Fished Stillhouse today and did a little scouting in advance of a trip booked for tomorrow to be attended by a grandfather and his 6 and 13 year old grandsons.

Start Time: 6:35a

End Time: 12:45p


Air Temp: 57F at sunrise (obscured), warming only into the low 60’s due to a gentle north breeze and cloud cover.

Water Temp: 61-62F


Wind: Winds were light and variable at sunrise, and by 8:30a began to push out of the north to no more than 9-10 mph all day.

Skies: Skies were leaden grey all day with occasional thinning, but no breaks. A light drizzle fell most of the morning.

With several trips booked late this month and into December, I looked around today during periods of activity for birds and bait so as not to get too dependent on the one area I’ve fished heavily of late.

I started the morning between Area 112 and Area 257 to establish if the fish were going to feed this morning and, if so, to what degree, given the high level low pressure system that’s been giving us some very variable weather. In summary, I landed 25 fish in less than 45 minutes here, including 2 largemouth, 1 drum, and 22 whites ranging from 9 to 14 inches, all on a bladebait.

I left these fish while they were still biting to seek out other concentrations of active fish. I checked Area 123 without result.

I then headed to Area 320 and tried a flatline troll in order to cover a lot of water quickly trying to find active fish. I hooked and landed a 6 pound longnose gar here, as well as a small largemouth, but no white bass.

I moved on to troll from Area 317, through Area 322, and to Area 321, all without result.

I moved back to Area 317 and picked up 2 largemouth, 2 drum, and 15 white bass here on the smaller 1/4 oz. bladebait.

After this played out, I moved to Area 323 because of its similarity to Area 317. I fished it the same way but only came up with 1 white bass, with 2 more missed at boatside.

A little wrinkle then came through in the weather, and it suddenly got cooler and rained for a while. I resumed trolling and picked up 2 small crappie over open water at Area 318.

I wrapped up the trip at Area 319 after seeing a few terns working over large areas of water here, but doing it consistently. I flatline trolled for 3 more whites, all right at 11 inches, and then called it a day as the winds went slack and the birds lighted on the surface.

TALLY = 50 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