And these 3 TPWD First Fish Awards go to…

CLIENTS: This morning, Tuesday, July 7, I fished with the Massey family from right here in the Belton Lake area. U.S. Army veteran and retired Army aviator Bob Massey and his wife, Eden, brought out their three kids for the kids’ first-ever fishing adventure.

Wisely, Bob and Eden chose to go with the “Kids, Fish, Too!“ option and served as additional hands, eyes, and ears helping me help their kids be successful. Manning the rods today were nine year-old twins, Mason and Olivia, and seven year-old Nate.

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: 07 July 2026 (AM)


NEXT OPEN DATES FOR FISHING: 28-31 July 2026 (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Eden, Nate (7), Olivia (9), Bob, and Mason (9) Massey. All three kids landed the first fish of their lives this morning, earning TPWD First Fish Awards!!

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

This morning was the first time in a long time we had no cloud cover at sunrise, so it got hot and bright right away. We observed two very brief instances of topwater feeding. One was just long enough for me to fire a single cast and hand off the rod to Mason who connected with the first fish of his life in that manner.

We would go on to use downriggers for about the next hour putting singles and doubles in the boat, bringing our count to 10 before these fish we were downrigging over top of dispersed. Those fish caught on the downriggers all came on #13 Pet Spoons tied onto three-armed umbrella rigs.

Since the family needed to depart at the three hour mark, we put in a little under an hour working MAL Lures vertically in areas where concentrations of suspended fish showed on sonar. This was asking a lot, technically speaking, from three youngsters who had never fished before, but, everyone had watched my tutorial video and had a very good idea of what they needed to do. To their credit, the kids landed four fish in this manner, including three white bass and one crappie.

We invested the final hour up shallow pursuing sunfish. We used bream poles with small floats, tiny split shot, and small hooks to tempt longear sunfish, green sunfish, bluegill sunfish, and spottail shiners. By the time we needed to depart, the kids had landed an additional 40 fish bringing their morning total to 54 fish landed – – not bad for a boatload of rookies who had never fished before!

For their efforts, each child will receive a TPWD First Fish Award through the Department’s Angler Recognition Program.

RESULTS: 54 fish, all caught and released by clients

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton


TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW WORK AN MAL LURE VERTICALLY: 

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

OBSERVATIONS:
-USACE scaled the release of water through the dam way back and the fishing has certainly improved. Flow today was 54 CFS for the sixth consecutive day, down from ~224CFS last week.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Taken on Lake Belton on 07 July 2026, approx. 6:20AM (Note thermocline forming between 35-40 feet!!)

Taken on Lake Belton on 01 July 2026, approx. 6:20AM (Note thermocline forming between 35-40 feet!!)

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