WHO I FISHED WITH: This past Tuesday evening, November 20th, I fished with Mr. Jim Stoa from the Houston area, accompanied by his granddaughter, Brianne Padilla from McAllen, TX, and Matthew Morrow from Arizona. The family converged on central Texas for the Thanksgiving holiday spent with relatives living near Belton.
Because Brianne did not have a lot of prior fishing experience, her mom thought it best to shorten the trip from the normal 4 hours, especially given the cool weather. So, we fished from around 3:00pm until dark, around 5:25pm.
Brianne Padilla of McAllen, TX, (right), her grandfather, Jim Stoa of Houston, and Matthew Morrow of Arizona all on an afternoon family outing on Stillhouse Hollow.
Brianne landed the biggest fish of the trip. This hard-fighting freshwater drum weighed in at 5 3/8 pounds.
WHAT WE FISHED FOR: This was a multi-species trip focused on white bass.
WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow
WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday evening, November 20, 2018
HOW WE FISHED: The fish did not really perk up this afternoon as we struggled with cloudless, bright skies and a lack of breeze. All of the fish we caught were taken either out of suspended schools of fish over deep water which responded to thumping, or came from smaller packs of a handful of fish per pack up in shallower water towards sunset. We used a slower cadence for smoking with slabs the entire trip.
OBSERVATIONS: No helpful bird action this evening thanks to near-calm winds and bright skies.
Thermal profile:
0 feet 57.5
5 feet 57.5
10 feet 57.6
15 feet 57.6
20 feet 57.6
25 feet 57.6
30 feet 57.6
35 feet 57.6
40 feet 57.6
45 feet 57.6
50 feet 57.6
55 feet 57.2
TALLY: 28 fish, all caught and released
TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:
Start Time: 3:00 pm
End Time: 5:25pm
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 60F
Water Surface Temp: 58.3F
Wind Speed & Direction: <NNE 5
Sky Conditions: No cloud cover all day today
Water Level: 11.77 feet high and falling by about 0.14 feet daily
GT = 25
#whitebass #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
**Area SH0062C – deep, suspended fish worked up with thumping early
**Area vic 054 – shallower, small pods of fish which were on a light, low-light feed as sunset approached.
Bob Maindelle, Belton Lake Fishing Guide
Full-time, Professional Fishing Guide and Owner of Holding the Line Guide Service
Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide
254.368.7411 (call or text)
Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle
Twitter: www/twitter.com/bobmaindelle