Stillhouse Fishing Guide Report – 19 Feb 2009 – New Lake Record – 54 FISH






I fished a half-day morning trip today on Stillhouse. There was a heavy feed at first light, followed by a mid-morning lull, with some wind driven shallow water action at mid-day. Read further concerning the new lake record…



PENDING STILLHOUSE LAKE RECORD FLY-CAUGHT WHITE BASS, 1.25 LBS., 14.25 INCHES


Start Time: 6:55a

End Time: 12:50p


Air Temp: 43F at trip’s start. Temps peaked at only 53F in the afternoon due to a still N. breeze on the heels of a cold front’s passage.


Water Surface Temp: ~56.1 to 57.6F

Wind: Winds were from the N at 8 at first light, building to around 18mph by trip’s end.

Skies: Clear bright skies the entire trip.

Got on the water pre-dawn today and noted large gulls patrolling the stretch from Area 96 to Area 117. I stayed as long as the gulls were looking hard, and they lead the way to fish. I fished at first with a blade bait to test the fish activity level and got a hard thump on my first cast letting me know the game was on. Due to the fact that I had a speaking appearance with the Austin Fly Fishers club in the evening, I went ahead and brought and used my flyrod even though it’s a little early in the season for fish to be consistently shallow. I found willing fish in 9-13 feet of water and so worked them over with the T-8 shooting head rig and a crease fly for a catch of 8 additional fish. The second fish I caught went 14.25 inches and 1.25 pounds, thus beating the former fly record of 1.09 pounds. Two other boat anglers were kind enough to help with the witnessing process on the spot, thus allowing the fish to be released in excellent condition. This fish has been submitted to TPWD as the new lake record – we should hear back within 10 days.

By now, the gulls had moved over a bit deeper water (18′), so I put away the flyrod and took up the slab rod and worked the fish over staying under birds for about another hour, taking an additional 25 fish.

By 9:30 or so the sun was up and bright and the shallow bite died out. I moved to check a few deepwater haunts and found fish very reluctant. In 4 stops I only caught 2 suspended fish on a slow smoking retrieve, both from Area 370.

The wind had now built and was steady at 16+ mph, so, I headed to some windward shallower features and was able to flatline troll up a bunch of fish holding on a breakline from 10 to 16 feet at Area 374. I made many passes here taking 1 or 2 fish each pass before ending the day at around 12:50p with a tally of 54 fish landed including 52 white bass (all legal) and 2 largemouth (both short).


TALLY = 54 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