Most-Persistent, Most-Improved, and The Closer — 102 Fish

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This morning, Tuesday, August 20th, I was joined by Mr. Anthony Vaughters of Killeen, TX, who aided me in providing the 16th S.K.I.F.F. fishing trip of the 2019 season.  Anthony was a great help, as I should have known he would be — he operates Kids X-Pressions Childcare Learning Center in Killeen and works with kids of all ages every day.

The kids aboard today were 17-year-old Dasani Vaughters and her younger brother, 9-year-old AJ Vaughters.  The siblings’ mom, U.S. Army Master Sergeant Yolanda Vaughters is currently assigned to Fort Lee, Virginia, where she works in transportation.  MSG Vaughters will be retiring soon, after 21 years of service, and will join her family back in the Fort Hood area.

Additionally, through a friendship made at church, Anthony Vaughters also brought along 17-year-old Edward Reynolds III (nicknamed Tre).  According to the account provided by the Military Times, SSG Edward C. Reynolds Jr., age 27, of Groves, Texas was assigned to 1st Battalion, 67th Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas during Operation Iraqi Freedom.  He died on Sept. 26, 2006, of injuries sustained when his M2A3 Bradley Fighting Vehicle rolled over while maneuvering in Baghdad.

AJ is headed into the 4th grade and is looking forward to basketball season; we nicknamed him “The Closer” as he landed the 100th fish we were all gunning for. Dasani is headed into her senior year of high school and is looking forward to academics and volleyball as she prepares for college after graduation; we nicknamed her “Most Persistent” because her technique was spot-on the entire time and she just kept casting like a machine; and Tre has his sights set on the U.S. Air Force after his senior year this year; we nicknamed him “Most-Improved”, because he went from a casting zero to a casting hero in about 3 hours’ time.

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: 17-year-old Edward Reynolds III (Tre), 17-year-old Dasani Vaughters, and 9-year-old AJ Vaughters.

 WHAT WE FISHED FOR: White bass

WHERE WE FISHED:  Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED:  20 August 2019, AM

HOW WE FISHED:  In my report from yesterday I noted a definite change in fish behavior.  This morning, there was yet another.  There was a lack of aggressive topwater action during the low-light period, but action built and maintained well through around 9:30, and fish stayed active, although no longer near the surface through our wrap-up time around 10:15.  We caught fish using only two methods today … we either saw the fish on top and sight-cast to them, or ran downrigger around the vicinity where topwater action was previously taking place.

During the trip, all three kids became proficient casters with spinning gear, as the cooperative fish allowed for lots of practice today.

Once again, young of the year shad were the focus of these feeding binges, but, from time to time I saw larger white bass chasing shad up to 3″ in length for the first time since May.

The horizontally worked Pet Spoon was the go-to bait for both approaches.  We observed others stuck on vertical tactics catch little to nothing.

TALLY:  102 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:    1) A weak low-light bite was followed by a second day of strong surface or near-surface action during the hours after sunrise, through around 9:30am.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:   6:35a

End Time: 10:30a

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 78F

Elevation:  0.16 low, 0.03′ 24-hour fall, 34 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp:   84.9

Wind Speed & Direction:  SSE6-7 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 813 to 793 – downrigged this circuit for 17 fish during low-light when topwater fish were a no-show

**Area 1778 – consistent surface or near-surface action by white bass

**Area 1920 to 507 – consistent surface or near-surface action by white bass

 

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