As the Holiday Crowds Cleared Out – 109 Fish
CLIENTS: This morning, Tuesday, 26 May, I aided Dwight “Boom Pa“ Stone in continuing the tradition of taking his grandkids fishing on their birthdays. This morning, we celebrated the 12th birthday of Miss Jemma Rogers. Not only that, we got a “two for one deal“ and also got to celebrate Jemma‘s mom‘s birthday – that is Dwight‘s daughter, Lindsey Rogers.
Although there were still a few long weekend holdovers out there, it wasn’t too bad traffic-wise.
TODAY’S DATE: 26 May 2026 (PM)
NEXT OPEN DATES FOR FISHING: 16, 23-26 June 2026 (AM)
PHOTO CAPTION: Although our target species was white bass, there were plenty of hybrid mixed in with the roaming schools of suspended fish we got into mid-morning. From left, that’s Dwight Stone, and Jemma and Lindsey Rogers.
PHOTO CAPTION: As summer approaches, Lake Belton white bass take on a different, longer, leaner look to them, and that is what we observed this morning. The majority of our fish came from nomadic schools of fish roaming suspended up off bottom in open water.
FIND LURES HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:
I intentionally left Lake Belton alone for a while to give it time to settle from the dose of floodwater it received and the resulting opening of the gates at the Belton Dam, beginning on 12 May.
It seems fish have established a new normal and were able to be caught in a number of areas and were fairly aggressive given that we had light winds in our first hour and 50 minutes.
As I often see at the end of May and the beginning of June, a lot of the fish we caught today were from large, suspended schools, holding together in a band around 30 to 40 feet deep. These fish are prime candidates for vertical presentations, aided by LiveScope.
This morning, the one and only way we fished was with MAL Dense Lures with chartreuse tails worked vertically.
My splasher did a good job of drawing fish in and keeping them consolidated. That, along with the commotion created simply by catching fish and racing these lures continuously up and dropping them back down through the fish, allowed my three-angler crew a 109 fish catch in 4 hours and 10 minutes’ time.
We hit 5 areas today, and of those, only at the first and the last one did we catch fish from off the bottom.
Mixed right in with the schools of white bass today we found quite a number of decent hybrid stripers. Two measured over 22 inches.
As is befitting of a birthday trip, both Jemma and Lindsey experienced personal bests. Lindsey caught the biggest fish of her life today, and Jemma‘s saw the greatest total number of fish come over the side of any of the trips she has participated in.
RESULTS: 109 fish, all caught and released
TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW WORK AN MAL LURE VERTICALLY:
OBSERVATIONS:
-USACE is running water through the Belton Dam at a rate of 411 CFS.
-Laughing gulls were helpful in locating deep, suspended white bass on two occasions.
LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:
Taken on Lake Belton on 24 May 2026, approx. 6:25AM…
0 feet 79.9F
5 feet 80.2F
10 feet 79.2F
15 feet 78.8F
20 feet 78.1F
25 feet 76.6F
30 feet 74.7F
35 feet 73.3F
40 feet 70.8F
45 feet 68.2F
50 feet 66.4F
55 feet 63.3F
60 feet 61.4F
Taken on Lake Belton on 14 May 2026, approx. 6:00AM…
0 feet 75.7F
5 feet 75.7F
10 feet 74.3F
15 feet 73.9F
20 feet 73.0F
25 feet 71.6F
30 feet 71.3F
35 feet 70.5F
40 feet 69.1F
45 feet 67.8F
50 feet 65.3F
55 feet 63.3F
60 feet 60.8F
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 6:45A
End Time: 10:55A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 79.9F
Elevation: Belton is 1.06′ high with a -0.05′ change in the last 24 hours. USACE is releasing 411 CFS.
Water Surface Temp: 77.4F on the surface.
Wind Speed & Direction: SSE0-4 in the first 100 minutes, then picking up to SE8-9 thereafter
Sky Condition:35% white clouds on a blue sky all morning
Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 81% illumination
GT = 0
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH MOST SUCCESS:
Area 2277/2276 – 7 fish on MAL Dense Lures (silver body, chartreuse tail)
Area vic B0091G- 39 fish on MAL Dense Lures (silver body, chartreuse tail)
Area 2469- 26 fish on MAL Dense Lures (silver body, chartreuse tail)
Area vic B0101G – 9 fish on MAL Dense Lures (silver body, chartreuse tail)
Area 2259 – 28 fish on MAL Dense Lures (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