Daddy – Daughter Team-Tussle with 70 Fish
CLIENTS: This morning, Thursday, 19 March, I welcomed returning guest Julian Benitez-Penuelas aboard, this time accompanied by his daughter, Catalina, in visiting from San Diego, CA. This was her first time aboard. Previously, Julian treated his sons, Niko and Diego, to a trip. Yet to grace the deck is his youngest – his 15-year-old daughter now working her way through a full schedule in public high school.
Julian is a U.S. Army veteran who served in both the Armor and Chemical branches of that uniformed service.
TODAY’S DATE: 19 March 2026 (AM)
NEXT OPEN DATES FOR FISHING: 30 March (AM)
PHOTO CAPTION: U.S. Army veteran Julian Benitez Penuelas of Harker Heights, TX, treated his daughter, Catalina, to a fishing trip during her visit home from San Diego, CA.
FIND LURES HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:
With stable weather and a slow warming trend, the fishing has become very predictable, with the fish doing the same things in the same places, and at the same times each day since Monday’s “big blow” ended.
We had a full, four-hour bite today with the first and final hours being “okay”, and the middle two hours seeing substantially better action with more aggressive fish willing to chase farther and faster for the presentations father and daughter made.
I kept the metronome clicking at 86 beats per minute this morning to keep Julian and Catalina on track as far as retrieve speed was concerned. With the variable nailed down, the rest was up to them to keep their retrieves steady and to keep right on steadily retrieving whenever LiveScope revealed an interested fish chasing after them.
We used the white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs (only) this morning with a “smoking” tactic.
By the time four hours had gone by, poor Catalina’s wrist was about shot, but, she split the 70 fish catch proudly with her dad.
Our catch consisted of 68 white bass and 2 largemouth bass.
RESULTS: 70 fish, all caught and released
TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW “SLOW SMOKE” A BLADED HAZY EYE SLAB VERTICALLY: Click here for tutorial
OBSERVATIONS:
-For the third consecutive morning, the bite was better in the second half of the morning.
-No bird activity whatsoever.
-Water is still significantly silty in the tributaries.
LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:
Taken on Lake Belton on 19 March 2026, approx. 7AM…
0 feet 62.6F
5 feet 62.8F
10 feet 62.6F
15 feet 62.6F
20 feet 62.4F
25 feet 62.2F
30 feet 62.0F
35 feet 62.0F
40 feet 61.7F
45 feet 61.5F
50 feet 58.7F
55 feet 57.8F
60 feet 57.2F
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 7:20A
End Time: 11:20A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 52F
Elevation: Belton is 1.01′ low with a -0.03′ change in the last 24 hours. USACE is releasing 34 CFS.
Water Surface Temp: 62.6F on the surface.
Wind Speed & Direction: S6 at trip’s start, slowly creeping up to S12 by trip’s end.
Sky Condition: Cloudless, light blue skies
Moon Phase: New Moon at 0% illumination
GT = 40
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH MOST SUCCESS:
Area B0006G – 2 fish on Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs (5/8 oz. white)
Area 1671 – 8 fish on Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs (5/8 oz. white)
Area B0172C- 10 fish on Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs (5/8 oz. white)
Area vic 2396 – 33 fish on Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs (5/8 oz. white); 2 short hops
Area 2398 – 12 fish on Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs (5/8 oz. white)
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: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle