This evening I fished an after school SKIFF trip with the Apodaca family of Fort Hood.  This was the 21st SKIFF trip of the 2014 season.  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.

(L to R) Katelynn and Maryjane pose with Maryjane’s 3.00 pound channel cat caught after a long white bass feeding spree — likely cleaning up the scraps on bottom left by the aggressive white bass.

Here, Katelynn (red vest) and Maryjane (blue vest) show our four best white bass with their mom, Denise, in the background.  Can you tell that Maryjane is not quite sure about having her thumb in that fish’s mouth?

Joining me for this trip was Mrs. Denise Apodaca, her 12-year-old daughter Maryjane Apodaca, and her eight-year-old daughter Katelynn Apodaca.  The girls’ father, U.S. Army Specialist Jesus Apodaca, is currently serving in the United States Army in Kuwait where he is supporting an Air Defense Artillery unit as a fuel handler on a one year tour. Specialist Apodaca has been in the Army for 4 years and has already served one previous year-long tour in Afghanistan with about a 1 year break in-between that deployment and this one.

We got on the water a bit later than we had hoped thanks to Friday afternoon Fort Hood traffic, but, as it turned out, the first part of the trip would be our slowest, with the fishing picking up well towards the middle of the trip and staying solid right until dark tonight.

Miss Katelynn had never caught a fish before, and Maryjane had only landed one catfish previous to this trip on a short excursion to the Rio Grande River with her grandmother. We fished three areas tonight. At our first stop, both game fish and the baitfish were rather sparse on sonar, but I saw enough to convince me that we should at least give downrigging a try for a short while.  I’m glad we did, as just three minutes after lowering the downrigger balls into the water, Katelynn came up with the first fish of her lifetime, a small white bass, earning her a TPWD “First Fish Award”. We gave up on this area rather quickly and went searching for greener pastures.

Upon arrival at the second area we checked with sonar, things looked a whole lot more promising. We were able to catch the majority of our fish at this location by vertical jigging with slabs and then cleaning up after the strong bite with downriggers over about a 2 hour span.  With 28 fish now landed and dark just 30 minutes away, we made one final move.

I sought out calm waters which the remaining light could penetrate more deeply, and we fished about 10 to 15 feet shallower in order to find fish that were still able to see our lures well. This turned out to be a good call as we were able to put 13 more fish in the boat in short order on a final twilight feed, including a few fish taken on slab worked vertically when we first arrived in this area.

 

Denise found out about the SKIFF program through my postings on Facebook about previous SKIFF trips. Denise is active in the Protestant Women of the Chapel (P.W.O.C.) on Fort Hood and was anxious to receive my electronic SKIFF brochure so she could let other ladies with deployed husbands know of what is offered through the SKIFF program. She was delighted with the experience, and found the entire outing very peaceful. She was obviously very happy for her girls.

We ended up the night with 41 fish including 1 freshwater drum, 1 three pound channel catfish, and 39 white bass.

TALLY = 41 FISH, all caught and released

 

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TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 4:30p

End Time:  8:05pm

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  83F

Water Surface Temp:  80.3

Wind Speed & Direction:  ESE8-9

Sky Conditions:  80% cloudy

Other: GT=0

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 1446 was the best producer, allowing for 3 “short hops” worth of vertical jigging.

**Area 1444 through 1445 kicked in an additional 13 fish at trip’s end, all after sunset.

 

Bob Maindelle

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Salado, TX

www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com