S.K.I.F.F. (Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun) – 60 Fish

WHO I FISHED WITH: On Wednesday, August 12th, I conducted the season’s 8th Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun (SKIFF) program trip with Victoria (age 8) and Derrick (age 6) Rosado, accompanied by their mother, Valerie Gonzalez.

Neither child had ever been on a boat, nor landed a fish before this evening.

U.S. Army Specialist Christian Rosado is currently deployed to Poland. Shortly after his return, he will leave once again for training at Fort Irwin, California.

ABOUT SKIFF: This fishing trip was provided to this military family 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. SKIFF trips are also provided, free of charge, to Gold Star families who have lost their service member while he or she was on active duty. In mid-2019, SKIFF also began providing trips to dependents whose parents are bona fide disabled veterans. 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. Call or text 254.368.7411.

PHOTO CAPTION: Derrick and Victoria Rosado landed 60 fish tonight on Lake Belton. This was their first fishing trip ever! You can see little Derrick was still not real sure about those fish coming too close to him!

WHEN WE FISHED: 12 August, 2020, PM

HOW WE FISHED: Just as the last hour (which is typically the hottest and brightest) of a summer morning trip is often the least productive, so the first hour (also typically the hottest and brightest) of a summer evening trip is often the least productive.

Understanding this, we focused on fishing for sunfish up shallow on a (shaded) west shoreline until around 6:45PM, when I felt the first of the evening’s white bass feed would begin in open water.

Derrick took a long time to warm up to the idea of fishing. While Victoria jumped right in there and landed sunfish after sunfish, including longears, bluegill, redears, and greens, Derrick landed his first and then retreated to the safety of mom as his sister amassed a handsome catch of 30 fish.

By around the 1 hour mark, the novelty of sunfishing had begun to wear thin, and Victoria expressed an interest in doing something different.

We began pursuing white bass with downriggers in open water and this kept the kids’ attention right up until the close of our trip at sunset. We added 29 white bass to the 31 sunfish they’d landed, for a total of 60 fish for the night.

We caught fish equally well on silver/white #12 Pets and silver/yellow #13 Pets. We set the ‘rigger balls at ~22’ and never moved them. We landed singles, doubles, and one triple (way to go Derrick!!).

TALLY: 60 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: Too windy for topwater action tonight.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time: 5:15P

End Time: 8:45P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 100F

Elevation: 1.98′ low, 0.05′ fall, 51 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 87.6F

Wind Speed & Direction: S8-9

Sky Conditions: 75% white cloud cover on a blue sky

Moon: Waning crescent with 42% illumination

GT = NA