Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide Report – 16 Feb. 2009 – 115 Fish






I fished a half-day morning trip today on Stillhouse. This was our most productive trip of the winter thus far. The fish were the most aggressive I’ve seen them since late November and early December. The warming water and overcast conditions combined for some great white bass action.


SCREEN SHOT OF THE VERY AGGRESSIVE, SUSPENDED FISH ENCOUNTERED ALL MORNING


Start Time: 7:00a

End Time: 11:30a


Air Temp: 47F at trip’s start. Temps peaked at only 53F in the afternoon due to heavy grey skies all day.


Water Surface Temp: ~56.6F

Wind: Winds were from the ESE at 8-9 the entire trip.

Skies: Heavy grey clouds with occasional sprinkles and light rain fell the entire trip.

We got on the water pre-dawn today and gave flat-line trolling a try with little for show for it.

As the skies brightened around (obscured) sunrise, about 8 gulls and 2-3 terns began feeding over “The Trough”. I moved up into them and found whites from top to bottom, and both in the trough and to the shallow sides of it. The whites on topwater appeared as individuals or in packs of 2-3 and were pursuing small shad to the surface, and only briefly appeared. I chose a blade bait in 3/8 oz. white color to span the water column, counting down the bait if I saw topwater, and otherwise fishing it lift-drop style when fish weren’t showing. The birds became more numerous and covered a large area as the action peaked. Everything was over by 8:10am, and by that time we’d managed 24 fish, all solid, healthy keeper whites, all going 11.5 to 12.5 inches.

I again gave flatline trolling a try, and again scratched on that effort.

I headed out to check for bird activity and found solid gull, tern, and loon presence at betwee Areas 89 and 143, at Area 140, at Area 373, and at the Area 370, 371, and 371 complex. By far the heaviest concentration of fish was at this last area, although these fish were a bit deeper and a tad less aggressive than the shallower fish were. The orientation of the fish was the same at each of these places — very aggressively feeding white bass found both on bottom and suspended within 12 feet of the bottom. The fish very aggressively struck at my slab, and were willing to chase quickly after it as I tried easing tactics and smoking tactics. Off these areas we put an additional 91 fish in the boat including 2 largemouth bass, 1 drum, 1 channel cat, and 87 white bass, of which only 1 was short with the rest averaging right at 11.5 inches, and with 2 going exactly 14.5 inches. All fish came off the TNT 180 slab in 3/8 oz. for the shallower fish (23-31 feet) and in 3/4 oz. for the fish encountered at Areas 370, 371, and 371 (36-43 feet). With the fish as aggressive as they were, I found the larger slab helped avoid deep hooking and also got to depth quicker to maximize the catch while the bite was hot.


TALLY = 115 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