Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun (SKIFF) – 58 Fish with the Stahleys
CLIENTS: This morning, Thursday, July 30, I conducted the eighth SKIFF trip of the 2026 season. Joining me were the wife and kids of Chief Warrant Officer 4 Jeryme Stahley: Mrs. Vanessa Stahley, and her kids, Jayden (16), Gavin (15), and Kenzie (9).
Chief Stahley has been in the U.S. Army for 18 years and is currently deployed overseas with an Air Defense Artillery unit.
ABOUT SKIFF: SKIFF trips have been provided to military families at no charge since May of 2009. SKIFF is funded by donations from Austin Fly Fishers, The McBride Foundation, The Great Place Spouses’ Club, The Great Place Thrift Store, and VFW Post 4008 in Belton, TX. S.K.I.F.F. provides kids of military members separated from their families by duty commitments with the opportunity to fish. SKIFF trips are also provided to Gold Star families who have lost their service member, and kids of bona fide disabled veterans. I conduct these 3.5 hour adventures on Belton Lake and Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir year ’round. Call or text 254.368.7411 to make your reservation. We’ve provided trips for over 660 children, and those kids have landed over 18,000 fish.
TODAY’S DATE: 30 July 2026 (AM)
NEXT OPEN DATES FOR FISHING BEFORE PUBLIC SCHOOL RESTARTS: 5, 10, 12, 13 Aug. 2026 (AM)
PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Gavin, Kenzie, and Jayden Stahley enjoyed a multi-species trip this morning on Lake Belton as we pursued white bass early, sunfish at mid-morning, and catfish once the sun started really heating things up.
PHOTO CAPTION: Both blues and channel cats came in to the chum we put out and returned to later to fish. Punchbait on a treble hook sealed the deal — 6 channels and 2 blues.
PHOTO CAPTION: Big bite!! This 11-inch Lake Belton white bass wolfed down this shad which was just over 4 inches long!
SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:
For a second day in a row, the white bass action was both fast and furious with a little more emphasis on fast than furious. The fish fed well, including by aggressively chasing shad to the surface, but it was pretty much over by 7:10. We caught one on the downrigger right before the action began, then sightcast to a few when larger schools stayed up. After that, we were able to fish vertically in slightly deeper water and continued getting bit until about 8 o’clock, after which I discontinued our pursuit of white bass for lack of evidence of their presence.
After leaving the white bass behind, we headed to an area which has consistently produced catfish for me this past month. We buoyed it, baited it, and left it behind to go fish for sunfish up shallow.
The kids worked my long poles with slipfloats and live bait very effectively, each catching their fair share of the 26 panfish that came aboard from just one stop.
After the sunfish played out, we returned to the area we had previously baited, and fished Tightlines with punch Bait.
The kids Landed eight cats, including six channels and two blues and everyone miss their Fair Share, as well.
We wrapped up right around 10 AM with exactly 58 fish landed.
RESULTS: 58 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=jDSvfXgrAUE
OBSERVATIONS:
-I saw some fishable topwater action this morning, albeit still scant and not as widespread as yesterday but, it was at least enough to get to and make a few casts before the fish disappeared once again.
LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:
Taken on Lake Belton on 28 July 2026, approx. 6:05AM …
0 feet 87.6F
5 feet 87.8F
10 feet 87.9F
15 feet 87.9F
20 feet 87.6F
25 feet 87.0F
30 feet 85.3F
35 feet 83.6F
40 feet 82.1F
45 feet 75.1F
50 feet 72.3F
55 feet 70.0F
60 feet 68.4F
Taken on Lake Belton on 21 July 2026, approx. 6:05AM …
0 feet 86.1F
5 feet 87.0F
10 feet 87.2F
15 feet 86.4F
20 feet 85.9F
25 feet 85.5F
30 feet 84.3F
35 feet 83.8F
40 feet 80.7F
45 feet 74.8F
50 feet 72.3F
55 feet 70.3F
60 feet 68.6F
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 6:30A
End Time: 10:00A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 77F
Elevation – Lake Belton fell to 0.79′ high, with a 0.04′ loss in the last 24 hours. Flow rate was 86 CFS
Water Surface Temp: 87.6F on the surface.
Wind Speed & Direction: S3-6 all morning
Sky Condition: Pale blue, cloudless sky under the influence of dry, high pressure.
Moon Phase: Waning gibbous at 99% illumination
GT = N/A
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH MOST SUCCESS:
Area vic 2420 to 172 – 24 white bass on primarily on vertically smoked MAL Dense lures
Area 2532 – 26 sunfish on bait and slipfloats
Area JULCAT02 – 2 blue cat, 6 channel cat on punchbait
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