Mixed Bag for a Newly-Minted 10-Year-Old – 35 Fish
CLIENTS: This morning, Tuesday, September 15, I ran a “Kids Fish, Too!“ trip for newly-minted 10 year-old Adam Balagia who celebrated his birthday this past Sunday, September 13.
Accompanying Adam on this trip was his mom, Katie Balagia, and his grandfather, Mark Keele. The trio drove in from the Cedar Park area for a 6:45 AM start.
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: 15 September 2026 (AM)
NEXT OPEN MORNING DATES: 17, 18, 29, 30 Sep. 2026
NEXT OPEN AFTERNOON DATES: 17, 29, 30 Sep. 2026
PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Mark Keele and Adam and Katie Balagia came aboard this morning on Lake Belton for a kids-only trip for Adam in celebration of his 10th birthday. He landed 35 fish and 6 different species of fish.
PHOTO CAPTION: The white bass cooperated until the sun struck the water, then we pursued other species from that point on.
SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:
Having fished professionally with children for over 20 years now, I would have to say there is no greater amount of variation in maturity among kids than at 10 years of age. Fortunately, Adam fell on the more mature side of things for a 10-year-old in that he had a drive towards being goal-oriented, he had a good bit of patience, and he had prior experience with some of the equipment we used today.
To keep things interesting, I planned a number of different “chapters“ for this morning‘s trip.
The opening chapter involved downrigging three-armed umbrella rigs rigged with #12 Pet Spoons for white bass under low light conditions.
Adam and his grandpa quickly got the hang of re-rigging the downriggers after a fish was caught, which helped us maximize the amount of time we kept baits in the water during this limited, low-light window. We put exactly 14 fish in the boat on downriggers before the sun‘s direct rays struck the water and brought this bite to an end. That take included 12 white bass, one blue catfish, and one smallmouth bass.
Chapter 2 involved going up shallow and fishing visible cover for sunfish. We did this, but not before preparing ahead for Chapter 3. We used chum to draw catfish in from a larger area, marked this area so we could return to it and fish it, then headed off to fish for sunfish.
Using slip floats and live bait, Adam picked up 14 sunfish, including both longears and bluegill.
With about 1.25 hours left in the trip, and after letting the chum work it’s magic for about 45 minutes, we returned to fish for catfish using punch bait.
Adam actually stuck with this longer than I thought he might in an attempt to reach a trip total of 35 fish. At 10:10 AM, Adam hooked and landed our 35th fish of the trip, as he swung our ninth catfish over the gunwale. As usual, we picked up a fairly even mix of blue and channel catfish.
Despite causing Adam some aggravation in the form of multiple missed strikes, Adam still pointed to the catfishing as his favorite method of the three we employed this morning.
RESULTS: 35 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:
-High pressure is firmly back in control of our weather bringing summer weather our way at least until 21 Sept. when forecasters call for a break thanks to an incoming cold front.
LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:
Taken on Lake Belton on 03 Sep. 2026, approx 6:05AM…
0 feet 87.0F
5 feet 87.3F
10 feet 87.3F
15 feet 87.0F
20 feet 86.2F
25 feet 86.1F
30 feet 85.9F
35 feet 84.7F
40 feet 81.1F
45 feet 72.8F
50 feet 71.0F
55 feet 68.2F
60 feet 67.2F
65 feet 66.0F
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
.
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 6:45A
End Time: 10:15A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 76F
Elevation – Lake Belton fell to 1.28′ low, with a 0.04′ loss in the last 24 hours. Flow rate was 52 CFS
Water Surface Temp: 86.6F on the surface.
Wind Speed & Direction: SE8-13
Sky Condition: 25% white cloud cover on a blue sky all morning
Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 21% illumination
GT = 85
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH MOST SUCCESS:
Area 1924 thru B0039G- 12 white bass, 1 blue cat, 1 smallmouth on downrigged #12 Pet Spoons
Area 2614 – 14 sunfish on bait under a float
Area AUGCAT03 – 9 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