Although Young, Gus Wasn’t Inexperienced – 53 Whites for a 9-year-old

CLIENTS: This morning, Monday, June 8, I fished a Kids Fish, Too! trip just for nine-year-old Gus Doyle of Gatesville accompanied by his grandfather, David Martin, a retired mailman.

David arranged this trip way back in February and, with good conditions aiding us today weatherwise, Gus made a great catch.

ABOUT “KIDS FISH, TOO!” TRIPS:  Kids Fish, Too! trips are intended just for the kids. They are considerably less expensive than standard trips ($215 for up to 2 kids vs. $315 for up to 2 adults; and more can be added), and typically go a maximum of 3.5 hours versus 4-plus hours for standard trips.  On these trips, licensed adults who desire to do so often help me help the kids be successful by baiting hooks, untangling lines, resetting our downrigger spreads, etc. so the kids’ efforts are maximized, but, the adults do not fish.

TODAY’S DATE: 08 June 2026 (PM)


NEXT OPEN DATES FOR FISHING: 6, 10 July 2026 (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION: 9-year-old Gus Doyle was treated to a kids-only “Kids Fish, Too!” fishing trip by his grandfather, David Martin. Gus landed 55 fish, including 53 white bass, 1 drum, and 1 largemouth, all on the MAL Dense worked vertically.

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


WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton


SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

We got going around 6:40 AM with 60% gray cloud cover on a white sky and a wind already blowing a chop on the water at SE10.

That chop just about guaranteed any topwater action would be extremely tough to spot, although topwater action has been hard to come by thus far this summer.

The USACE stopped all but a trickle of water from going through the dam this weekend as other, more flooded lakes took priority. Shortly after our trip ended, USACE turned the spigot back on, running water at an even higher rate than before — 1,060 CFS.

For the first time in a long time, I had fish coming up off the bottom to strike our bait. Perhaps 10 to 15% of the catch was made off bottom.

The rest of the fish were doing the same thing they were doing last week which was wandering around in loosely organized small schools suspended anywhere from 5 to 15 feet off the bottom over 40 to 55 feet of water.

Those areas impacted by the weekend-long southerly winds seemed to hold more fish and bait than those areas which were more protected. All catches this morning were made on the MAL Dense with chartreuse tail worked with a smoking tactic straight up off the bottom.

Although young, Gus was not inexperienced. He handled a spinning rod very well and actually got the hang of racing his lure in front of fish crossing beneath us as shown on Garmin LiveScope. We stopped fishing at 9:20 with the whites still biting in order to give Gus a bit of variety, but the catfish were not nearly as cooperative as they had been. Seeing that Gus really preferred the action the white bass were providing, we went back to white bass fishing and put seven more fish in the boat in our last 15 minutes on the water, bringing Gus‘s morning tally to 55 fish, including 53 white bass, one drum, and one largemouth bass.

RESULTS: 55 fish, all caught and released

TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW WORK AN MAL LURE VERTICALLY: 

OBSERVATIONS:
-USACE shut down the flow through the Belton Dam going from a rate of 412 CFS to just 64 CFS over the weekend, then reopened the gates today, flushing 1,060 CFS.

-No helpful bird action today.

-Lake Belton rose 0.72′ over the weekend, going from 1.80′ high to 2.52′ high, and the lake is still rising.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Taken on Lake Belton on 08 June 2026, approx. 6:25AM…

Taken on Lake Belton on 02 June 2026, approx. 6:35AM…

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