CLIENTS: This morning, Friday, January 17, I fished with first-time guests — the father-and-son team of Jeremy and Cash Williams.

On Wednesday I saw we’d be reaching the end of the warming trend we were in and did not have anyone booked for today when I felt the fishing would be good. I ran a little discount ad on Facebook, and the Williamses took me up on it.



DATE: Friday, 17 January 2025 (AM)

NEXT OPEN DATES: 22-24 January (AM)






PHOTO CAPTION: That’s 7.25 pounds of fun right there.






PHOTO CAPTION: Dad caught this whiskered bonus on the same white Hazy Eye Slab that took white bass, largemouth bass, and drum on this pre-frontal fishing trip.






PHOTO CAPTION: Mature white bass are beginning to really show abdomens full of milt and eggs.



WHERE WE FISHED: Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir

SUMMARY OF HOW WE FISHED:

Back on Sunday when I considered the weather forecast for the week ahead, this was the day I felt had the most potential — it came at what would be the end of a 6-day warming trend, and was to be abruptly ended by yet another polar blast due in over the weekend to follow.

Fortunately, the weather tracked true and we enjoyed a balmy, grey, breezy morning during which the fish bit from start to finish. The first and last hour were “softer” than the very productive middle two hours, but action was steady even then.

We found fish shallow, in under 25′, in the first hour of the trip. These fish were moving and hugging bottom, so, we fan-cast soft plastic curltail grub on leadheads to work horizontally. This netted us a total of six fish as Cash learned to cast with spinning gear.

About the time the shallow bite died, I spotted some birds working bait. White bass were all throughout the lower half of the water column at this area in 32′, so, I had Jeremy and Cash “slow-smoke” their white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs upwards through these fish using Garmin LiveScope to guide their efforts.

This would prove to the the most aggressive school we would encounter. All of the fish we landed afterwards were less aggressive and more bottom-oriented. These fish tended to get very excited as baits first appeared among them, but then they would settle right back down. While still excited, they responded to a slow smoking tactic, chasing the bait upwards, but, once they settled down, snap-jigging or easing was required.

The last area we fished saw the bite about to die altogether. Snap-jigging was the only thing these fish responded to, and that response was less than enthusiastic.

By the time we wrapped up at 11:50, the south winds were at 15+ and gusting much higher. The Williamses landed a total of 76 fish, including 5 legal largemouth bass up to 7.25 pounds, 1 channel catfish, 1 freshwater drum, and 69 white bass, of which only two were short.

RESULTS: 76 fish, all caught and released



TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW TO DO “SLOW SMOKING”:



TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW TO SNAP-JIG:



TUTORIAL VIDEON ON HOW TO DO “EASING”:



LURES USED SUCCESSFULLY ON THIS TRIP: We used curl-tail grubs and jigheads and the white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slab to catch our fish this morning. Find all Hazy Eye Slabs here: https://whitebasstools.com/



OBSERVATIONS:

1) Generally, despite a ~8 degree F. temperature drop in a short, 9-day span, the white bass were using the same locations as before the cold snap, but were much less enthusiastic. Fishing more slowly and intentionally was, and will continue to be, necessary.

2) Birds helped identify the first two of seven locations at which we caught fish this morning.

3) More small fish are beginning to show up in our catch, indicating the very first signs of the spring upstream spawning migration.



LATEST WATER TEMPERATURE PROFILE:

Here was the water temperature profile for Stillhouse Hollow, measured with a FishHawk TD device around 7:00 AM on Tuesday, 14 Jan. …

0 feet 52.9F
5 feet 52.9F
10 feet 52.9F
15 feet 52.9F
20 feet 52.9F
25 feet 52.9F
30 feet 52.6F
35 feet 52.5F
40 feet52.2F
45 feet 52.0F
50 feet 51.9F
55 feet 51.9F


WEATHER DATA:

Start Time: 7:45A

End Time: 11:50A

Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 52F

Elevation: 2.61′ low (with a 0.03′ fall in the last 24 hours) with a 1 cfs flow

Water Surface Temp: 52.6F on the surface.

Wind Speed & Direction: S9 increasing to S15+ with higher gusts at trip’s end.

Sky Condition: Light grey cloud cover at 100% all morning with a 15 minute span of light rain mid-AM

Moon Phase: Waning gibbous moon at 85% illumination.

GT = 35

Wx SNAPSHOT: N/A






AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:

Area vic SH0035C – 6 fish on slow-rolled jighead/grub combo

Area SH0304G – 27 fish on slow-smoked white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

Area 065 – 4 fish on slow-smoked & snap-jigged white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

Area vic 464 – 24 fish on slow-smoked & snap-jigged white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

Area SH0397G/249 – 3 fish snap-jigging

Area vic SH0289G – 9 fish on slow-smoked, eased, & snap-jigged white, 5/8 oz. Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs

Area vic 1496 – 3 fish snap-jigging





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

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And the smiles keep coming. Awesome post. Looks like 2025 is off to a GREAT start.