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