This morning, June 12th, I conducted a Fort Hood SKIESUnlimited program trip for Charley and Addison Elgin.
Addison Elgin of Fort Hood landed half of the 48 fish she and her brother boated this morning, including a mix of white bass, largemouth bass, and sunfish.
Charlie landed several largemouth today and prided himself in carefully removing the hook from as many as he was able to on his own.
A “double-double!! Four fish on two rods, all at the same time.
We met at 6:15 on Stillhouse Hollow and fished for four hours. We began looking for topwater action but, thanks to a heavy cloudbank in the east, no direct sun hit the water at anywhere near the normal time of sunrise, thus the topwater did not develop.
We moved off into deeper water and began probing with sonar and downriggers and immediately got into fish. We landed singles, doubles, and even a “double-double” (both kids landing two fish at a time simultaneously – see photo) using tandem rigs equipped with Pet Spoons.
Every so often I would see a school of fish tightly grouped on bottom. Such fish are “ripe for picking” using a smoking tactic now that the water is warm. I would have the kids bring in the downrigging gear, then I’d stop the boat, put us in a hover over the fish, and have the kids drop ¾ oz. slab retrofitted with Hazy Eye Stinger hooks down to them. We’d then work these baits for these fish as long as the fish stayed interested.
This combination of downrigging and jigging allow us 33 fish boated through mid-morning up until a bank of heavy grey clouds moved directly over us, thus obscuring the sun. When this happened, the fishing fell off quickly, and from that point on we were only able to scratch up one more white bass and two small largemouth on the downriggers.
With about 30 minutes left before the kids’ mom was due to pick them up, we transitioned over to fishing with poles and slip-floats for sunfish in shallow water. The kids got the hang of this very quickly, including the correct hooksetting technique, and put a final 12 fish in the boat before we called it a good morning.
We landed a total of 48 fish for our efforts.
IF YOU ARE A MILITARY PARENT INTERESTED IN ARRANGING A TRIP FOR YOUR OWN CHILD:
To participate in such courses, children must first be registered with Child and Youth Services (CYS). Registration is free and is accomplished by contacting Parent Central Services at 254.287.8029.
Once registered, parents may go online to enroll their children for the myriad courses available. Payment must be made for courses in advance.
Military families separated from their sponsor may be eligible for deployment benefits in the form of SKIESUnlimited course credits. Mission Level 1 credits may amount to $300 per child and Mission Level 2 credits may amount to $150 per child. Parent Central Services can help parents understand which applies to their situation.
TALLY: 48 FISH, all caught and released
Wx Snapshot:
TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 6:15a
End Time: 10:30a
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 76F
Water Surface Temp: 81.4F
Wind Speed & Direction: SSE8-10
Sky Conditions: Fair skies with 40% cloud cover, increasing to 60% cover
Water Level: 0.85 feet above full pool and falling; 400 cfs release at dam
GT = 0
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area 1128 thru 039 thru 1120 – 33 whites on a combo of downrigging and smoking
**Area 986 – downrigged for 2 largemouth
**Area 667 – 13 sunfish
Bob Maindelle
Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service
254.368.7411 (call or text)
Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle
Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle