28 FEBRUARY 2008






Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Report by Harker Heights Fishing Guide Bob Maindelle

Fished a quick 2 1/2 hour morning trip from 6:45a to 9:15a just to stay on top of fish movements as we ease into spring and the changes that go with it.

This morning the air temp was 44F and the water surface temp was 56F. The winds were strong from the SW at 15+ before sunup, and only increased to 20+ before falling off again after sunset.

Action has been hard to beat at Area 89 and the surrounding area, so, I headed there due to a lack of early morning bird activity anywhere else.

Fish were a bit sluggish at first, but gradually kicked into a brief, strong feed, accompanied by gull and tern activity. I found ample fish both tight to bottom and suspended. The bottom-oriented fish were much more cooperative than those at mid-depth. A simple jerk, fall, pause retrieve did well (sometimes with an extended pause required) as did easing the slab off the bottom and deciding upon a retrieve based on fish response to the rise of the slab. Action began to die off right at 9:10a, with fish becoming more stubborn and birds rafting up on the surface.

Once the birds got going, they were seen feeding over open water due S. of Area 116, as well, although I never fished there.

I continued the experiment with a tandem rig today, as well as with the TNT 180 slab. The fish were pretty fickle on size and I was catching better with smaller slabs than the 3/4 oz. TNT version, but it did alright in the white/chart. pattern. The best combination for the tandem rig was a 1/8 oz. slab with an EP shad imitator in white and blue. I only caught one double, but caught equal numbers of fish on the slab vs. the tandem.

Tally for today’s trip was 1 drum, 3 legal largemouth, and 38 white bass, of which 1/2 were legal.

Most of the fish I caught early, before the strong feed were small fish off bottom. As the feed increased and the birds began working in, the size mix got better.

TALLY = 42 FISH, all caught and released

Bob Maindelle, Owner Holding The Line Guide Service and Kids Fish, Too! Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide, Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Lake Georgetown Fishing Guide, Walter E. Long (Decker) Lake Fishing Guide. Offering Salado Fishing, Killeen Fishing and Ft. Hood Fishing








26 FEBRUARY 2008






Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Report by Fort Hood Fishing Guide Bob Maindelle

Fished a 3 hour morning trip today from 6:45a to 10:05a in the midst of a cold front’s passage. The temperatures dropped from 75F at 8:30p last night to 45F at 6:00a this morning. The winds were NE at 20+ and the skies were fair and dry.

Pre-dawn, herring gulls began to circle above the flat between Areas 117 and 98. I got on top of this area and began working it with a slab, and found fish present, but very sluggish. After landing only two whites in ~25 minutes (and after seeing many more than that on sonar), I searched elsewhere.

Solid bird (gull and tern) activity could be found at and around Area 89, both to the N and W of it. Gulls were feeding on stunned sunfish and over loons, and the terns were on white bass. I stayed here for the balance of the trip and landed 20 fish, including 16 white bass of all sizes and 4 largemouth bass from 15-17 inches. All fish came on a slab, and both by lift-drop-pausing, and by slowly teasing fish up off bottom, then coaxing them into a pursuit.

TALLY = 22 FISH, all caught and released

Bob Maindelle, Owner Holding The Line Guide Service and Kids Fish, Too! Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide, Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Lake Georgetown Fishing Guide, Walter E. Long (Decker) Lake Fishing Guide. Offering Salado Fishing, Killeen Fishing and Ft. Hood Fishing








23 FEBRUARY 2008






Stillhouse Fishing Report by Harker Heights Fishing Guide Bob Maindelle

Fished a great KIDS FISH, TOO! trip today with guests Ricardo (7th Grade) and Amanda (5th Grade) of Harker Heights. Both were enthusiastic, good listeners, fast learners, and very respectful.

We began our trip at 1:15pm based on a Wednesday weather forecast that called for afternoon wind. The weatherman sure got it right … at around 11:15 the winds turned from light and variable to SSW and built slowly to a peak of ~18-20mph by 4:00pm. At launch time, the air temp was 58 and the water temp was 57.

Before the trip began, I planned to check a few locations, but found abundant fish showing on sonar at the very first place I searched. I dropped a slab just to verify what I was seeing and immediately came up with a small white bass. So, I set a GPS waypoint right on the spot (between Areas 77 and 118) and returned immediately following the welcome and safety briefing.

The kids got the hang of slabbing very quickly and there was no stopping them. From 1:15 to 4:15 this dynamic duo put 47 fish in the boat with minimal coaching required. The school of whites in this area was pretty consistent in their size, ranging from 11 to 12.25, with 2 going 13 1/4 and 3 coming up short. We also landed 1 drum and 5 keeper largemouth here.

Once this area played out, I gave the kids some options…they chose flatline trolling with large crankbaits to try to target some larger fish.

We moved to Area 116 to troll in 10-14 feet of water and picked up 3 whites ranging from 13 1/8 to 14 1/2 inches, and we picked up 1 keeper largemouth and 2 dinks in about 45 minutes worth of trolling.

By 5:15, the kids had enjoyed enough sun, fun, and wind, and were ready to go home for a snack and some bragging.

Our KIDS FISH, TOO! total today came to 54 fish.

After dropping my party off at the boat ramp, I resumed fishing to check some other areas and to experiment with some new tandem rigs.

From 5:30 to 6:40, I put an additional 12 white bass and 2 keeper largemouth in the boat. The fish came out of 16-20 feet at Area 119; all the whites came on a slab off bottom and the largemouth came on live shad rigged on downlines.

TALLY = 68 FISH, all caught and released

Bob Maindelle, Owner Holding The Line Guide Service and Kids Fish, Too! Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide, Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Lake Georgetown Fishing Guide, Walter E. Long (Decker) Lake Fishing Guide. Offering Salado Fishing, Killeen Fishing and Ft. Hood Fishing








21 FEBRUARY 2008






Stillhouse Fishing Report by Temple Fishing Guide Bob Maindelle

Date: 21 FEB 2008

Time: 1/2 day morning trip; 7:00am to 12:30pm

Air Temp: 63F, falling to 54F over a short time span around 8:00am

Water Temp: 57F

Winds: Calm, then beginning out of the NW and turning N to 10 mph

Fished today with Justin M. and Renzo F. of Killeen. At launch time, a heavy fog blanketed the lake accompanied by dead calm winds. The entire lake area smelled of shad. As I waited for my guests, I netted shad for a KIDS FISH, TOO! trip this Saturday, and noted abundant schools of surface feeding shad scattering each time the cast net splashed down.

When my guests arrived, we slowly headed out in a thick fog, guided only by GPS to the west of Area 110, and around to the N. of Area 117 to test the waters with crankbaits on a flatline troll, given that the overnight hours as well as the past few days have been fairly warm. We managed 2 largemouth bass (one at 3.0 pounds) and a white bass in the first 30 minutes and continued trolling while trying to stay amongst baitfish. No sooner did it look like we had something going than the wind came up out of the NW very suddenly, the air temp. dropped like a rock, and the fog completely lifted…new ballgame!

The shallow bite dried up immediately, and there was no bird activity to speak of. So, we headed deep and looked over the entire Area 54 complex with little seen on sonar save some un-bunched shad clearly not being pursued by gamefish. We managed to pick up 3 whites out of small, suspended schools on slabs. Surprisingly, these fish were fairly active and responsive to the jigged slabs. I mentally noted that the only fish we saw were suspended fish.

We then changed plans and split the difference between shallow and deep and went back to the flatline trolling in slightly deeper water than we had been in at the trip’s start, thinking we could capitalize on these suspended fish in areas where bait had concentrated before the weather change. This turned out to be a good approach, as we steadily took the fish count up to 21 over the next 90 minutes over Areas 117 and 999.

Slowly, the winds swung around to due N. and became steady at 10mph, the skies brightened through the still 100% gray cloud cover, and the air began to warm back up. Around this same time (~11:00 am) we returned to check around Areas 110 and 117 and found fish feeding in suspended schools over 24-25 feet of water around Area 117. As we slowly eased into the wind to follow the grade up shallower, we also found fish on bottom in 16-18 feet and were able to catch fish on the slabs consistently for 45 minutes. This, if anything, was the peak activity window, and during that time we managed 14 more fish, all nice, slab whites coming in at 13-14 inches and very fat with both shad and eggs. At 12:30 we wrapped it up as the skies began to fully clear and the fishing fell off sharply.

Our mixed bag consisted of 25 whites bass of mixed sizes, 6 largemouth bass, and 1 drum.

TALLY = 35 FISH, all caught and released

Bob Maindelle, Owner Holding The Line Guide Service and Kids Fish, Too! Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide, Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Lake Georgetown Fishing Guide, Walter E. Long (Decker) Lake Fishing Guide. Offering Salado Fishing, Killeen Fishing and Ft. Hood Fishing








19 FEBRUARY 2008






Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Report by Temple Fishing Guide Bob Maindelle

Fished a real quick solo trip this morning from sunup to 9:40am just to stay in touch with fish movement.

At the crack of dawn, 7:09am, the water was calm as glass and the sun was bright — very poor conditions. Air temp was 43F and the water temp was 55 F.

I flatline trolled some flats in 10-14 feet to see if any fish were beginning to ease up into the shallows with the warm weather of late. Got 3 small buck bass right away west of Area 110.

Hope that a steady wind would come up began to fade pretty quickly. The whole lake just seemed dead — no shad flicking, no rough fish rolling, no birds flying — just nothing.

I headed over to Area 89 at the deep base of a shallow flat and found an abundance of shad, problem was the shad were simply blanketing the bottom and were not balled up as they were not being pursued. I did pick up one keeper largemouth here on a slab.

I moved on and attempted some additional flatline trolling to cover water hoping to strain out some active fish. Picked up another buck bass.

Finished up near a single resting gull on the surface that seemed reluctant to move. I picked up a small largemouth and a 9 inch white over an open flat in 14′ at that location.

7 FISH, all caught and released

Bob Maindelle, Owner Holding The Line Guide Service and Kids Fish, Too! Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide, Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Lake Georgetown Fishing Guide, Walter E. Long (Decker) Lake Fishing Guide. Offering Salado Fishing, Killeen Fishing and Ft. Hood Fishing








18 FEBRUARY 2008






18 FEB 2008

02/18/08 9:40 PM

Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Report by Fort Hood Fishing Guide Bob Maindelle

Fished a 4 hour evening trip today from 2:30p to 6:30p. I delayed today’s trip due to poor conditions in the morning (bright & calm). By launch time, the wind was pushing lightly but steadily from the ENE and the skies had become more fair than clear. Air temp was 58 and the water surface temp ran 56 to 57.

Fished 3 areas today and found solid fishing at 2 of them. First success came right on top of Area 109 in 18-21 feet. Found schooled whites and a mixed bag of other fish right on bottom and was able to coax them with a slab. Caught 10 fish here including 3 largemouth, 1 drum, 2 short whites, and 4 keeper whites.

Just as the hits were getting few and far between, some tern activity began to pickup over open water in 25-27 feet. Got there fast as I could and found suspended and fast-moving schools of whites working over schools of small threadfin shad. Got 1 keeper white and 1 barely legal black bass out of this commotion before the school moved — unfortunately, the terns didn’t stick around long enough to hint at which direction the whites were moving, so that ended that.

Not 5-10 minutes later, right at 5:34, another, larger flock of terns (~30 birds) began working up a little shallower (on the high side of Area 110). I moved in on them and caught 12 more fish in about 15 minutes, and up as shallow as 11 feet (the shallowest I’ve caught a white bass thus far this year). These whites were all beefy 13-15 inch fish, with one hitting exactly 16.0 inches. After 10 of these 12 fish had been landed, the terns from the flock working the school, and other small flocks evidently from uplake further, all lifted and started heading to raft up for the night. The fish activity just dropped off at that time, and, despite a fair expanse of time before sunset, I only landed 2 more fish despite seeing many more than that both suspended and tight to bottom.

After putting the boat back on the trailer at Union Grove, I spoke to the Corps Gate Attendant making his rounds. He said there was very little white bass action reported at the Cedar Gap area today — it seems the fish are going to hang tough downlake until something changes (and that something will hopefully be "flow" from some much needed rain). We’ll see.

TALLY = 24 FISH, all caught and released

Bob Maindelle, Owner Holding The Line Guide Service and Kids Fish, Too! Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide, Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Lake Georgetown Fishing Guide, Walter E. Long (Decker) Lake Fishing Guide. Offering Salado Fishing, Killeen Fishing and Ft. Hood Fishing








14 FEBRUARY 2008






Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Report by Fort Hood Fishing Guide Bob Maindelle


Fished a half day morning trip today from 7a to 12 noon with Jerry W. of Harker Heights. At launch time the air temp was 44F and the water surface temp was 53.5F.

A stiff 14 mph breeze was already blowing before sunrise, and slowly increased to 25+ mph by noon, all caused by pre-frontal warming in advance of a cold front due in tomorrow. The skies remained grey and moderately bright all morning.

We fished a series of gentle rises in the main lake today with slabs between 22 and 27 feet deep. Although birds were present in the early morning, they offered no assistance in finding fish, so we relied on experience and sonar to find them. We found and caught fish at each of the 3 areas we fished, in and around Area 106. At each area we encountered very sluggish fish, most bottom-oriented, with a few suspenders thrown in. We saw no suspended schools of white bass today, only individual suspended fish. Nearly 100% of our fish were taken directly off the bottom. For every 10 or 12 fish showing tight to bottom on sonar we were fortunate to elicit 1 or 2 strikes from them. It was really a matter of staying on top of concentrated fish and waiting for them to turn on, and hoping that we could fool a few before that magic window opened.

Around 10am, a noticeable step up in the wind speed occurred, and a noticeable increase in fish activity accompanied it. We noted a flock of herring gulls beginning to get frisky in a little bit shallower water than we had been slabbing in. We moved up under them and found that black bass and large whites were attacking and stunning bluegill, sending them to the surface, and allowing the gulls some breakfast opportunities. We caught a majority of our fish, and the best quality fish, up shallower under these birds. In all, we managed 41 white bass, of which only 4 were short and of which several hit the 14" mark. We also landed 6 largemouth bass including a very pale 5.75 pounder, as well as a small drum and an average keeper crappie.

By 11:15 the 45 minute peak activity window was beginning to fade. We headed uplake and noted a raft of terns resting on the surface. This was at a location not far from the channel and in an area being buffeted by the wind, so we stopped and searched with sonar, and added a sunfish and a small keeper white bass to the tally. By noon everything was done.

TOTAL = 51 FISH


Bob Maindelle, Owner Holding The Line Guide Service and Kids Fish, Too! Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide, Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Lake Georgetown Fishing Guide, Walter E. Long (Decker) Lake Fishing Guide. Offering Salado Fishing, Killeen Fishing and Ft. Hood Fishing








11 FEBRUARY 2008






Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Report by Harker Heights Fishing Guide Bob Maindelle

Fished a half day morning trip today from 7am to 10:30am. At launch time the air temp was 44F and the water surface temp was 53F. There was a good SW breeze pushing at around 10mph which was just right to get fish going early and keep them feeding actively for most of the morning. The sun was bright, but with fair skies to filter a little brightness.

Due to the warming of the waters, the shad are beginning to move slowly shallower. This scatters the birds and makes them less apt to feed strictly over active fish. This is especially true of the terns. Birds were not helpful at all today in locating fish, so, instead, I relied on past and recent success and sonar to go find fish.

After looking over the Area 54/102 complex pretty closely, I found fish tight to bottom on a gentle 24-26 foot rise. I stayed on top of those fish the entire morning and landed 35 whites, all keepers, and all healthy. None were less than 11 nor more than 14 inches. All responded to a slab worked on bottom – very little suspended action.

TALLY = 35 white bass, all caught and released.

Bob Maindelle, Owner Holding The Line Guide Service and Kids Fish, Too! Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide, Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Lake Georgetown Fishing Guide, Walter E. Long (Decker) Lake Fishing Guide. Offering Salado Fishing, Killeen Fishing and Ft. Hood Fishing








09 FEBRUARY 2008






Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Report by Ft. Hood Fishing Guide Bob Maindelle


Fished a solo trip today knowing full-well based on the weather forecast that it would be a poor day, but, headed out nonetheless. Fished from 6:45 to 10:30am. The air temp was at 48 F and the water temp was at 52.3F. The wind was flat calm and remained so the entire day. The sun was bright and heated the atmosphere quickly.

I launched and fished the shallows of a cove near the ramp and picked up a small black on a crankbait in <3 feet of water.

Once the skies brightened around dawn, I checked around the west side of Dam End Island after seeing 3 herring gulls look a little suspicious there, but that yielded nothing.

I moved uplake and encountered a small armada of boats to the west of the long Union Grove point. It appeared to be a case of "group-itis" where no one was catching fish but everyone else assumed the other guy was…didn’t stay there long. I picked up two small fish there near the channel drop but, fearing a stampede from the armada, decided to leave.

I moved to three midlake, deep area in 35-45 feet and found shad at these areas, but no gamefish to match. I managed 2 solid whites in the vicinity of Dana Peak.

By 10am, it was hot (for Feb.), still calm, and abundantly clear that fish were not going to turn on. I took a quick stop at Area 106, caught a small suspended white and a small suspended black and called it a morning with 7 fish bagged.

TALLY = 7 FISH, all caught and released

Bob Maindelle, Owner Holding The Line Guide Service and Kids Fish, Too! Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide, Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Lake Georgetown Fishing Guide, Walter E. Long (Decker) Lake Fishing Guide. Offering Salado Fishing, Killeen Fishing and Ft. Hood Fishing