CLIENTS: On Wednesday morning, April 9, I fished with three generations aboard. U.S. Marine Corps veteran Richard Smith was accompanied by his son-in-law, James Bliss, and James’ son, Bradley. The Bliss family is visiting Central Texas for their kids’ spring break from San Diego, California.
Everyone had prior fishing experience, and today’s conditions were very good, so the potential for a very productive outing was definitely there.
DATE: Wednesday, 09 April 2025 (AM)
NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING: 30 May (AM)
NEXT OPEN DATES FOR SONAR TRAINING: 31 May (AM)
PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Richard Smith, James and Bradley Bliss worked silver, 3/4 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs for 4+ hours and amassed a catch of 241 fish, all caught and released.
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:
Winds started off at around 11 mph from the south and gradually crept up to around 16 mph. Although we had no cloud cover, this wind really kept the fish biting aggressively. It was not uncommon to have fish follow a lure 12 or more feet from the bottom before overtaking and striking it. Twice during the trip James landed two fish on his slab at a time — one on the treble and one on the stinger.
When we wrapped up at around 11:30, my three man crew’s count stood at 241 fish landed, including largemouth bass, hybrid striped bass, and white bass. Birds were not a factor for our fishing today, although a fellow angler let me know he had fish under birds in the first 30 minutes following sunrise on another segment of the lake.
RESULTS: 241 fish, all caught and released
TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW TO DO “SLOW SMOKING”: Click here for tutorial
TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW TO FISH AN MAL LURE USING THE SAWTOOTH METHOD: Click here for tutorial
LURES USED SUCCESSFULLY ON THIS TRIP: We used the silver 3/4 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab exclusively to catch our fish this trip. Find all MAL Lures and Hazy Eye Slabs here: https://whitebasstools.com/
OBSERVATIONS:
- Threadfin shad spawn was still paused due to 3 days of cold front-impacted weather.
LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:
This is the most up-to-date water temperature profile for Lake Belton, measured with a FishHawk TD device around 7:00AM on Wednesday, 02 April…
This was the previous water temperature profile for Lake Belton, measured with a FishHawk TD device around 7:10 AM on Wednesday, 26 March…
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 7:15A
End Time: 11:30A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:
Elevation: 3.05′ low
Water Surface Temp: 63.3F on the surface.
Wind Speed & Direction: S11 at trip’s start, building to S16-17 by trip’s end
Sky Condition: Cloudless, light blue skies all AM and PM
Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 90% illumination.
GT = 55
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
Area vic 0363 – 24 fish smoking Hazy Eye Slabs
Area vic B0202C – 25 fish smoking Hazy Eye Slabs
Area vic B0203G – 11 fish smoking Hazy Eye Slabs
Area vic 748 – 87 fish smoking Hazy Eye Slabs
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
Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle