White Bassin’ with Catfish (Shugrue)- 74 Fish
CLIENTS: Today, Wednesday, January 14, I fished a full day trip with long-time friends Catfish Shugrue and Tracey McCoy. Mrs. Cherie Shugrue got her husband this trip as a birthday present and specifically chose this week for the trip to take place because Tracey was already scheduled to be in for a visit from his home in Pennsylvania. The two men got to know each other many years ago over a shared interest in video gaming.
TODAY’S DATE: 14 January 2026 (AM)
NEXT OPEN DATE FOR FISHING: Monday, 19 January 2026 (AM or PM)
PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Tracey McCoy and Catfish Shugrue enjoyed cold-front-influenced fishing on Stillhouse Hollow from sunrise to noon, right up until the high winds plateaued.
PHOTO CAPTION: Largemouth bass made up almost 7% of today’s catch. The one held by Catfish (on the right) went 4.00 pounds on a certified scale.
FIND LURES HERE: https://whitebasstools.com/
WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse (AM) & Lake Belton (PM)
SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:
We originally had this scheduled for Monday, but Monday’s weather was classic, post-frontal weather with clear, calm, cold conditions. We waited until we had better weather to hedge our bet on biting fish.
We decided to fish the first half of this full day trip on Stillhouse for fish which are typically of better quality, then fish Lake Belton in the afternoon, as it typically produces better than Stillhouse in the afternoon, albeit for smaller fish.
Back when today’s incoming, dry, cold front was first forecast, the increasing winds were to develop between 10 and two. Over time, that forecast revised. The wind shift from southerly winds to winds from due west took place before sunrise, and the wind speed continued to increase through about the noon hour. We enjoyed a full 4+ our bite on Stillhouse during which time the white bass fed very well considering the water temperature has now dropped back to around 57° from top to bottom.
The fish were aggressive enough during the entire morning to chase MAL Dense lures upwards off the bottom or from their suspended postures.
Using the slow-smoking tactic supported by Garmin LiveScope and my thumping device, Catfish and Tracey put exactly 64 fish in the boat, including 62 white bass and two largemouth bass, the largest of which went exactly 4.00 pounds.
We wrapped up our trip on Stillhouse as the north winds were peaking and as the bite was slowing.
We reconvened at Lake Belton at 2:30 PM. The winds had plateaued back around noon, but we’re still quite high — around 22mph. I warned Catfish and Tracey that this afternoon might work out to be a bit anticlimactic. We would be fishing for smaller fish, and we were going to have to work much harder for them given the conditions.
This turned out to be the case. In three hours of effort, the men managed to land an additional 10 fish.
Fish were difficult to find in large groups, and when we did find them, whether on bottom or suspended, they were very reluctant to strike. Earlier in the afternoon, we were still seeing suspended fish and occasionally they would be interested enough to chase and overtake the MAL Lure, but, by the time the first hour had passed, we were very tediously snap-jigging slabs on the bottom and waiting for strikes on the pause.
Once again, the pattern of strong fishing coinciding with the wind shift as a dry cold front arrives played out today. Once the wind reaches peak velocity, the fish just lose interest and things go downhill from there. Of the 10 fish landed this afternoon, seven were white bass and three were largemouth.
RESULTS: 74 fish, all caught and released
TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW “SLOW SMOKE” A BLADED HAZY EYE SLAB VERTICALLY: Click here for tutorial
OBSERVATIONS:
-We fished the classic, dry cold front wind shift to a solid catch on Stillhouse before the winds peaked around noon and the bite dropped off.
-3 hours worth of light bird action on Stillhouse as cold front was coming in
LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:
Taken on Stillhouse on 14 January 2026…
0 feet 57.4F
5 feet 57.5F
10 feet 57.5F
15 feet 57.5F
20 feet 57.5F
25 feet 57.5F
30 feet 57.5F
35 feet 57.5F
40 feet 57.5F
45 feet 57.5F
50 feet 57.4F
55 feet 57.2F
60 feet 57.2F
65 feet 57.2F
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 7:30A @ Stillhouse, 2:30P @ Belton
End Time: 12:10P @ Stillhouse, 5:35P @Belton
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 48F AM, 59F PM
Elevation: Stillhouse is 1.66′ low with a -0.04′ change in the last 24 hours. USACE is releasing 1 CFS.
Belton is 0.79′ low with a -.06 change in the last 24 hours. USACE is releasing 26 CFS.
Water Surface Temp: 56-57.5 on the surface.
Wind Speed & Direction: WNW7 building to NW21 over the span from sunrise to noon, the plateauing at NW21-22, the dropping off around 4:45P
Sky Condition: Bands of thin, high white clouds moved in from sunrise through 9:30, then the skies went clear the remainder of the day
Moon Phase: Waxing crescent moon at 15% illumination.
GT = 0
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH MOST SUCCESS:
Stillhouse
Area 2249 – 22 fish on slow-smoked MAL Lures
Area SH0114C- 9 fish on slow-smoked MAL Lures
Area 2287- 16 fish on slow-smoked MAL Lures
Area vic 1048 – 17 fish on slow-smoked MAL Lures
Belton
Area vic BDH016 – 5 fish on slow-smoked MAL Lures
Area vic 2327- 2 fish on snap-jigged Hazy Eye Slab
Area 406 – 2 fish on snap-jigged Hazy Eye Slab
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