The Fish Got the Memo – 72 Fish (Sonar screenshot is worth 1000 words)

CLIENTS: On New Year’s Day 2026, I fished an afternoon trip with Mr. James Roundtree and his wife, Jennifer. James grew up in Houston and Jennifer is a bit more local, having grown up in Jarrell, Texas. The couple has four daughters, four granddaughters, and one grandson.

This trip came together on kind of a last-minute basis with James texting me in the middle of the afternoon the day before the trip as I was working on a boat wiring project. They had grandkids at the house in the morning hours on New Year’s Day, but would be free for the afternoon. After looking at the forecast, the PM actually looked much better weather-wise, so, we made it a date.

TODAY’S DATE: 01 January 2026 (PM)


NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING: Tuesday, 06 January 2026 (AM or PM)

PHOTO CAPTION: James and Jennifer Rountree fished in shorts on New Year’s Day in Texas, landing 72 fish in a four-hour afternoon trip.

PHOTO CAPTION: A four-day warmup put water temperatures back between 58-60F, and the fish definitely responded!

FIND LURES HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/


WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton


SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:
We definitely got the best of today’s weather this afternoon. The morning was fairly calm and bright, but it got cloudier and breezier, not to mention near 72°, this afternoon. We are toward the end of a four-day warming trend and, with the southerly breeze and cloud cover, the conditions were mild, and the fishing was about above average for the conditions and the water temperature which is between 59 and 60° from the surface all the way down to 60 feet.

Finding fish did not prove to be a real challenge this afternoon, but the fish were definitely more stubborn in the first hour. As the sun moved lower in the western sky, and the cloud covered thicken, the fish got more aggressive. Our middle two hours produced the lion’s share of our fish.

This afternoon we fished five areas using the MAL Dense with silver body to land 100% of our catch, which consisted of exactly 70 white bass and two largemouth bass.

Around 4:20, the winds let up fairly suddenly and the sun began to set behind the very thick cloud cover in the western sky. The fish definitely pulled up at that point, getting harder to find and much less aggressive.

 By 5:15, we had landed our last fish, and the few birds which were working in a handful of places had quit and were now resting on the water’s surface.

The fish we found today were between 35 and 48 feet deep with the exception of those fish caught in the final hour, which were up in the 20 foot range. Slow tapering bottoms continued to draw fish best.

RESULTS: 72 fish, all caught and released

TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW “SLOW SMOKE” A BLADED HAZY EYE SLAB VERTICALLY: Click here for tutorial

OBSERVATIONS:

-This was day 4 of a brief warming trend which began on Tuesday, Dec. 30.

-No assistance in fish-finding by birds today.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Taken on Lake Belton around 1:00 PM on 01 January 2026…

Area vic B0184C – 12 fish on slow-smoked MAL Lures

Area vic 1909 – 15 fish on slow-smoked MAL Lures

Area vic 2310 – 10 fish on slow-smoked MAL Lures

Area 2311 – 23 fish on slow-smoked MAL Lures

Area 2338 – 12 fish on slow-smoked MAL Lures

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