WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Saturday, 01 October, I fished a half-day morning trip with father-and-son Michael and Jack Hoyson.

Like me, Michael runs a one-man-show as the owner/operator of Hoyson Auto Care in Killeen, located just behind Tightlines Premium Fishing Tackle.

Michael is one of those rare, conscientious fellows who really cares that his work is done right, hence, he is the (only) guy I take my guide service tow vehicle (Ram 1500) and my wife’s car (Honda CRV) to for maintenance and repair.

We experienced some really “cool” fishing both temperature-wise, and in terms of the willingness of the fish to slam artificial baits today.

Here is how the fishing went …

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PHOTO CAPTION: From left: Michael and Jack Hoyson with a few of the quality white bass they caught and released from Stillhouse Hollow this morning working MAL Lures in ~40 feet of water.





PHOTO CAPTION: White bass weren’t the only fish eating shad and shad-imitating lures today! This chunky black bass fell for an MAL Dense Lure as he fed amongst white bass in deep water.






PHOTO CAPTION: Triple!!! Michael landed three fish on one rod at the same time on a three-armed umbrella rig equipped with Pet Spoons. We downrigged after the peak action died around 10:50A.

WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow

WHEN WE FISHED: Saturday, 01 October 2022

HOW WE FISHED:

The recent cooldown has begun to spur the fish on to longer and stronger feeds. We fished just three areas this morning, approaching each the same way … we Spot-Locked very accurately atop fish we’d found with sonar then fished them vertically only for a brief spell as they showed interest in chasing our MAL Dense Lures upwards. Once the fish got reluctant, we started using the horizontal sawtooth method, again with the MAL Dense Lure, which produced the lion’s share of our fish.

The peak feed went from ~8:50 to 10:50, then tapered down pretty quickly.

Once the action started to drop off, we transitioned to downriggers for “mop up ” duty until the bite died around 11:25A.

TUTORIAL SMOKING VIDEO (Vertical): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE
TUTORIAL SAWTOOTH VIDEO (Horizontal): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3FMEQHOMQ

Our tally of 77 fish consisted 74 legal white bass and 3 largemouth bass.

TALLY: 77 fish caught and released

Find MAL Lures here: https://whitebasstools.com/

OBSERVATIONS: Watch that thermometer!! On 30 September we had our first post-summer day with an ambient temperature below the surface temperature of the water. That will lead to very quick cooling of our reservoirs. Additionally, we had our lowest overnight low since May. As I drove to the ramp this morning, temps ran between 50F (in low spots) to 57F elsewhere.



WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:40A

End Time: 11:40A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 55F

Elevation: 9.77 feet low, 0.06′ fall in last 24 hours, 1 CFS flow

Water Surface Temp: 78.6F

Wind Speed & Direction: ENE2-4 for 2 hours, then shifting ESE2-4 for the last half of the trip

Sky Condition: <5% white clouds on a blue sky

Moon Phase: Waxing crescent at 33% illumination.

GT = N/A

Wx SNAPSHOT:






AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area vic SH0059C – 7 fish on combination of vert. and horiz.

Area vic SH0214G – 7 fish via sawtooth method

Area vic 878 – 53 fish via sawtooth method

Area 878/933/SH0033G – downrigging for 10 fish with Pets Spoons



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

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle

As always. Nice post. Lifetime Memories Made.

Sweet!!!

Well done. The A-rig strikes again!