CLIENTS: This morning I welcomed aboard the wife and children of U.S. Army Major Nicholas Spicocchi, an Infantry officer currently assigned to Fort Hood, but on deployment and therefore separated from his family.  Joining me were Mrs. Kiley Spicocchi and her kids, Brooke (age 5), Isabella (age 9), Kiley, and John (age 11).  This was the fifth Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun (SKIFF) trip of the 2025 season.

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 kids of military members 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, and 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 to make your reservation.

TODAY’S DATE: Friday, 20 June 2025 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING:  Monday, 23 June (AM) 

NEXT OPEN DATES FOR SONAR TRAINING: 12 July (AM)

 

 

PHOTO CAPTION: From left:  From left: Brooke (age 5), Isabella (age 9), Kiley, and John (age 11) Spicocchi took part in the most recent Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun (SKIFF) trip this past Friday on Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir while their father, U.S. Army Major Nicholas Spicocchi, is deployed.  The kids landed ninety fish in just under three and a half hours.

 

FIND LURES HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

Figuring out how to approach fishing with a 5, 9, and 11 year old in the crew was a bit tricky.  I considered the bite, the weather, and the kids and came up with a plan which worked today.

First, we downrigged, although it was not the kind of downrigging I’ve been doing for “mop up” later in the morning after a vertical bite begins to wane.  Rather, this morning, I ran the downrigger balls close to the bottom to tempt those same fish we’d otherwise be using a smoking tactic for vertically.  This was done so everyone would get to share in the action while keeping it age-appropriate.

The kids did great!  John helped greatly by setting the lines back out the proper distance after a fish was landed, and Brooke made sure the balls were brought up after a fish struck, so as to clear the water of any obstacles the hooked fish could get tangled on.  Kiley assisted little Isabella in reeling in her fish while Brooke and John worked independently on theirs.  In this way, the kids landed exactly 44 white bass and a largemouth bass as singles, doubles, and triples before the early morning bite died and it was time to move on.  All of these fish were taken on 3-armed umbrella rigs equipped with #13 Pet Spoons.

We totally changed it up at this point by moving into shallow cover and targeting sunfish with bait under slipfloats.  Again, John and Brooke got the hang of this immediately and Isabella landed a few of the 33 sunfish which came aboard with the help of her mom.

By the time the cover we were targeting ran out of willing sunfish, we had about 45 minutes remaining in this trip I’d planned to span 3.5 hours. Isabella was worn out to the point of being drowsy by this time, but Brooke and John were still ready for more.  We changed things up once again, and I searched windblown areas for suspended white bass using 2D sonar in hopes that we could consolidate them beneath us with the splasher in numbers great enough to create some competition and work MAL Heavy Lures through them with success.  This worked out well.  Although the morning feed was well on its way to ending, John and Brooke were persistent and wound up putting another 12 fish in the boat in this manner, taking our morning total to 90 fish.

 

OBSERVATIONS:

1. As the water warms, the fishing gets a bit tougher day by day.  Fewer fish are making use of the bottom, and the abundance of young-of-the-year shad is tough to compete with.
2. No bird activity witnessed.
3. No largemouth bass topwater activity wintessed.

 

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7A

End Time: 10:20A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 74F

Elevation: 1.36′ low with a 0.01′ fall in the last 24 hours

Water Surface Temp: 83.4F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: Between S6-9 all morning

Sky Condition: Light blue, cloudless skies all morning

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 29% illumination.

GT = 20

 

Wx SNAPSHOT:  

 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

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