WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Wednesday, July 26th, I fished with first-time guests Jason McNutt and his two teenage boys, Alex and Andrew.
Mrs. Mandi McNutt coordinated everything, including an overnight stay prior to the trip at one of the hotels in Belton.
Jason is the senior pastor at Hill Country Bible Church in Dripping Springs near Austin, and is also a U.S Air Force veteran who spent about 10 years flying B-52s.
The trio had made a few stabs at fishing previously, including ice fishing, but had very limited prior experience in pursuing fish from a boat.
Here is how the fishing went…
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PHOTO CAPTION: The McNutts caught white bass!
PHOTO CAPTION: The McNutts caught black bass!
PHOTO CAPTION: … and the McNutts caught bugle-mouth bass!
WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow
WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday, 26 July 2023 (AM)
HOW WE FISHED:
We had a very difficult first two hours this morning, during which time I found it tough to even find fish to fish for, much less get them to bite. Halfway through the trip, we had only landed four fish.
Around 8:50 or so, things began to turn around when I spotted the first occurrence of largemouth bass hitting on the surface. This was not widespread, nor very frequent, but at least it told me gamefish had begun to move. From this first real contact with an abundance of fish and until we wrapped up at around 11:20, we had consistent action.
We alternated routinely between fishing MAL Heavy Lures with white tails using a smoking tactic and a sawtooth tactic. Whenever LiveScope revealed a large school of white bass moving in from the bow or the stern, everyone got their presentations down to bottom and awaited an opportunity to reel their lures up just prior to having the fish pass by. Otherwise, we worked off the starboard side of the boat with everyone abreast of one another using the sawtooth method.
We wound up with a grand total of 50 fish (as I told everyone at 11 AM with our count then at 47, that we’d extend until 11:30 or 50 fish which ever came first). It took father and sons just 19 minutes to put those final three fish in the boat.
Our take of 50 fish included 3 freshwater drum, 1 common carp, 1 largemouth bass, and 45 legal white bass, with several exceeding 14 inches.
TALLY: 50 fish caught and released.
See a tutorial on the Smoking Method here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE
Here is a tutorial on the Sawtooth Method: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3FMEQHOMQ
Find the entire family of MAL Lures here: https://whitebasstools.com/
OBSERVATIONS: This was the latest I’ve seen the bite kick off on Stillhouse all summer.
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 6:20A
End Time: 11:20A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 78F
Elevation: 15.60 feet low, 1 CFS flow
Water Surface Temp: 86.4F on the surface.
Wind Speed & Direction: Variable at S8-13 all morning
Sky Condition: 0% cloud cover cover
Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 56% illumination.
GT = 40
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
Areas 850, SH0232G/1423, SH0059G, & SH0065G (2 hops) — all fish @ all areas came via alternating between smoking and sawtoothing MAL Heavies with white tails.
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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