Fishing Report for Lake Stillhouse by Lake Stillhouse Fishing Guide Bob Maindelle
Fished half day trips today in both the morning and the evening. The morning trip was on Belton Lake, the evening trip was on Stillhouse Hollow. Reports for each trip appear separately in the Fishing Reports Board.
Fished a half day evening trip on Stillhouse Hollow with restaurant owners Rodney and Sharon R. of Salado. This couple had moved to the area a short time ago and simply wanted to understand the lake and the fishery that lie in their backyard, and to unplug from the office, phone, and computer for a while. They had some infrequent saltwater fishing experiences in the Laguna Madre, and some live shad fishing experience in freshwater, and so came ready to brush off the cobwebs and learn some new techniques.
We launched at 3:15pm after I reviewed with them the essentials of vertical jigging with slab spoons at dockside. The air temp was a cool feeling 72 F due to the damp breeze, and the water surface temp was at 68F. We hit an area which really wasn’t showing a whole lot on sonar, but it gave them a chance to go through the vertical jigging process for real one time before we really got on fish. Once it appeared that they got the hang of things, we moved and looked for schools of whites on humps.
The wind posed a real challenge today. It blew 22mph+ with gusts up to 26. I chose to backtroll with the outboard instead of pull with the trolling motor, and that worked very well. We found ample fish strung between Area 145 and Area 77 and stayed on these fish for nearly 3 hours, bringing 68 fish over the gunnels. These fish consisted primarily of smallish keeper whites, with 3 going over 13.5 inches, as well as some pound-and-a-quarter drum and some smallish largemouth bass.
By 6:15 or so, the bite had died down here and we moved uplake to Area 100. Due to the heavy winds, there was noticeable siltiness to the water which never helps things. Although we marked fish on sonar in the right places, we only came up with a single largemouth landed here, and one missed at boatside.
By 6:45, the couple had totally relaxed and unwound and were just enjoying the change of pace. Sharon got the longing to see their baby boy before the sitter put him to bed, and so, with the sun getting low, the temperature dropping a bit, and 69 fish boated, they decided to call it a very good day, and we headed back to the dock, all happy campers.
TALLY = 69 FISH
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