Golden Weather Window – 94 Fish

CLIENTS: On Saturday afternoon, 21 Feb., I was joined by lifelong buddies originally from near Orlando, FL. About a week ago, Donald McVay of Copperas Cove, TX, let me know his friend since childhood, Dawson Singletary, was flying in for a visit and he wanted to arrange a fishing trip for him. I prefer booking folks in the mornings, as the bite is normally longer and stronger than during the afternoon, but, Dawson’s visit was short, and my morning was already booked, so, we planned for a afternoon outing.

We couldn’t know it at the time, but, this trip coincided with the arrival of a reinforcing, dry cold front following a damp cold front which pushed in the day before. As Saturday’s front pushed in and the winds ramped up, the fish went into overdrive.

TODAY’S DATE: 21 February 2026 (AM)


NEXT OPEN DATES FOR FISHING: 24, 26 February and 02 March (AM or PM)

PHOTO CAPTION: From left, Donald McVay and Dawson Singletary “wore ’em out” as we fished open water on a very windy afternoon as a dry cold front moved in with winds 18-20 mph and gusts to 30. The white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab with stinger hook worked with a slow-smoking tactic was the ticket to getting bit.

FIND LURES HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/


WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow


SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

Thankfully, both of these young men were experienced anglers, so I did not need to do much more than get them to where the fish were.

Fish are definitely making their migratory move via the Lampasas River channel to their spawning grounds. We covered a good bit of water, but, when we found fish, there were a lot of them present.

The most active fish we found, and the most abundant, were using the “shoulder” or “breakline” where flat or slow-sloping terrain drops off more steeply into the river channel.

Having spotted some very light topwater action while scouting on Friday evening, I went with the splasher instead of my thumper, and it proved quite useful in congregating fish beneath the boat. To help Donald and Dawson retrieve at an effective speed, I used a small metronome and set it to beep at the same speed at which I wanted them to reel their spinning reels.

We used the “slow-smoking” vertical tactic supported by sonar with the metronome set between 84 and 95 beats per minute, depending on the situation I observed.

As the winds peaked between 3 and 4 pm, the bite peaked right along with it. At times, literally hundreds of fish showed on Garmin LiveScope in the ~80 foot swath it covered beneath the boat in downward mode. During this peak, the fish rose higher in the water column and chased longer and faster than they did earlier in the day. Thankfully, after 4pm, the winds plateaued, but did not drop off. This sustained the bite right through sunset.

We fished six areas with the situation essentially “cookie-cutter” at each one.

When the sun dropped below the western horizon, the bite ended abruptly.

RESULTS: 94 fish, all caught and released

TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW “SLOW SMOKE” A BLADED HAZY EYE SLAB VERTICALLY: Click here for tutorial

OBSERVATIONS:

-Water temps have come up and fish are definitely on the move to the spawning grounds, albeit in no big rush thanks, in part, to low flow in the Lampasas River – the river isn’t all that low, it’s just not flowing all that much with next to no release ongoing through the dam.

-Water temperature in the top 15 feet of the water column is at or near 60F, versus the temperature at depths greater than that still only in the lower 50s.

LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Taken on Stillhouse Hollow on 18 February 2026…

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