This morning I met Mrs. Silvia Taylor and her two children, 10-year old Mariella, and 6-year old Adrian, for a morning fishing trip on Belton Lake. Neither child had ever been on a boat nor fished before.
Mariella won the big fish contest by a landslide today with this 4+ pound hybrid striped bass which hit a shallow running bait not long after sunrise.
Adrian had all he could handle when this hybrid ripped his line out of the downrigger release clip and headed for deep water.
Mary and Adrian’s father, Sergeant First Class Randy Taylor, is currently on an unaccompanied tour to South Korea. An “unaccompanied tour” means a soldier’s family is not permitted to be with him or her, and therefore must remain stateside for the duration of a soldier’s absence. Randy and Silvia first met while Randy was stationed in the Bavarian region of Germany several years ago.
This morning we witnessed some strong, albeit short-lived, topwater action in which a mix of white bass and hybrid striped bass of all sizes forced baitfish to the surface and fed upon them very aggressively, thus creating enough commotion so as to be seen and heard. We got right into the thick of it and the kids stayed hooked up to fish for as long as the action lasted. Due to their inexperience, we downrigged through this action instead of spending a lot of time trying to learn to cast into the action. In the long run, we landed more fish thanks to this decision.
After the strong topwater bite ended (at about the time a mild, dry front arrived from the NW), we moved on to panfishing in shallow water, catching several varieties of sunfish, small largemouth bass, and blacktail shiners from two separate locations.
When the novelty of panfishing wore off for Adrian, and as the temperature rapidly crept up, we finished out the trip by downrigging once again, which provided us with a nice bumper crop of white bass.
In all, the kids boated 63 fish this morning and both earned a Texas Parks and Wildlife Dept. “First Fish Award”.
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. SKIFF is open to children in elementary and middle school, as well as teens in high school.
TALLY = 63 FISH, all caught and released
TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 6:30a
End Time: 10:30a
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 76F
Water Surface Temp: 86-87F
Wind Speed & Direction: NW8-9 beginning around 7:40a
Sky Conditions: No cloud cover under the influence of a mild cool front moving into the area right around 7:45a
Note: Lake has dropped 0.03 feet in the last 24 hours and now stands at 594.35 above sea level, with 594.00 being full pool
Other: GT= 0
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area 813/133 topwater & downrigging early
**Area 492 panfishing
**Area 166 panfishing
**Area 687/1081 downrigging late
Bob Maindelle
Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service
254.368.7411 (call or text)
Salado, TX