WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Monday, February 26, I conducted the 10th SKIFF program trip of the 2024 season. Joining me this morning were Jonah (14), Huck (12), Eli (12), and Benaiah (11) Melin, the sons of the U.S. Army Captain Danny Melin, an active duty chaplain. What great kids! It’s refreshing to see young men who are both polite and articulate these days.



Chaplain Melin’s most recent deployment was with Special Forces out of Fort Campbell, Kentucky. He is currently going through an intensive, 18-month Family Life Program offered only to chaplains to help the equip them for the unique mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of our modern fighting force. Upon completion of this training in December, Chaplin Melin will return to a regular unit to serve as a Family Life Chaplin.



Mrs. Carly Melin homeschools their children, hence scheduling this trip on a weekday was a win-win for my schedule and theirs, now that weekends are in much higher demand as spring approaches.



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…

Next available dates are 27-29 Feb. (AMs)





PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Benaiah, Huck, Jonah, and Eli Melin with a sampling of the white bass they took on white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs fished vertically using a slow-smoking tactic at varying speeds in conjunction with Garmin LiveScope.








PHOTO CAPTION: This largemouth came out of 42 feet of water as Jonah worked his slab upwards, away from the bottom.








PHOTO CAPTION: This largemouth came out of 36 feet of water at mid-morning and his Huck’s slab as he worked it toward the surface.




PHOTO CAPTION: Benaiah was our first to land a largemouth this morning. It was the second fish we boated. It came out of 25 feet of water and was our heaviest largemouth at 6.75 pounds on a certified scale.

Find the Bladed Hazy Eye Slab here: https://whitebasstools.com/

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday, 26 Feb. 2024 (AM)

HOW WE FISHED:

The forecast was for an unseasonably warm run of days from Sunday through Wednesday this week, and the meteorologists hit it right on the head.



For the first time in a long time, I started the day with only two layers on my upper body, and shed one of those by mid-morning.

That same weather kept the winds light and kept some cloud cover in place, and this morning’s bite reflected those so-so conditions. The fishing started off cold, warmed to a simmer, but never truly boiled over.



Fortunately, all of the boys came aboard with prior fishing experience, and were already capable with spinning gear. I demonstrated the slow-smoking tactic for them, using a white, 5/8-ounce Bladed Hazy Eye Slab worked in conjunction with the Garmin LiveScope from a hovering position maintained by the Minn Kota trolling motor.



The first hour was our slowest under calm, cloudy conditions. The middle two hours saw average fishing, and our final hour – the only time we had steady winds over six mph – produced nearly half of our catch.

As has become nearly standard for winter fishing on Stillhouse, in addition to plenty of quality white bass, we also caught multiple largemouth bass between 4 and 7 lbs, as well as beefy freshwater drum.

We closed out the trip with a grand total of 75 fish landed, including 6 largemouth bass, two freshwater drum, and 67 white bass.

Here is a tutorial on the snap-jigging method … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGtrnAQ_T94&t=55s

Here is a tutorial on the slow-smoking tactic we used… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIPopSLUYoQ

TALLY: 75 fish caught and released



OBSERVATIONS: A record high temperature of 90F is forecast for today’s date, the 26th of February. Birds are still present in good numbers and still helpful in solving the location puzzle.

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:20A

End Time: 11:40A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 63F

Elevation: 16.81 feet low, 1 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 57.8F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: SSW 0-6 all morning

Sky Condition: Pale blue skies w/ up to 40% white-grey cloud cover

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 97% illumination.

GT = N/A



Wx SNAPSHOT:






AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Vic SH0235G (13 fish), vic SH0240G (8 fish), vic SH0241G (6 fish), vic SH0268G (6 fish), vic SH0280G (27 fish), vic 970 (15 fish)


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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Solid post and fish as always. Good job.