MARCH 2008 SUMMARY






27 MARCH 2008 (PM) = 77 FISH

27 MARCH 2008 (AM) = 203 FISH

24 MARCH 2008 (PM) = 66 FISH

24 MARCH 2008 (AM) = 31 FISH

21 MARCH 2008 (PM) = 47 FISH

21 MARCH 2008 (AM) = 66 FISH

20 MARCH 2008 = 90 FISH

19 MARCH 2008 (PM) = 45 FISH

19 MARCH 2008 (AM) = 46 FISH

17 MARCH 2008 = 102 FISH

15 MARCH 2008 = 66 FISH

13 MARCH 2008 = 142 FISH

11 MARCH 2008 = 87 FISH

08 MARCH 2008 = 39 FISH

06 MARCH 2008 = 100 FISH

04 MARCH 2008 = 52 FISH

01 MARCH 2008 = 69 FISH

TOTAL FISH CAUGHT: 1,328 FISH

AVERAGE CATCH PER TRIP: 78.1 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








27 MARCH 2008 (PM)






Belton Lake Fishing Report by Belton Lake Fishing Guide Bob Maindelle

Fished a morning and an afternoon trip today. Reports for each are posted separately.


EVENING TRIP: Fished a half-day evening trip from 4:15pm to 7:45pm with Leonard N. of Killeen.

At launch time, the air temp had increased to 76F, the skies remained cloudy and the humidity level was high. The winds topped out at 22+ by around 2pm and leveled off around 16-18mph through sunset (obscured). We tried to fish in wind-protected areas and fortunately were able to fish such areas where abundant bird activity led the way to active fish.

We fished 3 areas over the duration of the trip and found fish at each area keeping the fishing consistent. The results were essentially the same at Areas 138, 136, and 137. These areas ranged in depth from 16 to 23 feet, with fairly clean bottoms. Shad schools were not thick by any means, but they were present and showed on sonar regularly

Fish were primarily bottom oriented, except when birds came into the picture – they indicated active fish, and sonar showed these active fish to be both on bottom and suspended.

We caught mainly white bass with a handful of small hybrids (largest was 16″), drum, sunfish, and largemouth bass thrown in. No crappie showed up in the catch.

One quirky observation we made: a number of the larger (13-14″) white bass we caught had an odd yellow tint to the normally white areas on their sides. Some of these “yellowed” individuals, also had reddened features at “joint” area where fins met the body, in external mouth crevices, nostrils, etc. These fish also had a slightly “glazed” or “cataract” appearance to their eyes. They obviously were healthy enough to hunt, and they fought normally … kind of strange.

I was hoping to see a little surface activity at sunset, but the sun was obscured by clouds at that time and so our chances of surface activity were killed.

TALLY = 77 FISH, all fish were 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








27 MARCH 2008 (AM)






Stillhouse Lake Fishing Report by Stillhouse Lake Fishing Guide Bob Maindelle

Fished a morning and an afternoon trip today. Reports for each are posted separately.


MORNING TRIP: Fished a half-day morning trip from 7:15am to 1:45pm with Dick C. of Killeen and Joo C. of South Korea. Joo is a foreign exchange student living with a family in Salado, and Dick C. wanted to treat the young man to some good old American fishing before he heads back to Korea.

At the start of our trip, the wind was SSW at ~14 mph. This was the 3rd consecutive day where winds would hit 20+ mph from this direction. The winds stayed manageable until around 11:45, when they racheted up to 22+ and became an issue for boat control. The skies were mostly cloudy and grey the entire trip. The air temp. was 66F and the water temp ranged from 62-64F. No useful bird activity was observed the entire day. Large gulls were harassing loons over open water, but very little else was seen.

Not knowing what the wind was going to do, I decided to get out on the most exposed areas first before the wind eliminated these areas as options. We hit the stretch from Area 54 to Area 108 and vicinity, and experienced moderate action on slabs for about an hour and a half as the guys worked through the learning curve of slabbing. We left this area with over 20 fish boated, mainly small white bass. All fish were tight to the bottom in 22-26 feet.

Next, with the winds building, but still manageable, we hit Area 130 in 24-26 feet for about 45 minutes, and did very well, taking our tally up to 51 fish. Again, fish were tight to bottom, all came on slabs, and most were small whites.

At this point, Joo mentioned that his wrist was giving him some problems from the jigging motion and from reeling in fish (I told him I took that as a compliment!), so we took a ride to Area 999 and flatline trolled a bit while the fellows enjoyed a mid-morning snack. At Area 999 I kept our crankbaits down at 12 feet in 10-16 feet of water. We came up with 2 largemouth and 1 solid white bass.

Somehow a full belly made Joo’s wrist feel better, and he gave the thumbs up to going back to slabbing.

We made one final stop at Area 104, and, due to the wind, ranged wide to the east through Areas 131 and 139 at around 11:00 and proceeded to catch fish steadily for two and a half hours straight. We took our fish count from 54 up to 203 by the time we wrapped up – the fish were just incredibly hyped up. We fished in 27-34 feet, and again the fish were tight to the bottom. Fish typically hit on just the first or second lift of the rod tip after dropping to bottom. After while, as I saw Joo really getting into a rhythm and doing well, I invited him to give my tandem rig a try, and the young man just flat mastered that technique right away. He caught doubles more often than not, and for every double he brought up, Dick brought up a single. We put triples in the boat over and over again until we finally had to pack up and leave them biting. Even when the wind got ahold of us and we got pushed back, the fish hit the slabs as they strung out and were not being well presented. Joo had to get back to school, Dick had to get to work, and I had to get some charge on my batteries before my afternoon guest showed up.

A great trip with a great pair of fellows!

TALLY = 203 FISH, all fish were caught and released with the exception of 3 drum that didn’t make it after coming up off bottom too quickly.

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








24 MARCH 2008 (PM)






Stillhouse Lake Fishing Report by Central Texas Fishing Guide Bob Maindelle


Fished a morning and an evening trip today. Reports for each trip are posted separately.


Evening Trip: Fished from 4:15pm to 8:00pm. Around 2:30 today the wind shifted out of the S at 10-12 after going slack for a short period beforehand.

Given the sun and warm temperatures (air temp a high of 64F today), I decided to try some shallower areas this afternoon and did pretty well.

First stop was at Area 91. I found fish on the windward side of this feature in 16-18 feet, but most fish were suspended individually or in groups of no more than 4 fish. I caught 20 fish here including (primarily) white bass, with a number of small crappie and small largemouth bass thrown in. All of these fish came on a retrieved slab played on sonar.

I next gave flatline trolling a try N of Area 999 and did well following the contour from 12 out to 18 feet on multiple passes. This yielded 10 additional fish, including (primarily) short largemouth, as well as crappie and small white bass.

As the light began to lessen, I headed to Area 116, and found fish on sonar at the flat base of this feature to the S of the breakline. Found good sized 13″ white bass here, as well as smaller whites and suspended crappie. Added 20 fish to the count here.

At sunset, I moved down to Area 888 to see if there may be any surface activity yet. There was none, but there was ample fish activity here with schools of shad seen on sonar, and with small whites, small crappie and small largemouth all responding to the slab presentation. Finished the evening with 16 fish here, all caught in quick succession as the light failed.

TALLY = 66 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








24 MARCH 2008 (AM)






Stillhouse Lake Fishing Report by Central Texas Fishing Guide Bob Maindelle


Fished a morning and an evening trip today. Reports for each trip are posted separately.

Morning Trip: Fished from 9:00am to 1:00pm. The air temp. was 43 F and the water surface temp was 58F. I delayed the start of the trip beyond sunrise to allow for a little wind to build. Once the wind got going in a steady direction, it came ENE at around 8 mph. Any wind from the NE typically means slow fishing, and today was no exception. Although I found plenty of fish, beyond an initial, quick feed, they were tight to the bottom and difficult to coax into striking.

I located fish at 3 areas this morning: Area 135, Area 122, and Area 128 (N). At Area 135, fish were initially very active and were found in schools on the bottom and in small packs of 3-4 fish up higher in the water column. Once the burst of activity that coincided with the start of the wind died off, these fish, as well as the fish at 122 and 128, became lethargic, often barely coming off bottom, or swimming upward with or at the slab lifted high or reeled in, but with nowhere near the speed necessary to overtake the bait. Area 135 produced 15 fish, then I left to search for other active areas. Area 122 gave up 15 fish as well. A final quick-check stop at Area 128 gave up a white bass, as well.

Notable today was the number of black bass in the catch (nearly half) and only 2 of them going the 14 inch limit.

Every fish was caught on slabs ranging from 1/8 to ¾ oz. 2 pairs of white bass came on a tandem rig, at Area 122.

TALLY = 31 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 MARCH 2008 (PM)






Belton Lake Fishing Report by Belton Lake Fishing Guide Bob Maindelle

Fished two trips today, one in the morning, and one in the afternoon. The results are posted in separate reports.


Fished a Kids Fish, Too! trip with Brandon T. and Joseph H. of Killeen. We launched around 4:30pm and explored the Cowhouse Arm with disappointing results. The upper end still had a good bit of color from Tuesday’s ~3 inches of rain, from BLORA and to the west. We vertical jigged with slabs for 3 largemouth & 1 crappie out of Area 134 (Terns were pretty actively patrolling parallel to the shore here, over the 45 foot flat, but I saw little on sonar amongst them). We also managed a 3 pound blue cat out of Area 31.

We headed downlake to the Leon Arm, found clearer water and did well for the boys after locating some school whites thanks to a tip by fishing friend Rodney T.

We were able to slab up 33 white bass, 1 short hybrid, and 1 largemouth at Area 133, and then encountered light surface action right at sunset at Area 11 and were able to add 7 more fish to the count here, including 2 short hybrids.

TALLY = 47 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 MARCH 2008 (AM)






Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Report by Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide Bob Maindelle

Fished two trips today, one in the morning, and one in the afternoon. The results are posted in separate reports.

Fished from 8:15am to 12:00 noon with Don C. (grandfather), Scott S. (father), and Spencer and Austin S. (10 & 12 year old brothers). We targeted deep schools of white bass with slabs today and did well despite the fish being in a fairly non-aggressive mode all morning.

At launch time the air temp. was 54 F and the water temp. was 60-61F. The wind was light from the S at 6, increasing to 15 by 9:30, then tapering off to 8mph from 10am and for the remainder of the trip. We ran a milkrun of deepwater areas, slabbed briefly at each area to check for fish activity level, stayed if the fish were hitting, or ran elsewhere if the fish were turned off or sluggish. We got into a good bunch of fish right off the bat at Area 77. Terns were present all around this area, but dissipated after 30 minutes. We never found solid bird activity again the remainder of the trip. Our findings were as follows:

Area 77 – solid fishing on bottom

Area 78 – solid fishing on bottom

Area 54 – nothing

Area 104 – suspended single fish only

Area 77 – nothing

Area 128 – solid fishing on bottom

Area 88 – nothing on sonar

Area 129 – nothing on sonar

Area 124 – nothing

Area 125 – nothing

Area 79 – nothing

Area 122 – scattered fish on bottom

By trip’s end we’d landed 66 fish, primarily consisting of smallish white bass, with several largemouth, crappie, and drum thrown in for good measure.

TALLY = 66 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








20 MARCH 2008






Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Report by Temple Fishing Guide Bob Maindelle


Fished a “Kids Fish, Too!” trip this afternoon from 3:00pm to dusk with Bill (granddad) and kids Tanner and Skylie, both 9 years of age. At launch time the air temp. was 68F and the water surface temp was 60F.

Our trip started out predictably slow as the afternoon skies were extremely bright, and the evening feed has been regularly starting around 5pm and going to dusk. We started out flatline trolling up shallow and got 1 largemouth bass W. of Area 116, and a mixed bag of 9 fish NE of Area 999 (white bass, largemouth, crappie). These trolled fish came on 10-12′ diving crankbaits.

By 4:30p we began looking at deepwater areas known to hold fish in the afternoons. We looked at Area 100, and found a few, fairly inactive fish. Landed 1 small largemouth bass here.

Moved to the Area 54 complex and looked at several areas with sonar and found little.

Moved to Area 131 and “rode the curve” of the wax, peak, and wane of the evening feed from 5:00p to dusk. During this 2.25 hour period, the two children landed a total of 80 fish, aided only occasionally by Granddad and I. At first, only a well-placed, bottom jigged slab would be hit, then suspended fish began to present themselves. After that intense action died, we had to again focus on bottom-oriented fish, but they were a little more tolerant of an occasionally sloppily adjusted slab near bottom. Finally, just before dusk the fish fed very strongly and were found throughout the water column from 12 feet deep down to bottom (28-32 feet) and responded well to a variety of retrieves. Most fish here were “just short” white bass around 9.5 inches in length, although a few keeper whites were mixed in, as were largemouth bass and a good number of 1.25 pound drum.

TALLY = 90 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 MARCH 2008 (PM)






Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Report by Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide Bob Maindelle

Afternoon Trip: Fished with Susan (adult), and with Aspen, Genesis, and Ronnie of Harker Heights/Killeen while they enjoyed their Spring Break. As we began our trip, the winds continued out of the N. at 22mph, so slabbing out in open water was not an option due to safety considerations.

We began our trip around 2:30pm and flatline trolled to the N and E of Area 999, and then moved to and trolled to the NNW of Area 116. By the time this played out, we had boated 15 fish, including 12 largemouth, 2 crappie, and 1 white bass.

We continued to keep an eye on bird activity over open water everywhere we went, and, around 4:15pm began to see terns appear and patrol, but did not see concentrated feeding over any specific areas.

Just the fact that the birds were up and flying clued us in that the fish might again get active for a final feed before dusk. So, with the high winds subsiding, we began to make a “milk run” hitting humps and other deepwater areas looking for fish just beginning to turn on.

We found fish at both Area 77 and Area 124. The fish at Area 77 “spurted”, yielding 9 small white bass, and then shutting down. The fish at Area 77 stayed consistent and allowed us to finish out the trip with an additional 21 fish, including a drum, 4 largemouth, and 16 white bass.

The big fish of the trip was taken by Genesis C. She caught an 8.25 pound largemouth bass on a slab. This qualifies her for the Junior Angler Record for that species on Stillhouse, pending submission of appropriate documentation. This egg-laden female was safely released.

AFTERNOON TALLY = 45 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 MARCH 2008 (AM)






19 MARCH 2008

03/19/08 9:54 PM

Stillhouse Lake Fishing Report by Stillhouse Lake Fishing Guide Bob Maindelle


Fished two “Kids Fish, Too!” trips today, one from 8:15 am to 11:30 am, and the other from 2:30pm to 7:30pm.

Morning Trip: Fished with brothers Charles and Nathan Y. of Killeen. Charles is a cadet in the USMA Class of 2011 (West Point) and was home on Spring Break and brought his younger brother along for a little catch-up time.

When we got on the water the wind was out of the NW at 15mph, but proceeded to increase to 22mph, gusting to 30+ by noon. With 3 on board, it was difficult at time to run the trolling motor, maintain position, unhook fish, etc., but we managed just fine and did well on this first day of clearing weather following a day and a half of winds and rain.

The air temp. was 54 F and the water surface temp. finally breached the 60F mark.

With 2.8 inches of rain from the recent storms, Trimmier Creek was muddy and muddied the entire Cedar Gap area. We passed on that entire area and fished downlake.

Our best action came in the first hour of the trip at Area 54 and vicinity for 26 fish, and again in the last hour of the trip at Area 130 and vicinity for 17 fish. Slab spoons worked on bottom and for suspended fish did the trick.

In between these two activity peaks we attempted downrigging as an alternative to fighting the wind, but the murky, cool water just wasn’t a good fit for that approach. We landed 2 small white bass and 1 small largemouth via that approach. A white HTL spoon got a black and a white. The other white came on a Pet.

MORNING TALLY = 46 FISH, all caught and released