WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Tuesday, December 28th, I spent a full day on the water with returning client Allen Naff of Bertram, TX. The morning was spent fishing for white bass on Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir, and the afternoon was spent training Allen on his Humminbird sonar units.
Here is how the fishing went …
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My next few openings will be on January 5th & 12th. Weekday mornings are always best.
PHOTO CAPTION: Allen Naff and I got into a some magnum white bass on Stillhouse this morning primarily using the 3/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab with a vertical, slow-smoking approach.
WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow
WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday (AM), 28 December 2021
HOW WE FISHED:
The wind and cloud cover were ideal this morning for the first two hours, then the winds slacked off and the skies brightened making things a bit tougher in the last half of the trip. We ended with a solid run of 20 fish as the wind once again kicked in, rippling the surface and enhancing the bite.
I’ve not fished Stillhouse in several months, and did not intend to until the water temperatures fell below 55F, however, Allen specifically requested we fish Stillhouse as he had recently fished Lake Belton with me and, living in Bertram, wanted an introduction to a body of water a bit closer to him.
I’d hoped to do some scouting before fishing with Allen, but my schedule just did not allow, so, we launched out banking on experience and the power of observation, and, fortunately, those were sufficient today.
Because Allen was interested in a “big picture” of fishing Stillhouse for white bass, as well as getting the most out of his sonar, I moved more frequently than I would have were he just interested in catching fish. This allowed us to cover more ground, and use the sonar in more fish-finding scenarios.
As soon as a population of fish began to show disinterest, we moved instead of trying to “milk” a few more fish out of the population we’d been fishing over.
The most effective retrieve for us today was a slow-smoking retrieve, and the most effective bait was the white, 3/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab. We used the 3/4 oz. version of this same bait at one location due to depth in order repeatedly get our lures to bottom more quickly when fish were active, but the smaller version definitely drew more interest.
When all was said and done, we landed exactly 95 fish, including 1 largemouth bass, 6 freshwater drum, and 88 white bass.
Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs and MAL Lures found here: https://whitebasstools.com/
TALLY: 95 fish caught and released
OBSERVATIONS: Very sparse gull activity witnessed today. Caught fish in as much as 43′.
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 7:40A
End Time: 12:10P
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 68F
Elevation: 1.88 feet low, 0.001 fall in last 24 hours, 1 CFS flow
Water Surface Temp: 62.6F
Wind Speed & Direction: SSW7 at trip’s start, building to S10 by the second hour, then falling under 4mph in the third hour, and picking back up to 7-8 by trip’s end.
Sky Condition: Fully greyed skies for the first two hours, then thinning and brightening with 80% cloud cover.
Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 46% illumination.
GT = 40
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
Area 008 – 21 fish on a slow-smoked Bladed Hazy Eye Slab (3/8 oz. white) with a few on the MAL Heavy fished with a sawtooth pattern after the vertical bite calmed down.
Area 287 – 18 fish on a slow-smoked Bladed Hazy Eye Slab (3/4 oz. white) with a few on the MAL Heavy fished with a sawtooth pattern after the vertical bite calmed down.
Area SH0025C – 9 fish on a slow-smoked Bladed Hazy Eye Slab (3/8 oz. white)
Area 720- 5 fish on a slow-smoked Bladed Hazy Eye Slab (3/8 oz. white)
Area 0113- 5 fish on a slow-smoked Bladed Hazy Eye Slab (3/8 oz. white)
Area 0112 – 5 fish on a slow-smoked Bladed Hazy Eye Slab (3/8 oz. white)
Area vic 1888 – 8 fish on a slow-smoked Bladed Hazy Eye Slab (3/8 oz. white)
Area vic 0308 – 4 fish on a slow-smoked Bladed Hazy Eye Slab (3/8 oz. white)
Area 1535 – 20 fish on a slow-smoked Bladed Hazy Eye Slab (3/8 oz. white)
Bob Maindelle
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
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