Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide Report – 20 April 2009 – 25 Fish






I fished today with Ben W. of Taylor, TX, and his brother-in-law, Jeff, who is on active duty with the Air Force in San Antonio.

Ben contacted me about 3 weeks ago and was very anxious to learn about largemouth bass fishing with artificial lures. Up to this point he’d struggled to put all the pieces together and had mainly dead bait fished with closed-face equipment.

BEN W. CAUGHT HIS FIRST LARGEMOUTH EVER ON THIS “LEARN TO FISH FOR LARGEMOUTH” TRIP


Start Time: 6:45a


End Time: 1:15p

Air Temp: 51F at trip’s start.


Water Surface Temp: ~65.1F

Wind: Winds were variable in speed from NW to NNW at 2-7 the entire trip.

Skies: Skies were clear blue all day.

Our agreed upon objective for this trip was to give Ben some skills in both fish location and lure presentation so he could take these skills and do better than ever before on his home lake (Granger).

With this in mind I started off by completely explaining the concept of sonar and sonar interpretation. We combined this with terrain association so he could draw parallels between what he saw on the shore and what he saw on sonar.

We next sought out white bass so he could observe these fish on sonar responding to slabs directly beneath the boat. While on these fish, Ben learned to cast a spinning rod and to work a slab spoon effectively with that rod. We hung around Areas 103 and 108, as well at Area 418 and found very sluggish fish, as you’d expect with high pressure nearly completely built in and the winds calming down. Regardless, we were able to pick up 8 average white bass – enough for Ben to get the hang of keeping the lure on sonar and working it effectively both in front of bottom-hugging fish and suspended fish.

Next, we took up the task of largemouth bass fishing. We started with a very basic jigworm setup and hit a number of points including Areas 420, 421, 422, 246 to 423, and Areas 424 to 425. Every single one of this areas produced fish for us.

At first the jigging technique I instructed Ben in was awkward, but, as I gave him additional pointers to help him refine his technique, he got more fluid and natural in his presentation, and began catching fish, including the first largemouth bass of his life, followed by several more. Jeff, a bit more experienced with spinning gear, did very well.

By trip’s end, with only Ben and Jeff fishing, the two put 17 largemouth in the boat and had several more missed strikes and hooked fish get off at boatside when their jumps and headshakes went uncontrolled, including, unfortunately, the largest fish we raised all day — one I estimated at around 4 pounds … at least we got to see it!! Most fish were smallish, but the sheer number of them gave ample opportunity for someone new to this to feel the strike, to set the hook, to play the fish, etc.

Ben was excited at the end of the trip to put these new lessons learned to work for him, and I was excited for him. An enthusiastic learner is a real motivator for me, and Ben was just that … eager and appreciative.


TALLY = 25 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