CLIENTS: This morning, Thursday, February 6th, I welcomed Bill Pasko and Mike Adams back for a second consecutive day of fishing on Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir. Mike, a Viet Nam veteran, had previously done a lot of perch and walleye fishing in South Dakota and Nebraska, and Bill, also a Viet Nam veteran, grew up in Upstate New York on the shores of Lake Ontario where he pursued everything with fins attached.
DATE: Thursday, 06 February 2025 (AM)
NEXT OPEN DATES: 10-12, 17-20 February (AMs or PMs)
PHOTO CAPTION: We culled multiple 15+ inch white bass as we saved our largest four fish for this end-of-trip photo. “Slow-smoking” with a white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab was once again the key to success this morning.
PHOTO CAPTION: This is the white, 5/8 oz. slab which has produced so consistently since late November on Stillhouse. When it comes to fishing a slab in the winter, if you don’t have a stinger hook attached, you are missing fish which could otherwise be hooked and landed.
WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir
SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:
This was the 6th consecutive day in what is supposed to be an 8-day warming trend which is forecast to come to a halt this coming Sunday. Conditions were tough in the first ninety minutes as fog gave way to bright, calm conditions. During this time, fish were hard to come by, and those we found were scattered and uncooperative. Gradually, thin grey cloud cover moved in and a southerly breeze began to blow and the bite kicked in.
From 8:45 until we wrapped up at 11:15, we caught fish consistently. All but 3 of the 75 fish Bill and Mike landed today were taken on the white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab worked with a “slow-smoking” tactic.
Over this past week (having fished Mon. thru Thur. at this point) I have noted that those fish in under 30′ tend to be very tight to bottom, while those fish in deeper water (35 to 52′) are much more likely to suspend. I commented to Bill and Mike how, at this time of year, those suspended fish seem much easier to catch than those glued to the bottom. I also shared with them how, when fish are suspended in a horizontal band, those fish highest up off the bottom tend to be more aggressive than suspended fish down lower in the water column.
So, with the same boat, same guide, same clients, same lures, and same lake we wound up with 37 fewer fish than the day before — I attribute that to opportunity lost due to the clear calm conditions early on in the trip. We had only 8 fish landed by 8:45 before the wind and cloud cover set in.
RESULTS: 75 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: 7:15A
End Time: 11:15A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 57F
Elevation: 2.76′ low
Water Surface Temp: 54.1F on the surface.
Wind Speed & Direction: Windless through 8:45a, then S9-12
Sky Condition: Thin, grey cloud cover after 90 minutes of bright, calm conditions after the fog cleared
Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 65% illumination.
GT = 110
Wx SNAPSHOT: N/A
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
Area vic 1048 – 4 fish on slow-smoked white 5/8 oz. Hazy Eye Slabs
Area vic 735 – 3 fish on curltail grubs/jigheads, 1 fish on slow-smoked white 5/8 oz. Hazy Eye Slab
Area vic SH0080C – 26 fish on slow-smoked white 5/8 & 3/4 oz. Hazy Eye Slabs
Area 2019 – 19 fish on slow-smoked white 5/8 oz. Hazy Eye Slabs
Area 1267 – 9 fish on slow-smoked white 5/8 oz. Hazy Eye Slabs
Area 1063 – 13 fish on slow-smoked white 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