hybrid striped bass and one other, also legal, came at the last area we fished where laughing gulls were feeding on shad killed or crippled by white bass and hybrid suspended about 35 to 47 feet deep over a 60-foot bottom. The MAL Dense, which sinks like a rock, was ideal for repeatedly getting down to these fish efficiently.
PHOTO CAPTION: The best day of weather this week led to the best fishing results. We had completely clouded skies, but with cloud cover thin enough to let light through, so, it was bright instead of grey and gloomy. We also had returning south winds today following two full days of stiff north winds.
FIND LURES HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:
As it turned out, all the rain fell prior to 7:15 AM, but it was very up in the air according to our local weather forecasters as to whether more rain would fall over the course of the morning or not.
As it turned out, Gary enjoyed the best fishing of the week. After the pre-dawn storms passed, the weather stabilized, the clouds thinned somewhat, and a returning southerly breeze replaced the north winds we’ve been dealing with the past two mornings. The threadfin shad began to turn on once again, and, for the first time all spring, some light bird activity was actually helpful in guiding me to at least the general location where sonar helped me hone in on catchable fish.
Also, for the first time this spring, after the white bass spawn, I began to see dribs and drabs of topwater action. Given the weather forecast, I thought we just might see some topwater, so I threw in the Cork Rig rods with Sandy Sandwich Streamers attached and we wound up getting just a little bit of action in the 10 o’clock hour before the skies clouded back up and the fish pushed right back down.
Exactly half of our fish were caught this morning on MAL Dense lures with silver bodies worked with a vertical smoking tactic for fish which were both bottom-oriented, and, in the case of the last bunch of fish we found this morning, suspended up off bottom in a band about 10 to 12 feet thick. At the first two locations we fished this morning we caught whites from off bottom on the white, three-quarter ounce Bladed Hazy Eye Slab, but, even those fish showed enough energy that we likely could have caught them on the MAL Lures, as well.
When all was said and done, and the bite was coming to a close around 11:15 AM, Gary and I split a 104 fish catch which included 2 hybrid striped bass, 1 largemouth bass, 5 freshwater drum, and 96 white bass.
This was the best fishing day I have encountered in the past three weeks, and given next week‘s forecast, I anticipate we will have excellent fishing after Sunday’s cold front works through.
RESULTS: 104 fish, all caught and released
TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW “SLOW SMOKE” A BLADED HAZY EYE SLAB VERTICALLY: Click here for tutorial
OBSERVATIONS:
-Early morning thunderstorms rolled thru pre-dawn, leaving more stable, warming, brightening conditions in their wake right around 6:50AM
– I observed the first post-spawn white bass topwater action this morning.
– I observed laughing gulls working over top of suspended white bass this morning in several areas.
LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:
Taken on Lake Belton on 05 May 2026, approx. 6:40AM…
0 feet 72.2F
5 feet 70.8F
10 feet 72.1F
15 feet 72.1F
20 feet 72.1F
25 feet 71.6F
30 feet 71.3F
35 feet 71.2F
40 feet 69.6F
45 feet 65.3F
50 feet 63.2F
55 feet 61.1F
60 feet 59.4F
Taken on Lake Belton on 29 April 2026, approx. 6:45AM…
0 feet 74.3F
5 feet 74.2F
10 feet 74.0F
15 feet 74.0F
20 feet 73.0F
25 feet 71.5F
30 feet 69.1F
35 feet 68.6F
40 feet 68.1F
45 feet 65.9F
50 feet 63.1F
55 feet 60.1F
60 feet 59.4F
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 7:00A
End Time: 11:15A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 59F at sunrise (obscured)
Elevation: Belton is 0.39 high with a +0.02′ change overnight. USACE is releasing 61 CFS.
Water Surface Temp: 69.8.F on the surface.
Wind Speed & Direction: SSE3-6 all morning — just enough to ripple the surface
Sky Condition: 100% thin grey-white cloud cover all morning.
Moon Phase: Last quarter moon at 54% illumination
GT = 185
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH MOST SUCCESS:
Area B0302G- 33 fish on Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs (3/4 oz. white)
Area 2459 – 19 fish on Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs (3/4 oz. white)
Area 2459 (2nd hop) – 8 fish on MAL Dense w/ silver body
Area 2460 – 31 fish on MAL Dense w/ silver body
Area 2461 – 4 fish on MAL Dense w/ silver body
Area 2462 – 9 fish on MAL Dense w/ silver body
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