Fishing Report

WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning I welcomed back perennial guest Dwight Stone of Georgetown, this time accompanied by his brother Duane Stone, a retired Alaskan State Trooper from Glenn Allen, AK.

Like Dwight, Duane enjoys just about everything outdoors.  Lots of good fishing stories were shared this morning!  My favorite was listening to the process of cutting a 4′ x 4′ hole through several feet of ocean ice to drop a crab trap through, only to place styrofoam and snow over it as insulation so the same several feet of ice didn’t have to be removed a second time to retrieve the fresh crabs a week or so later.

Most of our action came early this morning and, by 11:30, despite the bottom we were over being littered with fish, those fish were done.  We proclaimed it “Miller Time”, which meant Dwight would be taking Duane over to Miller’s Smokehouse in Belton, as has become his custom anytime he brings someone to fish on Stillhouse or Belton for their first time.

 

 

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Dwight and Duane Stone with a portion of our catch taken from ~52F water on Stillhouse this morning.

 

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday (AM), 04 February 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

With an incoming, dry, mild cold front due to change the weather once again, today was what I anticipated would be the best of the weekday fishing, which Dwight had asked me to try to hand-pick for him and his brother, since both are retired and have flexible schedules.

The front did, indeed, arrive, but at around 3pm with winds shifting from W to NW and increasing from 14 to ~17 just briefly.

Our fishing this morning, was a few hours too early to get in on the pre-frontal bite, so, we dealt with pretty average mid-winter conditions.

Birds helped out for about 90 minutes, and some passing cloud cover late in the first half of the morning helped out as well.

We took fish on a combination of MAL Lures when we found fish willing to rise up off bottom for a lure and give chase, and we used bladebaits when the fish were more reluctant and were in under 22 feet of water (as blades don’t work quite as well in water much deeper than that).

We observed that moving frequently was a great asset today, as the fish we caught generally were caught soon after arriving at an area and beginning our presentations.  The longer we stayed, the more reluctant the fish became.  It was tempting to sit on top of fish clearly displaying on Garmin LiveScope, but, when those fish just wouldn’t play along, chances were better that we’d put fish in the boat by moving, even if only a few boat-lengths away.

We caught 4 fish here, 6 fish there, maybe 7 or 8 at most at a single area.  Moving was essential.

We wound up with 52 fish in 4.5 hours of effort, including 1 largemouth going right at 4 pounds, and 51 white bass.

Although I was pleased that with the water warming from a low of 48F a week or so ago to its current 52+ allowed us to bring the MAL Lure back into our arsenal, I’m afraid we’ll be headed back down the scale if next week’s forecast comes to fruition.

TALLY: 52 fish caught and released (1 largemouth bass, 51 white bass)

OBSERVATIONS:   Most of this morning’s feed took place by 9:30A.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:  7:00A

End Time: 11:30A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 64F

Elevation:  0.60′ high with a 0.00’ 24-hour change and 1 CFS flow thru the dam.

Water Surface Temp: 52.8F 

Wind Speed & Direction:  SW9 at trip’s start, swinging to WSW and increasing to 13 by trip’s end, still a few hours in advance of the incoming, dry cool front.

Sky Condition: Fair skies with occasionally passing bands of white clouds

Moon Phase: Last quarter moon at 53% illumination

GT = 5

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Areas:  SH0004G thru SH0035G thru 100 (3 short hops for morning’s most aggressive fish on MAL’s), SH0040G (bladebait action), 1167 (scant), SH0005C thru 331 (reluctant, bottom-hugging fish on MAL’s)

 

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

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide

#BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing

#bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport

#fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday

#Fitec

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This morning, Wednesday, February 3rd, I did a combination sonar refresher/fishing trip with Mr. Ronnie Trower which many of you will recognize from the Texas Boat World staff.

Ronnie recently rigged his new Avid aluminum bass boat with large-screen Lowrance HDS Live units on the console and bow, as well as Garmin LiveScope at the bow.

In order to avoid the pitfall of fixing the Garmin LiveScope transducer to the trolling motor, and to avoid what many consider a hassle in having to handle a separately deployable LiveScope transducer pole, Ronnie uses a Rite-Hite “Turret” mount which, like a trolling-motor mounted H’bird 360 pod, holds the LiveScope transducer parallel to the trolling motor shaft and stows/deploys it along with the trolling motor.  The Turret has its own slowly turning motor which allows the LiveScope to be turned and “aimed” in a ~360-degree field.

Today we continued to work out the kinks on all of Ronnie’s equipment and put that equipment to use in a real-life fishing scenario.

 

PHOTO CAPTION: A little “largemouth icing” on our “white bass cake” this morning as Ronnie Trower and I worked the kinks out of his new electronics setup.  This girl went 7.16 pounds and took a 3/8 oz. white Hazy Eye Slab with stinger hook.

PHOTO CAPTION: Ronnie got to try his hand at working my MAL Lure once the wind came up and the fish got more active.  Restraint on the hookset is a big part of converting strikes to landed fish on this customized, heavy spinner made to sink fast for vertical work.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday (AM), 03 February 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

Since Ronnie is primarily interested in putting his electronics to work to fish for largemouth bass in tournament settings, we spent a little more time than I normally would anytime we found fish near woody cover, as such habitat normally yields a better chance of attracting largemouth bass.  Moving less meant fewer white bass, but a better shot at largemouth.

Today, our action was front-loaded into the first 2.5 hours, with fairly slow fishing thereafter.

We focused on fish working bait on deep flats early, then shifted our focus to the channel drop in the latter part of the morning.  Birds were somewhat helpful, although the probability of getting fooled by loons is high now.

We swapped back and forth between my 3/8 oz. Hazy Eye Slabs with stinger hooks (for less aggressive fish unwilling to leave bottom) and my MAL Lures (for fish which were either already suspended, or showed a willingness to chase from bottom upward into the water column).

We picked up two nice largemouth, the first at 4.28 pounds, and the second just a shade over 7 pounds.  Both came in the first two hours on the small, 3/8 oz. slab.

Before we came off the water I wanted to be sure we had accomplished what Ronnie had hoped to accomplish in putting this trip together.  He said the main thing was that he now felt more confident in “target identification” with the Lowrance side-imaging after observing what we did and did not stop to fish for this morning, and after simply covering a lot of water and just looking and asking questions to confirm or deny his own suspicions.

Truth be known, fishing is one of the biggest obstacles to people getting to learn their sonar better.  I see this many times with those I take out for sonar training … they tend to commit too early to too little and wind up fishing low percentage scenarios, or, worse, fishing where there are no fish at all.

We wrapped up with 31 fish — a little more icing on the cake!!!

Hazy Eye Slabs and Stinger Hooks are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

Additionally, Tightlines Premium Fishing Tackle has a few of the white 3/8 oz. and 3/4 oz. versions on the rack right at the cash register.

TALLY: 31 fish caught and released (2 largemouth bass, 1 drum, and 28 white bass)

OBSERVATIONS:   Most of this morning’s feed took place by 9:30A.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:  7:00A

End Time: 12:40P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 44F

Elevation:  0.60′ high with a 0.02’ 24-hour fall and 1 CFS flow thru the dam.

Water Surface Temp: 52.4F 

Wind Speed & Direction:  S3 at trip’s start, increasing and shifting to SSW14  by trip’s end

Sky Condition: Fair skies with no clouds

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 64% illumnination

GT = 25

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Areas: 338, vic 1013, 1536-1538 (best white bass action as wind came up), 1892 (scant), 390 (scant)

 

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

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide

#BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing

#bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport

#fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday

#Fitec

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This morning, Thursday, January 28th, I welcomed back Dwight Stone of Georgetown, accompanied by his son-in-law, Ryan Renfrow.  This was Ryan’s first time out with me.

Dwight is retired from the restaurant business and Ryan, born and raised in Austin, conducts research at the University of Texas.

It was pretty chilly this morning.  As I sprayed screen cleaner on my sonar units before Dwight and Ryan arrived, it froze onto the screen!

As we reeled in our 101st fish this morning around quitting time, and after talking about BBQ joints on and off over the last 90 minutes of the trip, I asked Dwight if he was going to take Ryan to Miller’s Smokehouse in Belton.  Dwight quipped, “Does a fat baby get gas?”   I took that as an emphatic “yes”!

 

PHOTO CAPTION: From left:  Dwight Stone and his son-in-law, Ryan Renfrow each with a football-shaped Stillhouse white bass taken on a combination of MAL Lures, slabs, and bladebaits.

 

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday (AM), 28 January 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

The fish have settled into a pretty predictable winter pattern now.  Unless we have extreme weather, most mornings are seeing about 2 hours worth of feeding on deep flats by fish patrolling in small packs, followed by these fish collecting at the drop into the old Lampasas River channel thereafter, and remaining catchable for another ~2 hours.

The birds, too, have become fairly predictable with most of the bird action in the first 2 hours focused on fish, with the birds (gulls and terns) quickly transitioning to chasing loons once the gamefish quit working the deep flats.

We fished a couple different ways today.  First, because we had both wind and cloud cover, I assumed the fish would be in a positive mode (versus negative or neutral), therefore, instead of defaulting to slabs, I went with MAL Lures retrieved just fast enough to keep the blade turning around the shaft.  This worked well in the first 60-80 minutes.  We then noted that the fish grew more reluctant to chase as far and fast as the MAL Lures were being retrieved, so, I switched us over to bladebaits so as to fish more territory horizontally, and to keep the baits closer to the bottom for longer periods of time.  This was a good call and kept us catching fish through about 9:45.

About this time the deep flats bite wrapped up, the birds quit hunting over fish, and we had to rely solely on sonar.

We found fish on the channel edge at two distinct areas.  The first gave up 38 fish, and the second (and final) gave up 37.

These fish were not as aggressive as those we’d found earlier on the flats, thus, we used smaller slabs (the white 3/8 oz. Hazy Eye with stinger) with a slow-smoking tactic to fool these fish.  Combined with Garmin LiveScope, Dwight and Ryan didn’t miss many opportunities as we employed this tactic.

We noted the average white bass taken along the channel was smaller/younger than the average white bass taken earlier in the morning up on the deep flats.

We wrapped up with 101 fish.

Hazy Eye Slabs and Stinger Hooks are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 101 fish caught and released (2 largemouth bass and 99 white bass)

OBSERVATIONS:   Typical Stillhouse winter pattern is solidly in place now with much the same things happening in the same places and at the same times each day.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:  7:10A

End Time: 12:40P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 32F

Elevation:  0.68′ high with a 0.02’ 24-hour fall and 1 CFS flow thru the dam.

Water Surface Temp: 51.9F 

Wind Speed & Direction:  ENE all day, starting around 8mph pre-sunrise, increasing to 10-12 by mid morning, then tapering back to 6-7 by trip’s end

Sky Condition: ~50% cover at dawn, increasing to 80% coverage (light grey in color)

Moon Phase: Full moon today

GT = 15

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Areas:  SH0019C (flat), 0286/0287 (flat), SH0001C (channel), 0113 (channel)

 

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

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide

#BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing

#bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport

#fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday

#Fitec

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This morning, Monday, January 25th, I welcomed a boatful of returning guests aboard including Jack Oliver, his friend, Hank Lewis, and two of Jack’s grandkids, Jack and Roy Martin, the sons of his daughter Emily.

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Hank Lewis, Jack and Roy Martin, and Jack Oliver with beefy Stillhouse white bass taken on MAL Lures moved just fast enough to spin the blade.

 

PHOTO CAPTION: This is a panoramic photo taken facing east just before sunrise.  It shows the front we had hoped to fish in front of passing by a good bit earlier than forecast, thus denying us the prefrontal action which I’d hoped for this morning.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: Monday (AM), 25 January 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

On Sunday, NOAA forecast the approach and passage of a mild cold front during the mid-morning hours today.  This typically makes for above average fishing.  Seeing this, I first asked the gentleman I had sonar training scheduled with today if he would mind moving back to Tuesday so we would not have to contend with wind (which makes things unnecessarily difficult when trying to dial in sonar, but is ideal for fishing).  He agreed.

Next, I checked to see if the client I had scheduled for Tuesday could bump up to Monday to take advantage of the pre-frontal action I anticipated.  He could not, but we were at least able to move him away from Tuesday’s calm, clear, cool conditions (the toughest of winter conditions).

So, now I had ideal weather and no party to enjoy it.  I posted about this on Facebook, and Jack replied within an hour.

Now, we just needed the weather to follow the weather forecast.  Unfortunately, that didn’t exactly happen as planned.

The front I’d hoped to fish in front of actually sped up overnight and the lead edge wound up moving by quickly around 6:20AM, still under cover of darkness, versus the 10:00-10:30AM forecast time.

With our meeting time set for 7:20AM (about the earliest the white bass begin feeding, based on light levels), we had missed the pre-frontal window and now were back to average fishing conditions for the first 2 hours or so until the wind kicked in good from the NW and spurred the fish on to a late-morning bite, during which time we more than doubled our first three hours’ catch of 25 fish to a final tally of 53 fish, the last 28 of which came in the last hour of effort.

For simplicity’s sake, and because the fish we encountered were willing to chase (as they were still positively influenced by the changing pressure related to the front), and because many fish were already suspended in the water column, we used MAL Lures (in chartreuse) the entire trip today.  We got the spinner blade working with a short, single handle crank to minimize its speedy departure from the bottom, and then settled back to as slow a retrieve as possible while still keeping the blade whirling.

With everyone’s eyes glued to well-tuned Garmin LiveScope, everyone stayed alert to opportunities as they swam by and we did well by timing our retrieves in response to witnessed fish behavior.

The fish we landed in the first half of the trip were on deep flats and were not as numerous, but were of a much better average size than the smaller fish stacked on the river channel during the latter part of the morning.  Every fish we landed was of legal (10″ minimum) size.

Not a bad morning, but also not the haul I anticipated had our forecast held true — timing is everything!

Hazy Eye Slabs and Stinger Hooks are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 53 fish caught and released (2 drum and 51 white bass)

OBSERVATIONS:   More gull and tern action focused on loons than on fish this morning.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:  7:20A

End Time: 12:00P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 63F

Elevation:  0.72′ high with a 0.01’ 24-hour rise and 1 CFS flow thru the dam.

Water Surface Temp: 52.2F 

Wind Speed & Direction:  Calm for first 80 minutes, then slowly increasing and shifting from WNW to NW up to 18mph by noon.

Sky Condition: Clear skies the entire trip

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 82% illumination 

GT = 85

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Areas:  0090 (flat), Sh0002C (flat), 419 thru 1167 thru 0231 (channel)

 

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

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide

#BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing

#bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport

#fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday

#Fitec

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This morning, Saturday, January 23rd, I fished with Brandon Kolaja and Danielle Dove from around the Lake Conroe area.  Brandon is a professional firefighter and Danielle is a real estate agent.

The two came to visit Danielle’s parents in Morgan’s Point near Lake Belton, and, since both enjoy the outdoors, Brandon did a little “Googling” to find me and booked a morning of chasing white bass.

Brandon serves as the president of the Sam Houston chapter of the Coastal Conservation Association (CCA), and normally divides his fishing time between Lake Conroe and wade fishing in the Gulf of Mexico.

The two asked me about anything to be sure to take in while in the area this time of year.  Of course I pointed them to Miller’s Smokehouse and to Chalk Ridge Falls Natural Area downstream from the Stillhouse Hollow Dam.

PHOTO CAPTION:  Danielle Dove enjoyed her first experience fishing vertically while assisted with sonar to bag white bass and hybrid striped bass this morning.

 

PHOTO CAPTION: Sam Houston chapter CCA president Brandon Kolaja with a long Lake Belton hybrid striped bass taken in 52F water on a vertically worked MAL Lure.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:   Brandon and Danielle with a few of the healthy white bass we took on MAL Lures while the action was fast and on slabs while the action was slower.

 

WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton

WHEN WE FISHED: Saturday (AM), 23 January 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

I chose Lake Belton for this morning’s trip due to the expected heavy traffic on Stillhouse Hollow with over 70 boats registered for the Tuff-Man Series bass tournament championship event held there today.

Belton had light traffic, even with the youth version of the Tuff-Man Series launching out of Temple Lake Park.

Our success this morning mimicked the wind.  During our first 90 minutes while the winds were nearly calm, we scratched up a few fish here and there, but found no excited fish willing to aggressively chase our baits off the bottom with enough gusto to overtake and get hooked.

Around 9:30, a light ENE wind began to blow and the fish began to feed.  They turned on very well from 10AM to 11AM, during which time, despite water temperatures at 52F, we got nearly all the fish we caught at this particular location to chase slowly retrieved MAL Lures.  This area began to die down around 11AM, and we went searching for fish once again with 34 fish now boated, including 5 legal hybrid up to 4.25 pounds.

We next connected at what would be our second and final stop of the morning (with 3 short hops in the general vicinity).  Sonar showed fish scattered on a deep flat, but the density appeared sufficient to me to lead me to think we could draw fish in by thumping and with the commotion of our own jigging efforts.

We set up on these fish, began working slabs, caught 3 fish on the slabs and began to see the bite come alive.  I switched us all over to MAL Lures in order to take advantage of the fishes’ willingness to suspend and chase, and this put the remainder of our 69 fish in the boat.  One of the indicators that led me to change over to the MAL’s was the speed at which I saw fish moving from left to right (or vice versa) on the Garmin LiveScope screen.

We finished up our trip with 69 fish, including 1 largemouth bass, 2 freshwater drum, 5 legal hybrid striped bass, and 61 white bass, of which 57 were of legal size.

Hazy Eye Slabs and Stinger Hooks are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 69 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:  All fish taken from 36 to 59 feet of water this morning.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:  7:30A

End Time: 1:00P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 50F

Elevation:  0.51′ high with a 0.03’ 24-hour rise and 34 CFS flow thru the dam.

Water Surface Temp: 52.2F 

Wind Speed & Direction: Calm for first 90 minutes, then E6-7 the remainder of the trip

Sky Condition: 100% cloud cover

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 74% illumination 

GT = 55

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Areas: Between B0069G to 1209 on slope (34 fish), then “short hopping” from B0068G to B0060G to B0050G for the remainder of our fish (35 additional fish)

 

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

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide

#BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing

#bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport

#fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday

#Fitec

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This morning, Wednesday, January 20th, I fished with bass tournament fishing partners Frank Ellis and Ryan Warren.

There has been an upwelling of interest in fishing vertically in deep water for winter bass in advance of the high-stakes Tuff-Man championship event to be held this coming Saturday and Sunday, with the first day’s event on Stillhouse, and the final day’s event held on Belton.  This was the second team associated with that series to seek input on fishing deep water with sonar this week.

As with my trip yesterday, these experienced bass anglers wanted me not to take them bass fishing, but wanted to really study the approach I take to consistently boating white bass in the winter months, knowing that my bycatch often consists of enough quality fish to place in tournaments this time of year.

I shared with Frank before we agreed on the trip that, “I want to respectfully remind you that I am a white bass/hybrid specialist who happens to pick up a few nice largemouth bass as bycatch every winter.  I would not in good conscience accept a client wanting me to take them largemouth bass fishing.”

He and Ryan understood where I was coming from, we agreed to the date, and I had the freedom to pursue fish as I normally would while they closely observed what was going on for anything they could seize on to help them in their own efforts.

PHOTO CAPTION:  Stillhouse continues to produce quality bass.  Thanks to slackening winds following yesterday’s cold front, tough fishing in 49F water got even tougher as we had to finesse these fish into biting on my smallest 3/8 oz. Hazy Eye Slabs with stingers attached.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  Ryan came up with twins!

 

PHOTO CAPTION:   Frank got a little more than the white bass he bargained for, as well!  This 8.125-pound rascal came from over 50 feet of water.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: Wednesday (AM), 20 January 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

This morning’s fishing was slow, with already cold (49F) water and a post-frontal weather scenario overlain on that.

Regardless, we got out there an fished, knowing the “reject rate” (the number of fish that nose at a bait but ultimately refuse it) was going to be high.  We raised countless fish this morning from as much as 57 feet of water, but even that extra deep water did not serve as an insulator against the cold front’s effects.

We devoted our first two hours to chasing fish aided somewhat by bird activity, then relied solely upon sonar during the last half of the trip to find channel-oriented fish.

Most of our effort was invested in fishing the 3/8 oz. Hazy Eye Slabs vertically while observing them, and fish response to them, 100% of the time via Garmin LiveScope.  Thanks to the fact that both Frank and Ryan already had LiveScope experience, we avoided the premature hooksets many “LiveScope rookies” tend to make while watching the screen instead of feeling the line and observing rod tip.

We finished up with exactly 41 fish, including 4 largemouth bass, 1 drum, 1 channel catfish, and 35 white bass (all well-exceeding minimum size).  Ryan was especially appreciative of the help I offered in understanding the bass/forage relationship as we discussed shad and sunfish in detail, and as he was able to observe the things I explained in real time on the water.

Hazy Eye Slabs and Stinger Hooks are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 41 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:  The water temperature remained at 49.6F for a third consecutive day.  Although the COE is releasing ~240 CFS, the lake actually rose slightly due to intermittent, light rain fall following yesterday’s frontal passage.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:  7:20A

End Time: 12:00P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 45F

Elevation:  0.79′ high with a 0.05’ 24-hour rise and 240 CFS flow thru the dam.

Water Surface Temp: 49.6F  (third trip this winter with sub-50F water)

Wind Speed & Direction: NNE at 5-6 all morning

Sky Condition: 100% cloud cover

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 46% illumination 

GT = 95

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Areas SH0020,1013, SH0013C, and 0113

 

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

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide

#BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing

#bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport

#fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday

#Fitec

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This morning, Tuesday, January 19th, I fished with bass tournament fishing partners John Del Rio and John Riley.

There has been an upwelling of interest in fishing vertically in deep water for winter bass in advance of the high-stakes Tuff-Man championship event to be held this coming Saturday and Sunday, with the first day’s event on Stillhouse, and the final day’s event held on Belton.  Only those in the top 50% of the field based on day one’s performance will advance to Lake Belton.

These fellows wanted me not to take them bass fishing, but wanted to really study the approach I take to consistently boating white bass in the winter months, knowing that my bycatch often consists of enough quality fish to place in tournaments this time of year.

Although we did catch bass this morning, I believe the biggest eye-opener for these experienced bass anglers was the effective use of multiple forms of sonar to find, position on, then effectively fish for fish of several species, as well as seeing the intricacies of really working a slab vertically, based on fish behavior.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  Although our focus was on white bass, as is typical in the winter months, and especially when fishing with some form of cover nearby, we also landed quality largemouth bass using the same 3/8 oz. and 3/4 oz. Hazy Eye Slabs (with stinger hooks) which the white bass find so appealing.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:   Fat and sassy white bass, the females bulging with eggs, were the staple of our 60 fish catch as a wet cold front moved in this morning, dropping the ambient temperature 11 degrees in 5 hours, from 60F to 49F.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday (AM), 19 January 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

An incoming wet cold front is about as hurtful to fishing as an incoming dry cold front is helpful.  With limited time to get this trip in in advance of the lakes going “off-limits” in advance of the Tuff-Man tournament, we fished through the weather this morning, and, although the fish were pretty lethargic, they allowed me to demonstrate some of the winter fishing fundamentals the fellows were interested in.

Birds were of little help today — mostly flying high and looking tentatively or focused on loons.  This correlated with the non-aggressive feeding activity we witnessed on sonar.  When gamefish are not willing to venture far from bottom to chase shad, dead and crippled shad do not show on the surface with enough regularity to draw the birds’ (gulls and terns) attention.

So, we really had to rely on sonar this morning to find our fish.  The first tool put to use is side-imaging to cover great expanses of open water looking for baitfish, and looking for gamefish patrolling for those baitfish.  The second tool put to use was Garmin LiveScope, once we Spot-Locked atop the fish we’d found.  The LiveScope allowed us to see all three of our vertical presentations simultaneously, as well a fish response (and lack of response) to them.

We wound up fishing mainly deep flats today and never really found fish congregated along the river channel.  We took our first 30 fish on slabs, then switched over and put our last 30 fish in the boat primarily on bladebaits (which is something John D. specifically wanted me to give him a refresher on).

We finished up with exactly 60 fish, including 2 largemouth bass, 1 drum, 1 channel catfish, and 56 white bass (all well-exceeding minimum size).

Hazy Eye Slabs and Stinger Hooks are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 60 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:  The water temperature remained at 49.6F.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:  7:20A

End Time: 11:20P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 38F

Elevation:  0.79′ high with a 0.05’ 24-hour drop and 240 CFS flow thru the dam.

Water Surface Temp: 49.6F  (second trip this winter with sub-50F water)

Wind Speed & Direction: Calm at launch time, with the wet cold front moving in during our first hour on the water, dropping rain and the ambient air temperature with a cold wind blowing N10-12.

Sky Condition: 100% cloud cover

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 37% illumination 

GT = 25

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Areas 0226, 0270, and 0220 through 1179.

 

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

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide

#BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing

#bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport

#fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday

#Fitec

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This past Saturday morning, January 16th, I welcomed aboard father-and-son team Tim and Reese Atkinson.  Tim just retired from Wilsonart International in Temple where he led the sales department for many years.  Reese is himself a salesman focused on heavy equipment down in the Austin area.

Tim’s wife presented him with a fishing gift certificate for his birthday back in October, and today was the day to redeem it.

Despite less than ideal conditions (bright, cloudless skies, and just-sufficient winds) we were able to put 77 fish in the boat, including another quality take of chunky largemouth.

PHOTO CAPTION: Reese Atkinson with a sweet 6.75-pound largemouth bass taken while fishing vertically in deep water under less-than-ideal, post-frontal conditions.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  Later in the morning, Tim pitched in with this nice 5 1/8-pound largemouth.  This one took the 3/4 oz. Hazy Eye Slab with stinger hook as we worked larger baits for more aggressive white bass.  The weight helped get our lures back to bottom more quickly while the fish were ramped up so we could “make hay while the sun shone”.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  A sampling of the quality white bass we took this morning — the females’ flanks are beginning to bulge with spawn.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: Saturday (AM), 16 January 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

Our target species this morning was white bass.  We enjoyed helpful, albeit brief, bird activity which pointed the way to the fish we caught at our first two stops of the morning.  After about 9:30, we were on our own to find fish strictly via sonar.

As is often the case on Stillhouse in the winter, the fish were actively patrolling deep flats in small wolfpacks beginning at sunrise, and, once that strong feed was over, they consolidated within yards of the river channel.

We took all of our fish on Hazy Eye Slabs with stinger hooks attached, alternating between the light 3/8 oz. slab and the heavier 3/4 oz. slab as fish behavior dictated.  When the fish were really fired up and Garmin LiveScope revealed they were suspended off bottom, we went with the larger slabs.  When the fish were more sedate, with little or no target separation observable between them and the bottom, we opted for the finesse of the 3/8 oz. slabs.

We used either an easing tactic (for slow fish) or a slow-smoke tactic (for more aggressive, suspended fish).

By 11:20, right at the 4-hour mark, the fish were still present but nearly totally shut down.  To continue on would have certainly been anti-climactic, so, we called it a great morning and headed back for some lunch.

Hazy Eye Slabs and Stinger Hooks are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 77 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:  This was the first trip this winter with sub-50F surface temps (49.6F)

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:  7:20A

End Time: 11:20P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 38F

Elevation:  0.96′ high with a 0.07’ 24-hour drop and 201 CFS flow thru the dam.

Water Surface Temp: 49.6F  (first trip this winter with sub-50F water)

Wind Speed & Direction: WNW4-8 the entire morning

Sky Condition: Clear, post-frontal bluebird skies

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 12% illumination 

GT = 60

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Areas 1500, 1537, SH0035G, SH0036G

 

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

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide

#BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing

#bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport

#fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday

#Fitec

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This past Thursday afternoon, Jan. 14th, I fished with returning guest Stiles Parker with ABC Building Supply, and welcomed aboard for the first time two clients of his from Heritage Home Services, Mike Hall, and Keith Bailey.

A mild, dry front hit around 10AM, winds ramped up and peaked from noon to 2pm, then began to taper down.

We had no choice, based on wind speed and direction, but to fish Lake Belton.

 

PHOTO CAPTION:   From left: Keith Bailey, Stiles Parker, and Mike Hall teamed up for a 101 fish outing on a wind-blown Lake Belton as a mild, dry cold front impacted our weather and fishing.

 

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  Mike boated our largest fish of the trip — an 18+” hybrid striper, likely from the 2018 stocking.

WHERE WE FISHED: Belton Lake

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday (PM), 14 January 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

Due to high winds in the wake of the passage of a cold front which barreled through in the 10 o’clock hour, we fished where conditions were conducive to boat control, which was not in an awful lot of areas.

White bass and the shad they dine on tend to like wind-blown areas and the wind-blown sides of underwater topography, so we did not “hide” from the wind, we simply went to areas where the lakeside topography reduced the wind velocity enough for us to hold position so we could present our light-weight slabs effectively.  It was still blowing plenty on the water we fished.

Belton tends to produce smaller white bass in the wintertime, as many bodies of water do, so I rigged us up in advance with the smallest tool in my arsenal, the 3/8 oz. Hazy Eye Slab with stinger hook.

We hit right at eight distinct areas, starting in deep, 40+ foot water as the sun shone brightly, and moved up shallower into 20-25 foot water as sunset approached.

As you might expect with the front having passed and wind velocity coming down, the bite intensity slowly decreased throughout the afternoon.  Most of the places we hit gave up a majority of the fish in the first few minutes spent there, then the novelty-factor fell off, the fish grew indifferent to our efforts, and we had to move to find another group to excite.

With about an hour of fishing light left, our tally stood at 79 fish.  I told everyone if they would focus on keeping their technique solid, we could hit a 100-fish afternoon by sunset.  Everyone redoubled their efforts to keep their depth adjusted well, their retrieve speed spot-on, and to employ the hook-setting efforts I’d been coaching on.

By 5:40, the fish were done and we had swung exactly 101 fish over the gunwales in a great team effort.

This was the first time Keith and Mike had seen or used Garmin LiveScope and the tactics made possible by positioning precisely with the combination of Minn Kota Spot-Lock and Humminbird side-imaging.  That made the trip for them regardless of the fishing, and they said so numerous times.

A great crew I hope to fish with again!

Hazy Eye Slabs and Stinger Hooks are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 101 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:  Post-frontal wind taper led to slowly toughening fishing this afternoon in areas limited by wind velocity.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:  1:30P

End Time: 5:40P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 64F

Elevation:  0.54′ low with a 0.03’ 24-hour rise and 34 CFS flow thru the dam.

Water Surface Temp: 52.5F

Wind Speed & Direction: WNW22 straight-line, gusting higher right as we got going, and steadily tapering back to WNW14 by trip’s end

Sky Condition: Clear, bluebird skies

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 2% illumination 

GT = 60

Wx SNAPSHOT:

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Areas B0064G, 1362, B0018C, B0122C, B1901 (+ 1 short hop), 1940, B0170C, 380

 

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

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide

#BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing

#bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport

#fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday

#Fitec

WHO I FISHED WITH:  This morning, Thursday, Jan. 14th, I fished with returning guest and retired Georgetown restaurateur, Dwight Stone, under ideal pre-frontal conditions on Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir.

A mild, dry front was forecast to hit around 10AM, and NOAA hit this one right on the head.  We enjoyed all of the benefits of pre-frontal fishing with no rain and no strong winds.

It would be an understatement to say the fish were fired up!

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  My first 10.00-pound largemouth bass for a client in my 15 years of guiding for white bass and hybrid stripers was landed this morning by Dwight Stone of Georgetown.  He caught this on one of my white Hazy Eye slabs with stinger hooks attached.

PHOTO CAPTION: About a half-hour later, Dwight put this one on the deck, as well.  6.25 pounds.

 

 

PHOTO CAPTION:  I chipped in with a 7.75 early in the morning …

 

PHOTO CAPTION: …and a 9.50 after the wind started to blow.  What a morning!!

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: Thursday (AM), 14 January 2021

HOW WE FISHED:

The big story this morning was the wonderful bycatch of quality largemouth bass we landed on light slabs and spinning gear intended for our target species — white bass.

The top 5 fish Dwight and I landed this morning weighed 10.00 pounds, 9.50 pounds, 7.75 pounds, 6.25 pound, and 5.125 pounds (38.625 pounds total, all measured on a certified scale).  Dwight’s 10-pound fish was the first ten-pound largemouth I’ve ever had a client land in 15 years of guiding for white bass and hybrid stripers.  It measured 24 1/8 inches and was in excellent shape.  The tail lobes were not even scarred or nicked.

Every last one of these fish was taken on my Hazy Eye Slab with stinger hook attached.   We used the lighter 3/8 oz. version when the winds were calmed, and I upped to to 3/4 oz. when things got nautical.

Those stinger hooks really earned their keep this morning, as every one of the bass we landed (9 total) did at least one head-shake, and that stinger, in combination with the treble, held the slab fast and kept it from being whipped around like a ball-and-chain, and thus coming loose.

We handled all of these fish very quickly and gently, and that, combined with a slow rise from bottom due to taking our time using light spinning gear, made for a barotrauma-free release for each one of them.

Amidst all of this excitement we landed a steady stream of quality white bass, as well — 98 of them to be exact.  The fish we found in the first three hours came from scattered, small groups wandering on deep flats, and the fish we found in the final hour were smaller, more bunched up, and were closer to the channel break.

We landed more fish in our final hour than in the first three hours, combined, thanks to the pressure change accompanying the arrival of the dry cold front.

Since we’d done quite well, and had increasing winds and decreasing action by 11:20A, we wrapped it up right at the 4-hour mark this morning and I prepared to turn around and head over to fish an afternoon trip on Belton.

An easing tactic was the primary fish-catching technique this morning.

Hazy Eye Slabs and Stinger Hooks are found here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TALLY: 107 fish caught and released

OBSERVATIONS:  Classic, strong, pre-frontal fishing activity experienced this morning; with helpful bird action through 10:15AM in multiple locations.

TODAY’S CONDITIONS/NOTES:

Start Time:  7:20A

End Time: 11:20P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 40F

Elevation:  1.1′ highwith a 0.06’ 24-hour drop and 210 CFS flow thru the dam.

Water Surface Temp: 50.0F

Wind Speed & Direction: SW5-6 at sunrise, slowly and steadily increasing while swinging through W to WNW.  By trip’s end we had WNW16 gusting 20 as the front arrived.

Sky Condition: Clear, bluebird skies

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 2% illumination 

GT = 5

Wx SNAPSHOT:

 

AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

**Areas 0082 (2 fish), 1138 (14 fish), 1950 (20 fish), and SH0001C (71 fish as the front arrived)

 

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

#WhiteBassFishing #LakeBelton #StillhouseHollow #BeltonFishingGuide #LakeBeltonFishingGuide

#BeltonLakeFishingGuide #stripers #stripedbassfishing #rockfish #sandbass #freshwaterfishing #fishing

#bass #bassfishing #whitebass #panfish #crappie #fishingonaboat #fishingtackle #fishinglife #fishingsport

#fishingaddict #fishingpicoftheday #fishingtime #fishinggear #fishingday

#Fitec