They Set an All-Time Boat Record of 401 Fish!!!

by Bob Maindelle

CLIENTS:  On Friday morning, November 29, I fished with a crew of five returning guests, including Jack Oliver, his grandsons, Jack and Roy Martin, Jack’s brother, Jamie Oliver, and Joseph Jarosek, who is dating Jack’s daughter.

This trip came together on pretty short notice when I advertised availability on Facebook on Thanksgiving Day after seeing a good opportunity for a high catch thanks to an incoming, dry cold front. I previously attempted to bump up my party booked for the afternoon into this ideal timeframe, but they were unable to come earlier than planned.
Long story short, this party of five landed a new high catch of 401 fish in right at 4 hours’ time.

The three previous record-holders, the dates of their trips, and their catches are as follows:

364 fish, 26 April 2021 with Jack Oliver, Mark Kay, Lance Gray, and Matt Matula

389 fish, 25 May 2021 with Larry Haynes, Joe Oliver, Donna Hine, Jeff Oliver, and Larry Lattimer

392 fish, 19 April 2022 with  Mike Stone, Randall Stone, and Shawn DeJournett

 

DATE: Friday, 29 November 2024 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATES: 6, 9-13 December (AM)

 

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Roy Martin (age 12), Jack Oliver, Joseph Jarosek, Jamie Oliver, & Jack Martin with a portion of their record-setting catch of 401 white bass, all caught and released over a 4-hour span.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  Large freshwater drum often show up after we’ve been fishing at one area for a while.  As white bass regurgitate what they have eaten as a stress response to being hooked and reeled in, their stomach contents sink to bottom and act as chum to draw in other species.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  Joseph Jarosek landed the largest of the numerous largemouth bass which showed up on our catch.  If even a small piece of cover is located near where we are catching white bass, these curious predators will come over for a look and will often strike at our presentations and be caught.

 

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

Thanks to the stiff, dry, north wind, the fish were in frontally influenced overdrive. We fished only five areas and, just has has been the case for a full week now, the white bass were in overdrive, readily responding to the splasher, and then, once consolidated near the boat, readily responding to our vertical presentations.
A smoking tactic was the only tactic required. Everyone dropped their lures to the bottom, closed the bails of their spinning reels by hand, removed the slack, and then cranked their lures toward the surface , while watching Garmin LiveScope to see if they were either getting followed or could time the rise of their lure so as to intersect the path of suspended fish.
All fish were taken on the MAL Dense Lure with silver body and chartreuse tail.  Of all of the lures in the MAL Lure family, this is the heaviest, as it is the only one with a body made of lead, whereas all the others are made of brass.  It is just shy of an ounce in weight, therefore, it sinks quickly, getting back to bottom where the fish are very quickly after a fish is caught, or after making an upward retrieve which does not draw a response.
PHOTO CAPTION: The MAL Dense (top) with its  rougher lead body (versus smooth brass on all other MAL versions) sinks the quickest of all and puts more fish in the boat when fish are deep.  I mark my MALs with a 1 (for Original), a 2 (for Heavy), and a 3 (for Dense) so I’m sure to grab the right one when things get going fast and furious.  Find ’em here: https://whitebasstools.com/
Along the way, this crew landed a number of quality largemouth bass and large freshwater drum as a bycatch to the white bass we were targeting.

 

Here is a tutorial on vertically smoking the MAL Lure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE

Here is a tutorial on horizontally “sawtoothing” with the MAL Lure or White Tornado: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3FMEQHOMQ

RESULTS: 401 fish, all caught and released

LURES USED SUCCESSFULLY ON THIS TRIP: We used MAL Dense Lures (w/ chartreuse tails) for 100% of our catch today. Find all MAL Lures and White Tornados here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS:

1) Bird activity kicked in during our second hour on the water and helped us narrow down where we needed to look for fish.

2) We stayed on fish for the entire morning thanks to decent winds following a cold front’s passage over the course of daylight hours on Thanksgiving Day the day prior.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Here was the water temperature profile for Stillhouse Hollow, measured with a FishHawk TD device around 7:00 AM on Monday, 25 Nov….

0 feet 67.9F
5 feet 67.9F
10 feet 67.9F
15 feet 67.9F
20 feet 67.9F
25 feet 67.9F
30 feet 67.9F
35 feet 67.9F
40 feet 67.9F
45 feet 67.8F
50 feet 67.2F
55 feet 66.4F
60 feet 66.1F
65 feet 66.0F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:20A

End Time: 11:20A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 37F

Elevation: 1.60′ low and falling slowly with a 43 cfs flow

Water Surface Temp: 64.3F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: N12

Sky Condition: Clear blue skies with 0% cloud cover

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 11% illumination.

GT = 45

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 034 – 48 suspended fish smoking MAL Dense Lures

Area vic 0210/2017 – 84 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures

Area SH0070G – 9 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures

Area SH0298G – 209 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures

Area SH0296G – 51 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures

 

 

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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