WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Tuesday, June 20th, I conducted the second Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun (SKIFF) trip of the 2023 season.
Joining me was Mr. Thomas Payne, a U.S. Army Signal Corps veteran, and his two daughters, Neveah and Katherine. The girls’ mom, U.S. Army Corporal Fayth Payne is currently in the midst of a 9-month deployment to eastern Europe.
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.
My next open date for a free SKIFF trip for qualifying families will be on July 10th.
Here is how the fishing went …
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PHOTO CAPTION: Nevaeh Payne with one of the many sunfish she landed today, along with her dad, Thomas, and her younger sister, Katherine. This was a redear sunfish.
WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir
WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday, 20 June 2023
HOW WE FISHED:
Given the Payne girls’ ages (5 and 2) I came prepared to keep it simple and keep it interesting.
To provide some “instant gratification” and get the girls interested right off the bat, we headed up shallow and fished the inside edge of the abundant hydrilla growing on this reservoir.
The setup was simple — a light balsa float suspending a small split shot and small single hook with a pinch of worm beneath.
We took redear sunfish, longear sunfish, and bluegill sunfish very readily despite the girls’ lack of experience — that’s the nice thing about sunfish — they cooperate in the heat of the summer.
Once the novelty of sunfishing wore off (after boating 34 fish and taking at least 4 bathroom breaks, sans a bathroom) we headed out to “mix it up” by working deeper water for white bass.
Our first stab at white bass fishing was made via downrigging. We captured a “double” (a fish on 2 of the 3 lures of the 3-armed umbrella rig we were trolling with) as we passed over a moderately active school of white bass in about 40 feet of water.
I Spot-Locked on this area and Thomas and I worked MAL Lures with a “smoking” tactic aided by Garmin LiveScope to add another 5 fish to our count as the girls wolfed down some Lunchables.
Once snacktime was over, we went back to downrigging and landed a “triple”. Our count now stood at 44 fish landed, and we could see the girls’ interest beginning to wane as the heat increased (not in any way aided by the fact they had to have live jackets on).
We headed to a second sunfishing area, boated another 10 sunfish, and then called it a great morning right at the 3.5 hour mark.
TALLY: 54 fish caught and released
OBSERVATIONS: A distinct ‘inside’ edge and ‘outside’ edge to the hydrilla now exists, although the inside edge will shrink and disappear with the falling water level.
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 6:35A
End Time: 10:05A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 78F
Elevation: 13.49 feet low, 1 CFS flow
Water Surface Temp: 83.4F
Wind Speed & Direction: S9 all morning
Sky Condition: Full covering of light grey, low clouds
Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 5% illumination.
GT = N/A
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
Area SH0021C – 34 sunfish
Area SH0030G – 10 white bass via downrigging Pets and smoking MALs
Area SH0043C – 10 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
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