Fall is in the Air, Fish are on a Tear – 92 Fish

CLIENTS: This morning, I welcomed Jerry Worley, his son-in-law, AJ Shiller, AJ’s 10-year-old son, Easton, and Jerry’s brother-in-law, Todd Preiss, aboard for a morning of white bass fishing on Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir.

Also aboard conducting the research were Caroline Vanderburg, and Yessenia Edgecomb – both part of the Temple College research team weighing and measuring each fish for the study.

ABOUT THE WHITE BASS STUDY:
Through April of 2026, researchers will be measuring and weighing the white bass captured by my clients to establish a baseline of fish quality on both lakes. If you come out fishing with me to help collect these fish, you will get $50 deducted from your trip in exchange for allowing researchers to accompany your party on my boat. We have designated one sampling day per lake, per month through April of 2026. We will still be catching and releasing all fish.

REMAINING OPEN DATES FOR DISCOUNTED WHITE BASS STUDY FISHING TRIPS:

January 2026 17th Saturday – Belton – OPEN

February 2026 14th Saturday – Belton – OPEN, 21st Saturday – Stillhouse – OPEN

March 2026 11th Wednesday – Belton – OPEN, 12th Thursday – Stillhouse – OPEN

April 2026 15th Wednesday – Belton – OPEN, 16th Thursday – Stillhouse – OPEN

TODAY’S DATE: Saturday, 15 November 2025 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING: Monday, 01 December 2025 (AM or PM)

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Jerry Worley, Todd Preiss, and Easton and A.J. Shiller. Each of these fish surpassed 14″ and weighed approximately 1 1/3 pounds. All were taken on MAL Dense lures worked vertically with a “smoking” tactic.

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

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

We have had a tough time keeping the weather cool after the several very helpful cold fronts have come an gone. Each time a cold front arrives, the fishing spikes up, then that positive impact gets diluted by warming trends thereafter.

Regardless, the fishing was solid today, but there is still room for improvement, which will come as we continue to cool down.

This morning was a bit of a “one-trick-pony”. We found fish consistently, and, when we did, they cooperated well as we presented one lure one way. That was the MAL Dense (the heaviest of all the MAL family of lures) which I selected knowing we’d be fishing in deep water all morning, and that the sink rate on these lures would, over time, account for more fish in the boat.

Our fish came from between 34 and 51 feet and we always did best upon arrival, with the fish losing interest fairly quickly (something that is common with stable, warming weather). Anticipating this, then seeing it play out, I just made it a habit to move frequently — as soon as I felt the initial surge of interest was waning.

In all, we found fish in six distinct areas and put a total of 92 fish in the boat, including 4 largemouth bass up to 3.125 pounds, 2 freshwater drum, and 86 white bass, all of which were of legal (over 10″).

RESULTS: 92 fish, all caught and released

TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW TO FISH THE MAL LURE WITH A SAWTOOTH METHOD:

TUTORIAL VIDEO ON FISHING AN MAL LURE VERTICALLY USING THE “SMOKING” TACTIC:

OBSERVATIONS:

-White bass are falling into typical autumn patterns, but multi-day warmups between cold fronts tends to mute the impact of falling water temperatures.

-Gulls have shown up but are not yet helpful in finding fish.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE: Temperature profile measured on Stillhouse around 6:30A on Saturday, 15 October…

Compare to temps taken on Stillhouse Hollow around 7:10AM, Saturday, 25 October…

0 feet 76.8F
5 feet 77.0F
10 feet 77.0F
15 feet 77.0F
20 feet 77.0F
25 feet 77.0F
30 feet 77.0F
35 feet 77.6F
40 feet 77.0F
45 feet 76.8F
50 feet 76.8F
55 feet 76.8F
60 feet 76.8F
65 feet 76.7F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:55A

End Time: 11:30A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 69F

Elevation: Stillhouse is 0.80′ low with a 0.02′ fall in the last 24 hours with USACE releasing 1 CFS.

Water Surface Temp: 76.8F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: Light SW6-8 for 2.5 hours, then slowly building to SW13 by trip’s end

Sky Condition: 100% grey cloud cover for our first hour, then clearing to 20% white clouds on light blue sky

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 18% illumination.

GT = 55

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH MOST SUCCESS:

Bob Maindelle

Full-time, Professional Fishing Guide and Owner of Holding the Line Guide Service

Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide

254.368.7411 (call or text)

Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle