Old Dogs Can Learn New Tricks — 74 Fish
CLIENTS: This morning, Tuesday, January 6, I fished Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir with two dads and their adult sons. I welcomed aboard Russ Cox and his son, Case, and Ray Fread and his son, Coby. This fathers-and-sons outing came courtesy of Coby and Case’s boss, Ryan Warren, owner of B&K Air Conditioning and Heating LLC (https://www.facebook.com/p/BK-Air-Conditioning-and-Heating-LLC-100051582207278/)
TODAY’S DATE: 06 January 2026 (PM)
NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING: Tuesday, 13 January 2026 (AM or PM)
PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Coby and Ray Fread and Case and Russ Cox joined me for a morning white bass fishing trip on Stillhouse Hollow this morning. We started at 60F and were stripped down to T-shirts before we quit. This crew put together a 74-fish catch on MAL Dense lures worked vertically and horizontally.
FIND LURES HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/
WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow
SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:
Fishing was a bit tougher today than yesterday despite the ongoing warmup thanks to clear, bright skies and the “between fronts lull” we are in now.
We found fish active right up through 10:50AM and located fish readily, but had to move around in order to stay on the bite as the fish would only stay fired up a few minutes after my crew’s lures first appeared near bottom. After that, the fish would still be present, but clearly lost interest in pursuing.
We found fish in 30′ early, then out as deep as 44′ later in the morning. Up until we hit our last two areas, all fish were taken on the MAL Dense with silver body fished vertically using the slow-smoking technique. Once this tactic failed to produce at each of our last two areas, we switched over to white grubs (at the second to last area) and used the sawtooth method out horizontally to add more fish to the count. Same thing at our last stop, only we kept right on using the MAL Dense with the sawtooth method.
Once again three fish exceeded 15″, with the largest, landed by Russ, going 15.75″. Of the 74 fish landed, one was a small largemouth, with all the rest being solid white bass.
The splasher was indispensable for drawing and holding fish beneath the boat, and the Garmin LiveScope allowed the fellows to make the right moves at the right times.
RESULTS: 74 fish, all caught and released
TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW “SLOW SMOKE” A BLADED HAZY EYE SLAB VERTICALLY: Click here for tutorial
OBSERVATIONS:
-This was day 2 of a warming trend following a mild cold front which blew in on Friday, 02 Jan.
-Birds were helpful in locating fish at 1 area this morning; it was a bit unusual as they were active from 10A to 10:50A instead of right at sunrise.
LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:
Taken on Stillhouse Hollow on 05 January 2026…
0 feet 59.0F
5 feet 58.9F
10 feet 58.9F
15 feet 58.9F
20 feet 58.9F
25 feet 58.9F
30 feet 58.9F
35 feet 58.7F
40 feet 58.7F
45 feet 58.6F
50 feet 58.6F
55 feet 58.4F
60 feet 58.3F
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 7:40A
End Time: 11:50A
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 60F
Elevation: Stillhouse is 1.45′ low with a -0.01′ change in the last 24 hours. USACE is releasing 1 CFS.
Water Surface Temp: 59.6F on the surface.
Wind Speed & Direction: WNW4-7 all morning
Sky Condition: Light blue with wispy, high, thin clouds at 15% coverage
Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 93% illumination.
GT = 35
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH MOST SUCCESS:
Area 2339 – 13 fish on slow-smoked MAL Lures
Area 2249- 8 fish on slow-smoked MAL Lures
Area 2342- 8 fish on slow-smoked MAL Lures
Area vic 2330 – 16 fish on slow-smoked MAL Lures
Area vic 852 – 6 fish on slow-smoked MAL Lures and sawtoothed white grubs
Area 1234 – 19 fish on slow-smoked & sawtoothed MAL Lures
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