Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Report by Temple Fishing Guide Bob Maindelle

Fished a half-day “Kids Fish, Too!” trip today from 7:45a to 12:05p with Wes P. of Harker Heights and Ryan F. of Killeen. These two young men were on their Spring Break from Killeen ISD. The air temp. at launch time was 69F and the water temp. was 59F. The skies were leaden grey with heavy clouds and winds 16-20mph from the S with higher gusts starting around 11:30a.

As we began our trip we immediately noted about 8 large herring gulls patrolling a 100 yard stretch of shoreline in the vicinity of Area 93 that was being pounded by the high wind. We got in as close as we dared and trolled flatline crankbaits behind the boat but failed to contact fish. Sonar really didn’t reveal much in the way of gamefish, but did show abundant shad. We made 3 passes and moved on.

We tried flatline trolling to the W and N of Area 116 and picked up 3 short largemouth bass. At this time we noted some sparse tern activity over open water.

Upon further investigation, we found fish with sonar in the vicinity of Area 54, and northward, half way to Area 108. For the next 2+ hours we “rocked” back and forth over this entire area and stayed steadily on the fish. By the time the fish started to wane, we’d put 99 more fish in the boat including primarily 10-11 inch whites with some larger and some smaller, but with none exceeding 13.5 inches. We also landed 2 drum, and 1 largemouth bass. All of these fish were caught on slabs. The boys followed directions wonderfully, and that, coupled with (literally) hyper-active fish spurred on by the wind and changing weather, made for a great time on the water.

The boys remembered their “Yes, sir’s” and “thank you’s” without mom or dad there to prompt them, and handled themselves very well on an unsteady platform in the wind today. They were a joy to have aboard.

TALLY = 102 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

Stillhouse Fishing Report by Temple Fishing Guide Bob Maindelle

Fished a half-day evening trip today from 3:30pm to 7:20pm. At launch time the air temp. was 74F and the water surface temp. was 58-59F. Winds were from the NE all day, and were at 9-11mph this afternoon.

After launching, I noted 5-6 large herring gulls resting on the surface, but all near one another. I slowly motored around them and found some fish showing on sonar to the NE of Point 777 along the drop from 25′ down into deeper water. Put 6 fish in the boat here including 3 largemouth, 2 whites, and 1 sunfish. All but the sunfish were suspended, and no schooled fish appeared here on bottom. I continued the search.

Went to Area 128 and noted an irregular bottom reading along the 31′ breakline into deeper water. I knew if they were fish, they were tight to bottom and that there was a bunch of them there. Sure enough, I dropped a slab down and they rose up to meet it. About half of these fish were nice, beefy 13-15 inch whites. One went 16.25″, the largest I’ve caught in a while. I caught 20 fish here just as quickly as I could unhook them and drop the slab back down. Since the fish were definitely turned on, I decided to seek out other areas during this window of activity so see where else fish were holding. So, I left those fish biting to find other productive areas.

Went to Area 129 and clearly saw fish on bottom and suspended, as well as shad. Again, I dropped down and the fish got all over the slab in 34-37 feet. These fish were smaller, and, after an initial spurt of interest, their interest declined. I dropped back to a smaller slab than the 3/4oz. I had on to catch the last 6 here. Once I landed 20 fish here (18 whites and 2 drum), I decided to move to continue to find other productive areas.

Went due S. of Area 126 in 43 feet of water after seeing some flying terns and gulls look “fishy” here. Found small, suspended fish here only. Got 7 fishing including 5 white bass and 2 small largemouth bass.

Again moved, this time NE of Area 126 in 25-27 feet of water after seeing some flying terns and gulls look “fishy” here. Got 3 small largemouth bass off bottom and decided to leave the area after failing to locate shad or schooled white bass on bottom.

My final stop of the evening was at Area 124. Fish were congregated on the NE (upwind) side of this feature at 25-27 feet deep. Fish were tight to bottom and had to be “coaxed” a bit to hit a small slab. Wound up with 8 white bass, 1 drum, and 1 largemouth here.

By 7:10, just prior to sunset, the action died off.

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

Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Report by Fort Hood Fishing Guide Bob Maindelle

Fished from 7:45a to 1:45pm today. Temperature at start of trip was 55F, climbing to 84F by mid afternoon. Water surface temp was 57F. Winds were from the SSW at 7-8 pre-dawn, and increased to a peak of around 25mph by 12:30pm, and then slowly decreased through sunset. Skies were heavy grey and overcast through around 11:15am, and then began to lighten to fair.

Things got off to a slow start this morning, with only 8 fish boated by 10:15am. These fish all came on a flatline troll E & W of Area 888 and N of Area 999. All of these fish were smallish and included 4 largemouth and 4 white bass.

Around 10:15 the terns which had been patrolling widely began to coalesce over specific areas indicating the whites were beginning to feed there. I hit a number of areas while the fish were active in order to determine which areas were holding fish and which were not. The results of this milk run were as follows; all fish were taken on a slab:

Area 54 (and to the NE) = 80 fish at 24-28 feet, vast majority caught from suspended schools; 79 whites, 1 largemouth. Got 5 sets of doubles on tandem rig.

Area 104 = 20 fish at 27-33 feet, vast majority caught from suspended schools; 18 whites, 2 largemouth

Area 34 = 4 fish at 24-27 feet, 2 whites, 1 sunfish, 1 largemouth; all fish came off bottom; couldn’t really fish this area well due to heavy winds crashing into it. Sonar showed more fish there, but I couldn’t get them

Area 120 = 20 fish at 24-26 feet, 19 whites, 1 drum; all fish were tight to bottom and were caught by “teasing” fish off bottom, one at a time

Area 100 = 10 fish at 21-25 feet, 7 whites, 2 largemouth, 1 sunfish; all fish were tight to bottom and were caught by “teasing” fish off bottom, one at a time

By 1:30 the action had just about ground to a halt.

TALLY = 142 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

Stillhouse Lake Fishing Report by Killeen Fishing Guide Bob Maindelle

Fished a half day morning trip today with Don and Paul C. We fished from 7:45a to 1:00p. At launch time the air temp. was 46F with a heavy fog blanketing the lake. The water surface temp. was 55F. Winds were light and variable for about the first hour, and then turned SW, and remained light from that direction for the duration of the trip, pushing from 3-6 mph.

We navigated through the fog to our first stop of the day by way of GPS. We flatline trolled crankbaits at Area 116, and well to the W and N of it, picking up 6 short largemouth in about an hour’s time.

Around 9am, the fog began to thin, and the birds began to work tentatively. We got on and stayed on fish for the next 2 hours, with the action centered around Area 106. Terns worked this entire area over pretty well and gave good indication of what was happening. The action began deep, moved shallower, and ended deep. By around 11:15 this action had played out. We had boated 63 fish during our stay here, all on slabs. Our catch included several drum, a crappie, a few largemouth, and white bass of all sizes, with none exceeding 15 inches. Most came off bottom, some out of suspended schools.

As the breeze slacked off and the sun got bright due to the absence of fog, we headed to some deeper water locations. Areas 124 & 125 yielded nothing on a quick sonar sweep so we headed deeper yet to Area 122.

At Area 122, we dropped our slabs and immediately came up with 3 fish, one of which was a drum which coughed up a threadfin shad which clued us in to increasing our slab size to match the forage there. Don and Paul proceeded to catch 17 more fish in approximately 45 minutes spent there, including a mix of whites, blacks, and drum.

By 12:45, the lake was flat calm, the sun was bright, and the fish were done. We headed in having enjoyed one another’s company for a few hours, and with some good memories made in the outdoors for these two hard-working fellows.

TALLY = 87 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

Lake Stillhouse Fishing Report by Stillhouse Lake Fishing Guide Bob Maindelle

Fished from 3p to sunset this evening. At launch time the air temp. was 60 degrees and the water surface temp was 55 to 56 degrees. The skies were clear in the morning, turning fair by mid day. The morning low was 29 degrees and a light N breeze blew until around 11am, then went calm, then turned S for the remainder of the day. By around 3:45 the wind began pushing hard enough to stir the fish and they stayed turned on until sunset.

I tried several new areas today and briefly checked some very reliable areas in advance of a ½ day guided trip on 10 March.

My first stop was a result of some frisky tern activity over open water. SW of Area 79, on the N. wall of the channel as it rises from 80 to 60 feet, there were some scattered whites and blacks ghosting abundant schools of shad. I turned up the sensitivity on sonar to get a good look at what was what, and could make out individual fish, suspended in 22 to 40 feet. I managed a single white and a single black and moved (as did the terns).

Next stop was to see if Area 122 was still holding solid fish. It was … I got 6 fish immediately off bottom and left that area alone for Monday’s trip.

Next stop was at the base of the slope at Area 126 which was being hit directly by the wind. That yielded 4 suspended whites and 2 suspended blacks, but nothing on bottom indicating fish were holding in this area.

Checked out some unproductive tern activity on the shallow flat SE of Area 79…birds were just flying from loon to loon and picking shad as they patrolled … nothing driven by white bass.

Next stop was at Area 125 topping out at 24 feet. I fished the S facing edge of this feature which was receiving the wind action. Did pretty well here and all fish came off bottom. Took the tally from 14 to 26 with 12 fish caught here in about 30 minutes, including 3 blacks (2 keepers).

Final stop came at Area 124, also topping out at 24-25′. Again, I fished the S facing edge of this feature which was receiving the wind action. Got 13 fish here in about 20 minutes, then, at sunset , everything stopped. The fish here included 3 healthy crappie, 1 drum, a small black bass, and 7 whites. All fish came off bottom. The last fish of the day is a pending new lake record for the “Warmouth Sunfish”. This fish was 7.0 inches long and weighed 0.25 pounds Thanks to Chuck P. and his son Jason for being the weigher and the witness for the application form!!

All fish caught today were caught by slab.

TALLY = 39 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

Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Report by Temple Fishing Guide Bob Maindelle

Fished a half day morning trip this morning from 6:45 to 11:05. This trip was timed to be just in advance of the wet cold front that moved into the area later in the day, and the rain and sharp temperature drop that accompanied it. Air temperature at launch time was 46F and the water surface temperature was 56F. Winds were from the NNE at 8-10 with a very light drizzle ensuing in the last hour of the trip. Skies were leaden gray the entire time.

With the wind already blowing before dawn, the birds went right to work this morning.

I flatline trolled the Area 123 flat with a pair of crankbaits after seeing gulls and terns looking this area over tentatively. I only caught one 10 inch white bass here on the north lip of the flat adjacent to the channel.

I moved on downlake continuing to search for bird activity. In the Area 89 & 54 vicinity, plenty of terns were dipping and were clearly on fish. This let me know that the fish had not yet been negatively impacted by the incoming front – a great confidence booster! Put 24 fish in the boat on a slab/teaser combination including a 50 / 50 mix of short and legal whites (1 double), as well as a 3 pound largemouth and a 2 pound drum. This was in 25-27 feet of water.

With the birds still active, I went ahead and moved looking for more bird activity and to check activity on other than this consistently-producing area.

I found fish at Area 77 in 25-27 feet. No birds were present at the time, and the sonar returns were so-so, but shad were there, so I went ahead and tried it. As soon as the slab went down, the fish lifted off the bottom and cooperated nicely. After 10-15 minutes terns showed up and fed in my vicinity, as well as in a 90 degree arc extending 80 yards out from the boat from NW to NE. I put an addition 14 whites and another 3 pound black bass in the boat here and again moved to find active fish elsewhere (catch here included 2 sets of doubles).

I found fish at Area 120. Same setup as at Area 77. I was in 24 feet of water; no birds were present at the time, and the sonar returns were so-so, but shad were there, so I went ahead and tried it. As soon as the slab went down, the fish lifted off the bottom and cooperated nicely. I spent 25 minutes here and put an addition 15 whites in the boat here and again moved to find active fish elsewhere. 13 of these whites were short.

My final stop of the day was at Area 122; I saw good bird activity here and sonar showed strong shad and gamefish echos. The area is generally 36-38 feet deep, but there is a small knob that tops out at 34 feet. The knob held fish on bottom, otherwise all the other fish were up and suspended and feeding heavily on small threadfin shad (numerous fish disgorged these shad as I landed them). For this situation, I put away the tandem rig and went with a single, heavier slab to get it down quickly given the increased depth here. This area produced 45 fish including about 15 short largemouth bass. The white bass were split 50 / 50 between legals and shorts.

By 11am, the wind was increasing and the temperature began to decline quickly. Rain also began to increase. In conjunction with this noticeable weather change, the fish bunched up tighter and became very reluctant to strike any longer. With the count at 100 fish and the weather deteriorating, it was back to the ramp for lunch.

TALLY = 100 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

04 MARCH 2008

03/04/08 9:43 PM

Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Report by Harker Heights Fishing Guide Bob Maindelle

Fished a 3 hour morning trip from 7 am to 10 am. This was the first day of clearing weather following the passage of a cold, wet, windy front which came in just after midnight on 03 March. This front dropped the surface temp down to 56 (was up to 59), and, with clear skies this morning, pushed the air temp down to 32, with a light frost in low areas. The wind was light and variable at sunrise, then pushed from the WNW at around 5-8 shortly after sunrise.

Fishing was a bit slow at first as the wind took time to build. I fished at the 22-26 foot deep ledge at Area 121 since the wind was coming in perpendicular to that feature. By 8:30, I had boated 10 fish, including 4 keeper largemouth and 6 keeper white bass. 2 of these largemouth were jigged off bottom, all others were suspended either singly or in small schools.

At exactly 8:36am, a flock of terns spotted shad pushed to the surface by feeding whites and began to feed heavily over 26-28 feet of water in the vicinity of Area 108. I got right on top of these fish and over the next 90 minutes boated 42 more fish including 41 white bass and 1 drum. More fish were seen on sonar as suspended in schools than were seen belly to the bottom, and working a tandem rig through these suspended schools was the key to success. Of the fish caught here, two came in the form of a double, and the breakdown on keepers/shorts was about 3 to 1.

Tern activity was also observed at Area 54, north and east of Area 120, and north and west of Area 72.

TALLY = 52 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

Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Report by Killeen Fishing Guide Bob Maindelle

Fished a half day morning trip this morning from 7a to Noon. At launch time the air temperature was a balmy 68 degrees and the water surface temperature was 59F. The winds were light and variable with both slick and slightly ‘ruffled’ water appearing over the surface. There was a low, thin, grey cloud deck that cut the sun and gave the sky a gray cast.

Things started out pretty slow until around 9a when a sustained, albeit light wind began to push from the SSW. Although that breeze never exceeded 8mph, it also never fell below 3mph, and was enough to slowly put the fish into a feed.

The peak activity today came from 9:15 to 9:45p, but fish remained moderately active until noon. During the peak fish appeared suspended and on bottom, with both being active. After the peak, the fish on bottom remained biting, whereas the number of suspended fish decreased, and those fish still suspended were reluctant to hit.

All action came on a slab; at times a teaser was used resulting in two sets of doubles, and several caught on the teaser.

The action during the peak came in 26-28 feet; after things fell off, active fish were found slightly deeper in 28-30 feet.

Areas yielding fish today included Area 116 which gave up 8 fish prior to the wind pushing, Areas 55 and 103 gave up the majority of the fish with 60 coming out of that area, including two 3 pound largemouth, two smaller keeper largemouth, and 56 whites of mixed sizes with none exceeding 14 inches.

Finally, Area 120 showed good bird activity. A quick stop there revealed whites on bottom, verified with a catch. I left those for a future trip and headed on home.

There was not an abundance of bird activity, but the activity that was present was helpful in locating active fish.

TALLY = 69 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