This morning I conducted the 4th SKIFF Trip of the 2014 season and welcomed aboard Mrs. Nancy Phimmasone and her 3 children, Asia (13), Qwentin (10), and Aiyana (6). 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 with the 1st Cavalry Division as a mortarman.
Asia holds the larger of the 2 fish she broke the ice with as she reeled in a “double”, catching 2 fish at a time on an umbrella rig this morning.
Qwentin liked the fishing, but loved the gadgets. I upgraded to Cannon Digi-Troll 10 electronic downriggers this season and he LOVED pressing the buttons!
Unable to convince Aiyana at first that holding fish was safe, mom helped out a little to capture her prize on film.
An hour later, as confidence grew, Aiyana held this one “all by herself”!
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.
This week the family returned to Ft. Hood to allow the kids to participate in the “Good Grief” Camp, put on specifically for military kids whose parent lost their life while serving the nation.
This (Super-) mom departed the DeSoto, TX area near Dallas around 3:30am for a timely arrival at the boat ramp for our 7:00am push back.
The morning was very pleasant for June in Texas — calm, dry, and around 67F in the wake of a mild cool front’s passage yesterday.
With a 6-year old on board, we split the trip into 2 distinct halves: downrigging early for white bass and casting up shallower later in the trip for sunfish.
Things are still a bit slow as we transition from a slow-developing spring into summer, as the thermocline has not yet set up. Regardless, we managed 11 white bass fishing with a pair of 3-armed umbrella rigs. Of these 11, 6 came in the form of “doubles” when the kids pulled in fish two-at-a-time on these rigs.
Around 9:00am the novelty wore off the downrigging, so we turned our attention on shallow sunfish buried down in the blossoming hydrilla beds.
Asia and Qwentin hung with the program, but the early wake-up was starting to take its toll on little Aiyana. We used slip corks baited up with Gulp maggots to fool another 10 sunfish before the Texas heat and calm wind let us all know it was time to call it a morning.
Nancy and her family headed on to a hotel in Killeen awaiting check in at the Good Grief camp tomorrow. She was looking forward to a few days of down-time without kids as the camp runs Thurs. – Sun.
She expressed her thanks to me and all of you who make SKIFF happen for giving her and her kids some time to unwind before what will be an emotional but necessary few days ahead.
We caught 21 fish today and enjoyed one another’s company while doing it!
TALLY = 21 FISH, all caught and released
TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 7:00am
End Time: 11:00am
Air Temp.: 74F
Water Surface Temp.: 79-80F
Wind: Calm
Skies: Bluebird
Other Notes: GT0
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
** Vicinity of Area 1395 to 862 downrigged for white bass
** Vicinity of Area 1394 slipfloats for sunfish
Bob Maindelle
Holding the Line Guide Service
254.368.7411
Salado, Texas
