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








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