CLIENTS:  This morning, Monday, May 12th, I fished with first-time guests — the father-and-son team of Eric and Sam Nail of Salado.  Eric leads several tech-oriented business both in the U.S. and abroad, and Sam is working his way through high school where he plays both football and tennis.

DATE: Monday, 12 May 2025 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING:  12 June (AM) 

NEXT OPEN DATES FOR SONAR TRAINING: 14 June (AM)

 

 

PHOTO CAPTION:   From left: Sam and Eric Nail worked MAL Heavy Lures vertically from start to finish this morning and put together a 2-man, 4-hour catch of 115 fish including 2 largemouth bass, 5 freshwater drum, and 108 white bass — all caught and released.

PHOTO CAPTION: This one bait, the MAL Heavy, worked one way (see “smoking” video tutorial below) accounted for all 115 fish for Eric and Sam Nail this morning.

 

FIND LURES HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

This morning’s summary is pretty straightforward.  We found fish with sonar (shallow early, deep late), Spot-Locked on the fish using the i-Pilot Link system, used Garmin LiveScope to gauge fish response, and worked MAL Heavy lures with a vertical “smoking” retrieve for as long as the fish in a given area stayed interested.

The shallow fish we found early in under 25′ were tight to the bottom.  The fish we found in deeper (41′) water later in the morning were suspended throughout the lower 12 feet of the water column.

Having never used the MAL Lure before, and coming from a bass fishing background, the Nails encountered a bit of a learning curve.  Once they got the fundamentals down, it was more catching than fishing.  Those fundamentals included: getting the MAL Lure’s blade spinning as close to bottom as possible and doing so using only the reel’s handle (not jerking the tip upwards), maintaining a steady cadence during the retrieve, avoiding overdone hooksets, and leaving some space between the rod’s tip and the swivel connecting main line to leader so as to avoid losing fish right at the boat.

 

OBSERVATIONS:

1. Threadfin shad spawn was going strong this morning well before sunrise thanks to cloudless conditions.
2. Flocks of terns have shown up but did not point us to any fish today.
3. A heatwave is due to hit with abnormally high temps for the next 8 days, beginning on 13 May.

 

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:45A

End Time: 11:10A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 58F

Elevation: 3.22′ low (a 0.04′ fall in 24 hours)

Water Surface Temp: 71.2F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: WNW4 at trip’s start, gradually increasing to WNW7 by trip’s end

Sky Condition: 0% cloud cover on bluebird sky.

Moon Phase: Full moon at 100% illumination.

GT = 105

 

Wx SNAPSHOT: 

 

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

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