Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide Report – 16 March 2009 – 87 Fish






Fished a half-day morning trip with 3 young men from Nolanville — Cody, age 14, Michael, age 14, and Dylan, age 7. This was a birthday gift from Grandpa Dave who lives in Hawaii.

DYLAN, THE LITTLEST KID WITH THE BIGGEST FISH!!

CODY THE BIRTHDAY BOY WITH A JUMBO WHITE BASS.


MICHAEL WITH THE LARGEST OF THE WHITE BASS HE CAUGHT.

Start Time: 7:30a (with DST now in effect)


End Time: 11:50a


Air Temp: 48F at trip’s start warming to ~80F by day’s end.


Water Surface Temp: ~57F

Wind: Winds were light and variable during the morning hours.

Skies: Skies were clear and bright after some early morning patch fog burned off.

We started off with a little flatline trolling to get a feel for the fish, the water, the bait, etc. This was my first time back on Stillhouse following last week’s rains and cold snap. The water is not at all dingy, but does have some flotsam. The trolling gave up 4 white bass and 2 largemouth, including a 3.25 pound fish.

As the fog began to lift, we headed to the deepwaters between Area 102 and 107. Birds were searching and both bait and gamefish appeared scattered throughout this area. We ran downriggers hoping to both catch fish and to find large congregations of fish which we could instead jig for. We managed 9 more fish including 2 largemouth and 7 whites on the downriggers and then located a large group of fairly deep white bass holding fast on a breakline in 29-36 feet. We buoyed these fish around 9:30a, sent 4 slabs down, and caught fish steadily via a smoking retrieve and a straight jigging retrieve for the next 2 hours and 10 minutes. Things started strong, stayed moderate for a long while, and then tapered off at the end. We caught all the jigged fish on the TNT 180 slabs in 3/8 oz.

We were quite fortunate to find these densely schooled fish, and to find them staying put as long as they did, as typically bright sun and calm winds can lead to tough fishing.

By noon we were back at the dock, high-fiving, taking photos, and telling fish stories to dad. A great day on the water with 3 enthusiastic young fellows!!


TALLY = 87 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








Lake Georgetown Fishing Guide Report – 16 March 2009 – 22 Fish






Fished a scouting trip on Lake Georgetown in advance of a father/son outing scheduled for this coming Thursday. After fishing G’town, I opted to run that trip on Stillhouse instead. G’town is about 18 feet low and there was a lot of recreational traffic on it. I fished today with Stephen F. Austin college student Zach B. of Georgetown. We met at the Central Texas Boat Show in January and planned this trip then. He was going to show me a bit about largemouth fishing on G’Town, and I was going to show him my electronic sight fishing technique.


Start Time:4:00p


End Time: 8:00p


Air Temp: 80F at trip’s start, cooling slightly by day’s end.


Water Surface Temp: ~57F

Wind: Winds were flat calm.

Skies: Skies were clear and bright.

We started off with a little downrigging to get a feel for the fish, the water, the bait, etc. We contacted fish at Area 398 and landed a small white bass there and moved on to continue to try to find fish holding waters.

Our next success came at Area 394. We saw a single gull patrolling over this area acting reluctant to leave and, upon drawing closer, found occasional whites popping shad on the surface. We picked up 4 whites here on the downrigger and Zach picked one off on top with a bladebait.

We continued searching and saw good sonar returns at Area 396. This was fairly shallow and with an undulating bottom, so we hit it with bladebaits and managed 6 more white bass here.

We then headed upriver and again saw a few birds working over scattered fish driving shad to the surface. We worked over a fairly expansive area and managed 8 more whites, all on fancast bladebaits.

Once the river action died, we headed back to the main lake and checked out the drop at Area 397. I teased up 1 white crappie here on a slab.

We finished up the night working along the bank at Area 404 and managed 3 whites and 2 largemouth. All but one fish came on the bladebaits; that one largemouth came on Zach’s Carolina rig.


TALLY = 22 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