Fished a half-day morning trip at Belton today. Things were a bit slow, but we made up for in quality fish what we lacked in quantity.

Start Time: 6:45a

End Time: 1:35p


Air Temp: 33F at sunrise, warming only to 47F.

Water Temp: 54-58F varying by location


Wind: Winds were N at sunrise at 12-15mph, and slowly slacked off to around 9 while turning NW around 11:15a.

Skies: Skies were clear at sunrise and until around 11a. At this time, some high thin clouds began to build in from the north, and over the next hour grew thick enough to prevent shadows from being cast.

Prior to sunrise, several flocks of gulls were working over open water between Areas 211 and 310, but, given their speed and posture, I could tell they were only sipping shad and were not on top of schooled fish.

After watching these gulls for a while, nothing materialized, and so I moved on.

I first contacted fish at Area 328 boating 4 white bass and 1 barely legal largemouth. All were pretty sluggish in responding to a lift-drop presentation.

From here I moved on and looked over Area 325 and Area 326. There was ample bait all over this area but fish were hard to come by. I managed 1 white bass at Area 326. This fish is now a pending lake record white bass for Belton Lake at 15.625 inches and 1.625 pounds. It came on a 1/4 oz. slab in 23 feet, right on bottom.

I then headed to Area 174 and caught 2 white bass and 1 small largemouth on downrigger using a White Willow spoon in 16-18′. Things were pretty slow here, too.

Moved on to Area 327 just as the wind began to slacken and go NW, and as the cloud cover began to roll in. While going over this area thoroughly with sonar, I noted a lot of bait, and then found fish in 27-31 feet both tight to bottom, as well as suspended in the lower 1/2 of the water column. All told, I managed 21 fish here including 2 back-to-back largemouth (PICTURED BELOW)with the largest of the two going exactly 6.0 pounds. I also caught 2 crappie right off the bottom which went 1.5 pounds each, as well as 1 drum, and 1 short hybrid. The remainder was all white bass right at the 11 inch mark.

As I wrapped up the trip, I was assisted in getting the necessary witnesses to the weighing of the potential lake record white bass by Randy McCurley of Flower Mound and by Matthew Perrine of Temple. Thank you both very much, fellows!

TALLY = 30 FISH (all caught and released.

Bob Maindelle, Owner, Holding The Line Guide Service and Kids Fish, Too! Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide, Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Lake Georgetown Fishing Guide, Walter E. Long (Decker) Lake Fishing Guide. Offering Salado Fishing, Killeen Fishing and Ft. Hood Fishing

Fished an evening trip on Stillhouse in the teeth of a stiff N. wind and fared pretty well tonight with 45 fish taken.

Start Time: 2:35p

End Time: 5:40p


Air Temp: 35F at sunrise, warming only into the low 50’s due to the arrival of a dry front on brisk NNW winds.

Water Temp: 58F


Wind: Winds were NNW at sunrise at ~18mph, and steadily built to 22mph by mid-day and then began to slack off around 2p.

Skies: Skies clear & bright all day.

Following the cold front’s arrival during the late afternoon yesterday, high pressure continues to build in on a stiff wind today. Given that this was a dry front, I expected to be able to catch fish and did.

The mood of the fish was a bit lethargic at the beginning of the trip, but then picked up well at about 45 minutes prior to sunset and up until dark. The water is noticeably dingy due to the high winds blowing for this prolonged period, and that often makes these clear water fish a bit ornery, as well.

I searched 6 areas with sonar, fished 4 of them, and found fish on 3 of them.

Area 74 sits at the edge of a deep flat in 35-38 feet of water. Scattered bait and suspended whites were the deal here. All fishing was electronic sight fishing for fish suspended in the middle third of the water column. I managed 18 white bass here in 90 minutes, all just one at a time and pretty sluggishly. I never saw any large schools of fish at this location, one singles and groups of 2-5 fish. All fish here came on 1/8 and 1/4 oz. slabs to match the forage size.

Next I graphed Area 33 without result and moved on.

I graphed Area 148 and saw no bait, but a few fish tight to bottom. Gave it a few pops with the slab and found nothing and so I moved on.

I looked over Areas 149, 72, and 34 with sonar and found nothing.

I moved to Area 37 and saw clustered bait on the windward slope up shallow in 23-25 feet of water, and fish on the shoulder. I dropped down and quickly put 10 fish in the boat including 9 whites and a drum before the sun set on this area.

I moved one last time to where the sun had not yet set on Area 306 and found very active and abundant fish tight to bottom and suspended up about 4 feet off of bottom in 21 feet. I caught 17 fish here in less than 15 minutes. Surprisingly, more fish came off of a deadstick slab on bottom than came on an actively jigged or smoked slab, despite the fact that the fish were suspended.

At sunset on this area the action ended and I wrapped it up.

TALLY = 45 FISH, all caught and released

Bob Maindelle, Owner, Holding The Line Guide Service and Kids Fish, Too! Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide, Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Lake Georgetown Fishing Guide, Walter E. Long (Decker) Lake Fishing Guide. Offering Salado Fishing, Killeen Fishing and Ft. Hood Fishing

Fished a short morning trip on Stillhouse this morning to see how yesterday’s weather and heavy winds might have moved the fish and bait around.

Start Time: 6:35a

End Time: 10:05a


Air Temp: 47F at sunrise (slightly obscured by a low, distant cloud bank), warming only into the high 50’s due to the arrival of a dry front on brisk NW winds.

Water Temp: 59F


Wind: Winds were NNW at sunrise at 12-15mph, and steadily built and turned WNW to 22mph by trip’s end. Gusts reached 30 by mid afternoon.

Skies: Skies clear all day. The low cloud bank in the morning delayed the sun’s appearance by about 25 minutes only.

More and more birds are arriving with each front, making the fish location equation a little easier to solve. Today, I spent about 30 minutes between Area 112 and Area 257 to establish if the fish were going to feed this morning and, if so, to what degree. I found them quite active, but they took a bit longer to get going. The skies were brighter today when the feeding peaked than during the peak of the feed over the past several days. I took 20 fish, all solid white bass at 11-13 inches from this area and then departed while they were still active to search out additional concentrations of active fish in other areas while the feed was still on. Birds were helpful here.

I moved on and looked over Areas 100 and 101 without result.

I moved on and found healthy concentrations of white bass both on bottom and suspended at 13 feet over a 23 foot bottom between Areas 324 and 106. Fish were occasionally driving shad to the top which attracted some bird activity. I caught fish on both a smoking retrieve and on a lift-drop retrieve. Horizontal lift-dropping fell short. I managed 44 fish from this area in about 90 minutes; the catch included 3 drum, 2 largemouth bass with one going 7.0 pounds (PHOTO BELOW), and 39 white bass. All came on slabs.

Around 10a, a call came in from a tenant at our rental property that they had toilet problems. Had to pack up and prepare for some “crappie” fishing.

TALLY = 66 FISH, all caught and released

Bob Maindelle, Owner, Holding The Line Guide Service and Kids Fish, Too! Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide, Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Lake Georgetown Fishing Guide, Walter E. Long (Decker) Lake Fishing Guide. Offering Salado Fishing, Killeen Fishing and Ft. Hood Fishing

Here’s a snapshot of our results for the month, and a bit about what’s happening right now on Belton and Stillhouse



29 NOV = 49 FISH

28 NOV = 50 FISH

27 NOV = 80 FISH

22 NOV = 17 FISH

20 NOV = 34 FISH (PM)

20 NOV = 33 FISH (AM)

17 NOV = 60 FISH

13 NOV = 56 FISH (PM)

13 NOV = 29 FISH (AM)

10 NOV = 24 FISH

04 NOV = 48 FISH

03 NOV = 59 FISH

01 NOV = 59 FISH

TOTAL CATCH FOR NOVEMBER 2008 = 598 FISH



AVERAGE CATCH PER TRIP = 54.3 FISH

Water Conditions: Surface temps stand at 59-60F at Belton and Stilhouse; the water is 2.1 feet low at Belton and is clear green. At Stillhouse, the water is 4.1 feet low and is clear green.

Hybrid Stripers: With the cooling water, the hybrid have moved up shallower into the 20 foot range. Early morning and late evening have even seen a bit of subsurface activity with occasional fish breaking the surface. Fish will continue to gather into tighter schools through the winter months. As the water cools and the fish congregate, vertical presentations will become more effective than horizontal presentations.

White Bass: Are now predictably schooled up in large congregations and are being found in the same areas as hybrid. Slabbing is very reliable and can account for high numbers in short time spans. Birds are present in sufficient quantities now to be reliable indicators of fish location.

Largemouth: Largemouth are moving out to deepwater structures and are slowing down a good bit. I find a lot of black bass on the open water topographies I fish for whites and hybrids. They tend to come on larger baits, and can be specifically targeted with larger baits as they inhabit these deepwater haunts in fishable numbers.

Winter is by far my favorite time to fish. The fish respond very predictably to the pre-frontal, frontal, and post-frontal cycles. The pressure is light, and the bird activity is icing on the cake.

Call me now if you want to fish in December. I’m at 254-368-7411. –Bob Maindelle

Bob Maindelle, Owner, Holding The Line Guide Service and Kids Fish, Too! Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide, Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Lake Georgetown Fishing Guide, Walter E. Long (Decker) Lake Fishing Guide. Offering Salado Fishing, Killeen Fishing and Ft. Hood Fishing

Fished a morning trip on Stillhouse this morning with Dave D. of Hawaii and his 2 grandsons, Cody (age 13) and Dylan (age 6).

Start Time: 6:30a

End Time: 11:05a

Air Temp: 51F at sunrise (obscured), warming only to 59F due to a northeast breeze and cloud cover.

Water Temp: 61F

Wind: Winds were NE during the entirety of the trip at 7 to 12 mph.

Skies: Skies were leaden grey the entirety of the trip.

We had quite a challenge this morning. A damp NE wind never bodes well for fishing on Stillhouse, and we had 2 young men aboard who had never fished before, so we took things one at a time.

First we went through on-the-water casting lessons with closed face equipment. Cody got the hang of it on his 1st try, Dylan took a little longer, but did better than most 6 year olds. Next, we fine tuned our retrieve, then I put them on the fish.

The fish were not nearly as aggressive or numerous as over the past several days between Area 112 and Area 257 and we really had to strain for them. We managed 22 fish by 8:30am with everyone catching about the same number of fish. Little Dylan anchored the string with his 3.5 pound largemouth shown below. All fish came on bladebaits. The breakdown was 2 largemouth, 1 drum, and 19 white bass.

When the shallow bite died off, we took a hand-warming and snack break and then tried a flatline troll in the vicinity of Area 319 and picked up one white and one small largemouth here. We then shifted over to Area 114 and found fish stacked right on the break here, as well as up onto the flat to the east. We picked up 3 doubles and 4 singles here — all white bass. With the trolling that consistent, I knew we could hover and cast to these fish. We did so, and put 4 more white bass in the boat before things got quiet.

We resumed a flatline troll for the remainder of the trip and put 11 more fish in the boat, all one at a time.

By about 10:45 the kids had all they could take of the cold wet wind and wind chill so we wrapped up our trip at that point having done very well despite the difficult conditions.

TALLY = 49 fish, all caught and released

Bob Maindelle, Owner, Holding The Line Guide Service and Kids Fish, Too! Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide, Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Lake Georgetown Fishing Guide, Walter E. Long (Decker) Lake Fishing Guide. Offering Salado Fishing, Killeen Fishing and Ft. Hood Fishing

Fished Stillhouse today and did a little scouting in advance of a trip booked for tomorrow to be attended by a grandfather and his 6 and 13 year old grandsons.

Start Time: 6:35a

End Time: 12:45p


Air Temp: 57F at sunrise (obscured), warming only into the low 60’s due to a gentle north breeze and cloud cover.

Water Temp: 61-62F


Wind: Winds were light and variable at sunrise, and by 8:30a began to push out of the north to no more than 9-10 mph all day.

Skies: Skies were leaden grey all day with occasional thinning, but no breaks. A light drizzle fell most of the morning.

With several trips booked late this month and into December, I looked around today during periods of activity for birds and bait so as not to get too dependent on the one area I’ve fished heavily of late.

I started the morning between Area 112 and Area 257 to establish if the fish were going to feed this morning and, if so, to what degree, given the high level low pressure system that’s been giving us some very variable weather. In summary, I landed 25 fish in less than 45 minutes here, including 2 largemouth, 1 drum, and 22 whites ranging from 9 to 14 inches, all on a bladebait.

I left these fish while they were still biting to seek out other concentrations of active fish. I checked Area 123 without result.

I then headed to Area 320 and tried a flatline troll in order to cover a lot of water quickly trying to find active fish. I hooked and landed a 6 pound longnose gar here, as well as a small largemouth, but no white bass.

I moved on to troll from Area 317, through Area 322, and to Area 321, all without result.

I moved back to Area 317 and picked up 2 largemouth, 2 drum, and 15 white bass here on the smaller 1/4 oz. bladebait.

After this played out, I moved to Area 323 because of its similarity to Area 317. I fished it the same way but only came up with 1 white bass, with 2 more missed at boatside.

A little wrinkle then came through in the weather, and it suddenly got cooler and rained for a while. I resumed trolling and picked up 2 small crappie over open water at Area 318.

I wrapped up the trip at Area 319 after seeing a few terns working over large areas of water here, but doing it consistently. I flatline trolled for 3 more whites, all right at 11 inches, and then called it a day as the winds went slack and the birds lighted on the surface.

TALLY = 50 FISH, all caught and released

Bob Maindelle, Owner, Holding The Line Guide Service and Kids Fish, Too! Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide, Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Lake Georgetown Fishing Guide, Walter E. Long (Decker) Lake Fishing Guide. Offering Salado Fishing, Killeen Fishing and Ft. Hood Fishing

Fished a Thanksgiving Day morning trip on Stillhouse today with Ron, Jeff, and Zach Z. — 3 generations.

Start Time: 6:30a

End Time: 9:15a


Air Temp: 55F at sunrise (obscured), warming to 72 by mid afternoon.

Water Temp: 62.0F


Wind: Winds were light and variable right at sunrise, then went flat calm by 9a. By mid afternoon the winds picked up at about 8-9 from the ESE in advance of a wet cold front due in overnight.

Skies: Skies were leaden grey all day. Periodically the clouds would thin and the sky would brighten, but the clouds never broke.

We planned ahead for a “modified” short trip today because 1) little Zach is only 2 1/2 and we knew his attention span is short, and 2) its Thanksgiving, and sometimes wives don’t think much of extended fishing adventures on national holidays.

We got on the water at 6:30a, and kept on eye on the surface for fish and bait activity, and on the sky for birds. While looking about in the area I expected fish to be at, we flatline trolled with Bombers without result for just a few minutes. Right at 6:45, the first white bass broke the surface chasing after shad, and then there was another, and another, and the game was on!! We quietly eased into the fish with the trolling motor and began sight casting and fancasting to the white bass with blade baits. Although there were fish feeding at the top, the vast majority were still bottom oriented, so we kept our baits near bottom.

Long story short, in 1 hour and 20 minutes, the 3 of us (aided by Zach here and there) landed 77 fish including 2 largemouth bass, 3 drum, and 72 white bass, all between Area 112 and Area 257. The average size of the white bass was a solid 12.5 inches with some larger, but few short of the 10 inch mark. These fish were healthy looking, and all had full, but not over-stuffed, bellies.

Jeff landed his personal best on this trip, a 5.25 pound largemouth that nailed his bladebait and then headed toward Coryell County. Jeff played it well and brought it to net for a few photos before we released her.

By 8:05 this action died. The skies lightened at this time, the winds went flat calm, and the few birds that were around had gone to rest. None of this bode well for continued success. We tried a flatline troll betwee Area 115 and Area 123 and picked up one 11 inch white bass.

We then headed to Area 110 and picked up 2 more 11-12 inch white bass also on a flatline troll. By 9:15 things had ground to a halt and we all knew it was Turkey Time.

A pretty amazing 80 fish trip, all in under 3 hours.

TALLY = 80 fish, all caught and released

Bob Maindelle, Owner Holding The Line Guide Service and Kids Fish, Too! Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide, Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Lake Georgetown Fishing Guide, Walter E. Long (Decker) Lake Fishing Guide. Offering Salado Fishing, Killeen Fishing and Ft. Hood Fishing

Fished a scouting trip today on Stillhouse and spent more time looking at sonar and searching for birds than I did fishing. I searched the lower end of the lake beyond the usual stops looking especially for bait concentrations, but found little. A humid, cold SE wind usually means tough fishing, and that is what I found today.

Start Time: 1:45p

End Time: 5:25p


Air Temp: 47F at sunrise, warming to 57 by mid afternoon.

Water Temp: 62.4F


Wind: Winds were light but steady from the SE at 6 to 8 all day until around 4pm, they they tapered off to flat calm.

Skies: Skies were leaden grey all day.

Despite lots of time spent looking, I found few birds, fish, or bait today. Here’s a quick summary of the little success I did enjoy.

Area 242: Caught one white bass out of a suspended school on my very first drop fishing in 38 feet of water with a 1/4 oz. slab. The school appeared at around 13 feet deep. I stayed here longer than I normally would hoping additional white bass would show, but the only other catch here was 5 smallish largemouth. Each of these was alone and was suspended, but closer to the bottom than the white bass were. The largest went 14 inches. Moved about 30 yards to the SSE and caught two more small largemouth here – same exact scenario as above.

Area 149: Found white bass hugging bottom via sonar. Dropped a slab down and got an initial reaction, but these fish settled down very quickly and then turned off altogether after just a short burst of activity. Caught 6 whites; all struck a still slab on bottom in 24 feet.

Area 110: Saw an osprey hesitate in flight several times over this area and thought it may have spotted white bass feeding near the surface. Got there quickly and began fancasting a blade bait and wound up with 3 short largemouth. Never did see anything that looked like gamefish feeding here.

TALLY = 17 FISH, all caught and released

Bob Maindelle, Owner, Holding The Line Guide Service and Kids Fish, Too! Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide, Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Lake Georgetown Fishing Guide, Walter E. Long (Decker) Lake Fishing Guide. Offering Salado Fishing, Killeen Fishing and Ft. Hood Fishing

Fished a split trip today due to near windless conditions from 915am to 1:30pm. AM and PM reports appear separately.

Start Time: 3:45p

End Time: 5:25p


Air Temp: 43F at sunrise, warming to 68 by mid afternoon, then falling off into the 50’s as a dry cold front blew through

Water Temp: 63.8F


Wind: Winds were light but steady from the W at 6 from pre-dawn until 8:00am and then died to light and variable until early afternoon when a cold front arrived, turning winds NW at 22 with gusts to 25.

Skies: Skies were clear and bright under high pressure all day.

As is often the case with dry cold fronts in the fall, the fish were in overdrive during the high wind period on the lead edge of the front.

I searched for fish on main lake humps, and fished on the windward side of these features. I found congregations of fish at Areas 306 (18 fish), 149 (11 fish) and 54 (5 fish), in that order.

The setup was similar at each location. Fish were located on the highest point of the feature, very tight to the bottom, and were clustered tightly together. As soon as the slab reached bottom, there would be a several-minute long flurry of activity with fish responding to a smoking retrieve, then the fish would wise up and settle down a bit, but still hit well, often on a still slab. After that, the school would disperse and the bite was over and it was time to go looking again.

The sun set at 5:28 today, and the bite was over by about 5:10pm.

TALLY = 34 FISH, all caught and released

Bob Maindelle, Owner, Holding The Line Guide Service and Kids Fish, Too! Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide, Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Lake Georgetown Fishing Guide, Walter E. Long (Decker) Lake Fishing Guide. Offering Salado Fishing, Killeen Fishing and Ft. Hood Fishing

Fished a split trip today due to near windless conditions from 915am to 1:30pm. AM and PM reports appear separately.

Start Time: 6:45a

End Time: 9:15a


Air Temp: 43F at trip’s start, warming to 68 by mid afternoon, then falling off into the 50’s as a dry cold front blew through

Water Temp: 63.8F


Wind: Winds were light but steady from the W at 6 from pre-dawn until 8:00am and then died to light and variable until early afternoon when a cold front arrived, turning winds NW at 22 with gusts to 25.

Skies: Skies were clear and bright under high pressure all day.

Going off a hunch based on weather conditions, I headed to between Areas 257 and 112 and found schooled white bass driving shad to the surface just before, during, and immediately after sunrise. Due to the lack of cloud cover, as soon as the sun fully shone on the water, the fish were gone. During the feed, I caught 28 fish here on both a blade bait and on the Cork Rig. This catch included 3 drum, 1 short largemouth, and 24 white bass to 13 inches.

After this short feed, things went quiet. I picked up 2 largemouth on a flatline troll at Area 999, and then downrigged the Area 54 complex while watching sonar and only managed 1 additional white bass, and two short largemouth. No concentrations of fish were seen over this entire area.

By 9:15 the surface was glassy and the fish were done.

TALLY = 33 FISH, all caught and released

Bob Maindelle, Owner, Holding The Line Guide Service and Kids Fish, Too! Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide, Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Lake Georgetown Fishing Guide, Walter E. Long (Decker) Lake Fishing Guide. Offering Salado Fishing, Killeen Fishing and Ft. Hood Fishing