This morning we were blessed to receive a $250 check from the Fort Hood Area Assoc. of Realtors (FHAAR) in support of the SKIFF (Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun) program! A special thanks to Tom DeAngio of the “Shine Team” for going to bat for us on this!!
Manuel was all smiles when this 3.06 pound largemouth made it into the net.
I was joined at this event by Manuel Pena of the Austin Fly Fishers and by Marty Wall, owner of First Draft, Inc. (and volunteer videographer for SKIFF). After a nice breakfast with the realtors, Marty headed back home to entertain some house guests and Manuel and I, well, we hustled back to my house, swapped dress pants for fishing shorts and headed to the lake!!
Today’s conditions were below average, mainly in that we had a murky, low cloud set that kept things dark and damp, and we got a later than optimum start. In fact, we were just putting the boat in within minutes of when I would normally be pulling out, but, my main intent was not a large catch, rather, it was to give Manuel a “sampler” of the techniques I use with kids on board — the kids he works hard to generate funds for!!
So, we did a little downrigging around Area 859, 860, 070, and 457 (result: 4 white bass, 3 largemouth bass), we did a little jigging (result: a strikeout), and we did a little shallow water sunfishing at Area 200 (result: 3 bluegill sunfish and 2 longear sunfish).
Our big fish of the trip came off of Area 457 when Manuel connected with a 3 1/16 pound largemouth that slammed into his Pet Spoon in 32 feet of water. After leaping from the water once about 40 feet away from the boat, we saw he was solidly hooked and I felt confident we’d boat him … until him took a last ditch dive toward the downrigger cable. In the end, disaster was averted and we brought the fish to net, as shown above.
TALLY = 12 fish, all caught and released
TODAY’S CONDITIONS:
Start Time: 10:30a
End Time: 1:45p
Air Temp: 77F at trip’s start.
Water Surface Temp: 76.5F
Wind: SSE13-14.
Skies: Skies were darkened by low clouds; very light mist fell on occasion; light rain began as we departed.