by John Jefferson

During the 1920s and 30s, some farmers were said to value their corn crop by the gallon. Bootlegging and “stills” were rampant, though well hidden from “revenooers.” That bit of Americana passed into oblivion with repeal of prohibition. Nevertheless, a small Central Texas lake was impounded over a boondocks area where some moonshiners distilled their “corn squeezings” into “white lightning.”

One writer suggested naming it “Bootlegger’s Lake.” I’m glad his name-nominee failed. “Stillhouse Hollow Lake,” instead, invoked memories of the past, but did so more poetically.

That small 6,400-acre lake five miles southwest of Belton is a picturesque waterbody, also reachable through Salado, and is a pleasure to fish.
It offers a variety of fish highly sought by Texas anglers: Largemouth and smallmouth bass, catfish, crappie, sunfish, gar, white bass, hybrid stripers and others. The lake is not known as a trophy largemouth lake, but has produced one weighing 13-pounds, which is the lake record.

Since it’s a Corps of Engineers’ lake, there are no homes or boat docks along the shore, meaning possibly fewer boats on the water part of the time – especially during mid-week. That adds to the lake’s serenity for those on the water.

One of the most active guides on Stillhouse is Bob Maindelle. He practices catch-and-release. “With the 15,000 to 18,000 fish landed per year,” he said, “I feel it is incumbent upon me to protect the public resource on the small reservoir I fish.” He operates “Holding the Line Guide Service” and expects fall fishing to remain good until about the second week of December.

One thing I admire about his operation is his SKIFF program. “SKIFF” stands for “Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun,” a program that takes military kids fishing at no charge. Qualifying kids are those separated from parent(s) by their military service, Gold Star kids who have lost a parent while on active duty, and kids of disabled veterans who are unable to take their kids fishing.

This program would have appealed to me when I was about age eight and itching for someone to take me fishing after my father died in Africa during WWII. Maindelle’s development of the program came naturally since he is a West Point graduate and served eight years in the Army. My appreciation for it is similarly based, though educated at Oxford-on-the-Brazos.

Bob recently returned 600-miles from a church-sponsored, home-building mission trip to Juarez, Mexico late one evening, got a little sleep, and met two boys at 7a.m. on Stillhouse Hollow Lake. Their fathers are both on active U.S. Military duty in South Korea.

After Maindelle gave them a short tutorial on the use of the heavy, MAL inline spinners with improvements he designed for Mepps, they boated a grand total of 136 fish, including 130 white bass, four juvenile hybrid striped bass, and a freshwater drum.  All fish were taken on the heavy MAL lures, primarily with a vertical retrieve near the lake’s bottom.

Give Stillhouse a try. And give Maindelle a salute!

JJ