A Helicopter Mom — Literally!! – 31 Fish

CLIENTS: This morning, Monday, August 3, I fished the tenth SKIFF trip of the 2026 season. Joining me were the twin 8-year-old sons of disabled U.S. Army veteran Kereca Thompson and Solange Thompson –Alaric and Jayce Thompson. Kereca served 8 years as an aviation mechanic working primarily on Blackhawk helicopters. The boys had never landed a fish before this morning’s efforts.

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: 03 August 2026 (AM)


NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING BEFORE PUBLIC SCHOOL RESTARTS: 13 Aug. 2026 (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: 8-year-old twins Alaric and Jayce Thompson not only landed the first fish of their lives today (sunfish), they also got into our “big game” gameplan of targeting these much larger white bass, and it paid off. The boys landed 9 healthy Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir white bass.

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

Given the twins’ age and lack of prior experience, I knew I’d have to keep it simple yet effective to keep the boys’ interest up, and, given the heat and lack of wind, I knew the boys would likely not last for a full 3.5 hours, so, we had to get on fish quickly.

We started the trip right before the sun broke over the eastern horizon up shallow on slow-tapering terrain with a hard bottom targeting sunfish using bream poles, slipfloats, and live bait.

Within minutes each young man had landed his first fish, and we got that on film to cherish and to accompany their TPWD First Fish Award applications. The twins landed 10 fish at this first location before we moved on and change our focus to catching “big game” in the form of white bass.

I moved into over 30 feet of water and relied on side imaging to find small groups of suspended white bass which I could mark and then hustle to get back to with twin downriggers deployed. The 3-armed umbrella rigs were each equipped with #12 Pet Spoons. The boys nabbed 7 singles and a double to take their tally to 19 fish before the enthusiasm began to wane.

We made on final trip up shallow to once again target sunfish, and added another dozen panfish to the mix, including bluegill and longears.

We wrapped up around 9:10A, just as the sun was beginning to make its presence felt.

RESULTS: 31 fish, all caught and released

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

FIND LURES HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/

SEE THE “SMOKING TACTIC” TUTORIAL HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE

OBSERVATIONS:
-No topwater action observed on this morning’s slick-calm surface following a mid-summer’s cold front passage on Saturday, 01 Aug.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

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