CLIENTS:  This morning, six active duty soldiers stationed at Ft. Cavazos (formerly, Ft. Hood) joined me for a morning of fishing on Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir.   This trip was undertaken through the longstanding B.O.S.S. program (Better Opportunities for Single Soldiers).  All six are in the midst of their first enlistment.

Joining me were Anthony Rodriguez, Jean Ville, Noarse Partee, Pete Peterson, Kaileb Escontrias, and Amber Solis.

DATE: Wednesday, 28 May 2025 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING:  12 June (AM) 

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

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  From left: Anthony Rodriguez, Jean Ville, Noarse Partee, Pete Peterson, Kaileb Escontrias, and Amber Solis

 

PHOTO CAPTION: The MAL Heavy Lure continues to produce while being fished vertically through suspended white bass.

 

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

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

This morning began a 3:55AM with a phonecall from me to the Ft. Hood BOSS program letting them know that, after I checked weather radar, we would be able to get this trip in after overnight storms had just passed, but before rain began again later in the day.

Stillhouse has now risen 1.20 feet since Memorial Day’s heavy rains, yet, the water is fairly clear in the lower two-thirds of the reservoir, flotsam is minimal, and, best of all, the fish are still biting well.

This morning I was planning for four Ft. Cavazos soldiers to join me for the third scheduled BOSS (Better Opportunities for Single Soldiers) trip this spring, but, had six show up.  Thankfully, I always carry spare rods in case one goes down or two get tangled badly, so, I was able to fish all six as I kept my fingers crossed that the lines stayed uncrossed!

The fish began to get active around 7:20A, and stayed biting through around 10:20, with the best action from ~8:15 to 9:50AM.

I hate to sound like a broken record, but, all we did once fish were found was drop the MAL Heavy Lure down to bottom and crank it up at a moderate cadence, being sure to get the blade spinning by doing the first turn of the reel’s handle harder and faster than the remaining turns after removing all of the slack from the line first.

Garmin LiveScope was a huge help in letting my guests know when to reel up through fish passing by, and when to leave their lure motionless on bottom awaiting the next pod of arriving fish.

2D sonar was worth its weight in gold today as it provided the clearest imagery of the small pods of suspended fish I was searching for.  Using the i-Pilot Link positioning system, I got back to these fish very quickly and used the splasher to keep them nearby, as well as to draw other fish in.

This crew landed a total of 117 fish, including 2 freshwater drum and 115 white bass.

 

OBSERVATIONS:

1. White bass are clearly disassociating from the bottom, choosing instead to suspend.
2. Despite a rise of over 1.20′ in 48-hours due to heavy rainfall on Monday, May 26, the fish were still plenty turned on this morning.

 

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 6:40A

End Time: 10:35A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 72F

Elevation: 2.20 low with a 0.19′ rise in the last 24 hours

Water Surface Temp: 78.1F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: Light NE breeze at 6-9 all AM

Sky Condition: Moderately thick grey cloud cover at 100% all morning

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 4% illumination.

GT = N/A

 

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