FREE S.K.I.F.F. FISHING TRIP FOR THE EGGERTS & GIBSONS

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This morning, Saturday, August 17th, I conducted the season’s 15th S.K.I.F.F. trip, welcoming aboard kids from two families: 8-year-old Luke Eggert of Killeen, 8-year-old Riley Gibson of Harker Heights, and Riley’s 10-year-old brother, Vince Gibson.

Luke’s dad, U.S. Army Sergeant First Class (E-7) Lucas Eggert, has served for 20 years on active duty and is currently assigned as the Military Science 3 Instructor at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio.  For the sake of stability, SFC Eggert’s family lives apart from him near Fort Hood where he heads home on a roughly every-other-weekend basis.  Luke’s mom, Kyong, coordinated this trip for Luke.

The Gibson’s father, U.S. Army Staff Sergeant (E-6) Alan Gibson, has served for 12 years and is currently serving as a scout in a Ft. Hood cavalry unit.  SSG Gibson recently received orders sending him to Afghanistan.  With a younger, 5-year-old sister at home, mom and I thought it best to have her older two kids join me today, and then provide Hazel with a trip of her own, possibly including another youngster her age.  We set that trip date for Wednesday evening, September 11th.

This fishing trip was provided to these military families at no charge.  S.K.I.F.F. stands for Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun.  This program began in May of 2009.  It is funded by the donations and fundraising efforts of the Austin Fly Fishers and other organizations they have partnered with.  S.K.I.F.F. provides the children of military personnel separated from their families due to duty commitments with the opportunity to go fishing.  In mid-2019, SKIFF also began providing trips to dependents whose parents’ military-related disabilities prevent them from taking their own children fishing.  I coordinate and conduct these 3.5 to 4 hour adventures on Belton Lake and Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir, just outside the gates of Fort Hood in Bell County, TX, year ’round.

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left: Luke Eggert (age 8), Riley Gibson (age 8), and Vince Gibson (age 10), each with one of the six fish we landed via early morning downrigging on Stillhouse Hollow during this mid-August SKIFF program fishing trip.

 WHAT WE FISHED FOR: White bass early, then sunfish thereafter

WHERE WE FISHED:  Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

WHEN WE FISHED:  17 August 2019, AM

HOW WE FISHED:    We targeted small “wolfpacks” of suspended white bass in open water during our first hour on the water using a combination of #12 and #13 Pet Spoons on 2- and 3-armed rigs fished at 21′ over a deeper bottom.  I had the kids take turns on the downriggers in age order so everyone got to experience catching the same number of these larger fish before we went up shallow after sunfish.  Everyone landed 2 “big fish”, including 5 white bass and 1 largemouth bass, before the novelty of that approach wore off and it was time to move on.

We then headed up shallow to fish in cover for sunfish.  The kids put an additional 39 fish in the boat, including bluegill, green, and longear sunfish.

TALLY:  45 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:    Stillhouse continued, atypically, to display zero topwater action by gamefish this morning.  This trend has been noticed not just by me, but a number of the regular participants in the 3X9 Series bass tournament series, as I’ve spoken with them in phone interviews for my weekly report on that series for the Killeen Daily Herald.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:   6:40a

End Time: 10:15a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 78F

Elevation:  0.25 low, 0.02′ 24-hour fall, 1 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp:   88.4

Wind Speed & Direction:  SSW6-8 the entire trip

Sky Conditions:  High white haze over a blue sky just thick enough to cut some of the sun’s heat

GT =  0

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow

Wx SNAPSHOT:     

 

 AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Area vic SH0080C – downrigging at 21′ over a deeper bottom for 5 white bass and 1 largemouth using #12 Pet Spoons on one ‘rigger and #13 Pet Spoons on the other

**Areas SH0121C & SH0126C – sunfish

 

Bob Maindelle

Full-time, Professional Fishing Guide and Owner of Holding the Line Guide Service

Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide

254.368.7411 (call or text)

 

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www/twitter.com/bobmaindelle