Month: January 2025

Let’s Make Like a Fetus and “Head Out”! — 107 Fish

by Bob Maindelle

CLIENTS:  TOn the afternoon of Thursday, January 23, I welcomed Dustin Marsh back aboard for a white bass fishing trip on Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir following wintry weather earlier in the week.

I know you’re probably wondering about the title on this report.  Well, Dustin is a large animal vet, specializing in dairy herd care.  As we witnessed what was a decent-sized school of white bass move off the Garmin LiveScope screen headed to the left, Dustin proclaimed, “Well, they made like a fetus and headed out.”.

I guess that’s probably funnier the more calves, fawns, colts, kids, puppies, and kittens you’ve seen birthed.  Anyway … it stuck with me!

 

DATE: Thursday, 23 January 2025 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATES:   27-31 January (AMs or PMs)

 

PHOTO CAPTION:   Owner of Bryan-based Bovine Health Services, Dustin Marsh, a large-animal veterinarian and all-around good guy, joined me for an afternoon of solid fishing on Stillhouse.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

I opened up Wednesday through Friday this week, but only for the afternoons from roughly 1:30PM to 5:30PM.  The main reason I offered these afternoon trips was because the forecast called for winds to be blowing (from the north on Thursday and from the south on Wednesday and Friday) versus fairly calm conditions on all three mornings.

The fact that the air temperature was warmer in the afternoons was icing on the cake.

Dustin and I began our trip fishing with a deadstick method by first finding abundant shad holding over, or immediately adjacent to, the river channel which winds through Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir.

Once we found the shad, we used a thumping device to draw fish in and keep them near us, then presented soft plastic, fluke-style, 3-inch baits on 3/8-ounce jigheads just above, and in front of, suspended fish we saw beneath the boat as we viewed Garmin LiveScope.

Although I felt we could have slowly, but surely, plucked individual fish throughout the afternoon in this manner, I felt we still had a shot at finding more heavily schooled fish on deep topographic features, so, we went and looked for white bass in such places.

Fortunately, this paid off well.  The two of us landed 107 fish.  The vast majority of these fish struck slowly rising white, 5/8-ounce Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs worked with a slow-smoking technique executed by dropping the lure to the bottom and ever-so-slowly reeling it upwards for at least five handle turns at a steady pace.

As a guide, I only “resort” to deadsticking if I have to.  Deadsticking requires the angler to be able to detect a bite and set the hook immediately, which is something a majority of my clients tend not to do well.

Toward sunset, we found some fish moving shallow into less than twenty-five feet of water.  These fish were scattered across the bottom.  Hence, we cast white, curl-tail grubs on ½-ounce jigheads and worked them back to the boat using a sawtooth method.

The fish stopped feeding right around 5:30PM, just prior to the sun setting below the western horizon.

RESULTS: 107 fish, all caught and released

 

TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW TO DO “SLOW SMOKING”: Click here for tutorial

 

TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW TO SNAP-JIG:  Click here for tutorial

 

TUTORIAL VIDEON ON HOW TO DO “EASING”:  Click here for tutorial

 

LURES USED SUCCESSFULLY ON THIS TRIP: We used curl-tail grubs and jigheads and the white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab to catch our fish this morning. Find all Hazy Eye Slabs here: https://whitebasstools.com/

 

OBSERVATIONS:

1) Water temperature dropped from 52F down to 48.6F over this most recent cold snap.  The chill was offset by bright, sunny daytime sky conditions.

2) Birds did not help us locate fish this trip.

3) The further upstream I look, the more small fish I find, indicating the very first signs of the spring upstream spawning migration.

 

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Here was the water temperature profile for Stillhouse Hollow, measured with a FishHawk TD device around 1:00 PM on Thursday, 23 Jan. …

0 feet 49.4
5 feet 49.4
10 feet49.2
15 feet 49.0
20 feet 48.8
25 feet 48.7
30 feet 48.7
35 feet 48.6
40 feet 48.6
45 feet 48.6
 50 feet48.6
55 feet 48.6
60 feet 48.6

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 1:30P

End Time: 15:45P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 51F

Elevation: 2.81′ low (with a 0.03′ fall in the last 24 hours) with a 1 cfs flow

Water Surface Temp: 49.4F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: N11-12

Sky Condition: bright, clear, cloudless skies

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 32% illumination.

GT = 25

Wx SNAPSHOT: N/A

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area vic 568 – 3 fish via deadsticking

Area 785 – 40 fish on slow-smoked & eased white 5/8 oz. Hazy Eye Slabs

Area SH0396G/881- 28 fish on slow-smoked & eased white 5/8 oz. Hazy Eye Slabs

Area vic 070 – 16 fish on slow-smoked & eased white 3/4 oz. Hazy Eye Slabs

Area vic 0317 – 8 fish on slow-smoked & eased white 5/8 oz. Hazy Eye Slabs

Area vic 108 – 12 fish on slow-rolled jigheads/curltails and slow-smoked 5/8 oz. Hazy Eye Slabs

 

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

A Multi-Species Kind of Day — 76 Fish on Hazy Eye Slabs

by Bob Maindelle

CLIENTS:  This morning, Friday, January 17, I fished with first-time guests — the father-and-son team of Jeremy and Cash Williams.

On Wednesday I saw we’d be reaching the end of the warming trend we were in and did not have anyone booked for today when I felt the fishing would be good.  I ran a little discount ad on Facebook, and the Williamses took me up on it.

 

DATE: Friday, 17 January 2025 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATES:   22-24 January (AM)

 

PHOTO CAPTION:   That’s 7.25 pounds of fun right there.

 

PHOTO CAPTION: Dad caught this whiskered bonus on the same white Hazy Eye Slab that took white bass, largemouth bass, and drum on this pre-frontal fishing trip.

 

PHOTO CAPTION: Mature white bass are beginning to really show abdomens full of milt and eggs.

 

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

Back on Sunday when I considered the weather forecast for the week ahead, this was the day I felt had the most potential — it came at what would be the end of a 6-day warming trend, and was to be abruptly ended by yet another polar blast due in over the weekend to follow.
Fortunately, the weather tracked true and we enjoyed a balmy, grey, breezy morning during which the fish bit from start to finish.  The first and last hour were “softer” than the very productive middle two hours, but action was steady even then.
We found fish shallow, in under 25′, in the first hour of the trip.  These fish were moving and hugging bottom, so, we fan-cast soft plastic curltail grub on leadheads to work horizontally.  This netted us a total of six fish as Cash learned to cast with spinning gear.
About the time the shallow bite died, I spotted some birds working bait.  White bass were all throughout the lower half of the water column at this area in 32′, so, I had Jeremy and Cash “slow-smoke” their white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs upwards through these fish using Garmin LiveScope to guide their efforts.
This would prove to the the most aggressive school we would encounter.  All of the fish we landed afterwards were less aggressive and more bottom-oriented.  These fish tended to get very excited as baits first appeared among them, but then they would settle right back down.  While still excited, they responded to a slow smoking tactic, chasing the bait upwards, but, once they settled down, snap-jigging or easing was required.
The last area we fished saw the bite about to die altogether.  Snap-jigging was the only thing these fish responded to, and that response was less than enthusiastic.
By the time we wrapped up at 11:50, the south winds were at 15+ and gusting much higher.  The Williamses landed a total of 76 fish, including 5 legal largemouth bass up to 7.25 pounds, 1 channel catfish, 1 freshwater drum, and 69 white bass, of which only two were short.

RESULTS: 76 fish, all caught and released

 

TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW TO DO “SLOW SMOKING”: Click here for tutorial

 

TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW TO SNAP-JIG:  Click here for tutorial

 

TUTORIAL VIDEON ON HOW TO DO “EASING”:  Click here for tutorial

 

LURES USED SUCCESSFULLY ON THIS TRIP: We used curl-tail grubs and jigheads and the white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab to catch our fish this morning. Find all Hazy Eye Slabs here: https://whitebasstools.com/

 

OBSERVATIONS:

1) Generally, despite a ~8 degree F. temperature drop in a short, 9-day span, the white bass were using the same locations as before the cold snap, but were much less enthusiastic.  Fishing more slowly and intentionally was, and will continue to be, necessary.

2) Birds helped identify the first two of seven locations at which we caught fish this morning.

3) More small fish are beginning to show up in our catch, indicating the very first signs of the spring upstream spawning migration.

 

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Here was the water temperature profile for Stillhouse Hollow, measured with a FishHawk TD device around 7:00 AM on Tuesday, 14 Jan. …

0 feet 52.9F
5 feet 52.9F
10 feet 52.9F
15 feet 52.9F
20 feet 52.9F
25 feet 52.9F
30 feet 52.6F
35 feet 52.5F
40 feet52.2F
45 feet 52.0F
50 feet 51.9F
55 feet 51.9F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:45A

End Time: 11:50A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 52F

Elevation: 2.61′ low (with a 0.03′ fall in the last 24 hours) with a 1 cfs flow

Water Surface Temp: 52.6F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: S9 increasing to S15+ with higher gusts at trip’s end.

Sky Condition: Light grey cloud cover at 100% all morning with a 15 minute span of light rain mid-AM

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 85% illumination.

GT = 35

Wx SNAPSHOT: N/A

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area vic SH0035C – 6 fish on slow-rolled jighead/grub combo

Area SH0304G – 27 fish on slow-smoked white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

Area 065  – 4 fish on slow-smoked & snap-jigged white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

Area vic 464 – 24 fish on slow-smoked & snap-jigged white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

Area SH0397G/249 – 3 fish snap-jigging

Area vic SH0289G – 9 fish on slow-smoked, eased, & snap-jigged white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

Area vic 1496 – 3 fish snap-jigging

 

 

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

Fishing with Our Soldiers’ Sons — 92 Fish on Hazy Eye Slabs

by Bob Maindelle

CLIENTS:  This morning, Thursday, January 16, I conducted the first Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun (SKIFF) trip of calendar year 2025.  Joining me were three boys: Ethan Kivioja (age 14), and brothers Caleb (age 13) and Jack (age 9) Fitzgerald.

Ethan’s dad, Kyle Kivioja is a fellow U.S. Military Academy (West Point) graduate and is a commissioned officer in U.S. Army Aviation, and Lieutenant Colonel Chad Fitzgerald is a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army Artillery; he has served for 20 years.

ABOUT SKIFF:  SKIFF trips have been provided to military families at no charge since May of 2009.  SKIFF is funded by donations from Austin Fly Fishers, The McBride Foundation, & Austin Subaru.  S.K.I.F.F. provides kids of military members separated from their families by duty commitments with the opportunity to fish.  SKIFF trips are also provided to Gold Star families who have lost their service member.  In mid-2019, SKIFF began providing trips to kids of bona fide disabled veterans.  I conduct these 3.5 hour adventures on Belton Lake and Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir year ’round.  Just call or text 254.368.7411 to set one up.

 

DATE: Thursday, 16 January 2025 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATES:   18, 20-24 January (AM)

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left: Ethan Kivioja, and Jack & Caleb Fitzgerald with a sampling of the white bass they landed fishing both vertically and horizontally on Stillhouse Hollow.

 

 

PHOTO CAPTION:   Caleb Fitzgerald landed this 5.50-pound Stillhouse Hollow largemouth bass on a white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab worked with a “slow-smoking” tactic.

 

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

There was a solid, shallow water feed (under 25′) in the first hour of light this morning.  The shallower white bass go, the more they tend to spread horizontally, so, I trained up the boys quickly on how to cast with spinning gear and work a jighead and grub back to the boat slowly.  The learning curve was steep, and we definitely did not reap the full potential here, but, they all broke the ice, landed a few fish, and were primed for more by the time the fish pushed out deeper.
We followed the fish out to as much as 51 feet this morning.  As the bite moved deeper, the fish coalesced more and more.  I therefore switched everyone over to working white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs vertically using a “slow-smoking” tactic (see video link on how to do this).
Once the boys caught on to the basics, I layered in use of the Garmin LiveScope to have each of them more precisely present their slabs to individual fish.  Once they all grasped this concept, it was “off to the races”.  By the time we wrapped up, the boys landed a total of 91 white bass and one 5.5-pound largemouth bass.
The thumper helped draw and hold the fish, and the Garmin LiveScope helped single out active fish to present baits to.

RESULTS: 92 fish, all caught and released

 

TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW TO DO “SLOW SMOKING”: Click here for tutorial

 

TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW TO SNAP-JIG:  Click here for tutorial

 

LURES USED SUCCESSFULLY ON THIS TRIP: We used curltail grubs and jigheads and the white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab to catch our fish this morning. Find all MAL Lures and Hazy Eye Slabs here: https://whitebasstools.com/

 

OBSERVATIONS:

1) Generally, despite a ~8 degree F. temperature drop in a short, 9-day span, the white bass were using the same locations as before the cold snap, but were much less enthusiastic.  Fishing more slowly and intentionally was, and will continue to be, necessary.

2) Birds helped identify two of the three locations at which we caught fish this morning.

3) More small fish are beginning to show up in our catch, indicating the very first signs of the spring upstream spawning migration.

 

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Here was the water temperature profile for Stillhouse Hollow, measured with a FishHawk TD device around 7:00 AM on Tuesday, 14 Jan. …

0 feet 52.9F
5 feet 52.9F
10 feet 52.9F
15 feet 52.9F
20 feet 52.9F
25 feet 52.9F
30 feet 52.6F
35 feet 52.5F
40 feet52.2F
45 feet 52.0F
50 feet 51.9F
55 feet 51.9F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:45A

End Time: 11:15A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 30F

Elevation: 2.57′ low (with a 0.02′ fall in the last 24 hours) with a 1 cfs flow

Water Surface Temp: 51.8F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: Shifting from SW4-8 all morning.

Sky Condition: 60% high, thin, white clouds on a light blue sky

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 92% illumination.

GT = NA

Wx SNAPSHOT: N/A

 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area vic 1960 – 9 fish on slow-rolled jighead/grub combo

Area 779 – 48 fish on slow-smoked white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

Area SH0339G – 35 on slow-smoked white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

 

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

First Casts After the Arctic Blast — 66 Fish

by Bob Maindelle

CLIENTS:  This morning, Tuesday, 14 Jan., I returned to the water for the first time after the significant cold snap from midday Sunday, Jan 5 through Friday, January 10.

I fished with returning guest Mostafa Kassem, and his brother-in-law (and my first-time guest), Aaron Pearson, originally from Cincinnati, Ohio.

 

DATE: Tuesday, 14 January 2025 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATES:   18, 20-24 January (AM)

 

PHOTO CAPTION: Although Aaron had taken a long layoff from fishing, he was very willingly coached, and, as a result, his casting, hooksetting, and snap-jigging techniques improved greatly in the short time we were on the water.  He landed our largest bass and our largest drum of the morning.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left:  Mostafa Kassem and Aaron Pearson with a few of the 66 fish they landed following this Texas winter’s first big cooldown.

 

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

This morning’s outing was bittersweet.  I knew we were living on borrowed time so far as the mild winter was concerned and that the hammer would fall eventually.  Fortunately, the blow was pretty gentle.
I measured water temps all the way down to 55 feet and found we were still in the 50s.  I anticipated the fish and fishing would be slower, and both were.  I brought four sets of rods this morning.  One set with MAL Heavy Lures, one set with white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye slabs, one set with jigheads and curl-tail grubs, and one set with jigheads and deadsticking soft plastics.
The first bunch of fish we found clearly communicated they were not going to chase fast enough for the MALs to work, but, they responded well to a snap-jigged slab and, when more active, suspended fish moved through, to that same lure worked with a slow-smoking tactic.  Whenever I spotted nice schools of fish moving to the port or starboard side of the boat, I had my clients toss the curltail grubs, and they caught fish very well.
We found fish in 26 to 42 feet of water (shallow earlier, deeper later) and found they responded well to the thumper.
Only while fishing the deepest water did I encounter fish coming in horizontally and suspended such that they would be good candidates for deadsticking.  I sampled this and caught two fish in short order, but, the snap-jigging was simpler and working, so I kept my two clients working the slabs.
When all was said and done, the slabs accounted for ~60% of the catch, and the curltail grubs the remaining 40%.

RESULTS: 66 fish, all caught and released

 

TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW TO SNAP-JIG:  Click here for tutorial

 

LURES USED SUCCESSFULLY ON THIS TRIP: We used curltail grubs and jigheads and the white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab to catch our fish this morning. Find all MAL Lures and Hazy Eye Slabs here: https://whitebasstools.com/

 

OBSERVATIONS:

1) Generally, despite a ~8 degree F. temperature drop in a short, 9-day span, the white bass were using the same locations as before the cold snap, but were much less enthusiastic.  Fishing more slowly and intentionally was necessary.

2) Birds helped identify one of the three locations at which we caught fish this morning.

 

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Here was the water temperature profile for Stillhouse Hollow, measured with a FishHawk TD device around 7:00 AM on Tuesday, 14 Jan. …

0 feet 52.9F
5 feet 52.9F
10 feet 52.9F
15 feet 52.9F
20 feet 52.9F
25 feet 52.9F
30 feet 52.6F
35 feet 52.5F
40 feet52.2F
45 feet 52.0F
50 feet 51.9F
55 feet 51.9F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:15A

End Time: 11A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 26F

Elevation: 2.55′ low (with a 0.03′ fall in the last 24 hours) with a 1 cfs flow

Water Surface Temp: 52.9F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: Shifting from NW4-5 to ENE3-4 over the course of the morning

Sky Condition: 40% high, thin, white clouds on a light blue sky

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 99% illumination.

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area vic 065 – 17 Fish on snap-jigged slabs and slow-rolled jighead/grub combo

Area 249 – 43 fish on snap-jigged slabs and slow-rolled jighead/grub combo (2 short hops)

Area vic 878 – 6 fish on snap-jigged slabs

 

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

Last Cast Before the Polar Blast — 75 Fish

by Bob Maindelle

CLIENTS:  This morning, Saturday, 04 Jan., I fished with a boatload of boys — Troy Bassett (age 8), Matthias Mellon (age 10), and Caleb Summers (age 12), all chaperoned by Troy’s parents, Ryan and Jaryn after Jaryn coordinated this adventure for Troy’s eighth birthday many weeks in advance.

 

DATE: Saturday, 04 January 2025 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATES:   7-10 January (AM)

 

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left:  Caleb Summers, Troy Bassett, and Matthias Mellon with a few of the 75 fish they landed as they celebrated Troy’s birthday with him on the water.

 

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

Bottom line: 3 boys, 3 hours, 3 limits.
The boys came into the trip with very little prior experience, so, I spent a little extra time on the front end getting their technique solid enough to provoke a response from fish with the key element being that of getting the MAL Dense Lures’ blades spinning on every upward retrieve.
Once that skill was solid, I  then introduced the LiveScope, once the boys had caught a few fish and went through the fish-fighting/landing sequence a few times.  Once that was understood, I helped them be on the lookout for both chasing and suspended fish to target individually.
Over the course of the trip, all three boys handled and released their fish for the first time.
Things went pretty well right up to the 3 hour mark when Troy, the youngest, began to fade a bit.  By this time the boys had put together a 71-fish catch.  We regrouped, did a pep-talk, and set our sights on 75 fish over the final few minutes.  Troy got back on the horse and rode it until we’d landed exactly 75 fish, and then we headed in.
100% of the fish caught this morning were taken on the MAL Dense Lure with silver body presented using smoking tactic in 26 to 51 feet of water (shallow early, deep late).  All were also released, as has been my policy since starting this business ~19 years ago.
Birds were helpful in indicating the general vicinity of fish at just one of the five areas which produced for us this morning.

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: 75 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 Hazy Eye Slabs here: https://whitebasstools.com/

 

OBSERVATIONS:

1) Pre-frontal warming in advance of a BIG polar system due in mid-day tomorrow kept a balmy, grey, cloudy SE wind blowing this morning, and the overnight air temps higher than the water’s surface temp.

 

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Here was the water temperature profile for Stillhouse Hollow, measured with a FishHawk TD device around 7:10 AM on Monday, 30 Dec …

0 feet 60.6F
 5 feet 60.6F
10 feet 60.6F
15 feet 60.6F
20 feet 60.6F
25 feet 60.6F
30 feet 60.6F
35 feet 60.6F
40 feet 60.6F
45 feet 60.6F
50 feet 60.4F
55 feet 60.4F
60 feet 60.4F
65 feet 60.3F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 8A

End Time: 11A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 63F

Elevation: 2.36′ low (with a 0.03′ fall in the last 24 hours) with a 1 cfs flow

Water Surface Temp: 59.8F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: SE10-12 all morning

Sky Condition: 100% moderate grey cloud cover all morning due to pre-frontal warming

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 26% illumination.

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area vic 675 – 17 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures

Area 0317 – 9 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures

Area SH0287G – 9 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures

Area 933 – 36 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures

Area 1501- 4 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

As Fair Weather Fades — 130 Fish

by Bob Maindelle

CLIENTS:  This afternoon, Thursday, Jan. 2, I welcomed aboard three generations of anglers:  Rick Bradstreet, his son-in-law, David Andrews, and David’s two kids,  Zach (age 11), and Quincy (age 10).

Rick is on the cusp of retirement after serving the Austin Police Department as a psychologist, and David is an information technology salesman.

Rick and crew were referred my way by Manuel Pena who I got to know over 16 years ago through the Austin Fly Fishers, and who Rick got  to know through APD, which Manuel retired from.

 

DATE: Thursday, 02 January 2025 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATES:   7-10 January (AM)

 

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left: Quincy & Zach Andrews, Rick Bradstreet, and David Andrews with a sampling of their 130-fish evening haul of Stillhouse Hollow white bass.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:   Miss Quincy (age 10) hooked, fought, and landed this beautifully colored 8.75 pound largemouth bass from out of 26 feet of water — our shallowest area fished all afternoon.  This is the largest largemouth any of my clients have landed thus far this winter.

 

PHOTO CAPTION: Rick Bradstreet landed our largest white bass of the trip.  This fish measured 15 5/8″ and fell for a MAL Dense Lure worked with a smoking tactic.  The fish was suspended just below 25′ in 51 feet of water.

 

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

Whenever I have the choice, I prefer to fish with my clients in the morning because the morning bite on both Lake Belton and Stillhouse Hollow tends to be longer and stronger than the afternoon bite.  32 years of data shows that afternoons typically produce about 70% of the catch versus the morning bite.
Regardless, only the afternoon was available to this afternoon’s crew, and fortunately we had some grey cloud cover and a SW chop on the water.
We were able to find and catch fish from start to finish this afternoon, putting together a 130-fish catch which included 6 largemouth bass, 1 freshwater drum, and 123 white bass.
100% of the catch came on the MAL Dense with silver body and chartreuse tail.  Some bottom-hugging fish followed the lure up off the bottom and struck, but, the majority of the fish my crew caught were suspended fish which struck as everyone made an effort to crank their lures up through and right off the snouts of these suspended fish as they clearly showed on Garmin LiveScope.
The bite stayed strong right up until 5:15P, and then died suddenly, just before sunset.  I believe we got a bit of a resurgence in activity from 4:55 until 5:15 because this is when the sun dipped below a cloud bank in the western sky and the sky brightened for about 20 minutes before dimming with sunset.

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: 130 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 Hazy Eye Slabs here: https://whitebasstools.com/

 

OBSERVATIONS:

1) No afternoon bird activity.

 

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Here was the water temperature profile for Stillhouse Hollow, measured with a FishHawk TD device around 7:10 AM on Monday, 30 Dec …

0 feet 60.6F
 5 feet 60.6F
10 feet 60.6F
15 feet 60.6F
20 feet 60.6F
25 feet 60.6F
30 feet 60.6F
35 feet 60.6F
40 feet 60.6F
45 feet 60.6F
50 feet 60.4F
55 feet 60.4F
60 feet 60.4F
65 feet 60.3F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 1:15P

End Time: 5:15P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 62F

Elevation: 2.34′ low (with a 0.03′ fall in the last 24 hours) with a 1 cfs flow

Water Surface Temp: 59.7F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: SW5-7 all afternoon

Sky Condition: 100% light grey cloud cover until 4:55P when the sun dipped below the clouds and shone for ~20 min. prior to setting.

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 9% illumination.

GT = 55

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 033 – 18 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures

Area 675 – 3 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures

Area vic 785 – 33 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures (2 short hops)

Area SH0296G – 21 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures

Area SH0213G/874 – 55 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

What Better Way to Start 2025? — 123 Fish

by Bob Maindelle

CLIENTS:  This morning, New Year’s Day 2025, I fished with returning guests Dave Ross and Joey Sapien, and was also joined by first-time guest, Brian Ross, Dave’s brother.

Dave makes his living as a pharmacist, Joey is in law enforcement, and Brian is a dentist by trade, pursuing additional accreditation as a radiologist.

 

DATE: Wednesday, 01 January 2025 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATES:   6-8 January (AM)

 

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left: Joey Sapien, Dave Ross, and Brian Ross (not shown) enjoyed both quantity and quality with their 123 fish catch using both horizontal and vertical tactics.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:   A victory at the Peach Bowl leading to a trip to the Cotton Bowl was good news for Longhorns fans, but, was it worth wrapping up a fishing trip 1/2 hour early?  I personally think not 😉

 

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

As much as the Ross brothers love fishing, they love their mom more, and so upon boarding the boat this morning, Dave told me we had to have lines in by 11AM sharp so they could head to her house for the Longhorns vs. Sun Devils bowl game.
My concerns about post-frontal, clear, calm conditions did not come to fruition, as the wind continued to blow from a northeasterly direction following Monday night’s cold front passage.  This boded well for us.
We caught fish this morning from start to finish, although the fish were a bit more temperamental in the first hour.
We enjoyed the longest run of bird action I’ve witnessed on either Belton or Stillhouse thus far this winter — a full 2 hours and 50 minutes, albeit not all in one location.  The way the birds were feeding told me there were a lot of fish moving, so, in addition to using MAL Dense Lures vertically with a smoking tactic (in conjunction with Garmin LiveScope), we also enjoyed success fishing these same lures horizontally using a sawtooth method after I sampled the horizontal bite with a jighead and soft plastic, was successful with it, and then had Joey repeat this success.
When all was said and done, this three man crew landed a total of 123 fish, including 2 freshwater drum, 8 largemouth bass, and 113 white bass up to 14.25″ in length.
As planned, we had lines in by 11AM, which, as you may have read in recent reports, is about the time the fish had been beginning to turn off for the morning anyway.  For those of you interested, the Longhorns won 39-31 in double overtime at the Peach Bowl!!  So, UT now heads to the Cotton Bowl.

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: 123 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 Hazy Eye Slabs here: https://whitebasstools.com/

 

OBSERVATIONS:

1) I observed the longest span of bird activity on either Belton or Stillhouse thus far this winter — 2 hours and 50 minutes’ worth.

 

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Here was the water temperature profile for Stillhouse Hollow, measured with a FishHawk TD device around 7:10 AM on Monday, 30 Dec …

0 feet 60.6F
 5 feet 60.6F
10 feet 60.6F
15 feet 60.6F
20 feet 60.6F
25 feet 60.6F
30 feet 60.6F
35 feet 60.6F
40 feet 60.6F
45 feet 60.6F
50 feet 60.4F
55 feet 60.4F
60 feet 60.4F
65 feet 60.3F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:35A

End Time: 11:00A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 44F

Elevation: 2.31′ low (with a 0.03′ fall in the last 24 hours) with a 1 cfs flow

Water Surface Temp: 59.2F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: NE7 at trip’s start, gently increasing to NE11 by trip’s end

Sky Condition: Cloudless, light blue sky

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 4% illumination.

GT = 55

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 207 – 31 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures (3 short hops)

Area vic 242 – 46 fish smoking & sawtoothing MAL Dense Lures

Area vic SH0070G – 11 fish smoking & sawtoothing MAL Dense Lures

Area SH0287G – 12 fish smoking & sawtoothing MAL Dense Lures

Area vic 1148 – 23 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