Hey, Little Brother, Is That Your First Fish!?! – 43 Fish
CLIENTS: This morning, Monday, July 13, I welcomed aboard 11- and 10-year-old brothers Bennett and Payne West chaperoned by their father, Stuart West.
Stuart makes his living as a middle school teacher and coach in the same Killeen Independent School District in which his boys attend school.
This was a “Kids Fish, Too! Trip. Bennett had very little prior experience, and that experience came quite some time ago, and Payne had never caught a fish before, so, we started with fundamentals and built quickly up from there.
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: 13 July 2026 (AM)
NEXT OPEN DATES FOR FISHING: 29-31 July, 3-6 August 2026 (AM)
PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Payne, Stuart, and Bennett West with blue and channel catfish the boys landed on this summertime, multi-species, “Kids Fish, Too!” trip just for kids.
SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:
With nothing really happening in the weather to cause a change in white bass summertime behavior, I’ve been setting aside only the first hour for white bass fishing. If during that hour I see something that indicates I should invest more time into the white bass fishing, then we do so. This morning, I saw no evidence at all that investing any more than an hour in that species would pay dividends.
I looked at several areas without seeing much of interest and so come 7:30, we changed over quickly to sunfish in order to ensure the boys did not go too long without seeing some fruits of their labor. At the first cove we hit for sunfish the boys were able to put a total of 20 sunfish in the boat, including bluegill and green sunfish, as well as a bonus channel cat. These came on bream rods used to present lightweight floats, which suspended live bait just off bottom to tempt these panfish.
Once we caught all the fish I felt we had the potential to catch in that cove, I gave the boys the option of continuing to fish for sunfish elsewhere, or doing something new and pursuing catfish intentionally.
The boys both voted for catfish, so we return to an area I had baited prior to their arrival and, having adjusted my approach a bit after seeing kids struggle to detect bites and respond properly, I had the boys present their punchbait barely off bottom using larger balsa slip floats. This worked quite well. In fact, the boys’ “bite to landed fish ratio” was better than for any group of children I have tried putting on catfish thus far this summer.
In all, the boys landed eight catfish before the length of time between bites began to get too long for my liking. These included both blue and channel catfish.
Once again, I gave the boys an option of going back up shallow for sunfish or hitting another previously baited area for catfish. Once again, the vote was unanimous, but this time for sunfish.
With 28 fish now in the boat, we headed up shallow once again and fished near rocks and button brush to put another 15 fish in the boat, this time, including bluegill, longear, and green sunfish, as well as spottails.
We wrapped up at exactly 10:15 AM with 43 fish landed, and yet another “First Fish Award” earned for young Mr. Payne West.
RESULTS: 43 fish, all caught and released by clients
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
FIND LURES HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/
OBSERVATIONS:
-Not a lick of topwater action seen nor heard all morning.
LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:
Taken on Lake Belton on 07 July 2026, approx. 6:20AM (Note thermocline forming between 35-40 feet!!)
0 feet 87.9F
5 feet 88.2F
10 feet 88.2F
15 feet 88.1F
20 feet 85.6F
25 feet 85.0F
30 feet 84.3F
35 feet 83.1F
40 feet 78.2F
45 feet 73.8F
50 feet 71.4F
55 feet 70.2F
60 feet 68.1F
Taken on Lake Belton on 01 July 2026, approx. 6:20AM (Note thermocline forming between 35-40 feet!!)
0 feet 85.6F
5 feet 85.6F
10 feet 85.6F
15 feet 85.6F
20 feet 85.6F
25 feet 85.3F
30 feet 85.0F
35 feet 82.6F
40 feet 74.7F
45 feet 72.3F
50 feet 70.7F
55 feet 69.8F
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 6:30A
End Time: 10:00A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 77F
Elevation – Lake Belton rose 0.07′ up to 0.30′ high in the last 24 hours. Flow rate was 52 CFS
Water Surface Temp: 87.1F on the surface.
Wind Speed & Direction: SSE2-5 for 2 hours, then SSW-2-4 thereafter
Sky Condition: Light blue sky with 70% cloud cover
Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 1% illumination
GT = 60
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH MOST SUCCESS:
Area B0032G – 20 panfish on bream rods, bait & slipfloats
Area JULCAT02 – 8 catfish on punchbait
Area 185 – 15 panfish on bream rods, bait & slipfloats
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