Last Saturday, May 28th, I conducted the 2016 season’s fourth SKIFF (Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun) trip. Joining me for this adventure were Mrs. Jessica Ochoa, and her 11-year-old daughters, Nevaeh Ochoa and Alycia Williams, as well as the baby of the family, little Arianna Ochoa.
From left: Neveah Ochoa and Alycia Williams earned their TPWD First Fish Awards as they targeted sunfish in the newly flooded green brush on Lake Belton.
U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Ochoa is currently deployed to South Korea where he serves as a mortarman in an infantry unit.
Since neither Nevaeh nor Alycia had ever caught a fish before, we started with the basics this afternoon, using long, telescoping sunfish poles and slip float baited with pieces of worm to attract a variety of sunfish from out of the newly flooded greenery around the lake’s perimeter. The girls were soon onto their first fish, thus easily earning their TPWD First Fish Awards. After each of the girls “got the hang of it”, it was tough for me to keep up taking their fish off the hook and rebaiting. By the time we decided to give the sunfish a rest, the girls had boated exactly 40 sunfish, including longears, bluegill, and green sunfish.
Next, we headed to open water to pursue larger quarry — the white bass. For this segment of our trip, I opted to go with downriggers after sonar revealed large schools of fish in 18-22 feet. We started off slowly with one 3-armed umbrella rigged fished on the starboard downrigger. Once the girls each caught a few fish, we expanded to one 3-armed umbrella rig and one tandem rig, all outfitted with Pet Spoons fished now on 2 downriggers. Soon the girls were once again hard to keep up with as we landed singles, doubles and even a triple (one fish on each of the 3 Pet Spoons on the umbrella rig).
As the 24th white bass came aboard, little Arianna had had all of the fun, sun, and waves her little body could stand and she began to get a bit cranky. Wisely, Jessica decided to call it a day while all was still manageable and we headed back in.
The Austin Fly Fishers donates funds and seeks funding from individuals and organizations to make this SKIFF program a reality for homefront spouses and their children.
They do not ask for thanks or recognition, they simply desire others to take advantage of the opportunities this program offers. If your spouse is away on military duty, your child(ren) qualify for a free SKIFF fishing adventure. Please just phone me at the number below to make arrangements for your trip!
TALLY = 64 FISH, all caught and released
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TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 4:30p
End Time: 8:30
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 91F
Water Surface Temp: 76F
Wind Speed & Direction: Light and variable first hour or so, then going SE6-7
Sky Conditions: Steadily clearing from a fully overcast morning.
Water Level: ~8.25 feet above full pool and steadily rising due to flooding downstream on the Brazos and therefore no release from the dam.
Other: GT= 0
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area 1753 – Sunfish on slipfloats
**Area 816 to 172 – 24 white bass on downriggers along the 18-22 foot contour
Bob Maindelle
Owner, Holding the Line Guide Service
254.368.7411 (call or text)
Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle