Rising Waters – 90 Fish
CLIENTS: This morning, Wednesday, May 27, I fished for a third time this year with fellow fishing guide Doug McClung. Accompanying Doug for his first time aboard my boat was Doug‘s 15 year-old grandson, Caden Tschoerner, from near Jarrell, Texas.
Doug previously fished the waters of Port O’Connor before heading back inland to be nearer to his three grandsons.
TODAY’S DATE: 27 May 2026 (PM)
NEXT OPEN DATES FOR FISHING: 16, 23-26 June 2026 (AM)
PHOTO CAPTION: Caden Tschoerner, age 15, and his grandfather, Doug McClung, enjoyed a 90-fish morning together on Lake Belton, landing just over 3 limits of white bass, and 2 limits of hybrid striped bass, all on the MAL Dense worked vertically. All fish were released.
PHOTO CAPTION: Caden Tschoerner landed our largest fish of the trip. This well-proportioned cross between a white bass and a striped bass weighed 4.25 pounds on a certified scale.
PHOTO CAPTION: A majority of our white bass were caught from large, suspended schools of fish holding well up off bottom. The MAL Dense combined with a splasher and Garmin LiveScope kept fish coming over the gunwale all morning.
FIND LURES HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:
Strong, slow-moving overnight storms dumped rain on this area and areas to the south and west. The rain fell so hard and fast it brought Lake Georgetown up over 8 feet in under 24 hours. Stillhouse rose over a foot, and Belton came up 0.45 feet. Standing water is abundant and runoff will continue to contribute to the elevation of all the central Texas water bodies for several days to come.
The storms had moved east of us by around 4:30 AM, leaving full, but thin, gray cloud cover and a south-southwesterly breeze between 6 and 10 mph all morning.
Although the fish were not quite as fired up as they were yesterday, they still fed well and for a full four hours this morning. As was the case yesterday, the fish we caught in the first hour and during the last hour were found in bottom-hugging schools and followed our MAL Dense Lures upwards off bottom.
Those fish we caught in the middle two hours of the trip all came from large suspended schools occupying a horizontal band well up off bottom. That band was approximately 10 to 12 foot thick, with the most active fish at the top of that band, nearer the surface.
We fished just one lure one way again today. That lure was the MAL Dense with chartreuse tail. The technique we relied on was the smoking tactic executed by dropping this very fast-sinking lure to the bottom, and cranking it upwards while watching Garmin LiveScope for a follow. If a follow resulted, my clients were coached to continue reeling until either the fish caught their lure or turned away and headed back down where they came from.
In this manner, Doug and Caden landed exactly 90 fish this morning including two largemouth bass, one freshwater drum, two full limits (10 fish) of hybrid striped bass up to 4.24 pounds, with the remainder (77 fish) consisting of white bass, all of which were legal, and most of which were three-year class fish between 12 1/2 and 13 1/2 inches.
RESULTS: 90 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.
-I measured 2.70″ of rainfall last night between 8P and 4A.
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: 6:40A
End Time: 10:50A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 63F
Elevation: Belton is 1.51′ high with a +0.45′ change in the last 24 hours. USACE is releasing 411 CFS.
Water Surface Temp: 77.1F on the surface.
Wind Speed & Direction: SSW6-10 all morning
Sky Condition: 100% light grey cloud cover all morning
Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 88% illumination
GT = 85
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH MOST SUCCESS:
Area 2470 – 7 fish on MAL Dense Lures (silver body, chartreuse tail) from bottom in 31′
Area 2471- 7 fish on MAL Dense Lures (silver body, chartreuse tail) from suspended schools
Area 2472- 9 fish on MAL Dense Lures (silver body, chartreuse tail) from suspended schools
Area vic 1341 – 39 fish on MAL Dense Lures (silver body, chartreuse tail) from suspended schools
Area vic 2259 – 12 fish on MAL Dense Lures (silver body, chartreuse tail) from bottom in 40′
Area 2473 – 16 fish on MAL Dense Lures (silver body, chartreuse tail) from bottom in 41′
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