The Devil’s in those Subtle Details of Technique – 72 Fish
CLIENTS: This morning, Tuesday, April 7, I fish with first time guests, Nathan Saucier and his friend, Jimmy Bailey. The two fellows are both retired and are friends from First Baptist Church in Georgetown, Texas.
Nathan has served in both lay ministry and vocational ministry through his lifetime, and Jimmy retired after many years with AT&T. Both are active in Texas Baptist Men (a.k.a. Texans on Mission) – a group focused on disaster relief.
Nathan‘s wife heard through one of her friends at church about my guide service, thought I might be a good fit for her husband, and that’s the way today came together.
TODAY’S DATE: 07 April 2026 (AM)
NEXT OPEN DATES FOR FISHING: 28 April 2026 (AM)
PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Nathan Saucier and Jimmy Bailey overcame some tactical hurdles trying to adapt to my open-water, vertical tactics. Persistence paid off, and the two men landed nearly three limits of fish.
FIND LURES HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:
We are still dealing with the aftermath of this past weekend’s cold front. Once again, it was just below 50 at the end of the boat ramp before sunrise this morning, and I hit some patches as low as 46° on my way to the ramp.
We had unusual winds today. The wind was nonexistent for the first two hours, and then, right around 9:30, came up stiff from the east and blew at about 13 mph. Fishing was pretty tough until that wind started to move the water, then things improved from about 9:45 on. In our first two hours on the water, Nathan and Jimmy landed 25 fish. In their last two hours on the water these two landed nearly twice that many, ending up with a final catch of 72 fish.
Our first fish were taken in fairly shallow water. I had the boat sitting in 11 feet of water and my two anglers casting into about 14 feet of water working their MAL Dense lures upslope with a sawtooth tactic.
After that all fish were taken fishing the Bladed Hazy Eye Slab vertically using the smoking tactic.
It took some time for Nathan and Jimmy to fully grasp just how important each of the subtle components of the “smoking” tactic are to attracting fish: retrieve smoothness, retrieve speed, continuity of speed once pursed, no hooksetting, and more. During our last two stops things really began to click for them and they piled on the fish.
While the sun was still low in the sky, we used the white, 5/8 ounce version, and after about 9:30, as we moved into even deeper water (38-44′) and as the sun shown more brightly, I switched them over to three-quarter ounce nickel-plated slabs.
In right at 4.25 hours’ worth of effort these two fellows landed 72 fish, including exactly 70 white bass and 2 hybrid striped bass.
RESULTS: 72 fish, all caught and released
TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW “SLOW SMOKE” A BLADED HAZY EYE SLAB VERTICALLY: Click here for tutorial
OBSERVATIONS:
-Lake Belton went from 1.21′ low to 1.14′ low from 1 April to 6 April
-A combined 2.0 inches of rain fell from 5-10A last Thursday and 9A to 1P Saturday.
-Water is still too dirty for my liking up in the tributaries.
LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:
Taken on Lake Belton on 02 April 2026, approx. 7:20AM…
0 feet 70.2F
5 feet 69.9F
10 feet 69.4F
15 feet 69.0F
20 feet 68.6F
25 feet 68.4F
30 feet 68.1F
35 feet 68.1F
40 feet 67.9F
45 feet 65.9F
50 feet 63.7F
55 feet 61.7F
60 feet 60.0F
Taken on Lake Belton on 27 March 2026, approx. 7AM…
0 feet 68.4F
5 feet 68.4F
10 feet 68.2F
15 feet 68.2F
20 feet 67.9F
25 feet 67.6F
30 feet 66.3F
35 feet 64.5F
40 feet 62.9F
45 feet 62.4F
50 feet 60.8F
55 feet 58.7F
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 7:15A
End Time: 11:35A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 49F
Elevation: Belton is 1.18′ low with a 0.02′ change in the last 24 hours. USACE is releasing 60 CFS.
Water Surface Temp: 65.9F on the surface.
Wind Speed & Direction: Calm through 9:35, then picking up quickly to E13.
Sky Condition: 25% grey clouds on a white eastern sky for about 1 hour, then quickly transitioning to a cloudless blue sky
Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 73% illumination
GT = 160
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH MOST SUCCESS:
Area vic 2417- 7 fish on MAL Dense Lures (silver body, chartreuse tail)
Area vic 1679 – 18 fish on Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs (5/8 oz. white)
Area 2419 – 10 fish on Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs (3/4 oz. nickel)
Area 2255- 19 fish on Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs (3/4 oz. nickel)
Area vic 714 – 3 fish on Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs (3/4 oz. nickel)
Area 2407 – 15 fish on Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs (3/4 oz. nickel)
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