CLIENTS: On the morning of Thursday, April 10, I fished the third Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun (SKIFF) trip of the 2025 season. Joining me were the children of Staff Sergeant Michael Gilman. SSG Gilman is in the US Army stationed at Fort Cavazos, and is currently away from his family at a National Training Center rotation in Fort Irwin, California, in preparation for a forthcoming deployment.

With Mrs. Jessica Gilman essentially a single parent to their five kids (with a sixth on the way), SKIFF was able to give her a little bit of a break by taking her oldest two fishing today . Michael Gilman, age 11, and his sister, Zoey, age 8 were enthusiastic anglers and fast learners (not to mention just a bit competitve).

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.  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.



DATE: Thursday, 10 April 2025 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING: 02 June (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATES FOR SONAR TRAINING: 14 June (AM)










PHOTO CAPTION: Although we were targeting white bass, anything that eats shad will eat a shad-imitating lure. The Gilman kids landed these handsome blue cats on 3/4 oz. silver Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs.




PHOTO CAPTION: Soon after sunrise, a few birds led the way to some white bass forcing shad to the surface. This helped us put our first few fish in the boat as Michael and Zoey would go on to capture a total of 117 fish in just 3.5 hours.



WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

We begin our trip at 7:15 AM and fished for exactly 3 1/2 hours. During that time these two landed a total of 117 fish including white bass, largemouth bass, and blue catfish. 100% of the fish caught today were taken on the silver, three-quarter ounce, Bladed Hazy Eye Slab fished using a smoking tactic.

Essentially, the kids let the lure to the bottom and cranked it upwards while watching GARMIN LiveScope for fish response. If their lure did not get chased, they allowed it to return to the bottom, and if their lure did get chased, they kept right on cranking until the fish either turned away or overtook their lure and struck it. I helped the kids stick to the correct speed using my fish-attracting thumping device as a metronome.

The annual shad spawn began again today after a hiatus of four days due to an unseasonably cold cold front cooling everything down after it blasted through this past Saturday and Sunday.

RESULTS: 117 fish, all caught and released


TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW TO DO “SLOW SMOKING”:

TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW TO FISH THE MAL LURE WITH A SAWTOOTH METHOD:




LURES USED SUCCESSFULLY ON THIS TRIP: We used the silver 3/4 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab exclusively to catch our fish this trip. Find all MAL Lures and Hazy Eye Slabs here: https://whitebasstools.com/





OBSERVATIONS:

Threadfin shad spawn resumed after a four day pause due to a harsh cold front 5-6 April.
Minor, but helpful, bird activity in the first 35 minutes following sunrise.


LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

This is the most up-to-date water temperature profile for Lake Belton, measured with a FishHawk TD device around 7:20AM on Thursday, 10 April

0 feet 62.9F
5 feet 63.1F
10 feet 62.9F
15 feet 62.9F
20 feet 62.9F
25 feet 68.2F
30 feet 62.6F
35 feet 61.4F
40 feet 60.6F
45 feet 59.4F
50 feet 59.4F
55 feet 59.0F
60 feet 58.0 F

This was the previous water temperature profile for Lake Belton, measured with a FishHawk TD device around 7:00AM on Wednesday, 02 April…

0 feet 65.6F
5 feet 65.6F
10 feet65.6F
15 feet 65.5F
20 feet 65.1F
25 feet 64.9F
30 feet 64.4F
35 feet 63.1F
40 feet 62.0F
45 feet 60.9F
50 feet 57.8F
55 feet 57.6F
60 feet 57.4F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:15A

End Time: 10:45A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 57F

Elevation: 3.05′ low

Water Surface Temp: 62.9F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: S7-9 all morning, letting up around 10:15A

Sky Condition: Cloudless, light blue skies all AM

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 95% illumination.

GT = N/A



Wx SNAPSHOT:








AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area vic 0363 – 3 fish smoking Hazy Eye Slabs
Area vic 748 – 57 fish smoking Hazy Eye Slabs
Area vic 1733 – 4 fish smoking Hazy Eye Slabs
Area vic 097 – 37 fish smoking Hazy Eye Slabs
Area vic 098 – 16 fish smoking 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

Awesome post. Good job as always Sir.

You always put those big smiles on those kids....

Thank you SSG Gilman for your service....