Between a Rock and a Hard Place – 18 Fish

CLIENTS: On Saturday morning, October 31, I welcomed aboard Dr. Jordan Ilse and his two boys, Greyson (14) and Evan (11) for a “Kids Fish, Too!” trip just for the boys in celebration of their recent birthdays. Jordan is a dermatologist and the boys are working their way through school, where they are both involved in sports.

ABOUT “KIDS FISH, TOO!” TRIPS:  Kids Fish, Too! trips are intended just for the kids. They are considerably less expensive than standard trips ($215 for up to 2 kids vs. $315 for up to 2 adults; and more can be added), and typically go a maximum of 3.5 hours versus 4-plus hours for standard trips.  On these trips, licensed adults who desire to do so often help me help the kids be successful by baiting hooks, untangling lines, resetting our downrigger spreads, etc. so the kids’ efforts are maximized, but, the adults do not fish.

TODAY’S DATE: 31 October 2026 (AM)


NEXT OPEN MORNING DATES: 24, 30 Nov. & 2-4 Dec. 2026

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Evan, Jordan, and Greyson Ilse with a few of the 18 fish they landed on a foggy, calm morning on Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

We got stuck between a rock and a hard place today. Lake Belton has been producing well but, between weekend traffic and tournaments it is reliably “zoo-like” on the weekends. Stillhouse is much more enjoyable to fish at these times, but, unfortunately it has just not really turned on well. Add to this a dose of light fog and glassy-calm conditions, and the Ilse boys faced an uphill battle this morning.

They persisted, however, and their technique stayed solid for the entire trip of 3.5 hours.

During this time, we hit 6 areas, finding fish at 4 of them. What I initially saw at these areas which did produce was encouraging — multiple schools, each with 30-50 fish moving along the bottom at a fair pace. However, try as we might, we just could not get these fish to fire up and stay fired up.

Typically, just after arriving at one of these areas, the boys’ efforts and the splasher would draw fish in and the boys would patiently wait until the lead fish in a school was within 2 feet of their lure’s position on bottom, then, they’d spring their MAL Dense lure up off the bottom and start cranking it toward the surface attempting to provoke a follow and a strike. This would work for a fish, maybe two, for the first handful of schools which came by, then, all other individuals in schools which came by after that would largely ignore the boys’ offerings.

So it went for the entire morning. No change in the fog or calm winds, and no change in the fishes’ behavior. I would normally extend the trip on these shorter “Kids Fish, Too!” trips with older kids aboard so long as they are staying engaged, but, football called and one of the boys had to be back over in Belton for a game, so, I had to get the crew to the dock right at 11:15AM – something we didn’t initially plan on since the crew booked the trip well before the football schedule was known.

One silver lining to Stillhouse is the quality of fish there. 100% of our fish were legal this morning, with most exceeding 13″, whereas smaller fish have been the rule thus far this fall at Lake Belton.

Our third significant cold front is due in during the overnight hours on Monday, 02 Nov. This should provide a much needed improvement, as the impacts of the last cold front which came in on 16 Oct. have largely been diluted by the slow warmup we encountered thereafter.

RESULTS: 18 fish, all caught and released

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

FIND LURES HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/

SEE THE “SMOKING TACTIC” TUTORIAL HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3FMEQHOMQ

OBSERVATIONS:
-Stillhouse has yet to show the greatly enhanced fishing observed on Lake Belton since the 01 and 16 Oct. cold fronts began pushing water temperatures downward. It often amazes me how two lakes so similar in appearance and bottom makeup can fish so differently at times.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE: Not measured.

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Area SH0301G – 4 fish on smoked MAL Dense Lure

Area SH0058C- 2 fish on smoked MAL Dense Lure