Working (in the Stern and in Front of the Camera) on Labor Day!! SKIFF Trip #9 for 2012 — 58 Fish






The following blog entry appears in the form of a report to those who support the Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun (S.K.I.F.F.) program which serves to put the children of deployed or deceased soldiers on the water at no charge to their families…



Joseph (L) and Dillan (R) display 2 of the white bass we picked up just seconds apart as our spread of Pet Spoons intercepted some aggressively feeding white bass holding ~26 feet under the surface. That’s Grandpa Brotherton in the middle.




03 September 2012 (Labor Day)

Dear Friends of SKIFF,

Today I fished with brothers Dillan (13) and Joseph (11) Gibson of Kempner, TX. The boys are the sons of the late SSG Theodore Gibson who passed away several years ago during an unsuccessful rescue attempt of eldest son following a boating accident. SSG Gibson was serving with the 1st Cavalry Division at the time he and his son passed away, and was a combat veteran of the Gulf War. The boys are being raised by their maternal grandparents, Bob and Vicky Brotherton. Bob is a Viet Nam era veteran of the 101st Airborne Division.

We were also glad to have Mrs. Sophia Stamas on board today. Sophia is a reporter with KCEN-TV (NBC channel 6 out of Waco) and is responsible for the “Military Matters” segment of each newscast. Her intent today was to feature the existence and scope of the S.K.I.F.F. program. Her report will run today (03 Sept. 2012) during the 5p and 6p news hours.

The boys both arrived with some fishing fundamentals under their belts, including the ability to cast, albeit with closed-face equipment. They quickly adapted to the spinning and casting gear I introduced them to and off we went.

We’ve enjoyed a 3 day streak of SW winds (very favorable) and the fish were ready to feed. We divided our trip into two distinct adventures — the first 3 hours spent in open water in pursuit of white bass, and the last hour spent in shallow cover in pursuit of sunfish for variety’s sake.

We found hungry white bass schools in the vicinity of Area 040/481 and primarily used downriggers to keep our presentations consistently deep enough to attract these fish. Over the 3 hours spent in this area, we boated 25 fish including 24 white bass and 1 largemouth. 21 of these 24 white bass came on modified Pet Spoons, with the remaining 3 taking blade baits cast from a fixed position after we located particularly heavy concentrations of fish as we downrigged and then stopped over top of them to work more thoroughly for them.

Our last hour was spent in the vicinity of Area 1098. We used slipfloats and attempted to finesse sunfish out of heavy, submerged cedar brush. The boys were very accurate with their presentations and were able to place their maggot baits in small holes in the cover and were handsomely rewarded for their efforts — 33 sunfish in less than 60 minutes!!

As we returned to the dock, Mr. Brotherton reported that he and his bride were able to enjoy a peaceful breakfast together as the boys were out with me. We took a few photos at dockside to commemorate the trip and then parted ways.

I thank each one of you for being a part in the engine that drives S.K.I.F.F. Sophia Stamas’ reporting efforts today will no doubt bring some new and much needed attention to our program. Although the number of troops deployed from Ft. Hood to Afghanistan is limited right now, this TV spot will definitely help let folks know we are ready and willing to serve them. Ft. Hood’s population is so transient that even established programs and businesses here have to keep publicity up in order to get recognized and stay recognized by the community. Thank you once again for your ongoing support!!


TALLY = 58 FISH, all caught and released

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TODAY’S CONDITIONS:

Start Time: 6:45a

End Time: 11:05a

Air Temp: 77F at trip’s start.

Water Surface Temp: 85.6F

Wind: SSW7-10.

Skies: Cloudless and fair.