WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Tuesday, 18 January 2022, I fished with Brian Jackson and Joshua Cunningham in pursuit of white bass on Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir.
The two first met while both working for Jiffy Lube in the Austin area some years ago. Joshua is now a manager there, and Brian has moved on to Colorado, but came back to visit Joshua for a few days, during which time the two went on a multi-day fishing marathon resulting in fewer than five largemouth bass landed from Decker Lake and the Colorado River.
They decided if the marathon was to end memorably, they’d better call a professional! That call came in just after 7P last night, and at just before 7A this morning, we met in person for the first time at the boat ramp on Stillhouse Hollow.
Here is how the fishing went …
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My next few openings will be on January 24th, 25th, and 26th. Weekday mornings are always best.
PHOTO CAPTION: From left, Brian Jackson and Joshua Cunningham booked a last minute trip for white bass on the only decent day of weather forecast all week. We caught and released 101 fish on 5/8th oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs.
WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow
WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday (AM), 18 January 2021
HOW WE FISHED:
Today’s weather was about as stable as weather was going to be all week, with a cold front just having passed through over the weekend, and another due in mid-afternoon tomorrow.
This morning started off with a gentle SSE breeze which slowly warmed as it built up to 15+ mph by trip’s end. The skies were partly cloudy, then went fully cloudy (and grey) with a few minutes of the lightest of sprinkles falling, followed by rapid clearing and warming thereafter.
Helpful (albeit quite brief) bird activity led us to our first 15 fish of the morning, then we were on our own to find ’em with sonar thereafter. We caught fish in six distinct areas ranging from 34 to 46 feet in depth.
The fishing was nearly identical at each location, with the fish being most enthusiastic as we first presented our lures, then getting increasingly reluctant thereafter until we finally could not convince any additional fish to follow and strike.
We used white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs exclusively this morning and used only a slow-smoking tactic to fish them with.
Our final catch totaled 101 fish landed, including 4 freshwater drum, 1 largemouth bass, and 96 white bass up to 14.25 inches.
Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs and MAL Lures found here: https://whitebasstools.com/
TALLY: 101 fish caught and released
OBSERVATIONS: We landed white bass from out of 46′ of water at two distinct locations today, which was the deepest we’ve taken fish from on Stillhouse thus far this winter.
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 7:20A
End Time: 12:15P
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 41F
Elevation: 2.50 feet low, 0.03 fall in last 24 hours, 1 CFS flow
Water Surface Temp: 52.6F
Wind Speed & Direction: SSE8 at trip’s start, increasing steadily to SSE15-16 with gusts to 21
Sky Condition: High, wispy white cloud cover at 35% on a blue sky, then full grey cloud cover for about an hour, then clearing rapidly thereafter to cloudless.
Moon Phase: Full moon at 100% illumination.
GT = TBD
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
Areas 790 (15 fish), Area 838 (53 fish), Area vic Sh0014G (12 fish), Area 121 ( 2 hops, 5 fish), Area 0221 (11 fish), and Area SH0125G (5 fish)
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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