Three Generations of Millers Aboard – 106 Fish on the Hazy Eye Slab

CLIENTS: This morning, Tuesday, March 31, I hosted returning guest, Mr. Rick Miller of Belton as he welcomed his son, Tyson, and grandson, Ivan, in for a short visit from Virginia. Ivan is five years old – younger than I normally suggest taking out fishing this time of year given the technical nature of the fishing and lack of variety – but it all turned out well.

Rick operates M&B Auto Repair in Belton at 1101 E. 6th Ave. (254) 939-2500. As a service to local anglers, M&B has sponsored the “On the Dock” Friday afternoon fishing show hosted by Rick Smith on KTEM 1400 AM from 5-6PM.

Find him at: https://www.mbautobelton.com/

TODAY’S DATE: 31 March 2026 (AM)


NEXT OPEN DATES FOR FISHING: 01 & 17 April 2026 (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Rick, Ivan, and Tyson Miller with a few of the 106 fish they landed under ideal early morning conditions, complete with grey skies and wind.

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


WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton


SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

We got going a little bit before 7:20 AM and fished through 11:10 AM. Part 1 of my plan was to target white bass early while we enjoyed low-light condtions, and we planned on hooking fish and handing them off for Ivan to reel in as long as he stayed interested in doing so. In order to tempt the fish today, given that the water is still in the high 60s and that we had cloud cover, I went with the 5/8 ounce, white Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs.

Having fished with me previously, and having a boat similar to my own equipped with Garmin LiveScope, Rick had no problem connecting with fish. Tyson very much paid attention to detail and was very willingly coached, so he did well, also. The two of them kept Ivan reeling in as many fish as he cared to right on through about the two hour mark when that began to lose its novelty.

This is where I reached into my “little kid bag of tricks“ and employed Ivan in doing tasks on the boat I thought would engage him. These included bailing water out of the sump, netting fish out of the livewell which I placed in there for the express purpose of him taking back out, checking on the headcount of the number of fish in the livewell, flipping various switches on and off, and more.

In this manner, Ivan stayed engaged until the big guys had landed exactly 103 white bass by around 10:20 AM as the “smoked” their slabs vertically, aided by a splasher and Garmin LiveScope.

Part 2 of my plan was to come equipped to have Ivan catch sunfish up in shallow water independently. I saved this for last, when the sun was to be shining and the water had warmed some.

As I have observed the areas surrounding the boat docks I have been using lately, I’ve noticed sunfish becoming more abundant as the water continues to slowly warm.

This turned out to be a great finale to this trip. Ivan was able to observe his float being pulled under and correctly respond to it, helping him to land two bluegill sunfish and a longear sunfish “all by himself“.

We ended the morning with exactly 106 fish landed including 103 white bass and 3 sunfish.

RESULTS: 106 fish, all caught and released

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

OBSERVATIONS:
-Spawned out fish are returning quite noticeably with better numbers of fish at areas that have been sparse of late.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Taken on Lake Belton on 27 March 2026, approx. 7AM…

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