Homeschool Advantage — SKIFF Trip #27, Stillhouse Hollow, 38 Fish






This morning I fished with 8 year old Reagan Westbrook, accompanied by his mom, Leisa. This was the 27th “SKIFF” trip we’ve conducted this year.


Reagan caught the first fish of his life today, followed by 37 more!.


FISH ON! and not another boat in sight!.

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 (examples: field time, gunnery, NTC, deployment, etc). These trips are funded by the Austin Fly Fishers and a network of supportive individuals from all over the U.S.! Please call me at 254-368-7411 to arrange for a trip for your child!

Reagan is the oldest of 3 children. His dad, First Lieutenant Justin Westbrook, is currently stationed in Afghanistan where he serves as a Military Intelligence Officer with the 504th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade. His mom, Leisa, who was also on active duty as an Army linguist at one time, homeschools their children, thus giving them the flexibility to participate on a weekday morning.

Reagan had never caught a fish nor been on a fishing trip prior to this morning’s experience. So, we started with the basics by targeting shallow-water sunfish while we waited on the sun’s direct rays to warm both us and the air a bit from the low of 48F we encountered pre-dawn. Armed with a pole, slip float, and maggots, we easily broke Reagan in boating 8 sunfish in a very short span of time.

As the sun broke the horizon, Reagan was ready to take on the big ones! We had all 6,400 acres of Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir to ourselves (literally, thanks to the government shutdown of all Corps of Engineer access points). We began the hunt for fish by targeting suspended white bass down around 29-31 feet over a 35-41 foot bottom. Reagan lost his first fish, caught his second fish, then was treated to landing a “triple” – 3 fish caught at one time on the same rod, thanks to the 3-lure umbrella rig we’d geared up with. We wound up with 9 fish in this locale.

As the action picked up, we moved on to a breakline in even deeper water and found fish in a feeding posture there. We broke out the spinning rods prepared for “smoking” and used ‘blasters to bring in 14 fish in short order from off of one small area. Over this 50 minute period, we often both had fish on at the same time, so, I’d wait until Reagan landed one then handed my hooked fish to him to “keep his string stretched”.

After this peak of activity passed, we checked 2 areas without result and ended up returning to this same area and combing out the few still-active fish among the disinterested majority by using downriggers. We put a final 7 fish in the boat (5 singles and a double) and called it a day.

I really enjoy weekday trips as the aesthetics are much more abundant. Today we witnessed flocks of cormorants flying, a tern, an osprey, a flock of coots, migrating Monarch butterflies, parachuting (ballooning) spiders, and more. Such things are typically in short supply on busy weekends.

Thank you, SKIFF contributors, for your gifts which allow for days like this to come together.

TALLY = 38 FISH, all caught and released


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TODAY’S CONDITIONS:

Start Time: 7:25a

End Time: 11:45a

Air Temp: 48F at trip’s start.

Water Surface Temp: 77.6F

Wind: Winds were WSW 0-5.

Skies: Cloudless, bluebird sky.

Areas Fished:

** 1258 for sunfish 40 minutes – 8 fish

** Downrigged 1246-1240 for 90 minutes – 9 fish

** Smoked 1259 for 50 minutes – 14 fish

** Downrigged 871/1259/1260 as the bite tailed off – 7 fish


Bob Maindelle

Holding the Line Guide Service

254-368-7411

www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Salado, Texas