BRAVO!! BRAVO!! — 73 Fish with the Bravo Family from Ft. Hood

This past Friday afternoon I had the pleasure of fishing with the Bravo family of Fort Hood on Lake Belton.  This trip was booked through the Fort Hood SKIES program.

Angelina not only landed the first fish of her life tonight, she also landed the largest fish of the trip — this 2.25 pound smallmouth bass.

Andre landed this “triple” — three fish on the same rod at the same time!

The Bravo family, from left, Ricardo, Karen, Angelina, and Andre.

Accompanying me today were Ricardo Bravo, his wife, Karen Bravo, and their children, 14-year-old Andre and 9-year-old Angelina.

As Angelina had never landed a fish before, “first fish honors” went to her.  Fortunately, the fish cooperated for the duration of this afternoon’s trip and there was scarcely a lull in the action.  Within minutes of pushing away from the courtesy dock, Angelina was fast to the first fish of her lifetime (a small white bass).  The kids took turns on the pair of downrigger rods I have set up for summer-time “above the thermocline” fishing. and, by 6:00pm, they’d landed 40 fish taken from two distinct areas.  Most of the catch consisted of small white bass, but we had largmouth, smallmouth, and a white crappie show up in the catch, as well

For variety’s sake, we spent a few minutes up shallow using slipfloats and live bait for panfish from 6:00 to 6:30pm.  The kids each put 4 more fish in the boat this way, including green sunfish, bluegill sunfish, and another largemouth bass.

Due to a low bank of clouds in the west, the sun would be obscured tonight prior to normal sunset, so, we positioned ourselves to enjoy a low-light bite by 6:30pm.  No sooner did we arrive, than I began to see fish from 12 feet deep down to 25 feet deep over quite an expansive area.  We set up downriggers with the balls staggered at different depths and caught fish steadily right up until dark.  We boated a final 25 more fish here in the last 45 minutes of the trip.  I had an opportunity to observe several other boats that were focusing on the very scant topwater action present, and very few fish were being taken with that approach.  As often happens on a N, NNE, NE, or ENE wind, the vigor was taken out of the final, low-light feed, and that extra energy and lack of caution the fish display when feeding on the surface seemed to subside under such high pressure conditions.

Mr. and Mrs. Bravo both commented a number of times about how peaceful and relaxing just coming along for the ride was for them.

When all was said and done, the kids had boated exactly 73 fish between them, and Angelina had earned a TPWD First Fish Award.
SKIES Unlimited stands for School of Knowledge, Inspiration, Exploration and Skills. SKIES Unlimited classes are open to children of active duty military personnel, retirees, Department of the Army civilians, and to Department of Defense contractors.  To enroll in SKIES Unlimited activities, children must be registered with CYSS at Building 121 on 761st Tank Destroyer Avenue (right across from the Chili’s restaurant).

There is no charge for registration; parents must bring an ID that shows their affiliation with the military, the child’s shot records, and the report from a recent physical exam. While the SKIES Unlimited programs are not free, many military families are eligible for sizeable credits toward SKIES Unlimited activities. There is a $300 “Army Strong” credit available to each child when their parent is deployed.

TALLY = 73 FISH, all caught and released

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 4:00p

End Time: 7:45p

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 88F

Water Surface Temp: 78-79F

Wind Speed & Direction: NNE3-4

Sky Conditions: Cloudless, fair skies with very dry conditions

Note: Lake has dropped 0.05 feet in the last 24 hours and now stands at 592.68 above sea level, with 594.00 being full pool

Other: GT= 50

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 1609-1291 downrigging

**Area 1613 downrigging leading to smoking

**Area 1200 panfishing

**Area 1602 – 027 low-light downrigging bite

 

 

Bob Maindelle

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Salado, TX

www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

…I’m just not into wearing tutus! — 20 Fish, SKIFF Trip #22

You may have noticed my previous post was about this past Tuesday evening’s fishing trip with Aaron Cherry.  Well, this morning I had the pleasure of fishing with Aaron’s 12 year old sister, Rachel Cherry.  Following Aaron’s trip, which fell under the banner of the Fort Hood SKIES program, Aaron’s mother, Charlotte, and I discussed the SKIFF program which is available to children separated from their military parent due to that parent’s duty commitments, and which is offered to the community at no charge, courtesy of the Austin Fly Fishers.

 

Rachel Cherry with a beautiful Lake Belton green sunfish taken on a slipfloat and live bait in the last hour of our trip.

 

Rachel poses with the largest of the 15 white bass she boated on a fairly slow morning trip.

At 6:35 AM I arrived at the Cherry’s residence in Nolanville, Texas, and Rachel was bright-eyed and bushytailed in anticipation about this morning’s trip.  Since I rarely encounter kids so alert before the sun has risen, I asked where she got all her energy from.  As it turns out, Rachel’s mom home-schools, and their home-schooling routine involves a 5:30am wakeup so that Rachel and her brother can have some undivided attention from mom to get lessons started before their 4-year-old sister rouses and requires attention.  So, 6:35am was a breeze for this girl!

The conditions we faced this morning were much different, and much tougher, than her brother and I faced just three days ago. We had a glassy calm surface, and very bright sunshine thanks to very clear skies.

We fished for right at four hours, spending the first three hours in pursuit of white bass and hybrid striped bass, and devoting the final hour to panfishing for sunfish up in shallow water.  All of nature was a bit sluggish this morning, and although we certainly found fish, they were definitely not aggressive, nor did they appear in great numbers in a feeding mode. We had to work for all 15 of the white bass we caught this morning,. These fish were all scattered and suspended in very small schools of just 3 to 6 fish per school, and they were generally between 27 and 32 feet deep over a slightly deeper bottom.

As we closed out the white bass chapter of our trip and changed our focus to sun fishing, Rachel was taken with the Lake Belton waterfall, so, we swung by there for a “photo op” and then headed up shallow to fish for sunfish. During this time, we put a variety of species in the boat, including smallmouth bass, bluegill sunfish, and green sunfish. Once Rachel got the hang of setting the hook, she did great.

Since Rachel’s brother had come out with me as a part of the Ft. Hood SKIES program, I asked Rachel if she had an opportunity to participate in any of the activities offered through that program, as I thought I’d heard Aaron mention that she took ballet.  Rachel scoffed at this and informed me that she preferred doing things that are more hands-on, and that, “I’m just not into wearing tutus.”  It was her younger sister who is the aspiring ballerina.  When I asked if she had yet considered plans for the future, Rachel told me she wanted to be a horticulturist and shared with me the long list of plant species she is now tending to at her home.

We ended up our day with exactly 20 fish and one 12-year-old girl chomping at the bit to go fishing again!

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, organizations, and companies 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 youth in high school.

 

TALLY = 20 FISH, all caught and released

 

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 7:00a

End Time: 11:00a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 67F

Water Surface Temp: 80.0F

Wind Speed & Direction: Light and variable until 9:00am, then blowing suddenly from the NNW at 11-13mph

Sky Conditions: Clear and bluebird.

Note: Lake has dropped 0.05 feet in the last 24 hours and now stands at 592.59 above sea level, with 594.00 being full pool

Other: GT= 0

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area 133 weak low-light action on downriggers

**Area 1601 slower fishing on downriggers

**Area 1576/815 best white bass action on downriggers from before/during/just after passage of cloud bank & wind shift

**Area 492 panfishing

 

 

Bob Maindelle

Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Salado, TX

www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com