Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun (SKIFF) – 54 Fish
CLIENTS: This morning, Friday, January 2, I conducted the first SKIFF trip of the new year. Joining me were the three eldest of U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Augustine Anukwu’s seven children. I welcome aboard Quincey (age 15), Malcolm, (age 11), and Wallace (age 9).
SSG Anukwu has served in the U.S. Army for eleven years as a tanker in the Army’s Armor Branch. This deployment leaves his wife, Eliza, as the homefront parent caring for seven kids, four of which are 5 or younger. It was very impressive to me that she was able to get this entire crew up and dressed in order to have the older boys to the dock on time for an early morning start.
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, and VFW Post 4008 in Belton, TX. 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: 02 January 2026 (PM)
NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING: Tuesday, 06 January 2026 (AM or PM)
PHOTO CAPTION: From left, that’s Wallace (age 9), Malcolm (age 11), and Quincey Anukwu (age 15). These young men were treated to a free fishing trip through the SKIFF program while their dad, U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Augustine Anukwu, is deployed to Europe.
FIND LURES HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:
I was pretty excited about this trip as far back as Tuesday when NOAA forecast an incoming, dry cold front. It looked like the wind shift was going to take place during the morning hours this morning.
Unlike most cold fronts, this one took its sweet time slowly moving into and over Central Texas. The winds rose just before sunrise and stayed blowing for about an hour, then went slack, then came on strong from the northwest starting around 10:15 AM. As you might expect, the majority of our fish were caught in the final hour of the morning as the wind shift took place and as the wind velocity continued to rise.
Over the course of 3.5 hours, these three young men landed 54 fish including 52 white bass and two largemouth bass.
The one and only lure we used was the MAL Dense with silver body, and the one and only tactic we used with that lure was the slow – smoking tactic. The splasher did a good job of drawing fish to us and keeping them beneath us until the wind really got whipping, at which point I switched over to the thumper to be sure the fish were detecting some form of commotion emanating from the boat.
We sealed the deal with Garmin LiveScope, which, as is the case with most kids today, was nearly instantly understood by the kids who spend a lot of time looking at screens as part of their daily lives. This technology really keeps the kids much more engaged in the fishing and makes them more successful because they can see the effort they put in pay off, and they can see there are fish present to fish for.
I was overjoyed to hear Wallace, the youngest of the brothers, say, “I really like this. This is a lot better than spending my Friday inside playing video games.“. Music to my ears!
RESULTS: 54 fish, all caught and released
TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW “SLOW SMOKE” A BLADED HAZY EYE SLAB VERTICALLY: Click here for tutorial
OBSERVATIONS:
-This was day 5 of a brief warming trend which began on Tuesday, Dec. 30.
-No assistance in fish-finding by birds today.
LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:
Taken on Lake Belton around 1:00 PM on 01 January 2026…
0 feet 60.1F
5 feet 60.0F
10 feet 59.4F
15 feet 59.4F
20 feet 59.4F
25 feet 59.4F
30 feet 59.4F
35 feet 59.4F
40 feet 59.4F
45 feet 59.2F
50 feet 58.9F
55 feet 58.9F
60 feet 58.7F
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 7:45A
End Time: 11:15A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 72F
Elevation: Belton is 0.61′ low with a -0.03′ change in the last 24 hours. USACE is releasing 26 CFS.
Water Surface Temp: 59.8F on the surface.
Wind Speed & Direction: SSW12 for the first hour, then calm for about 75 minutes, then shifting and increasing to NW12-14 by 10:15 thru the end of the trip
Sky Condition: Cloudless blue skies all morning as a dry front slowly worked its way over Central Texas
Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 99% illumination.
GT = N/A
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH MOST SUCCESS:
Area 2263 – 11 fish on slow-smoked MAL Lures
Area 2309/2265 – 9 fish on slow-smoked MAL Lures
Area B0302G – 4 fish on slow-smoked MAL Lures
Area vic 403 – 30 fish on slow-smoked MAL Lures (2 hops)
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