He Landed a Birthday Limit – 37 Fish
CLIENTS: This morning I welcomed Jackson Rogers aboard for his 10th birthday, accompanied by his maternal grandparents, Dwight (Boom Pa) and Connie (YaYa) Stone of Georgetown. This was a “Kids Fish, Too!” trip in which Jackson did all the catching.
ABOUT “KIDS FISH, TOO!” TRIPS: Kids Fish, Too! trips are intended just for the kids. They are considerably less expensive than standard trips ($215 for up to 2 kids vs. $315 for up to 2 adults; and more can be added), and typically go a maximum of 3.5 hours versus 4-plus hours for standard trips. On these trips, licensed adults who desire to do so often help me help the kids be successful by baiting hooks, untangling lines, resetting our downrigger spreads, etc. so the kids’ efforts are maximized, but, the adults do not typically fish.
TODAY’S DATE: 09 – 13 February 2026 (AM or PM)
NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING: Tuesday, 27 January 2026 (AM or PM)
PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Connie “YaYa” Stone, Jackson Rogers, and Dwight “Boom Pa” Stone all enjoyed a morning in the outdoors in celebration of Jackson’s 10th birthday. Jackson landed 37 fish.
PHOTO CAPTION: Although white bass were our target species, Jackson also landed two largemouth bass. This was the largest of the two. It measured 21″ and went 4.25 pounds on a certified scale. This fish was mixed in with white bass near woody cover and rose up off bottom to chase Jackson’s Bladed Hazy Eye Slab.
FIND LURES HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/
WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow
SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:
I was hopeful to get in on yet another episode of a pre-frontal wind-shift, but that did not happen, so, this morning’s fishing was average for the season given 49-50F water. We did enjoy a steady, WSW breeze and cloud cover which kept the fish biting for our entire 3+ hours on the water.
Given Jackson’s age and experience level, I kept the tactics straightforward and moved us anytime the action began to wane. We fished 6 areas ranging from 28 feet early on, to over 60 feet late in the trip. Fish were on bottom in all six areas.
Jackson used a slow-smoking tactic while I did likewise but I also mixed in some snap-jigging whenever fish were showing on LiveScope but refused to chase upwards. So, Jackson got all the aggressive fish, and I added some bonus lazy fish for him to reel in. Occasionally, Jackson’s grandpa tossed out a curl-tail grub horizontally, but, none of the areas we fished had an abundance of fish spread over a wide area, so results on that were limited.
We caught fish at a moderate cadence all morning after a fairly slow start thanks to darker than normal conditions brought on by the cloud cover.
By the three hour mark Jackson’s thoughts turned to his birthday brunch at the Harker Heights Cracker Barrel and we wrapped up before we ran into diminishing returns.
RESULTS: 37 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 dropped to 49-50F, necessitating the use of slabs once again, w/deadsticking now also effective
-Birds were present but their activity reflected the low to moderate feeding activity of the fish they patrolled over.
LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:
Taken on Stillhouse Hollow on 03 February 2026…
0 feet 52.5F
5 feet 51.4F
10 feet 50.9F
15 feet 50.8F
20 feet 50.5F
25 feet 50.8F
30 feet 50.5F
35 feet 50.4F
40 feet 50.2F
45 feet 50.0F
50 feet 49.7F
55 feet49.4F
60 feet 49.0F
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 7:30A
End Time: 10:35A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 62F
Elevation: Stillhouse is 1.61′ low with a -0.01′ change in the last 24 hours. USACE is releasing 1 CFS.
Water Surface Temp: 52.5F on the surface.
Wind Speed & Direction: WSW7-10 all morning
Sky Condition: Light grey cloud coverage at 100% all morning.
Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 96% illumination.
GT = 0
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH MOST SUCCESS:
Area SH0118C- 1 fish on sawtoothed curl-tail grub on jighead
Area 303- 4 fish on slow-smoked 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs & sawtoothed curl-tail grub on jighead
Area vic 2352- 8 fish on slow-smoked 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs
Area 2353 – 18 fish on slow-smoked 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs
Area SH0211G- 5 fish on slow-smoked 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs
Area 1244 – 2 fish on slow-smoked 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye 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)
Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle