CLIENTS: On Friday afternoon, November 29, I fished with Mr. Gary Rowland and his 11-year-old grandson, Carter Moe.

I saw ideal conditions in the morning, and called Gary several days in advance to see if they could bump their trip up to take advantage of that, but, because they were coming from Houston – – almost 3 hours away – – that was just not possible. So, we stuck with the afternoon.
After experiencing lighter than expected traffic, the two arrived earlier than expected, so instead of beginning the trip at 1:15 PM, we got going around 12:45 PM.
Gary is a retired US Air Force officer and Carter, who lives with Gary and Mrs. Rowland, goes to a private school in the Houston area.


DATE: Friday, 29 November 2024 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATES: 11, 16-20 December (AM)






PHOTO CAPTION: Yes, white bass were our target species, but, every winter, as Stillhouse begins to cool down, and right on through late February, quality largemouth bass like these begin to show up as bycatch (as do freshwater drum). Gary’s fish (left) went 6.50, and Carter’s went 6.25 pounds on a certified scale.








PHOTO CAPTION: We went deep (48-53′) to combat the low wind speed and bright skies today, and that paid off. These fellows landed 155 fish in right at 4 hours’ time on MAL Dense Lures worked straight up off the bottom.










PHOTO CAPTION: “Drum” roll for the kid in the Buc-ee’s hat, please!



WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

After the cold front which blew in on Thanksgiving day passed off to the east, we were left with continuously lightening winds today. By the time we put lines in the water, there was an ENE breeze still going around 7 or 8 mph, which bode well for my two-man crew.

My decision the afternoon prior to this one to fish deep under clearer, brighter skies and calm winds paid off handsomely, so I continued down that same path this afternoon.

This, too, worked out very well. We made only two stops over the course of a four hour afternoon, resulting in a catch of 155 fish.

77 of these came at our first stop, and the balance at our second.

Once again, one lure and one technique or all that were required to keep fish coming over the side. Both fellows used the MAL Dense with silver body and chartreuse tail with a smoking tactic, accompanied by Garmin LiveScope to make this catch. They dropped this heavily weighted, in-line spinner all the way to bottom, then began cranking it toward the surface while watching sonar. The vast majority of the fish this afternoon followed their lure upward off bottom.

Included in the 155 fish catch were three largemouth bass exceeding 6 pounds with the largest going 6.5 pounds. A handful of hefty freshwater drum were included in the catch, as well.

We wrapped up around 4:45 PM and headed back in as the sun dipped below a heavy bank of gray clouds in the western sky. As I bid grandfather and grandson farewell, one was headed for the hotel hot tub, while the other had pizza and the hotel swimming pool on his mind. I will leave it to you to guess which was which.


Here is a tutorial on vertically smoking the MAL Lure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDSvfXgrAUE

Here is a tutorial on horizontally “sawtoothing” with the MAL Lure or White Tornado: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3FMEQHOMQ



RESULTS: 155 fish, all caught and released



LURES USED SUCCESSFULLY ON THIS TRIP: We used MAL Dense Lures (w/ chartreuse tails) for 100% of our catch today. Find all MAL Lures and White Tornados here: https://whitebasstools.com/



OBSERVATIONS:

1) Fishing for fish found as deep as I could find them (48-53′) helped overcome the low wind speeds.

2) Very few fish suspended today — almost all bites originated from the bottom.



LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Here was the water temperature profile for Stillhouse Hollow, measured with a FishHawk TD device around 7:00 AM on Monday, 25 Nov….

0 feet 67.9F
5 feet 67.9F
10 feet 67.9F
15 feet 67.9F
20 feet 67.9F
25 feet 67.9F
30 feet 67.9F
35 feet 67.9F
40 feet 67.9F
45 feet 67.8F
50 feet 67.2F
55 feet 66.4F
60 feet 66.1F
65 feet 66.0F

WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 12:45P

End Time: 4:45P

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 57F

Elevation: 1.65′ low and falling slowly with a 43 cfs flow

Water Surface Temp: 64.3F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: NE6-8

Sky Condition: Clear blue skies with 0% cloud cover

Moon Phase: Waning crescent moon at 2% illumination.

GT = 25

Wx SNAPSHOT:






AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:



Area 196 – 77 fish smoking MAL Dense Lures

Area SH0300G – 78 fish smoking MAL Dense 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

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle

Great post as always with some Lifetime Memories made. Good job Sir.

Looks like a great afternoon to be on the water...

Thank you for your service Gary Rowland...