WHO I FISHED WITH: On Wednesday morning, January 3, I conducted the third SKIFF trip of the 2024 season. My young guest this morning was Lohann Ngounou. Lohann turns 10 in February and had never fished nor been aboard a boat before.
Lohann‘s father, Stephane Ngounou is what is known in the military as a “geographical bachelor“. This means that he, for the sake of family stability, has left his family in one place, while stationed at another. In this case, Sergeant Ngounou’s family is in the Orlando, Florida, area for continuity’s sake in schooling, jobs, healthcare, etc., while he is here at Fort Cavazos. He knew upon receiving orders to Fort Cavazos that it would not be long after his arrival that he would be headed overseas on a deployment. Sergeant Ngounou, originally from Cameroon, came to the U.S. in 2019 and has served for three years as a mechanic in the U.S. Army.
ABOUT SKIFF: SKIFF trips have been provided to military families at no charge since May of 2009. SKIFF is funded by donations from Austin Fly Fishers, The McBride Foundation, & Austin Subaru. S.K.I.F.F. provides children of military personnel separated from their families by duty commitments with the opportunity to fish. SKIFF trips are also provided to Gold Star families who have lost their service member. In mid-2019, SKIFF began providing trips to kids of bona fide disabled veterans. I conduct these 3.5 hour adventures on Belton Lake and Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir year ’round. Call or text 254.368.7411.
Here is how the fishing went…
Here’s an up-to-date calendar so you can check availability: https://holdingthelineguideservice.com/available-dates.php
Next available dates are Jan. 9-11 (AMs)
PHOTO CAPTION: When you are REALLY cold, and still trying to smile because you just caught the first fish of your life!! That’s young Lohann Ngounou (age 10), son of U.S. Army Sergeant Stephane Ngounou, originally from Cameroon.
Find the Bladed Hazy Eye Slab here: https://whitebasstools.com/
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday, 03 Jan. 2023 (AM)
HOW WE FISHED:
We had a raw, cold, damp, north wind with gray cloud cover, preventing any kind of a warm-up this morning. Under normal circumstances, I would have recommended postponing this trip, however, Lohann was only in Texas for a short window while on holiday break, and I had no other open dates to offer before his scheduled return to Florida, so, we pressed on.
Unfortunately, although they attempted to follow my clothing recommendations, both father and son arrived underdressed without gloves, hood, or neck wrap, and only light clothing, albeit layered.
Anyone reading this who has done likewise will recall that you can only get so cold before that cold completely commands your attention. Before wrapping up the trip early due to cold, both fellows were shivering pretty hard as they held up the fish Lohann landed as a memento of this father and son time spent together.
On top of all of this, the fishing was pretty difficult . Although birds did materialize, they only stayed active for minutes at a time chasing fast moving schools of hybrid as they turned on and turned off just about as quickly.
Lohann landed a mix of white bass, largemouth, bass, freshwater, drum, and hybrid stripers, with an unusually heavy stringer when it came to hybrid stripers. 6 of the 17 fish Lohann landed were legal sized hybrid.
With his pair of loaner gloves on, I had Lohann using the three-quarter ounce slab just so he could feel it strike the bottom, and so it could pull line off the spinning reel spool, even when his gloved fingers added some resistance over top of the reel’s spool.
I found that observing the bird behavior closely allowed me to get in front of the direction of the fast moving hybrid stripers. I would simply leapfrog with these flock of birds, allow Lohann to fish for the hybrid as they passed under and around the boat , and until they had completely moved upwind of us, then I moved the boat upwind of the birds once again, and so on, until the birds finally dissipated.
This is one of those trips that I am sure neither father nor son will ever forget; it wasn’t too much fun living through the cold, but it will be much more fun to talk about in years to come!! Adversity builds character.
Here is a tutorial on the slow-smoking tactic we used… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIPopSLUYoQ
TALLY: 17 fish caught and released.
OBSERVATIONS:
The water temperature profile measured on Lake Belton on 03 Jan. 2024 was:
0 feet 54.2F
5 feet 54.9F
10 feet, 55.2F
15 feet, 55.2F
20 feet, 55.2F
25 feet, 55.2F
30 feet, 55.2F
35 feet, 55.2F
40 feet, 55.2F
45 feet, 55.2F
50 feet, 55.2F
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 7:45A
End Time: 10:30A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 41F
Elevation: 15.43 feet low, 40 CFS flow
Water Surface Temp: 54.2F on the surface.
Wind Speed & Direction: N12 all morning
Sky Condition: Heavy grey, damp cloud cover all morning
Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 56% illumination.
GT = N/A
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
Area 1151, B0088G, B0100C, 1543 – all fish taken smoking white, 3/4 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs
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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