Spending Time Together While They Can – 43 Fish

CLIENTS: This morning, Friday, September 18, I fished with a father and son team, welcoming aboard Ryan Van Wie and his eight-year-old son, Matthew.

Ryan is a fellow West Point graduate and is about to take command of a Cavalry battalion on Fort Hood. Command assignments are very demanding, and Ryan knows he needs to take full advantage of the time he now has with his kids before stepping into this next role.

We were actually supposed to fish together last fall, but a family emergency prevented that from taking place. Ryan helped turn the day into a win-win. He was able to fish at a discounted rate and I was able to avoid taking a loss on the day thanks to a last-minute cancellation.

TODAY’S DATE: 18 September 2026 (AM)


NEXT OPEN MORNING DATES: 29, 30 Sep. 2026

NEXT OPEN AFTERNOON DATES: 29, 30 Sep. 2026

PHOTO CAPTION: That’s Ryan Van Wie and his son, Matthew on Lake Belton. The white bass cooperated until the sun struck the water, then we pursued other species from that point on. Father and son landed 43 fish – the most they’d ever caught in a given trip.

PHOTO CAPTION: And here are a few of the other species they landed!

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

With an eight year-old aboard I planned to intentionally insert transitions into our morning so as to keep Matthew engaged.

Despite the nearly dead-calm surface, we enjoyed at least a few minutes of topwater fishing for white bass right at the start of our trip. When these fish forced shad to the surface right at first light, we were there to tempt them with Cork Rigs fished in front of Sandy Sandwich Streamers on 27-inch fluorocarbon leaders. Father and son landed exactly 15 white bass during this fairly limited window.

After the fish left the surface, but still remained in the area, we “mopped up“ using #12 Pet Spoons, fished behind three-armed umbrella rigs on a pair of downriggers to add three more fish to our tally before the sun’s direct rays struck the water and killed the white bass bite. We now had 18 fish in the boat.

Next, we headed up shallow and fished visible cover for sunfish using live bait, suspended under a balsawood floats. This accounted for another 16 fish, including bluegill sunfish, longear, sunfish, and green sunfish.

Next, it was on to fish for catfish over chum we had placed between the white bass fishing and the sunfishing. At this point, it was now hot, bright, and calm. I can’t really think of any species of fish for which such conditions are helpful, and the catfish were no exception. We caught them, but saw a whole lot more coming up off bottom to sample our bait and then reject it then we did come up and attack it. At our first stop, we landed 6 catfish, and at our second stop, now even hotter and brighter, we landed just 2.

With just a few minutes left in the trip and our fish count now at 42, we headed back up shallow and gave Matthew one more shot at fishing with the bream rod at his request. He picked up a juvenile largemouth bass and we decided to end on a positive note with 43 fish boated.

RESULTS: 43 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 18 Sep. 2026, approx. 6:15AM ..

Taken on Lake Belton on 03 Sep. 2026, approx 6:05AM…

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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