CLIENTS: This morning, Wednesday, February 5th, I welcomed aboard returning guests Bill Pasko and Mike Adams. The two fish together routinely on Lake Belton, but decided to give Stillhouse Hollow a try with me. I normally fish Stillhouse from around mid-Dec. up until mid-March. Stillhouse typically gives up fewer, but much better quality, white bass than Lake Belton during the winter months.
DATE: Monday, 03 February 2025 (AM)
NEXT OPEN DATES: 10-12, 17-20 February (AMs or PMs)
PHOTO CAPTION: White bass typically hit peak weight in February and early March as their eggs and milt develop in advance of depositing them in March and April. Bill and Mike landed multiple white bass exceeding 15 inches this morning.
PHOTO CAPTION: Wintertime fishing on Stillhouse targeting white bass produces a bycatch of largemouth bass and freshwater drum very consistently. This healthy largemouth struck Mike Adam’s 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab while surrounded by a school of white bass.
WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir
SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:
As we got going this morning, we found ourselves in at Day 5 of what is supposed to be a 7-day warming trend before a weekend cold front brings that to an end.
Fish are definitely showing signs of movement, migration, and spawn preparation. By movement, I mean heading generally shallower than during the month of January. By migration, I mean heading generally upstream, and by spawn preparation, I mean physiological changes in the fishes’ appearance (bulging sides, leaking milt on males, and some capillary bleeding on females).
We fished vertically and horizontally today, with vertical tactics out-producing horizontal tactics by a long shot. It is easy to feel the warm, 70F air and imagine it is spring and that the fishing should be through the roof, but, in reality, that water is still in the very low 50s and the fish are still very sluggish, not willing to move very far or very fast for any presentation.
We fished four distinct areas with our first fish coming over the side at exactly 7:35A, just as I experienced yesterday. We caught fish steadily over the course of the entire 4-hour trip. Our first two areas were in ~30 feet of water with fish tight to the bottom, and our last to areas were in over 40 feet of water with fish appearing in a horizontal band about 6 feet thick up off the bottom by about 5-6 feet.
Our most productive presentation was using a “slow-smoking” tactic with the white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab. A YouTube tutorial on this method is shown below.
If you are not using a stinger hook (and it doesn’t have to be the one I produce), you are leaving money on the table when it comes to fish which strike but are not hooked and landed.
RESULTS: 112 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 primarily used 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 has risen from 48.6F to ~52F with this balmy, multi-day warming trend.
2) Birds were witnessed in multiple locations, although no location had more than 7-10 birds
3) Lots of suspended fish in the mix today — a sign of migration very common for this time of year.
LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:
Here was the water temperature profile for Stillhouse Hollow, measured with a FishHawk TD device around 7:00AM on Monday, 03 Feb. …
5 feet 51.7F
10 feet 51.6F
15 feet 51.4F
20 feet 51.3F
25 feet 51.3F
30 feet 50.9F
35 feet 50.8F
40 feet 50.5F
45 feet 50.0F
50 feet 49.5F
55 feet 49.0F
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 7:00A
End Time: 11:10A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 57F
Elevation: 2.75′ low
Water Surface Temp: 54.1F on the surface.
Wind Speed & Direction: Windless through 10a, then S9-13
Sky Condition: Thin, grey cloud cover save for a 20 minute span early in the 8 o’clock hour
Moon Phase: First quarter moon at 55% illumination.
GT = N/A
Wx SNAPSHOT: N/A
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
Area vic 1960 – 4 fish on slow-smoked white 5/8 oz. Hazy Eye Slabs
Area vic 103 – 67 fish on slow-smoked white 5/8 oz. Hazy Eye Slabs (2 short hops)
Area vic SH0305G – 33 fish on slow-smoked white 5/8 & 3/4 oz. Hazy Eye Slabs
Area 1690 – 8 fish on slow-smoked white 5/8 & 3/4 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