The following is a report to the membership of the Austin Fly Fishers and others including individuals and companies who support S.K.I.F.F. (Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun). S.K.I.F.F. exists to take the children of deployed or deceased soldiers on fishing trips at no charge to the soldiers’ families.

Lane (L) and Landon (R) with a sampling of their catch taken from 49 degree water this morning.

Landon with our largest fish taken today — a hybrid striped bass that went for his TNT 180 slab.

28 January 2011

Given an ideal weather forecast consisting of SW winds in advance of a rainy cold front due in Sunday, I scheduled 3 S.K.I.F.F. trips over the span of 28-29 January. On this first trip of the three, I was joined by the Robison boys, Lane (12) and Landon (8), of Kempner, TX. The boys’ parents are both lieutentant colonels in the U.S. Army. LTC Scott Robison is currently serving stateside with the Operational Test Command, and LTC Jennifer Robison is based out of Mosul, Iraq, where she commands the 85th CSC Unit which serves soldiers with stress-related psychological challenges.

These boys were two all-Americans! They are both accomplished outdoorsmen with experience in horse riding, raising cattle, trout fishing, elk hunting, ranching, and more. Both young men are articulate, polite, considerate, and personable. As we drove to the boat ramp, they were “all business” asking about the techniques we’d be using, the kind of fish we

d be catching, the weather conditions, the boat’s layout, and more. It sure is reassuring to know there are some quality young men coming up in this next generation.

As we launched and began the search for fish, the forecast we expected was not the one we got. With a nippy 38F air temperature, the 15 mph west wind was already blowing whitecaps before sunrise and put the windchill factor somewhere down lower than we cared to think about. This high wind literally blew away any early morning bird action that might have pointed the way to fish and left us having to search for fish the hard way — with sonar.

Long story short, we really struggled until around 10:45, and boated only 3 fish off of Area 174 by that time with the help of a few birds chasing shad pushed toward the surface by white bass and hybrid.

Right at 10:45, things took a turn for the better. I idled over a slow upward slope and there at 47-50 feet down was a large, nearly immobile school of white bass holding tight to the bottom. These fish were holding so tight, in fact, that they did not show at all on traditional sonar, but only on my Structure Scan sonar. I quickly got a buoy overboard to mark these fish and we went to work. I tell folks the toughest fish in a school to catch is the first one. Once the first fish is caught, it panics as it is reeled in and will often regurgitate its most recent meal, defecate, and, of course, it flashes and struggles as it fights, putting off flash and vibration. All of these things are very attractive to schoolmates and gets them agitated and more likely to feed. And so it was, I hooked one fish, and the floodgates then opened. The boys boated 38 more fish from that point until a time nearly 75 minutes later when the wind blew itself out and the surface went nearly calm, thus ending the (late) morning feed.

For our efforts today we boated a total of 42 fish, including 2 barely short hybrid, 1 drum, and a mix of white bass and immature hybrid striped bass. Every last fish came on either a 3/8 or 3/4 oz. TNT 180 slab.

Little did we know we were all in for a treat when, at around 11:30, Lane’s cell phone rang. IT WAS HIS MOM CALLING FROM IRAQ!! Lane gave her a blow-by-blow account of Landon hooking, playing, and landing a nice white bass, and all 3 of us got to speak with her. She was very gracious and thanked me for giving her boys a special day on the water. I promised her digital photos by nightfall.

I’m hoping to put 100 kids on the water this year over the span of ~50 trips, and we’re off to a great start!!

Thank you for your donations and contributions that make this all possible.

Sincerely,

Bob Maindelle

Today’s Conditions:

Start Time: 7:30a

End Time: 12:15p

Starting Air Temp: 38F

Ending Air Temp: 64F

Water Surface Temp: 49F

Wind: W15 at sunrise tapering off to calm by noon

Skies: Clear

On the heels of this morning’s SKIFF trip to Belton, I fished Stillhouse this evening under comparable weather conditions so as to compare and contrast the fishing. Weather tomorrow is forecast to be excellent and I’ve booked two SKIFF trips for 5 young men, so, I wanted to get them on the best fishing I could.

In summary, I caught more fish in a shorter period of time on Stillhouse, and the fish had a “feel” to them that made me confident the action would be reliable at least until the next significant weather change.

I fished only 2 areas this evening — Areas 718 and 719.

At Area 718, I found fish right on the high edge of the break and very eager to feed. When I first got a slab down to them they were willing to pop the larger 3/4 oz. lure; after they settled down the 3/8 oz. did the trick. I boated a total of 34 fish here prior to sunset. The bite died about 20 minute before sundown. I took 32 fish off this area.

At Area 719, the fish fed for an unusually long time beyond sunset. I used a sniping technique here targeting white bass that were suspended at 20 feet deep and shallower over this 34 foot bottom. I find that the later and darker it gets, the more likely the still-active fish are to be nearer the surface. I boated 12 fish in this vicinity.

TALLY = 44 FISH, all caught and released.

Today’s Conditions:

Start Time: 3:30p

End Time: 6:20p

Starting Air Temp: 71F

Ending Air Temp: 67F

Water Surface Temp: 50F

Wind: SSW10 tapering slowly to SSW3