ABOARD THE BOAT TODAY:  This morning I was joined by returning guests Steve Niemeier and his grandson, Caleb Fowler, and by first-time guest, Andrew Glass, a college buddy of Caleb’s from Texas Tech in Abilene.

DATE: 20 May 2024 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATES: Wednesday, 22 May (AM), and Friday, 21 June (AM)

PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Steve Niemeier, Andrew Glass, and Caleb Fowler with a half-dozen of the quality white bass they took from the flooded waters of Stillhouse Hollow.  This crew’s 125 fish catch included five white bass between 15.00 and 15.50 inches, all taken on MAL Heavy Lures with chartreuse tail and silver body.

PHOTO CAPTION: The color of this white bass’ feces (and the majority of the white bass we landed today) was a dark brown color, indicating the fish are feeding more heavily on insects (mayfly nymphs) than on shad.  A diet of shad results in silvery-grey feces.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

SUMMARY OF HOW I FISHED: The bite this morning ran from 8:55 to 11:00, which corresponded with the time during which we enjoyed both wind and some grey cloud cover.  Prior to that, under calmer, brighter conditions, we found fish, but they were not at all aggressive.  Once conditions improved, we fished MAL Dense Lures (silver body/chartreuse tail) vertically with a smoking tactic until the fish lost interest, then, we switched over to a sawtooth tactic using MAL Heavy Lures (also w/silver body/chartreuse tail) to continue catching.

LURES USED SUCCESSFULLY ON THIS TRIP:  We used the new MAL Dense with silver body (shown above) for vertical work, and the MAL Heavy with silver body and chartreuse tail for horizontal work today.  Find these lures at the Liberty Mart Exxon uphill from Temple Lake Park on Lake Belton, or go here: https://whitebasstools.com/

TUTORIAL LINK FOR SAWTOOTH & SMOKING TACTICS:

Sawtooth Method: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3FMEQHOMQ&t=89s

Smoking Tactic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE&t=56s

TALLY: 125 fish caught and released (1 largemouth bass, 1 freshwater drum, & 123 white bass)

OBSERVATIONS:

1) The lower third of Stillhouse was in good shape today with fairly clear water, but rose an additional 0.16 feet in the last 24 hours.  The water, although clear, resembled old iced tea in color and clarity at mid-lake.

2) Best bite was from 8:55 – 11:00AM, which directly corresponded with the arrival of cloud cover and wind following a calm, bright start.

6) The flooded vegetation has made finding fish using side-imaging very tough.  We had to drive over most fish today with DI and/or 2D to get a bead on their location.

7) Due to decreasing flooding on the Brazos River’s main channel, USACE began releasing water from Stillhouse on the afternoon of 19 May 2024 at a rate of 808 CFS.  That increased to 1534 CFS by mid-afternoon today.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE: 

Measured with FishHawk TD device on 17 May…

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:00A

End Time: 11:15A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 69F

Elevation: 10.18 feet high and slowly rising, with a 808CFS release increasing to 1534 CFS by mid-afternoon.

Water Surface Temp: 77.4F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: Calm through 8:40, then increasing and going between SE5-12

Sky Condition: 20% cloud cover on a blue sky at trip’s start, increasing to 90% light grey coverage by trip’s end.

Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 91% illumination.

GT = 55