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

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