And the TPWD First Fish Award Goes To…
CLIENTS: This morning, Friday, July 31, I fished the ninth SKIFF trip of the 2026 season. Joining me was Olga Sanon and her not quite seven year-old son, Uhtred. Olga is a U.S. Army disabled veteran. She served three years as an enlisted person. Uhtred had never been on a boat before and had never landed a fish before this morning.
The Sanons found out about the SKIFF program thanks to a referral from Mr. Anthony Vaughters at the Killeen Parks and Recreation Department. Mr. Vaughters was himself a recipient of SKIFF trips back when he was in the military, so he knew that such a trip would be a good fit for this young man.
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: 13 Aug. 2026 (AM)
PHOTO CAPTION: This is the very first fish of young Uhtred Sanon’s fishing career!! He earned a TPWD First Fish Award for landing it.
SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:
Given Uhtred’s age and lack of prior experience, we kept it very simple this morning. I used a pair of downriggers to pull #12 Pet Spoons behind 3-armed umbrella rigs along two points which were on our way to the area I wanted to target for sunfish. Uhtred landed the first fish of his life about three minutes into the morning, pulling in a roughly 12 inch long largemouth bass.
Moments later, the second downrigger went off and he landed a twin to the first. As the sun rose, I stowed the downriggers and we headed up shallow and stayed shallow the remainder of the morning until Uhtred wore out right around the three hour mark.
During that time, using slip float suspending live bait off bottom, Uhtred landed 43 sunfish, including longear sunfish, green sunfish, and bluegill sunfish.
We wrapped up the morning with exactly 45 fish in the boat and a newly minted angler anticipating his TPWD First Fish Award arriving in the mail in the next few weeks.
RESULTS: 45 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:
-No topwater action observed.
LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE: N/A
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 6:30A
End Time: 9:30A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 75F
Elevation – Stillhouse fell to 0.60′ high, with a 0.07′ loss in the last 24 hours. Flow rate was 201 CFS
Water Surface Temp: 87.6F on the surface.
Wind Speed & Direction: SW6-11 all morning
Sky Condition: Pale blue, cloudless sky under the influence of dry, high pressure.
Moon Phase: Waning gibbous at 96% illumination
GT = N/A
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH MOST SUCCESS:
Area vic 104 to121 – 2 largemouth on downrigged #12 Pet Spoons
Area 2534 – 5 sunfish on bait and slipfloats
Area 2535 – 16 sunfish on bait and slipfloats
Area SH0046G – 9 sunfish on bait and slipfloats
Area 2536 – 13 sunfish on bait and slipfloats
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