Dad Helped Me Help Them Be Successful – 95 Fish
CLIENTS: This morning, Wednesday, August 26, I fished a “Kids Fish, Too!“ trip for the five- and seven-year-old sons of Ethan Jahns. This trip was in celebration of five year-old Jake Jahns’ birthday, and riding on his coattails was his older brother, Graham. As with most children’s trips, dad was there to help me help the kids be successful but not fish on his own.
Ethan, a graduate of Texas A&M Kingsville, runs his own fencing company in the Gatesville area, specializing in ranch and game fencing. The boys are homeschooled, hence their ability to fish on other than a weekend at this time of year.
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: 26 August 2026 (AM)
NEXT OPEN MORNING DATES: 01 Sep. 2026
NEXT OPEN AFTERNOON DATES: 31 Aug., 14 Sep. 2026
PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Graham, Ethan, and Jake Jahns with white bass the boys landed during a morning topwater blitz, followed by continued sub-surface feeding in the first 80 minutes of light on Lake Belton.
PHOTO CAPTION: We saved the more technical fishing for last, and kept it short. The boys put all the pieces together and landed 5 channel cat before the heat kicked in.
PHOTO CAPTION: Triple! Graham holds one of two sets of triples he and his brother, Jake, landed as we downrigged for white bass after they left the surface.
SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:
I broke this 3.5 hour trip down into four segments. First, we pursued white bass feeding on young-of-the-year shad on topwater. For this job, I chose the Cork Rig with Sandy Sandwich Streamer attached. Ethan and I cast out for the boys, then the boys did the retrieving, hooking, playing, and landing of 24 white bass right up until the frenzy came to a halt.
Part two dovetailed right into part one. We continued pursuing these very same schools of white bass only doing it sub-surface by using downriggers and relying on side-imaging to see where the schools were located. For this work, I used a pair of three-armed umbrella rigs, each equipped with #12 Pet Spoons, hence allowing six baits to work at any given time. The boys landed another 19 fish with this tactic, including two sets of triples and multiple sets of doubles.
After these fish quit feeding, it was time for a change of venue. For part three, we headed up shallow and targeted sunfish using slip floats to suspend live bait just off bottom near visible cover. The boys landed a total of 47 panfish, including multiple species of sunfish and spottails.
With about 50 minutes left in our trip and 90 fish now landed, we saved the most technical fishing for last. Normally, I would not fish for catfish with five- and seven-year-old kids, but Ethan described for me how much prior experience the boys had and how, when left on their own, they will fish for long periods of time without getting bored. For these reasons, I decided to give catfish a try. We previously baited an area with two different kinds of chum then return to that chummed area at this time. We positioned the boat exactly over the chum, and began to fish punchbait just off bottom. The boys landed exactly 5 catfish all of which were channel cat. As they caught fish, they also made all of the mistakes that clients of any age typically do when learning this tightlining tactic. Regardless, they learned from those mistakes and each time they dropped down, they got better at presenting their baits, detecting bites, and setting their hooks.
We ended up the morning with exactly 95 fish in the boat, one happy birthday boy, and one very successful big brother.
RESULTS: 95 fish, all caught and released
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
FIND LURES HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/
SEE THE “SMOKING TACTIC” TUTORIAL HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3FMEQHOMQ
OBSERVATIONS:
-Fishable topwater went ~35 minutes this morning.
LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:
Taken on Lake Belton on 26 Aug. 2026, approx. 6:15AM ..
0 feet 86.7F
5 feet 86.7F
10 feet 86.7F
15 feet 86.7F
20 feet 86.5F
25 feet 85.9F
30 feet 85.3F
35 feet 84.3F
40 feet 80.2F
45 feet 74.4F
50 feet 71.5F
55 feet 70.0F
60 feet 68.4F
65 feet 65.9F
Taken on Lake Belton on 19 Aug. 2026, approx. 6:05AM …
0 feet 86.4F
5 feet 86.4F
10 feet 86.4F
15 feet 86.4F
20 feet 86.4F
25 feet 86.1F
30 feet 85.5F
35 feet 83.7F
40 feet 79.9F
45 feet 75.2F
50 feet 71.7F
55 feet 69.8F
60 feet 67.8F
.
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 6:30A
End Time: 10:00A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 77F
Elevation – Lake Belton fell to 0.45′ low, with a 0.05′ loss in the last 24 hours. Flow rate was 52 CFS
Water Surface Temp: 86.7F on the surface.
Wind Speed & Direction: SSW4-72 all morning
Sky Condition: 70-90% thin, hazy, white cloud cover on a light blue sky
Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous at 98% illumination
GT = 105
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH MOST SUCCESS:
Area vic 813 thru 794- 43 white bass w/ 24 on Cork Rig with Sandy Sandwich Streamer, then 19 white bass on downriggers with Pet Spoons
Area B0289G – 19 panfish on floats and bait
Area B0291G – 28 panfish on floats and bait
Area AUGCAT03 – 5 catfish on punchbait
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