CLIENTS: Yesterday I reported on the multigenerational trip conducted with Joe Oliver and his son, Corey. This morning it was Joe‘s daughter, Amber Pugh, who joined me, along with two of her three kids – Beau and Addie – as well as their Uncle Corey (Amber’s brother) putting a total of five rods in the water this morning.
DATE: Wednesday, 11 June 2025 (AM)
NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING: 19 June (AM)
NEXT OPEN DATES FOR SONAR TRAINING: 12 July (AM)
PHOTO CAPTION: Three generations aboard for a second straight day: from left: Addie Pugh, her grandfather, Joe Oliver, Joe’s daughter, Amber Pugh, Beau Pugh, and Joe’s son, Corey Oliver. This crew put together a 181-fish catch “smoking” MAL Heavy Lures straight up off the bottom.
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:
Joe and I compared notes at 5:15 AM and noted that weather radar showed storms which dropped another third of an inch locally between 3 and 5 AM seemed to be clearing and headed northeast. We made plans to meet at Stillhouse at seven, and we’re thankful to get in a full, four hour trip.
We fished one lure one way and caught fish from start to finish with no lulls in the action at all.
I had everyone fishing an MAL Heavy with silver blade and chartreuse tail, using a smoking tactic by dropping the lure to bottom and cranking it up six times for those fish which presented themselves on bottom, or cranking it 2 to 3 cranks past the highest fish in a school whenever suspended fish were witnessed on the Garmin LiveScope monitor.
In this way, this crew landed exactly 181 fish including 6 drum and 175 white bass of which only four were short.
From time to time I saw “schoolie” sized largemouth bass chasing adult shad on the surface, but this was very short-lived in nature, and only involved a handful of fish at a time. If history is any teacher, this schooling behavior will increase as the water warms into June and July.
RESULTS: 181 fish, all caught and released
TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW “SMOKE” AN MAL LURE VERTICALLY: Click here for tutorial
TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW TO FISH AN MAL LURE HORIZONTALLY USING THE SAWTOOTH METHOD: Click here for tutorial
OBSERVATIONS:
- White bass are clearly disassociating from the bottom, choosing instead to suspend.
- The season’s first summertime “schoolie” largemouth are beginning to show.
LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:
This was the latest water temperature profile for Stillhouse Hollow measured with a FishHawk TD device around 10:40AM on Wednesday, 11 June…
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 7A
End Time: 10:45A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 69F
Elevation: 2.03′ low with a 0.04′ rise in the last 24 hours
Water Surface Temp: 82.5F on the surface.
Wind Speed & Direction: Steady SE5-6
Sky Condition: Grey skies with 100% light grey cloud coverage.
Moon Phase: Full moon at 100% illumination.
GT = 35
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