St. Stephen’s Sportsmen – 44 Fish
CLIENTS: On Thursday morning, December 11, I fished with first-time clients Dave Giese, Pike Pickett, and Darian Brown. The men all know one another through their affiliation with St. Stephen Catholic Church in Salado. I’d recently donated a fishing gift certificate to a fundraiser there, and Dave was the high-bidder for the trip.
TODAY’S DATE: Thursday, 11 December 2025 (AM)
NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING: Tuesday, 16 December 2025 (AM or PM)
PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Darian Brown, Pike Pickett, and David Giese, each with a pair of Stillhouse Hollow white bass. The fish on the far left being held by Darian exceeded 15″.
PHOTO CAPTION: David Giese continued our “run” of quality largemouth bass taken as unintended bycatch while fishing vertically for white bass. This happens routinely from Dec. thru Feb.
PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Pike Pickett & Darian Brown with a pair of freshwater drum (a.k.a gasper gou or just gou). As fishing for white bass in the winter requires slower, bottom-focused tactics, the catch of drum increases as lures spend more time in their “zone”.
FIND LURES HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/
WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow
SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:
For the second time this week early morning, low-light bird activity pointed in the general direction of the fish which kept up occupied and catching for the first 75 minutes following sunrise.
Fishing under the birds was most productive as we cast curl-tail grubs and worked them with a sawtooth method horizontally as these fish were in small packs of 10-15 fish each and were actively patrolling the area.
After that bird activity ended, a combination of bright sun and low winds kept the fish from staying fired up very long at each of the locations where we found them.
So, we moved regularly, enjoyed the initial surge of interest until it waned, and then moved on and repeated this process. The vertical fishing relied on the use of white, 3/4 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs to get the job done. By “tuning” my thumper to the rhythm I wanted the fellows to reel at, everyone kept a productive retrieve speed for a majority of the time.
RESULTS: 44 fish, all caught and released
TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW “SLOW SMOKE” A BLADED HAZY EYE SLAB VERTICALLY: Click here for tutorial
OBSERVATIONS:
-We saw a drastic water temperature decrease (5 degrees F) in less than a week’s time (1-5 Dec.), enhanced by lack of sunlight due to cloud cover all week. Water surface temp. now at ~60F, down from 68.5 less than a 10 days ago.
-Second occurrence of helpful bird activity this fall; about 10 gulls in one area, then about 15 gulls in another; very helpful!!
LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:
Temperature profile measured on Stillhouse around 7:00A on Thursday, 11 December …
0 feet 59.6F
5 feet 59.6F
10 feet 59.8F
15 feet 59.8F
20 feet 59.8F
25 feet 59.8F
30 feet 59.8F
35 feet 59.6F
40 feet 59.4F
45 feet 59.2F
50 feet 58.7F
55 feet 58.4F
60 feet 58.2F
65 feet 58.0F
Temperature profile measured on Stillhouse around 6:45A on Friday, 28 November …
0 feet 67.4F
5 feet 67.6F
10 feet 67.6F
15 feet 67.6F
20 feet 67.6F
25 feet 67.6F
30 feet 67.6F
35 feet 67.6F
40 feet 67.6F
45 feet 67.6F
50 feet 67.6F
55 feet 67.4F
60 feet 67.4F
65 feet 67.2F
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 7:30A
End Time: 11:50A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 39F
Elevation: Stillhouse is 0.98′ low with a -0.02′ change in the last 24 hours. USACE is releasing 1 CFS.
Water Surface Temp: 59.6F on the surface.
Wind Speed & Direction: SW4-7
Sky Condition: No cloud cover on a light blue sky
Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 72% illumination.
GT = N/A
Wx SNAPSHOT: N/A
AREAS FISHED WITH MOST SUCCESS:
Area 260 – 13 fish on slow-smoked slabs & curl-tail grubs
Area vic SH0010G – 12 fish on slow-smoked slab & curl-tail grubs
Area vic 2269 – 9 fish on slow-smoked slabs
Area vic 2098 -7 fish on slow-smoked slabs
Area vic 1148 – 2 fish on slow-smoked slabs
Area vic 1146 – 1 fish on slow-smoked slabs
Bob Maindelle
Full-time, Professional Fishing Guide and Owner of Holding the Line Guide Service
Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide