WHO I FISHED WITH:  This past Thursday morning, Dec. 23, I fished with two young men from different families on what was the 2021 season’s twelfth SKIFF trip.  Joining me were Robert DeLoach and Ethan Garrison.

Ethan Garrison’s dad, Staff Sergeant Leon Garrison, was recently sent to Fort Benning for a leadership development course.  He has served as an infantryman for twelve years. Ethan’s mother, Jamie Garrison, coordinated her son’s adventure by texting the local S.K.I.F.F. trip coordinator.

Robert DeLoach’s dad, Lieutenant Colonel John DeLoach, is currently deployed to eastern Europe with his aviation unit.  Robert’s mother, Rebecca DeLoach, coordinated the trip after seeing a posting on the Fort Hood Area Events Facebook page.

SKIFF is an acronym for Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun. It is a program now in its 12th year, sponsored by the Austin Fly Fishers, and supported by individuals and entities, all of whom desire that kids separated from a parent by that parent’s military duty, be given an opportunity to experience the outdoors through fishing during that time of separation, free of charge.  The program offers a time of respite for the home-front parents who may need a short break from single-parenting.  Reservations for SKIFF trips may be made by phoning or texting 254.368.7411.   Children must be 5 years of age or older.

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

My next few openings will be on January 5th & 12th.  Weekday mornings are always best.

 

PHOTO CAPTION: Ethan Garrison, left, and Robert DeLoach used a combination of vertical jigging with Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs and casting horizontally using a sawtooth retrieve to amass a catch of 36 fish during their 3.5 hour SKIFF trip.

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday (PM), 23 December 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

We faced a challenging weather scenario this afternoon, on the heels of a solid 100-fish morning with two very inexperienced kids.

I moved our starting point to a more protected area due to the high midday wind speeds.  This wind would prevent us from getting out on productive, open water areas.

As we fished more protected water, the wind speed finally began to slack off, and even though this put the winds back into the manageable category, failing winds rarely fuel an increase in fish activity, and this afternoon was no exception.

Hence, we encountered pretty disinterested fish just about everywhere we went.  Our best run of fish in terms of fish interest was a 9-fish run up in the shallowest water we would fish all afternoon, between 3:45 and 4:30 PM.  The abundance of fish we found there led to bites out of a sense of competition, and our results came on a more quickly moving MAL Heavy Lure.

Despite the tough situation, the boys did great; they stayed focused; they kept working their baits well, and they caught more than the conditions would normally produce for two elementary-aged anglers.

When all was said and done, we landed exactly 36 fish, including 1 largemouth bass, 2 juvenile hybrid striped bass, and 33 white bass.

Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs and MAL Lures found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 36 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS: Dying winds and decreasing cloud cover made this afternoon’s fishing a good bit tougher than the morning’s fishing.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 2:00P

End Time: 5:35P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  74F

Elevation: 2.24 feet low, 0.03 fall, 73 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 60.3F

Wind Speed & Direction:  S17+ at trip’s start which prevented us from getting safely to open water. Then the winds began to die off, making the fishing we were presented with tougher as the afternoon rolled on.

Sky Condition: Brightening skies and thinning cloud cover throughout the afternoon.

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 76% illumination.

GT = N/A

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area vic 1827 – 9 fish on an eased Bladed Hazy Eye Slab (3/8 oz. white)

Area vic 1624 – 12 fish on an eased Bladed Hazy Eye Slab (3/8 oz. white)

Area vic 415 – 9 fish on MAL Heavy Lures (white blade, chartreuse tail) worked with sawtooth tactic

Area vic 1659 – 6 fish on an eased Bladed Hazy Eye Slab (3/8 oz. white)

 

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

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide #BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing #bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport #fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday #Fitec #mepps

WHO I FISHED WITH:  On Thursday morning, Dec. 23, I fished with siblings Liam and Sophia Garcia on what was the 2021 season’s eleventh SKIFF trip.

The children’s father, Sergeant Manuel Garcia Perelta, is an automated logistics specialist with four years in the U.S. Army.  He is currently deployed.  The kids’ mom, Veronica Munoz, arranged the trip for them after seeing a post about the opening on the Fort Hood Area Events Facebook page.

SKIFF is an acronym for Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun. It is a program now in its 12th year, sponsored by the Austin Fly Fishers, and supported by individuals and entities, all of whom desire that kids separated from a parent by that parent’s military duty, be given an opportunity to experience the outdoors through fishing during that time of separation, free of charge.  The program offers a time of respite for the home-front parents who may need a short break from single-parenting.  Reservations for SKIFF trips may be made by phoning or texting 254.368.7411.   Children must be 5 years of age or older.

Here is how the fishing went …

______________

My next few openings will be on January 5th & 12th.  Weekday mornings are always best.

 

PHOTO CAPTION: Sophia and Liam Garcia with 2 of the 100 fish they landed on Lake Belton using Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs during their SKIFF trip this past Thursday, 23 Dec.

 

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday (AM), 23 December 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

This morning’s fishing was pretty straightforward. Thanks to a stiff southerly breeze and moderately thick, complete gray cloud cover, the fish started feeding at 7:50 AM, drew attention from birds, and from that point until 9:50 it was just a matter of staying in the center of mass of the action in 32-34 feet of water.  Because of the kids’ age and inexperience (they’d never been on a boat before), I stuck with as simple an approach as I could.

We simply allowed 3/8 oz. white Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs to sink to the bottom, and reeled them up with a “slow smoking“ approach and got hit routinely as our lures rose towards the surface, both by fish which pursued from off the bottom, as well as by suspended fish. The bird activity wrapped up around 9:50, and we continued to milk fish from the vicinity where they had been working for another 20 minutes until the action died altogether.

At this point we had 49 fish in the boat. I searched two areas, found little on sonar, and continued moving.

Our last area produced the balance of our 100 fish morning. On a fairly slow sloping area, again, in 32 to 34 feet of water, we found white bass in a feeding posture, positioned just a foot or two up off the bottom. These fish were aggressive. They actually rose up to meet our falling slabs as we first began fishing, and then began to move up as much as 1/3 of the way from the bottom into the water column as we hooked fish and reeled them in, thus creating a commotion which drew other fishes’ attention.

Due to the increased wind speed we encountered at this area, I equipped the kids with three-quarter ounce slabs (Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs in white color), so the slabs would sink more quickly and the kids could definitively feel bottom. Up until this point we had used the 3/8 ounce version.

As mom pulled into the parking lot, we had 96 fish landed. Another six minutes later, at 11:10 AM, we hit 100 fish and called it a great morning.

When all was said and done, we landed exactly 100 fish, including 1 largemouth bass, 4 juvenile hybrid striped bass, and 95 white bass.

Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs and MAL Lures found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 100 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:  About 80 gulls pitched in on the feeding today, which was the single strongest round of bird action I’ve seen thus far this fall/winter.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:30A

End Time: 11:15A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start:  59F

Elevation: 2.24 feet low, 0.03 fall, 73 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 59.7F

Wind Speed & Direction:  S12-15 all morning.

Sky Condition: Grey skies just thin enough to cause “squinting” levels of light to come thru beginning around 8A

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 76% illumination.

GT = N/A

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area B0098C – 49 fish on an eased Bladed Hazy Eye Slab (3/8 oz. white) in 2.5 hours

Area B0022C – 51 fish on an eased Bladed Hazy Eye Slab (3/4 oz. white) in 45 minutes

 

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

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide #BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing #bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport #fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday #Fitec #mepps