Bob Maindelle | Fishing Report

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

First Casts After the Arctic Blast — 66 Fish

January 14th, 2025 by Bob Maindelle

CLIENTS: This morning, Tuesday, 14 Jan., I returned to the water for the first time after the significant cold snap from midday Sunday, Jan 5 through Friday, January 10.

I fished with returning guest Mostafa Kassem, and his brother-in-law (and my first-time guest), Aaron Pearson, originally from Cincinnati, Ohio.

DATE: Tuesday, 14 January 2025 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATES: 18, 20-24 January (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION: Although Aaron had taken a long layoff from fishing, he was very willingly coached, and, as a result, his casting, hooksetting, and snap-jigging techniques improved greatly in the short time we were on the water. He landed our largest bass and our largest drum of the morning.

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Mostafa Kassem and Aaron Pearson with a few of the 66 fish they landed following this Texas winter’s first big cooldown.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

This morning’s outing was bittersweet. I knew we were living on borrowed time so far as the mild winter was concerned and that the hammer would fall eventually. Fortunately, the blow was pretty gentle.

I measured water temps all the way down to 55 feet and found we were still in the 50s. I anticipated the fish and fishing would be slower, and both were. I brought four sets of rods this morning. One set with MAL Heavy Lures, one set with white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye slabs, one set with jigheads and curl-tail grubs, and one set with jigheads and deadsticking soft plastics.

The first bunch of fish we found clearly communicated they were not going to chase fast enough for the MALs to work, but, they responded well to a snap-jigged slab and, when more active, suspended fish moved through, to that same lure worked with a slow-smoking tactic. Whenever I spotted nice schools of fish moving to the port or starboard side of the boat, I had my clients toss the curltail grubs, and they caught fish very well.

We found fish in 26 to 42 feet of water (shallow earlier, deeper later) and found they responded well to the thumper.

Only while fishing the deepest water did I encounter fish coming in horizontally and suspended such that they would be good candidates for deadsticking. I sampled this and caught two fish in short order, but, the snap-jigging was simpler and working, so I kept my two clients working the slabs.

When all was said and done, the slabs accounted for ~60% of the catch, and the curltail grubs the remaining 40%.

RESULTS: 66 fish, all caught and released

TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW TO SNAP-JIG: Click here for tutorial

OBSERVATIONS:

2) Birds helped identify one of the three locations at which we caught fish this morning.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Here was the water temperature profile for Stillhouse Hollow, measured with a FishHawk TD device around 7:00 AM on Tuesday, 14 Jan. …

0 feet 52.9F

5 feet 52.9F

10 feet 52.9F

15 feet 52.9F

20 feet 52.9F

25 feet 52.9F

30 feet 52.6F

35 feet 52.5F

40 feet52.2F

45 feet 52.0F

50 feet 51.9F

55 feet 51.9F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:15A

End Time: 11A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 26F

Elevation: 2.55′ low (with a 0.03′ fall in the last 24 hours) with a 1 cfs flow

Water Surface Temp: 52.9F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: Shifting from NW4-5 to ENE3-4 over the course of the morning

Sky Condition: 40% high, thin, white clouds on a light blue sky

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 99% illumination.

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area vic 065 – 17 Fish on snap-jigged slabs and slow-rolled jighead/grub combo

Area 249 – 43 fish on snap-jigged slabs and slow-rolled jighead/grub combo (2 short hops)

Area vic 878 – 6 fish on snap-jigged 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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Last Cast Before the Polar Blast — 75 Fish

January 4th, 2025January 4th, 2025 by Bob Maindelle

CLIENTS: This morning, Saturday, 04 Jan., I fished with a boatload of boys — Troy Bassett (age 8), Matthias Mellon (age 10), and Caleb Summers (age 12), all chaperoned by Troy’s parents, Ryan and Jaryn after Jaryn coordinated this adventure for Troy’s eighth birthday many weeks in advance.

DATE: Saturday, 04 January 2025 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATES: 7-10 January (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Caleb Summers, Troy Bassett, and Matthias Mellon with a few of the 75 fish they landed as they celebrated Troy’s birthday with him on the water.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

Bottom line: 3 boys, 3 hours, 3 limits.

The boys came into the trip with very little prior experience, so, I spent a little extra time on the front end getting their technique solid enough to provoke a response from fish with the key element being that of getting the MAL Dense Lures’ blades spinning on every upward retrieve.

Once that skill was solid, I then introduced the LiveScope, once the boys had caught a few fish and went through the fish-fighting/landing sequence a few times. Once that was understood, I helped them be on the lookout for both chasing and suspended fish to target individually.

Over the course of the trip, all three boys handled and released their fish for the first time.

Things went pretty well right up to the 3 hour mark when Troy, the youngest, began to fade a bit. By this time the boys had put together a 71-fish catch. We regrouped, did a pep-talk, and set our sights on 75 fish over the final few minutes. Troy got back on the horse and rode it until we’d landed exactly 75 fish, and then we headed in.

100% of the fish caught this morning were taken on the MAL Dense Lure with silver body presented using smoking tactic in 26 to 51 feet of water (shallow early, deep late). All were also released, as has been my policy since starting this business ~19 years ago.

Birds were helpful in indicating the general vicinity of fish at just one of the five areas which produced for us this morning.

Here is a tutorial on vertically smoking the MAL Lure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE

Here is a tutorial on horizontally “sawtoothing” with the MAL Lure or White Tornado: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3FMEQHOMQ

RESULTS: 75 fish, all caught and released

LURES USED SUCCESSFULLY ON THIS TRIP: We used MAL Dense Lures (w/ chartreuse tails) for 100% of our catch today. Find all MAL Lures and Hazy Eye Slabs here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS:

1) Pre-frontal warming in advance of a BIG polar system due in mid-day tomorrow kept a balmy, grey, cloudy SE wind blowing this morning, and the overnight air temps higher than the water’s surface temp.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Here was the water temperature profile for Stillhouse Hollow, measured with a FishHawk TD device around 7:10 AM on Monday, 30 Dec …

0 feet 60.6F

5 feet 60.6F

10 feet 60.6F

15 feet 60.6F

20 feet 60.6F

25 feet 60.6F

30 feet 60.6F

35 feet 60.6F

40 feet 60.6F

45 feet 60.6F

50 feet 60.4F

55 feet 60.4F

60 feet 60.4F

65 feet 60.3F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 8A

End Time: 11A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 63F

Elevation: 2.36′ low (with a 0.03′ fall in the last 24 hours) with a 1 cfs flow

Water Surface Temp: 59.8F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: SE10-12 all morning

Sky Condition: 100% moderate grey cloud cover all morning due to pre-frontal warming

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 26% illumination.

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area vic 675 – 17 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures

Area 0317 – 9 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures

Area SH0287G – 9 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures

Area 933 – 36 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures

Area 1501- 4 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures

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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

As Fair Weather Fades — 130 Fish

January 2nd, 2025January 4th, 2025 by Bob Maindelle

CLIENTS: This afternoon, Thursday, Jan. 2, I welcomed aboard three generations of anglers: Rick Bradstreet, his son-in-law, David Andrews, and David’s two kids, Zach (age 11), and Quincy (age 10).

Rick is on the cusp of retirement after serving the Austin Police Department as a psychologist, and David is an information technology salesman.

Rick and crew were referred my way by Manuel Pena who I got to know over 16 years ago through the Austin Fly Fishers, and who Rick got to know through APD, which Manuel retired from.

DATE: Thursday, 02 January 2025 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATES: 7-10 January (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Quincy & Zach Andrews, Rick Bradstreet, and David Andrews with a sampling of their 130-fish evening haul of Stillhouse Hollow white bass.

PHOTO CAPTION: Miss Quincy (age 10) hooked, fought, and landed this beautifully colored 8.75 pound largemouth bass from out of 26 feet of water — our shallowest area fished all afternoon. This is the largest largemouth any of my clients have landed thus far this winter.

PHOTO CAPTION: Rick Bradstreet landed our largest white bass of the trip. This fish measured 15 5/8″ and fell for a MAL Dense Lure worked with a smoking tactic. The fish was suspended just below 25′ in 51 feet of water.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

Whenever I have the choice, I prefer to fish with my clients in the morning because the morning bite on both Lake Belton and Stillhouse Hollow tends to be longer and stronger than the afternoon bite. 32 years of data shows that afternoons typically produce about 70% of the catch versus the morning bite.

Regardless, only the afternoon was available to this afternoon’s crew, and fortunately we had some grey cloud cover and a SW chop on the water.

We were able to find and catch fish from start to finish this afternoon, putting together a 130-fish catch which included 6 largemouth bass, 1 freshwater drum, and 123 white bass.

100% of the catch came on the MAL Dense with silver body and chartreuse tail. Some bottom-hugging fish followed the lure up off the bottom and struck, but, the majority of the fish my crew caught were suspended fish which struck as everyone made an effort to crank their lures up through and right off the snouts of these suspended fish as they clearly showed on Garmin LiveScope.

The bite stayed strong right up until 5:15P, and then died suddenly, just before sunset. I believe we got a bit of a resurgence in activity from 4:55 until 5:15 because this is when the sun dipped below a cloud bank in the western sky and the sky brightened for about 20 minutes before dimming with sunset.

Here is a tutorial on vertically smoking the MAL Lure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE

Here is a tutorial on horizontally “sawtoothing” with the MAL Lure or White Tornado: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3FMEQHOMQ

RESULTS: 130 fish, all caught and released

LURES USED SUCCESSFULLY ON THIS TRIP: We used MAL Dense Lures (w/ chartreuse tails) for 100% of our catch today. Find all MAL Lures and Hazy Eye Slabs here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS:

1) No afternoon bird activity.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Here was the water temperature profile for Stillhouse Hollow, measured with a FishHawk TD device around 7:10 AM on Monday, 30 Dec …

0 feet 60.6F

5 feet 60.6F

10 feet 60.6F

15 feet 60.6F

20 feet 60.6F

25 feet 60.6F

30 feet 60.6F

35 feet 60.6F

40 feet 60.6F

45 feet 60.6F

50 feet 60.4F

55 feet 60.4F

60 feet 60.4F

65 feet 60.3F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 1:15P

End Time: 5:15P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 62F

Elevation: 2.34′ low (with a 0.03′ fall in the last 24 hours) with a 1 cfs flow

Water Surface Temp: 59.7F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: SW5-7 all afternoon

Sky Condition: 100% light grey cloud cover until 4:55P when the sun dipped below the clouds and shone for ~20 min. prior to setting.

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 9% illumination.

GT = 55

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 033 – 18 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures

Area 675 – 3 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures

Area vic 785 – 33 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures (2 short hops)

Area SH0296G – 21 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures

Area SH0213G/874 – 55 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures

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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

What Better Way to Start 2025? — 123 Fish

January 1st, 2025January 4th, 2025 by Bob Maindelle

CLIENTS: This morning, New Year’s Day 2025, I fished with returning guests Dave Ross and Joey Sapien, and was also joined by first-time guest, Brian Ross, Dave’s brother.

Dave makes his living as a pharmacist, Joey is in law enforcement, and Brian is a dentist by trade, pursuing additional accreditation as a radiologist.

DATE: Wednesday, 01 January 2025 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATES: 6-8 January (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Joey Sapien, Dave Ross, and Brian Ross (not shown) enjoyed both quantity and quality with their 123 fish catch using both horizontal and vertical tactics.

PHOTO CAPTION: A victory at the Peach Bowl leading to a trip to the Cotton Bowl was good news for Longhorns fans, but, was it worth wrapping up a fishing trip 1/2 hour early? I personally think not 😉

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

As much as the Ross brothers love fishing, they love their mom more, and so upon boarding the boat this morning, Dave told me we had to have lines in by 11AM sharp so they could head to her house for the Longhorns vs. Sun Devils bowl game.

My concerns about post-frontal, clear, calm conditions did not come to fruition, as the wind continued to blow from a northeasterly direction following Monday night’s cold front passage. This boded well for us.

We caught fish this morning from start to finish, although the fish were a bit more temperamental in the first hour.

We enjoyed the longest run of bird action I’ve witnessed on either Belton or Stillhouse thus far this winter — a full 2 hours and 50 minutes, albeit not all in one location. The way the birds were feeding told me there were a lot of fish moving, so, in addition to using MAL Dense Lures vertically with a smoking tactic (in conjunction with Garmin LiveScope), we also enjoyed success fishing these same lures horizontally using a sawtooth method after I sampled the horizontal bite with a jighead and soft plastic, was successful with it, and then had Joey repeat this success.

When all was said and done, this three man crew landed a total of 123 fish, including 2 freshwater drum, 8 largemouth bass, and 113 white bass up to 14.25″ in length.

As planned, we had lines in by 11AM, which, as you may have read in recent reports, is about the time the fish had been beginning to turn off for the morning anyway. For those of you interested, the Longhorns won 39-31 in double overtime at the Peach Bowl!! So, UT now heads to the Cotton Bowl.

Here is a tutorial on vertically smoking the MAL Lure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE

Here is a tutorial on horizontally “sawtoothing” with the MAL Lure or White Tornado: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3FMEQHOMQ

RESULTS: 123 fish, all caught and released

LURES USED SUCCESSFULLY ON THIS TRIP: We used MAL Dense Lures (w/ chartreuse tails) for 100% of our catch today. Find all MAL Lures and Hazy Eye Slabs here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS:

1) I observed the longest span of bird activity on either Belton or Stillhouse thus far this winter — 2 hours and 50 minutes’ worth.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Here was the water temperature profile for Stillhouse Hollow, measured with a FishHawk TD device around 7:10 AM on Monday, 30 Dec …

0 feet 60.6F

5 feet 60.6F

10 feet 60.6F

15 feet 60.6F

20 feet 60.6F

25 feet 60.6F

30 feet 60.6F

35 feet 60.6F

40 feet 60.6F

45 feet 60.6F

50 feet 60.4F

55 feet 60.4F

60 feet 60.4F

65 feet 60.3F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:35A

End Time: 11:00A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 44F

Elevation: 2.31′ low (with a 0.03′ fall in the last 24 hours) with a 1 cfs flow

Water Surface Temp: 59.2F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: NE7 at trip’s start, gently increasing to NE11 by trip’s end

Sky Condition: Cloudless, light blue sky

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 4% illumination.

GT = 55

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 207 – 31 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures (3 short hops)

Area vic 242 – 46 fish smoking & sawtoothing MAL Dense Lures

Area vic SH0070G – 11 fish smoking & sawtoothing MAL Dense Lures

Area SH0287G – 12 fish smoking & sawtoothing MAL Dense Lures

Area vic 1148 – 23 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures

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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

CROSSOVER SKILLS PAID OFF — 125 FISH

December 31st, 2024December 31st, 2024 by Bob Maindelle

CLIENTS: This morning, Tuesday, December 31, I fished with Mike and Brenda Hauser of Harker Heights, TX. Both are U.S. Army veterans having served in a number of capacities during their military careers. The Hausers are kayak flyfishing enthusiasts, so, many of their skills crossed over to what we did on the water this morning, thus reducing their learning curve and improving their results.

DATE: Tuesday, 31 December 2024 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATES: 6-8 January (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION: The Hausers hold four of the five Stillhouse Hollow white bass they landed this morning which exceeded 15 inches. In all, they landed 125 fish including 5 largemouth bass, 1 freshwater drum, and 119 white bass, all on MAL Dense Lures fished vertically.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

The first daylight period with NNW winds following the passage of a dry cold front yesterday really helped get the fish and birds fired up this morning. That, plus a lack of holiday boat traffic (which surprised me) allowed for great, undisturbed fishing this morning as the loons, gulls, and fish really put on a show.

The fishing was quite straightforward — I found fish relying primarily on side-imaging, Spot Locked atop the fish, kept the fish interested with a splasher, and tempted them by reeling MAL Dense Lures (silver bodies/chartreuse tails) either away from those fish on bottom, or right past those fish which were suspended.

The Hausers were no strangers to fighting and landing fish from their flyfishing background, and, anytime I saw an adjustment was necessary based on changing fish behavior, they made those adjustments very, very well.

Our first two hours were most productive as the NNW wind was rising. The wind levelled off around 12-13 mph by around 9:20, and the fishing stayed consistent until around 10:50, when they began to slack off, finally quitting their morning feeding by 11:35 or so.

Here is a tutorial on vertically smoking the MAL Lure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE

Here is a tutorial on horizontally “sawtoothing” with the MAL Lure or White Tornado: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3FMEQHOMQ

RESULTS: 125 fish, all caught and released

LURES USED SUCCESSFULLY ON THIS TRIP: We used MAL Dense Lures (w/ chartreuse tails) for 100% of our catch today. Find all MAL Lures and Hazy Eye Slabs here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS:

1) This was the first daylight period following the arrival of a dry cold front which came in overnight. As is typical for this weather scenario, the fish and birds were both fired up this morning, and particularly aggressive in the first two hours as the NNW winds were increasing.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Here was the water temperature profile for Stillhouse Hollow, measured with a FishHawk TD device around 7:10 AM on Monday, 30 Dec …

0 feet 60.6F

5 feet 60.6F

10 feet 60.6F

15 feet 60.6F

20 feet 60.6F

25 feet 60.6F

30 feet 60.6F

35 feet 60.6F

40 feet 60.6F

45 feet 60.6F

50 feet 60.4F

55 feet 60.4F

60 feet 60.4F

65 feet 60.3F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:25A

End Time: 11:45A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 54F

Elevation: 2.27′ low (with a 0.02′ fall in the last 24 hours) with a 1 cfs flow

Water Surface Temp: 60.1F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: NNW5 at trip’s start, gently increasing to NNW13 by trip’s end

Sky Condition: Cloudless, light blue sky

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 1% illumination.

GT = 45

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 210 – 26 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures (2 short hops)

Area vic 772 – 12 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures

Area vic 207 – 27 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures

Area 464/SH0067G – 10 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures

Area 879 – 19 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures

Area vic 972 – 6 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures

Area SH0303G – 25 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures

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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Sounding Like A Broken Record — 108 Fish on MAL Dense Lures

December 30th, 2024December 30th, 2024 by Bob Maindelle

CLIENTS: This morning, Monday, December 30, I fished with Mr. Ryan Warren of Gatesville, Texas, and his two kids – Brayden, age 12, and Kendall, age 9.

Ryan runs his own air conditioning business in the Gatesville area. We first got acquainted when he and his bass fishing tournament partner (Frank Ellis, who has since passed away) took notice of the quality wintertime largemouth I routinely put my clients on while not even fishing for that species several years ago.

DATE: Monday, 30 December 2024 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATES: 3, 4 January (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Brayden, Ryan, and Kendall Warren with some solid Stillhouse Hollow white bass taken from 30-40 feet of water on shad-imitating MAL Dense Lures and Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs. When the wind blew, the fish fed! There are four 15+ inch white bass in this photo.

PHOTO CAPTION: That’s yet another 5.25-pound Stillhouse Hollow largemouth taken while targeting white bass. This was the largest of 6 largemouth we boated as bycatch on this morning’s white bass fishing trip.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

The weatherman called for the possibility of a record high for this date due to prefrontal warming in advance of an incoming cold front. Although dry, warm, southwest winds did materialize, it wasn’t until after 9:15 AM when they did so.

Not surprisingly, the bite was spotty until those winds got going.

In the first two hours of our trip, we picked up about 25 fish, catching four here and five there, but after the southwest wind got cranking, the fish put on the feedbag and we made up for some lost time.

Ryan chose to use a 5/8 ounce, white, Bladed Hazy Eye Slab working on the starboard side up near the bow very actively trying to tempt any largemouth that might have been sharing the space with white bass, while I had the two kids in the stern with me working MAL Dense Lures for their ease of use and consistency in catching white bass with the still-warm water we’ve enjoyed well beyond the normal mid-December date by which we usually see water cool down into the 50s.

I know I probably sound like a broken record, but there were three fundamentals which, when observed, produced fish for my young clients. Those were: 1)getting the blade of their MAL Dense Lures spinning on every retrieve they make, 2) timing the rise of their lure to intersect with the forward swim path of suspended fish shown moving horizontally on the LiveScope screen, and 3) continuing to retrieve their lure at a constant rate once a fish begins chasing it.

I found the fish, they caught the fish, and we all had fun doing our part.

Here is a tutorial on vertically smoking the MAL Lure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE

Here is a tutorial on horizontally “sawtoothing” with the MAL Lure or White Tornado: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3FMEQHOMQ

RESULTS: 108 fish, all caught and released

LURES USED SUCCESSFULLY ON THIS TRIP: We used MAL Dense Lures (w/ chartreuse tails) and 5/8 oz. white Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs for 100% of our catch today. Find all MAL Lures and Hazy Eye Slabs here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS:

1) Normal bell-shaped curve described this morning’s feeding activity with the rise to peak feeding coinciding with the beginning of the SW wind around 9:15; fish began slowing down around 10:55; fish shut down by 11:30.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Here was the water temperature profile for Stillhouse Hollow, measured with a FishHawk TD device around 7:10 AM on Monday, 30 Dec …

0 feet 60.6F

5 feet 60.6F

10 feet 60.6F

15 feet 60.6F

20 feet 60.6F

25 feet 60.6F

30 feet 60.6F

35 feet 60.6F

40 feet 60.6F

45 feet 60.6F

50 feet 60.4F

55 feet 60.4F

60 feet 60.4F

65 feet 60.3F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:15A

End Time: 11:45A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 64F

Elevation: 2.25′ low (with a 0.02′ fall in the last 24 hours) with a 1 cfs flow

Water Surface Temp: 60.6F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: Light winds until 9:15, then tapering up steadily to SW13

Sky Condition: Cloudless, light blue sky

Moon Phase: New moon at 0% illumination.

GT = 30

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area SH0296G – 10 fish smoking 2 MAL Dense Lures

Area SH0297G – 5 fish smoking 2 MAL Dense Lures/snapping 1 Bladed Hazy Eye Slab

Area SH0397G – 29 fish smoking 2 MAL Dense Lures/snapping 1 Bladed Hazy Eye Slab (2 short hops)

Area 1434/250 – 22 fish smoking 2 MAL Dense Lures/snapping 1 Bladed Hazy Eye Slab

Area vic 464 – 32 fish smoking 2 MAL Dense Lures/snapping 1 Bladed Hazy Eye Slab

Area SH0061G – 10 fish smoking 2 MAL Dense Lures/snapping 1 Bladed Hazy Eye Slab

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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Christmas Week – Wild Weather — 99 Fish

December 28th, 2024December 28th, 2024 by Bob Maindelle

CLIENTS: This morning, Saturday, Dec. 28, I fished with a father-and-son duo — Tom and Barrett Nichols. Tom lives in the Georgetown, Texas, area and is retired from the video game industry while Barrett just recently graduated with his degree in environmental science out west and is now searching for his first post-college employment opportunity.

DATE: Saturday, 28 December 2024 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATES: 1, 3, 4, & 6 January (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Tom and Barrett Nichols landed exactly 99 fish on a morning which included calm conditions and winds from N, W, and S, as well as sun, clouds, fog, rain, distant lightning, and even a tornado watch! The leftmost fish in this frame went 15.75″.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

Wow! What a morning of weather we lived through! On Friday morning, there was but a 4% chance of precipitation called for this morning, with a moderate SSW breeze and temps in the 50s. When I woke up this morning, we had a 56% chance of 0.60 inches of rain, patchy fog, and a developing line of thunderstorms out near Burnet stretching NE to Lampasas and headed our way.

With a limited window of opportunity to fish with Tom while Barrett was visiting, I pressed on and just stayed abreast of the weather situation as the morning unfolded. Our first hour was a bit slow, as it normally is, but, as the air got warm and humid in advance of the approaching cold front, the fishing really took off. The Nichols put 70 fish in the boat by 10A, then the weather got wonky.

We had a storm cell pass to our north and had outflow air from it turn the wind briefly NW with a ~10 degree temperature drop. Then we got rained on for about five minutes, then a tornado watch was issued (for E. Bell County), then things started to calm down. The winds went westerly, the clouds and storms moved east, and the sun began to shine.

It was now around 10:50, and another brief window of fish activity opened, allowing the Nichols to catch another 29 fish before the bite shut down for good right around noon.

Every fish landed came as the Nichols “smoked” MAL Dense Lures (silver body w/ chartreuse tail) upwards off the bottom. In some cases, the fish were massed on the bottom and chased the lure upwards; in other cases the fish were suspended and required that they time the rise of their lures with the forward travel speed of the fish so as to intersect with the fish.

Here is a tutorial on vertically smoking the MAL Lure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE

Here is a tutorial on horizontally “sawtoothing” with the MAL Lure or White Tornado: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3FMEQHOMQ

RESULTS: 99 fish, all caught and released

LURES USED SUCCESSFULLY ON THIS TRIP: We used MAL Dense Lures (w/ chartreuse tails) for 100% of our catch today. Find all MAL Lures and White Tornados here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS:

1) Normal bell-shaped curve described this morning’s feeding activity with a solid 2.75 hours of catching in the middle of this 4-hour trip.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Here was the water temperature profile for Stillhouse Hollow, measured with a FishHawk TD device around 7:10 AM on Monday, 23 Dec …

0 feet 60.4F

5 feet 60.4F

10 feet 60.4F

15 feet 60.4F

20 feet 60.4F

25 feet 60.4F

30 feet 60.4F

35 feet 60.4F

40 feet 60.3F

45 feet 60.3F

50 feet 60.1F

55 feet 60.0F

60 feet 59.6F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:35A

End Time: 12 Noon

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 64F

Elevation: 2.22′ low (with a 0.02′ fall in the last 24 hours) with a 1 cfs flow

Water Surface Temp: 60.2F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: As described in narrative above

Sky Condition: As described in narrative above

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 5% illumination.

GT = 35

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 772 – 70 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures

Area SH0396G – 24 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures

Area vic 866 – 5 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures

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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Christmas Week – N. Dakotans Brought Their Walleye A-Game — 189 Fish

December 27th, 2024 by Bob Maindelle

CLIENTS: This morning, Friday, Dec. 27, I fished with a crew of North Dakotans — Joe Bartole (now living in Hutto), Rick Warhurst, and Dinarri Peltier.

DATE: Friday, 27 December 2024 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATES: 3, 4, & 6 January (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Joe Bartole, Dinarri Peltier, and Rick Warhurst with a sampling of their 189-fish catch which included white bass, largemouth bass, and freshwater drum, all taken on MAL Dense Lures with silver bodies and chartreuse tails.

PHOTO CAPTION: Most every wintertime trip to Stillhouse results in the catch of one or several quality largemouth bass. Today was no exception. This fish struck Rick’s bait as it rose through a school of white bass holding in about 38 feet of water.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

Fishing on a dry, NW wind following yesterday’s cold front was about as close to a sure thing as there is in fishing. Indeed, fish bit well from start to finish today, making it more of a catching trip than a fishing trip.

Add to that the fact that all three of my crew had practical prior experience with vertical jigging for walleye on the Missouri River, and a good thing got even better.

We found our fish in 32 to 48 feet of water this morning, and at five locations, only one of which was indicated by birds.

If there was ever a good day to compare tactics on the traditional slabbing approach versus smoking with an MAL Lure, today was it. The one location where we found some birds drew other holiday anglers, as well. So, we were surrounded by boats jerking slabs up and down catching fish occasionally while it was all I could do to keep up with my three anglers as they reeled their lures away from the bottom and drew overtaking follows by predator fish including white bass and largemouth bass.

Just observing the basics of 1) the importance of getting the blade of their MAL Dense Lures spinning on every retrieve they make, 2) the importance of timing the rise of their lure to intersect with the forward swim path of suspended fish shown moving horizontally on the LiveScope screen, and 3) the importance of continuing to retrieve their lure at a constant rate once a fish begins chasing it, was really all that was necessary to keep these cooperative fish coming over the gunwale all morning.

Here is a tutorial on vertically smoking the MAL Lure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE

Here is a tutorial on horizontally “sawtoothing” with the MAL Lure or White Tornado: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3FMEQHOMQ

RESULTS: 189 fish, all caught and released

LURES USED SUCCESSFULLY ON THIS TRIP: We used MAL Dense Lures (w/ chartreuse tails) for 100% of our catch today. Find all MAL Lures and White Tornados here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS:

1) Normal bell-shaped curve described this morning’s feeding activity with a solid 2.75 hours of catching in the middle of this 4-hour trip.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Here was the water temperature profile for Stillhouse Hollow, measured with a FishHawk TD device around 7:10 AM on Monday, 23 Dec …

0 feet 60.4F

5 feet 60.4F

10 feet 60.4F

15 feet 60.4F

20 feet 60.4F

25 feet 60.4F

30 feet 60.4F

35 feet 60.4F

40 feet 60.3F

45 feet 60.3F

50 feet 60.1F

55 feet 60.0F

60 feet 59.6F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:35A

End Time: 11:40A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 45F

Elevation: 2.18′ low (with a 0.02′ rise due to rain yesterday) with a 1 cfs flow

Water Surface Temp: 59.3F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: WNW7-10 all morning

Sky Condition: 40% light grey clouds in the E. sky dissipated within 40 minutes leaving a light blue, cloudless sky the rest of the AM

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 10% illumination.

GT = 0

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area 122 – 36 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures

Area 772 – 30 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures

Area vic 645 – 12 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures

Area 833/872 – 65 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures

Area SH0296G – 46 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures

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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Christmas Week — Check Out This Screenshot!! — 116 Fish

December 25th, 2024 by Bob Maindelle

CLIENTS: This morning, Christmas Day 2024, I fished with two returning guests — Dwight Stone of Georgetown, TX, and his son-in-law, Ryan Renfrow, in visiting from Virginia.

The Stones’ Christmas celebration was going to kick off around 1:30P, and my own small family gathering wasn’t scheduled until 12:30P, so, we wiggled in a fishing trip on deserted Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir with great results.

DATE: Wednesday, 25 December 2024 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATES: 1, 3, & 6 January (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION: This is what awaited us under what I believe is the most underrated set of weather conditions in all of freshwater fishing — that time after a cold front passes as the north wind’s velocity is still increasing. Fish, loons, and gulls fed hard for 2.75 hours this morning.

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Dwight Stone and Ryan Renfrow with a few of the white bass they took on MAL Dense Lures this morning. That fish on the far left went 15 3/8″ and was a truly thick fish.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

Fishing was very straightforward this morning. Once the cloudy, grey skies brightened sufficiently, the fish began feeding, drawing the attention of gulls. The gulls, in turn, were pretty easy to spot on the grey sky, and lead us to two of the three productive areas. Once in these areas, well-tuned side-imaging helped close the deal.

Once we set up over the fish, the splasher kept the fish under us, and the ideal conditions with a steadily increasing northwest wind following the passage of a mild cold front last night kept the fish interested right up until around 10:25.

Dwight and Ryan did just one thing, and they did it well — dropping their MAL Dense Lures (silver bodies with chartreuse tails) to bottom and cranking them upwards so as to cover the lower third of the water column. The “trick” was getting the blade spinning as close as possible to bottom, then cranking as slow as possible while still keeping the blade spinning.

Here is a tutorial on vertically smoking the MAL Lure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE

Here is a tutorial on horizontally “sawtoothing” with the MAL Lure or White Tornado: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3FMEQHOMQ

RESULTS: 116 fish, all caught and released

LURES USED SUCCESSFULLY ON THIS TRIP: We used MAL Dense Lures (w/ chartreuse tails) for 100% of our catch today. Find all MAL Lures and White Tornados here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS:

1) With this morning’s first light being the first daytime conditions with a northerly wind following the passage of a mild cold front last night, all of nature was moving this morning — deer all over the place, birds at the feeders, and gulls, loons, and fish working aggressively above and below the waterline on the lake. Birds worked a full 2.75 hours this morning.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Here was the water temperature profile for Stillhouse Hollow, measured with a FishHawk TD device around 7:10 AM on Monday, 23 Dec …

0 feet 60.4F

5 feet 60.4F

10 feet 60.4F

15 feet 60.4F

20 feet 60.4F

25 feet 60.4F

30 feet 60.4F

35 feet 60.4F

40 feet 60.3F

45 feet 60.3F

50 feet 60.1F

55 feet 60.0F

60 feet 59.6F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:30A

End Time: 10:40A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 54F

Elevation: 2.20′ low and falling slowly with a 1 cfs flow

Water Surface Temp: 59.3F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: NW7-10 all morning

Sky Condition: Light grey skies at 100% coverage all morning.

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 25% illumination.

GT = 5

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area vic 779 – 12 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures

Area 2015 – 18 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures

Area 931 – 86 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures

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)

E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com