Some Fine, Young Americans – 24 Fish
CLIENTS: This morning, Wednesday, July 22, I fished with two fine, young Americans – – Knox Stearns and Jaxen Yepez, accompanied by Knox‘s dad, Wes. This was a “Kids Fish, Too!“ Trip specifically for the boys, both of whom have fished with me previously.
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: 22 July 2026 (AM)
NEXT OPEN DATES FOR FISHING: 30 July, 3-6 August 2026 (AM)
PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Knox Stearns (13) and Jaxen Yepez (16) really worked for their white bass and catfish this morning as the Texas summer heat was really making itself felt.
PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Knox and Jaxen worked MAL Dense lures both horizontally with a sawtooth method early, and vertically with a smoking method thereafter to land white bass which have become quite nomadic as they chase after the less than inch-long young-of-the-year shad now suspended just about everywhere you go.
SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:
Because I knew both boys were quite capable with spinning gear, I had them meet me earlier than I have most of my parties meet me. This was in order to take advantage of casting up into shallow water for fish which are so shallow they would spook if I were to attempt to downrig over top of them.
In about an hour’s time, the boys landed eight white bass by working the MAL Dense Lure with a sawtooth tactic.
I intended to continue attempting to fish for the same white bass by downrigging after they pushed out deeper, but, this morning, with no cloud cover and no wind, the fish vacated the shallows almost the instant the sun’s direct rays struck the water.
I returned to the same fairly steep sloped area where we caught white bass fishing vertically yesterday morning. There were still a few fish in this area, but not like the day before. The boys added an additional five white bass and 2 largemouth bass by smoking the MAL Lure before we left the white bass fishing behind for good. From this point on, we targeted catfish in areas I previously baited.
The first area we fished produced four channel cats, and a good number of misses as the boys both got the hang of detecting a bite and responding with a strong hook set.
The second and final stop we made for catfish produced an additional five channel cat.
We wrapped up right around 10 AM with all of us sweating through our clothes due to the high temperature, and lack of wind and cloud cover. The boys ended up this trip with exactly 24 fish landed including 9 catfish, 2 largemouth bass, and 13 white bass.
RESULTS: 24 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=jDSvfXgrAUE
OBSERVATIONS:
-No fishable topwater action witnessed today.
-Very hot! We were sweating through our clothes by 9AM
LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:
Taken on Lake Belton on 21 July 2026, approx. 6:05AM …
0 feet 86.1F
5 feet 87.0F
10 feet 87.2F
15 feet 86.4F
20 feet 85.9F
25 feet 85.5F
30 feet 84.3F
35 feet 83.8F
40 feet 80.7F
45 feet 74.8F
50 feet 72.3F
55 feet 70.3F
60 feet 68.6F
Taken on Lake Belton on 14 July 2026, approx. 6:05AM …
0 feet 86.1F
5 feet 86.5F
10 feet 86.5F
15 feet 86.5F
20 feet 86.5F
25 feet 86.5F
30 feet 85.0F
35 feet 83.8F
40 feet 78.2F
45 feet72.2F
50 feet 70.7F
55 feet 69.2F
60 feet 67.4F
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 6:15A
End Time: 10:00A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 79F
Elevation – Lake Belton remained at 1.11′ high, same as the day before. Flow rate was 52 CFS
Water Surface Temp: 86.1F on the surface.
Wind Speed & Direction: SE 0-3 all morning
Sky Condition: Pale blue, cloudless sky under the influence of dry, high pressure.
Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 62% illumination
GT = 85
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH MOST SUCCESS:
Area vic 186 – 8 white bass on sawtoothed MAL Dense lures
Area vic 726 – 5 white bass, 2 largemouth on smoked MAL Dense lures
Area JUNCAT02 – 4 channel catfish on punchbait
Area JULCAT02 – 5 channel 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