‘Twas More Spurty than Sporty – 56 Fish on Hazy Eyes & MALs
CLIENTS: This morning, Tuesday, May 5, I fished with returning guest, Mr. David Giese of Salado. David came with two buddies from his church previously, and this time brought his wife, Kim. The two have been married over 40 years and first met in the library at the college they attended.
TODAY’S DATE: 05 May 2026 (AM)
NEXT OPEN DATES FOR FISHING: 02 June 2026 (AM)
PHOTO CAPTION: Kim Giese of Salado landed the largest of 56 fish this morning. This Lake Belton hybrid striped bass struck a “sawtoothed” MAL Dense lure just a few feet up off bottom as the lure was worked horizontally.
PHOTO CAPTION: Oddly, we found fish in all sorts of “moods” today from totally turned off to frenzied, and the occurrences just seemed random with no long spans of aggressive behavior nor non-aggressive behavior. The couple still landed a full 50+ limit of white bass with a few bonus fish thrown in for good measure.
FIND LURES HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:
The National Weather Service called for steady winds at 14 to 15 mph all morning, so, I actually adjusted my meeting/launch location to accommodate for those winds, but, they never developed. We had very manageable 11 to 13 mph breeze all morning, albeit with heavy, gray cloud cover.
It seemed we caught our fish in “spurts” “this morning. We picked up our first dozen just moments after departing from the boat ramp, then picked up another eight at a more distant location. We hung at 20 fish for a while, hit another location and doubled our catch as the fish there were really gung ho. And so it went for the remainder of the morning — picking up a few fish at some locations, and finding fish, but finding them disinterested, at other locations. When all was said and done, David and Kim landed a total of 56 fish including 52 white bass, 2 largemouth bass, 1 freshwater drum, and 1 keeper hybrid.
Our approach varied with both sunlight and fish interest level. When things were slowest and darkest, I had the three-quarter ounce, white Bladed Hazy Eye Slab tied on for both of them. If fish responded well to the slab and began to suspend consistently off the bottom, I switched them over to the MAL Dense worked vertically. At our second to last location, side-imaging revealed fish around the boat, as well as beneath us, so David worked the MAL Dense horizontally with a sawtooth method while Kim continued working the MAL Dense vertically.
RESULTS: 56 fish, all caught and released
TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW “SLOW SMOKE” A BLADED HAZY EYE SLAB VERTICALLY: Click here for tutorial
OBSERVATIONS:
-The shad spawn continues.
-A late April wet cold front hit last Wednesday, followed by a cool, rainy spell, which then gave way to drier, cooler conditions. Lake Belton rose with these rains and is now 0.36 feet high.
LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:
Taken on Lake Belton on 05 May 2026, approx. 6:40AM…
0 feet 72.2F
5 feet 70.8F
10 feet 72.1F
15 feet 72.1F
20 feet 72.1F
25 feet 71.6F
30 feet 71.3F
35 feet 71.2F
40 feet 69.6F
45 feet 65.3F
50 feet 63.2F
55 feet 61.1F
60 feet 59.4F
Taken on Lake Belton on 29 April 2026, approx. 6:45AM…
0 feet 74.3F
5 feet 74.2F
10 feet 74.0F
15 feet 74.0F
20 feet 73.0F
25 feet 71.5F
30 feet 69.1F
35 feet 68.6F
40 feet 68.1F
45 feet 65.9F
50 feet 63.1F
55 feet 60.1F
60 feet 59.4F
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 7:00A
End Time: 11:10A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 75F
Elevation: Belton is 0.35 high with a -0.01′ change overnight. USACE is releasing 61 CFS.
Water Surface Temp: 72.2F on the surface.
Wind Speed & Direction: S11-13 all morning
Sky Condition: 100% thick grey cloud cover all morning w/ no direct sunlight shining at any time.
Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 86% illumination
GT = 40
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH MOST SUCCESS:
Area 2446- 12 fish on Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs (3/4 oz. white)
Area 1728- 8 fish on Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs (3/4 oz. white)
Area 2447- 20 fish on Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs (3/4 oz. white) & MAL Dense w/ silver body
Area 2351 – 1 fish on Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs (3/4 oz. white)
Area 2448 – 12 fish on Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs (3/4 oz. nickel)
Area 2449 – 3 fish on Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs (3/4 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: https://www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle