First Taste of Summer in Texas – 35 Fish
CLIENTS: This morning, Tuesday, June 2, I fished with a crew of four adults. Joining me were David and & Kim Giese, and friends of theirs, Danny and Kym Borndal. David has been out with me twice before, once with Kim and once with buddies from church. This was the Borndals first time aboard.
TODAY’S DATE: 02 June 2026 (PM)
NEXT OPEN DATES FOR FISHING: 07 July 2026 (AM)
PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Danny & Kym Borndal, and Kim & David Giese, all with 2 & 3 year class white bass taken on “smoked” MAL Dense Lures (silver body, chartreuse tail)
PHOTO CAPTION: These hybrid (and others) came from a suspended group of fish holding between 45-50 feet over a 70 foot bottom. I found then with 2D sonar, then used Garmin LiveScope to watch their reaction to MAL Dense Lures retrieved vertically.
PHOTO CAPTION: After the sun really brightened things up in the latter portion of the trip and the whites and hybrids got less and less interested in chasing, we once again switched gears and focused on catfish. A mix of blues and channels came out of 43 feet of water and readily hit doughbait.
FIND LURES HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:
Conditions were very tough and the fishing was pretty slow today. We had absolutely no wind all morning and, despite having fairly warm conditions overnight, there was no topwater action at first light, which is something I would have expected to have begun at least developing by this time in the early summer.
About the only thing we did have going for us was about 50 to 60% white cloud cover on a light blue sky. I broke this morning‘s trip down into a 2.5 hour first chapter and a 1.5 hour final chapter.
For the first part, we pursued white bass in open water using sonar to find fish and MAL Dense lures used with a vertical tactic to catch them. Fish were fairly tough to find, and even when they were found, there was no guarantee they were going to respond to presentations aggressively. More often than not fish barely acknowledged the presence of our lures, or, if they did chase, they did so halfheartedly.
Regardless, by the 2.5 hour mark my crew had put together a 20 fish catch consisting of one largemouth bass, one freshwater drum, four hybrid striped bass, and 14 white bass
Around 9:30, we shifted gears and headed to an area I had baited out for catfish prior to my guests’ arrival. Both blue cat and channel cat had been drawn in and, using a doughbait, my foursome added another 15 fish (13 blues and 2 channels) to their catch before the heat started to take its toll and we decided to wrap up a bit early as the mercury climbed, and the lake remained glassy, all made worse by humid conditions.
We wrapped up the trip with a total of 35 fish
RESULTS: 35 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 412 CFS.
-No helpful bird action today.
-Lake Belton is now falling after reaching a high of 1.87′ above full pool following the heavy rains on 26/27 May. It is now down to 1.81′ high.
LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:
Taken on Lake Belton on 02 June 2026, approx. 6:35AM…
0 feet 82.5F
5 feet 82.6F
10 feet 82.1F
15 feet 81.5F
20 feet 80.2F
25 feet 76.6F
30 feet 74.8F
35 feet 73.3F
40 feet 71.7F
45 feet 70.3F
50 feet 67.4F
55 feet 64.4F
60 feet 62.0F
65 feet 60.6F
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
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 7A
End Time: 10:30A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 76F
Elevation: Belton is 1.81′ high with a -0.03′ change in the last 24 hours. USACE is releasing 411 CFS.
Water Surface Temp: 82.5F on the surface.
Wind Speed & Direction: Calm all morning
Sky Condition: 50-60% thin white cloud coverage on light blue skies all morning.
Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 95% illumination
GT = 80
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH MOST SUCCESS:
Area vic 2476 – 1 white, 1 hybrid on MAL Dense Lures (silver body, chartreuse tail) from bottom
Area vic B0201C- 13 white bass on MAL Dense Lures (silver body, chartreuse tail) from bottom
Area 2477 – 5 fish on MAL Dense Lures (silver body, chartreuse tail) from a suspended group
Area JUNCAT001- 13 bluecat, 2 channel cat on doughbait
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