A New Kind of ‘Rigging for the Rigger! — 62 Fish, Central Texas Fishing Guide Report, 31 Aug. 2013






This morning I met Mr. TJ Prewitt of Kirbyville, TX, at the boat ramp for a morning of white bass fishing on Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir.


TJ said a number of times how glad he was to fish in ways different from the normal approach he takes on his “home waters” of Sam Rayburn and Toledo Bend. Many of the things we did today he knew he could apply after heading back home.


TJ escorted his wife, a social worker, to a continuing education conference in Austin and then arranged a fishing trip with me while she was in her sessions today. They drove in from the Beaumont area in east Texas where TJ works in “rigging” in the chemical plants and refineries on the Texas coast, a trade that involves pipefitting, ironwork, and other construction skills.

As we got going this morning, I exposed TJ to another kind of “rigging” — downrigging! Although he’d fished his whole life he’d never personally used this technique but immediately saw how effective it is for suspended fish in open water. After he caught 2 sets of triples (3 fish on one rod at the same time), there was definite talk of mounting a good old Cannon to his own fishing boat. We downrigged in the vicinity of Area 1132/866/859 using Pet Spoons on umbrella rigs with excellent results.

Around 8am the skies brightened and both largemouth bass and white bass began to push shad to the surface and aggressively feed. The largemouth were focused upward and the white bass were suspended in the lower third of the water column. We used surface-feeding largemouth as a visual cue as to where the white bass were beneath them and caught white bass very consistently throughout the morning. Our most consistent action came in the area encompassed within Areas 858/859/860. Bladebaits worked “lift-drop” style scored best.

By 10:15 we saw the beginning of the end coming, and by, 10:45 the bite had all but shut down.

Our catch today consisted of 59 white bass, 2 drum, and 1 largemouth.


TALLY = 62 FISH, all caught and released

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TODAY’S CONDITIONS:

Start Time: 6:55a

End Time: 10:50a

Air Temp: 78F at trip’s start.

Water Surface Temp: 84.1F

Wind: Winds were SSW5-6.

Skies: Fair and cloudless.

Bob Maindelle

Holding the Line Guide Service

254-368-7411

www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Salado, Texas








The Spirit was Willing, but the Flesh was Weak … 22 Fish, 30 Aug 2013, Austin Fishing Guide Report






This morning I fished with 11 year old Jackson B. of Round Rock, TX. He was accompanied by his mom, Judy.

Even a smile takes effort when you’re fishing on a queasy stomach!! Though a little “green around the gills” Jackson kept fishing as long as he could.


We finally had a nice SW breeze kick in and the fish were in high gear, feeding aggressively on topwater for a full 2 ΒΌ hours, but, poor Jackson was stuck in neutral. He’s been battling an ear infection for several days and this morning between the antibiotics, the sun, the waves, and the heat, something had to give. The young man spent about as much time with his head hung over the side as he did with rod and reel in hand.

I just hated to see that happen to him because he was super excited to be coming out on this guided trip for over 2 weeks now. Between bouts of nausea we did get him on some solid white bass action. Where the largemouth fed on top, the white bass could be found at mid-depth down to the bottom. We cast bladebaits and worked them in a lift-drop fashion catching the fish as they came off bottom in hot pursuit in the vicinity of Area 860/866/859.

We boated 15 fish before enough was enough and Jackson made the call to head back in early. Since he and his mom often fish from the bank together I offered that on the way in we could make a quick stop at a hydrilla bed (at Area 200) so I could quickly demonstrate how they might be more successful in catching sunfish. I used a slip float rig to land one small sunfish. This got Jackson’s attention and he asked if he could try to catch one of his own. Of course I obliged and was glad when he enjoyed some instant success. As sunfish are apt to do, this population “wised up” soon after we yanked a few relatives out of the neighborhood, and so we prepared to head back in.

I asked Jackson for an assessment of his situation at this point, and he said he was actually feeling better. I gave him another opportunity to head back out after more white bass and he gave the “thumbs up”. We headed back out to where we’d caught our white bass earlier and found a few fish still feeding on top, albeit less aggressively.

He went back to throwing a bladebait for white bass as largemouth erupted all around. I demonstrated the use of a topwater plug and was on to a school-sized largemouth in short order. Jackson thought he’d give this a try, too, but his stamina to stick with it when it didn’t work the first time or two just wasn’t there as a result of feeling so poorly. Soon after, we decided to call it quits.

We wound up catching 17 white bass, 3 sunfish, and 2 largemouth. I have a feeling I haven’t seen the last of Jackson. He was determined to catch fish no matter what and persisted until he was successful despite feeling as poorly as he did. You get an “A” for effort, Jackson!!

TALLY = 22 FISH, all caught and released

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TODAY’S CONDITIONS:

Start Time: 7:00a

End Time: 11:00a

Air Temp: 74F at trip’s start.

Water Surface Temp: 84.1F

Wind: Winds were SE6-8.

Skies: 100% greyed over sky with occasional drizzle/light rain.

Bob Maindelle

Holding the Line Guide Service

254-368-7411

www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Salado, Texas








Nothing Like Finishing Strong!! 60 Fish, 27 Aug. 2013, Central Texas Fishing Guide Report






This morning I had the pleasure of fishing with two Texas Parks and Wildlife Dept. Game Wardens from our local Temple office. I was joined by Major Jeff Gillenwaters and Lieutenant Billy Champlin.


Jeff (L) and Billy (R) got a chance to get out and enjoy part of the natural resources of Texas that they work to protect on a daily basis. Thank you, fellows!!

Honestly, I was a bit concerned about this little round of low pressure and the easterly winds it brought with it yesterday, but, by this morning, we had a southerly component return putting winds SE6-8mph and with nice, greyed over sky conditions, so the pucker factor was reduced a bit for me.


We got going around 7am on Stillhouse, tried downrigging in the vicinity of Area 040 and saw little in the way of bait or gamefish, so we headed elsewhere after picking up just 1 fish.

We hit paydirt at the next location we tried (Area 453-495). As we idled in with sonar and StructureScan pinging, sonar lit up with a solid band of fish holding down at 22-24 feet over a deeper breakline beneath them. This large, loose school stayed on sonar for over 100 feet of travel, and, for better or worse, we dropped our downriggers down as soon as we saw the leading edge of the fish, so, we quickly hooked up on both downriggers using Pet Spoons, and promptly yanked all the gear out of the water once those fish were landed so we could fish more thoroughly and stealthily from an e-anchored position while casting.

We spent the next 90 minutes pulling fish after fish, include white bass in the 1 year (10-11″) class, 2 year (11-12.5″) class, and 3 year (12.5-14+”) class. Best bait was the blade bait fished with a lift-drop technique. When we saw fish directly below us on the flasher we used these same baits in a dead-vertical manner, as well.

When the action finally eased up, we went back to downrigging to comb out the few still-active fish from amongst the majority which were turning off by now and we landed a few more that way. Once things shut down here, we moved on.

We ended our day over at Area 1221-1246. The scenario was just about the same. We found abundant white bass loosely schooled over a 100′ horizontal span of bottom, down about 27-29 feet over a deeper bottom. This was custom-made for downrigging. We got the balls down and, on numerous occasions, just seconds after making the final drag adjustments, had “fish on”, adding 8 fish to our tally in no time.

The fellows needed to head back in to the office before noon, so we wrapped up around 11a. On our very last pass, both Billy and Jeff reset their downriggers after both releasing a single white bass each. No sooner did they get everything set at depth than Jeff’s rod went off. Seconds later, Billy’s rod went off. Now, based on what I’d seen on sonar, I advised both fellows to reel their fish in slowly to increase their chances of catching multiple fish. Billy had scored two doubles (2 fish caught at the same time) as a result. It was now Jeff’s turn. As he cranked his fish in, there were “twins” on his line, so, he was hooting and hollering and glad he’d finally scored a multiple hook-up. Just then, cool as can be, Billy looks back at Jeff and asks, “Did you get just two?”, and then proceeds to haul his triple over the gunwale!! So, there we were at the end of the trip with 5 fish flopping around, taking our tally from 55 up to 60 in an instant. Nothing like finishing strong!!


In the end, we boated exactly 60 white bass, and 2 sunfish (caught during a “demo” showing Jeff how I offer “instant gratification” for younger kids I have on board).


Thank you guys for being “Law Enforcement Off the Pavement” and helping safeguard our Texas fisheries!!

TALLY = 62 FISH, all caught and released

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TODAY’S CONDITIONS:

Start Time: 7:00a

End Time: 11:00a

Air Temp: 74F at trip’s start.

Water Surface Temp: 84.1F

Wind: Winds were SE6-8.

Skies: 100% greyed over sky with occasional drizzle/light rain.

Bob Maindelle

Holding the Line Guide Service

254-368-7411

www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Salado, Texas








Would you please pass the Nerds? 74 Fish, Stillhouse Fishing Guide Report, 23 Aug. 2013






Today I fished with my friend and long-time Belton Lake multi-species angler Rodney T. and his grand-daughter, Abby.


Abby caught white bass, and …


Abby caught black bass, and …


Abby is a girl after Grandpa T’s own heart!!


As we waited on the sun to rise to kick off the feed this morning, we took the time to introduce Abby to a few techniques so that when the conditions called for those techniques to be employed, she’d already be prepared to put them into practice. This included how to work bladebaits vertically, how to cast to topwater fish, and how to use the downrigging equipment.

After a quick breakfast of pink and purple “NERDS” candies washed down with a few swigs of Dr. Pepper, Abby was fueled and ready to take on whatever Stillhouse could send her way.

We began the day downrigging waiting on both sun and wind to kick things in gear. We did okay on the downriggers using twin umbrella rigs rigged up with Pet Spoons. The action was moderate but steady in the vicinity of Area 058-1251. After an hour or so on location things stayed pretty flat, so we moved on.

We got in on the ground floor of some topwater action near Area 671/668/495. Both largemouth and white bass were forcing shad to the surface. We ignored the few on the surface and gunned for the many down below and caught fish consistently here for 40 minutes, then downrigged to “mop up” after the action peaked and fell.

Next, it was on to Area 071/883. This produced our best downrigging of the day with multiple doubles and a triple all pulled in short order after we initially approached this area with a vertical tactic that produced only marginally.

Finally, we ended up chasing a few terns that were kind enough to put us onto a nice concentration of white bass (down deep) mixed with largemouth (up nearer the surface). We worked our baits horizontally and vertically for these fish and did very well. A number of boats (very!) near us drawn in by our success experienced poor results as they moved about very quickly chasing after fast moving, surface feeding school-sized largemouth and all but ignoring the hundreds of white bass that were schooled up and more slowly pushing shad down near the bottom.

By 11:25a the fish were really tailing off quickly, so we called it a day. We boated 68 white bass, 5 largemouth bass, and 1 freshwater drum for our efforts.


TALLY = 74 FISH, all caught and released

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TODAY’S CONDITIONS:

Start Time: 7:00a

End Time: 11:25a

Air Temp: 76F at trip’s start.

Water Surface Temp: 86.1F

Wind: Winds were calm until 10:15, then blew ESE4-5.

Skies: Cloudless fair sky.

Bob Maindelle

Holding the Line Guide Service

254-368-7411

www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Salado, Texas








3 Cheers for My Mom in Algiers!! — SKIFF Trip 2013-18, Stillhouse Lake, 76 Fish, 22 Aug. 2013






This morning I was joined for a “S.K.I.F.F.” fishing trip by 15 year old Javion Dupree, and 11 year old Edward R. III. Edward was accompanied by his “Big Brother”, Raphael McIntyre of the Ft. Hood Big Brothers/Big Sisters program.

Edward and his “big brother” Raphael show a “double” that Edward brought in — two fish at a time on the same rod.

Javion, who actually attended a fishing camp earlier this summer on the coast near the TX/LA border, quickly caught on to everything I showed him today.


SKIFF (Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun) trips are provided free of charge to families whose children are separated from a parent due to that parent’s military service thanks to the Austin Fly Fishers and a network of supportive individuals from all over the U.S.

Javion’s mother, Sergeant First Class Simmons, serves in the U.S. Army and is currently assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Algiers, Algeria. Javion’s step-dad, Leo Simmons is a retired U.S. Army Sergeant Major and served one tour in Iraq during his career. SFC Simmons is due back tomorrow for a 3-week mid-tour leave before heading back to Algeria to finish her assignment. Mr. Simmons and Javion share responsibilities in raising the Simmons’ 3 year old daughter while SFC Simmons is gone.

Edward’s father, the late U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Edward R. Jr., died on active duty in Iraq when young Edward was 4 years old. Edward’s mom, T’ana, also served in the U.S. Army as a medic.

Edward’s “Big Brother” Raphael works as a systems analyst at Scott & White Hospital in Temple, TX, and was paired with Edward in May of this year.

We had a great day of fishing today, catching a total of 76 fish. As has been the modus operandi for the past ~12 weeks, we used downriggers both to find the fish and during slower periods, and then took advantage of what we’d found by fishing more methodically with bladebaits from a fixed position once we found congregations of active fish. Today, we pulled fish off of Areas 058/1251/249 early, and off of Areas 1240/1241/484 late, all above the thermocline in 24-29 feet of water, often over much deeper bottom areas.

On two occasions we landed “triples” where we boated 3 fish at a time on one rod on the modified “umbrella” rigs we downrigged with. This always carries a “wow factor” with the kids!

Our total catch today consisted of 73 white bass, 2 largemouth bass, and 1 freshwater drum.


TALLY = 76 FISH, all caught and released


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TODAY’S CONDITIONS:


Start Time: 7a

End Time: 11a

Air Temp: 76F at trip’s start.

Water Surface Temp: 84.8F

Wind: Winds were SSE6 at sunrise, then dying slowly to calm by 9:15.

Skies: <5% high patchy clouds on a fair sky.


Bob Maindelle

Holding the Line Guide Service

254-368-7411

www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Salado, Texas








Being Content — 60 Fish, Austin Fishing Guide Report for Stillhouse Hollow, 20 Aug. 2013






Today I fished with perennial guests Mr. Steve N. of Temple, and two of his grandchildren, 8 year old Caleb, and 5 year old Macy.

The fish activity rose and fell with the winds today, but everyone caught fish.


I just love the consistency of summer fishing in Texas. Yes, it’s going to be hot, but the conditions that typically bring that heat — southerly winds in combination with a high pressure system sitting on or near us — make summer fishing from early June to at least mid-September the most predictable period of the year.

Today we went right to where the fish were and fed them exactly what they wanted and we enjoyed success from start to finish catching quality white bass the entire time with a largemouth bass or two thrown in for good measure.

We found a few fish scattered around at Area 040 in the low-light, low-wind period following sunrise. We pulled a few fish from among the many still disinterested using downriggers and Pet Spoons, and then moved on.

At between Area 851 and Area 1250 we encountered more scattered white bass in the lower 1/3 of the water column and a ton of bait fish. We downrigged until we found heavily schooled white bass on sonar and then stopped to fish “in detail” for those schooled fish at both Area 851 and Area 1250. This action coincided with increasing winds and light. This summer I’ve found the fish have preferred a white blade bait (Reef Runner Cicada) over the slabs that I usually use for this duty. I really don’t have a good theory for why that is, but, it definitely is!

During the peak of the bite, there were literally hundreds of white bass showing in the cone of sound being put out by my sonar unit. These fish were chasing shad everywhere in a real frenzy. Several times we boated fish that regurgitated multiple (as many as 4), whole, undigested shad, and were gunning for more when they smacked our lures. As these whole and partial shad sank down beneath the boat, it acted like our own little chum spread, keeping the other fish active and local.

By 10:15, the fish action was tapering off, the winds had gone to nearly dead calm, and, with the kids in their mandatory life jackets, they had about all they could take after three and a quarter hours.

One thing Steve has always been good about is being okay with ending the trip a bit early for the kids’ sake, being content with what we’d been blessed to catch, instead of insisting that we stay to the bitter end, thus making it an endurance test for the grandkids he always brings along. I wish more men would follow suit — they’d wind up with a fishing buddy for life that way.

In the end, we finished up with exactly 60 fish including 57 white bass, 2 largemouth bass, and 1 freshwater drum.


TALLY = 60 FISH, all caught and released

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TODAY’S CONDITIONS:

Start Time: 7:00a

End Time: 10:15a

Air Temp: 74F at trip’s start.

Water Surface Temp: 86.1F

Wind: Winds were SE6.

Skies: Cloudless fair sky.

Bob Maindelle

Holding the Line Guide Service

254-368-7411

www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Salado, Texas








No Fish?? No Funyuns!! — SKIFF Trip #2013-17 — Free Fishing Trips for Military Kids






This morning I was joined for a “S.K.I.F.F.” fishing trip by Asia (age 12), Qwentin (age 9), and Aiyana (age 5) Phimmasone, accompanied by their mom, Nancy.



Qwentin was all smiles when he landed two fish at a time as we downrigged with Pet Spoons.


Asia was “Miss Consistency” today. She caught both sets of “triples” (3 fish at a time) and excelled at whatever technique we were using at the time and without the need for much coaching.


Aiyana fished, snacked, and provided ample on-board entertainment for our whole group this morning.


SKIFF (Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun) trips are provided free of charge to families whose children are separated from a parent due to that parent’s military service thanks to the Austin Fly Fishers and a network of supportive individuals from all over the U.S. All it takes is a phone call from a parent to me at 254-368-7411 to reserve a date.

The kids and Nancy lost their father and husband on the 29th of April, 2013, while he was serving on active duty in the rank of Sergeant First Class in the U.S. Army. The family has since moved up to the Dallas area where they drove in from this morning, setting out at 2:30am for a 6:55am trip start time just to be sure they weren’t late!!

I immediately picked up on two things we had to overcome. First, 5 year old Aiyana had never been on a boat before and was very nervous about things before we even shoved off. Second, the kids had all watched numerous TV episodes as a part of “SHARK WEEK” on Animal Planet, and were a little leery about possibly entering the food chain as we launched. I gave Aiyana a small job to do (filling up the livewell manually) and that got her mind off her fears and we were on our way!

We began our trip by downrigging today (Area 040/1245) and everyone got 4 “turns” at reeling in the fish we caught including singles, doubles, and even triples! As with any 5 year old, Aiyana’s attention span was short, and, despite good fishing, she needed some variety. So, we “went fast” as she requested, and headed to a new area to fish to keep her engaged.

Our second stop (Area 453 thru 822 to 495) was even more productive than the first (Thanks, Aiyana!). All 3 kids took two turns at reeling in the white bass that were very aggressively chasing our Pet Spoon offerings, when, all of the sudden, surface feeding action erupted all around us. I quickly got the kids switched over to bladebait rods that I had pre-rigged and gave them casting lessons with the spinning gear. In no time all three were casting and working their lures well and catching fish on every second or third cast. We stayed in these fish for about 50 minutes before the topwater action settled down. By now, we’d boated 46 fish. We finished out the trip by returning to the downriggers and putting a final 9 additional fish in the boat before calling it a day.

Aiyana, an eating machine, would have rather snacked than fish a majority of the time this morning. Fearing a bellyache, her mom limited her intake by giving her a goal to shoot for … catch a fish, and get a snack. Nancy recalled this is how her dad used to manage things on fishing trips when she was a girl, so, she decided to put that wisdom to work today. So, from this “technique” we coined the phrase “No fish — no Funyuns” (Funyons, if you don’t know, are a fried snack food made of onions and resembling pork rinds).

After the trip, Nancy planned to take the family to the Holiday Inn on Ft. Hood and stay overnight before including the kids in the upcoming “Good Grief” camp conducted on Fort Hood for children who have lost a parent.

Thank you, Austin Fly Fishers and all you other SKIFF supporters for providing opportunities like this for families that are in a tough spot!!

TALLY = 55 FISH, all caught and released


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TODAY’S CONDITIONS:


Start Time: 6:55a

End Time: 10:55a

Air Temp: 73F at trip’s start.

Water Surface Temp: 85.8F

Wind: Winds were from the NE at a steady 7-8 mph.

Skies: Fair and cloudless.


Bob Maindelle

Holding the Line Guide Service

254-368-7411

www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Salado, Texas








Red Raider Fishing Report — 49 Fish, Stillhouse Report by Austin Fishing Guide Bob Maindelle






Today I fished a rare mid-summer afternoon trip with father and son Mario and Mario P. of Copperas Cove.

Mario and Mario with a nice bunch of downrigger’ed white bass.


“Big” Mario holds up a triple — three fish caught at the same time on a 3-armed umbrella rig.

“Big” Mario is a U.S. Army commissioned engineer officer currently assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division. His son, Mario, just graduated from Copperas Cove High School and is headed to Texas Tech in Lubbock tomorrow. This trip was likely to be young Mario’s last bit of fish as he begins his first semester of college.

I first got to know young Mario when he and his brother, Gabriel, came out with me on a “SKIFF” trip back in 2010 when their dad was deployed. We’ve had occasional contact since and, on this special occasion, I was honored to be called upon to provide a vehicle for some father and son time.

I actually postponed a morning trip due to a poor weather forecast (calm winds, turbulent atmosphere, and rain that later blew in from the NW). I’m not a fan of summertime afternoon trips, but, we really didn’t have any other options, so, we made due with what we had.

We got going at 4:15 and fished until just past sunset. We got into fish right off the bat at Area 1249, finding moderate schooling activity at the top of the lower 1/3 of the water column here. We worked slabs vertically via a “smoking” method and boated 4 fish right off the bat.

We next moved on to Area 842/1228 and both downrigged and slabbed in this general area. It was slow going, but we pulled fish consistently for about an hour.

Next, it was off to Area 040. This produced the fastest fishing of the day, although that pace was still off a good bit due to our weather conditions (NE wind). Although finding plenty of fish here and doing well on the downriggers, the fish failed to respond to several attempts made to slab or throw bladebaits to them.

Our final stop came at Area 1246. We picked up fish very steadily here until, right before sunset the fishing just took off for about 10-15 minutes. It was during this time we caught 5 fish at a time (3 on the 3-arm rig and 2 on the 2-arm rig) and noted that our baits got hit several time after barely getting the rods down and set. Then, like someone flipped a switch, it was over right at sunset.

Like many folks I have on board, “big” Mario noted how he had seen downriggers on boats, on fishing shows, and in fishing magazines, but never exactly understood how or when to use them — until today. They are a very precise instrument used for fish that are very exacting as to the depth at which they hold as dictated by the location of the thermocline.

Good luck during your first semester at Texas Tech!!


TALLY = 49 FISH, all caught and released

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TODAY’S CONDITIONS:

Start Time: 4:15p

End Time: 8:35pa

Air Temp: 90F at trip’s start.

Water Surface Temp: 86.1F

Wind: Winds were NE9.

Skies: Cloudless fair sky.

Bob Maindelle

Holding the Line Guide Service

254-368-7411

www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Salado, Texas








Air Force Kids Catch Fish, Too! — SKIFF Trip #16 of 2013, Stillhouse Hollow, 52 Fish Caught






This morning I was joined for a “S.K.I.F.F.” fishing trip by brother and sister pair Hayden (age 13) and Jasmine (age 9) Hovsepian and their mom, Nila.



Jasmine shows one of three fish she caught at the same time on an experimental umbrella rig we used this morning.


Hayden, a self-confessed “indoor guy” was glad he ventured out-of-doors for a spell today.

SKIFF (Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun) trips are provided free of charge to families whose children are separated from a parent due to that parent’s military service thanks to the Austin Fly Fishers and a network of supportive individuals from all over the U.S.

Hayden and Jasmine’s dad, U.S. Air Force Major Hovsepian, is currently deployed to Afghanistan for a 6 month tour. His family is stationed at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, TX. To date, this is the only military family from that base to take advantage of the SKIFF Program, and the family who has traveled the greatest distance to attend such a trip.

I was concerned about my prospects for putting the kids on fish today because the high pressure which has dominated our weather and allowed for amazingly consistent fishing this summer broke down yesterday, allowing north and east winds, cloud cover, and turbulent weather to slip in.

As the old saying goes:

Winds from the west, fish bite best.

Winds from the east, fish bite least.

Winds from the south blow the hook in the fish’s mouth.

But winds from the north, the fisherman goes not forth.

Still, the high water temperatures have these cold-blooded animals’ metabolisms in overdrive, so, although they didn’t feast heavily this morning, they still ate, and we took advantage of what we could find. When I saw fish tightly schooled together in a posture which, under high pressure conditions I knew full well would result in a multiple hookup, today they may or may hot have pursued and struck our baits. Again, when under high pressure conditions there would normally be some amount of topwater feeding taking place, today, there was none. And so it went, the low pressure definitely negatively impacted the fishery today.

We worked to put 52 fish in the boat today including 1 freshwater drum, 6 bluegill sunfish, and 45 white bass in the 1 to 3 year class. The majority of our success came today using downriggers which allowed up to keep our baits right where these reluctant, suspended fish were hanging out. Today I experimented with a light, 3 arm umbrella rig and I was pleased with the results. On two occasions we landed 3 fish at a time on the device. We began our day downrigging Area 040/1246, then downrigged Area 908 until 10:15.

For variety’s sake, we did a little sunfishing with poles and slipfloats up shallow at Area 200 and pulled 6 sunfish from the vegetation there before they wised up to us.

We finished the trip in 25-27 feet of water between Areas 1248 and 1249 by “smoking” slab spoons for schooled, suspended white bass that forced bait near enough to the (nearly calm) surface for us to see the bait skipping out of the water in an escape attempt. We boated a final 6 white bass here before concluding the trip.

The trio planned to make a stop at Round Rock Donuts for one of their famous “Texas Sized Round Rock Donuts” (for $5.99 each, chocolate or glazed, don’t ask me how I know!) as they headed back south from one of the last “big events” before heading back to school on the 26th of August.


TALLY = 52 FISH, all caught and released


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TODAY’S CONDITIONS:


Start Time: 7:15a

End Time: 11:30a

Air Temp: 74F at trip’s start.

Water Surface Temp: 86.1F

Wind: Winds slowly turned from ENE, through E, to ESE, all at under 6 mph this morning.

Skies: 100% grey skies in conjunction with a mild cold front that approached from the NE yesterday .


Bob Maindelle

Holding the Line Guide Service

254-368-7411

www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Salado, Texas








SKIFF Trip #2013-15 — 13 August 2013 on Stillhouse Hollow with Destiny, Robert, & Josh






This morning I was joined for a “S.K.I.F.F.” fishing trip by brother and sister pair Destiny Griffin (age 15) and Robert Griffin Jr. (age 6), as well as Josh Griffin (age 12, no relation to Destiny and Robert).


Josh holds the only freshwater drum we scored on today. This one hit a downrigged Pet Spoon in 25 feet of water.

Destiny, a self-proclaimed “old soul”, excelled at landing “doubles”!!



Robert, who was a little leery about holding a fish with his hands, shows off one of the many white bass he caught today.

SKIFF (Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun) trips are provided free of charge to families whose children are separated from a parent due to that parent’s military service thanks to the Austin Fly Fishers and a network of supportive individuals from all over the U.S.

Destiny and Robert are the middle two children (of four) of Sergeant First Class and Mrs. Robert Griffin Sr. SFC Griffin is a Sergeant First Class in the U.S. Army and is currently stationed in Kuwait where he serves as an Operations NCO (non-commissioned officer).

Josh is the son of U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Robert Griffin. SSG Griffin is a medic and a combat veteran of 4 tours to Iraq, as well as a Purple Heart recipient. During his fourth tour to Iraq, while riding in a Hum-Vee, he was involved in an IED (improvised explosive device) detonation. The explosion caused a traumatic brain injury, and injuries to his elbows, left knee and back. Surgeries have helped with his elbows and he is awaiting surgeries on his knee and back at this time.

I was a bit surprised when I saw young Robert get out of his mom’s vehicle this morning wearing a monogrammed bass tournament-style fishing shirt complete with a Gary Yamamoto sponsorship logo and the “Lucky Strike” bass club lettering on the front. As it turns out, his dad is a member of that club and, of course, little Robert wanted to look like his daddy!!

We enjoyed great fishing today thanks to an eager crew and a stiff southwest breeze. We spent the first 2/3’s of our trip downrigging (Areas 040, 1240-1241, and 851) and, once we found a big concentration of fish suspended just off bottom in about 30 feet of water, we spent the last 1/3 of our trip fishing vertically or semi-vertically for these heavily schooled fish (Area 1247). Destiny really had a knack for catching “doubles” — 2 fish at a time. I suspect it was because she was relaxed about everything and reeled in more slowly than the boys did, thus letting the 2nd fish catch up with the one already hooked. Then, when we switched over to bladebaits, it was Josh’s turn to shine. He made a mental note of where he cast to as he worked his bladebait across the bottom so, if he connected with a fish, he could throw right back there and catch that fish’s schoolmates too.

Destiny and Josh stayed engaged the entire trip, but, as is typical for my younger guests, Robert’s interest waned at about the 3 hour mark. So, he became my personal, special fish holding device handler. In this very important role, he would use my Boga Grip to transport the fish we caught from my hand and back into the water after I removed the hook. He did a very good job at this. Did I mention that he requested that I take a picture of nearly every one of these fish he transported as well? Well, he did!

By around 10:30a the fishing was on the downhill slide. The handful of terns we saw working over open water gave up and went to perch and rest, and what occasional topwater feeding we could see amidst the whitecaps had also dwindled to nil. It was nature’s way of saying, “Time to wrap it up!”. And so we did, with 67 fish boated by my energetic crew.


TALLY = 67 FISH, all caught and released


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TODAY’S CONDITIONS:


Start Time: 6:55a

End Time: 10:55a

Air Temp: 78F at trip’s start.

Water Surface Temp: 86F

Wind: Winds were SW9 at sunrise tapering up to SW14 and stabilizing there for the entire trip.

Skies: 10% clouds on a fair sky..


Bob Maindelle

Holding the Line Guide Service

254-368-7411

www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Salado, Texas