Share your catch
US

Stillhouse Hollow Lake Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

The clear one at Killeen’s door: Stillhouse hides hybrid schools, big smallmouth genes and hydrilla flats under a modest profile.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Lake level
620.82 ft
Air / High
78 / 79 F
Wind
ESE 8 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 08104050, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

3/5Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Stillhouse Hollow Lake lines up a genuinely fishable day across the board. The gauge reads 620.82 ft, easing 0.31 over the week. Today brings clear skies, wind ESE around 8 mph, steady pressure near 1018 hPa and a high of 79. Water sits around 74 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 10:08 AM-12:08 PM and 10:35 PM-12:35 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Largemouth bassGood

The main feeding season after the spawn: work moving baits along weed edges, points and wood, and follow up with a soft plastic where a fish swirls.

Catfish (blue, channel)Good

Spawning season from late May into summer: Iowa DNR suggests drifting bait under a float along riprap and snags where males guard nests in cavities.

Hybrid striped bassFair

Look for shad on flats with timber near creek channels and on windblown points; cast jigs and swimbaits where fish break the surface.

CrappieFair

Early in this band crappie are spawning in protected coves; afterward they move to docks, brush piles and standing timber near deeper water.

Tomorrow: Similar at 78 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Before you go

Texas requires a fishing licence from age 17, from $30.00 for residents. What a Texas licence costs and where to buy it →

Chasing largemouth bass here? Check the size and bag limits with TPWD before you keep anything. The season dates for Texas, read off the agency, are on the Texas seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings from Stillhouse Hollow Lk nr Belton, TX.

Water level, last 30 days

USGS gauge 08104050.

620.70621.02621.33620.82 ft09/2310/0310/1310/23

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp78 F
High / Low79 / 56 F
WindESE 8-11 mph
Pressure1017.7 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:38 / 18:50
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~74 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Which day to fish Stillhouse Hollow Lake this week

The best day on Stillhouse Hollow Lake this week looks like Monday Oct 26, at 5 out of 5, against 3 today.

Best day this week: Monday, Oct 26 — excellent at 5/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 — Fair

A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Solunar majors
10:08 AM-12:08 PM and 10:35 PM-12:35 AM
Minor period
4:30 AM-5:30 AM
Sun
07:38 to 18:50
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Partly cloudy, 9 mph
Rain chance
0%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Stillhouse Hollow Lake: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Largemouth bass illustration

Largemouth bass

Best: the spring pre-spawn and the fall feed

A warm-water sunfish of lakes, reservoirs, ponds and slow river backwaters that holds tight to cover: weeds, logs, rock ledges and docks. In Texas, TPWD surveys rank it "by far" the freshwater fish anglers most want to catch. The main feeding season after the spawn: work moving baits along weed edges, points and wood, and follow up with a soft plastic where a fish swirls.

Hybrid striped bass illustration

Hybrid striped bass

Best: the spring shad spawn and fall; summer at dawn and dusk

A hatchery cross of striped bass and white bass, also called wiper or palmetto bass, stocked by state agencies into reservoirs and rivers as a sport fish that also eats gizzard shad. Schools roam open water after shad. Look for shad on flats with timber near creek channels and on windblown points; cast jigs and swimbaits where fish break the surface.

Catfish (blue, channel) illustration

Catfish (blue, channel)

Year-round, best at dusk and after dark

Three big catfish share most of the country's rivers and reservoirs: the channel catfish, the most widespread; the blue catfish, the largest; and the flathead, which hunts live fish. All feed mostly on or near the bottom. Spawning season from late May into summer: Iowa DNR suggests drifting bait under a float along riprap and snags where males guard nests in cavities.

Crappie illustration

Crappie

Best: the spring spawn; summer around docks, brush and the thermocline

Two slab-sided panfish, the white crappie and the black crappie, that gather around submerged timber, brush piles, docks and bridge pilings in lakes, reservoirs and slow river backwaters. Texas Parks and Wildlife counts crappie as the state's most popular panfish. Early in this band crappie are spawning in protected coves; afterward they move to docks, brush piles and standing timber near deeper water.

When to come: the Stillhouse Hollow Lake calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Largemouth bass
Hybrid striped bass
Catfish (blue, channel)
Crappie
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 74 F (estimated, not a reading).

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~74 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Stillhouse Hollow Lake today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Largemouth bass led the card at good. High of 80 F, wind to 6 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Largemouth bass led the card at good. High of 78 F, wind to 4 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Largemouth bass led the card at excellent. High of 77 F, wind to 8 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
Only used if we need to ask you about your report. No mailing list, no spam.

Before you go

License

Texas requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Texas license. Standard statewide limits; hybrids count with stripers (5 combined, 18-inch minimum typical): check TPWD.

Access

Stillhouse Park (dam), Union Grove and Dana Peak ramps, all Corps-run with camping.

About this water

A 6,430-acre Corps reservoir on the Lampasas River, Bell County, Texas: clear water, hybrid stripers and seasonal hydrilla.

Fishing Stillhouse Hollow Lake: the full guide

Lampasas water

Stillhouse Hollow pools the Lampasas River into 6,400 clear Corps acres southwest of Temple: deeper, clearer and quieter than neighboring Belton. The fishery leans pelagic: white bass and hybrid stripers chase shad over the main basin: with a largemouth program built on hydrilla when the lake carries it, smallmouth blood from historic stockings still showing on the rocky points, and catfish that pay the reliable rent.

Open-water school days

Summer mornings, watch the main lake off Union Grove and the dam for surface blowups: hybrids and whites pin shad at dawn: slabs, tail-spinners and small topwaters. When they sound, follow on electronics at 25-40 feet. Spring runs the whites up the Lampasas: the FM 2484 area and river mouth stack them in March. Winter finds the schools deep off the dam: jigging spoon country.

Green water, green weeds

When hydrilla flourishes, Stillhouse largemouth fishing gets seriously good: work the outside grass edges at 8-15 feet with Carolina rigs and lipless cranks, and the pockets with frogs early. Grass coverage swings by year with water levels: scout first. The rocky mid-lake points and riprap hold the smallmouth-tinged fish: Ned rigs and jerkbaits in the clear water.

Corps-lake logistics

Ramps at Stillhouse Park, Union Grove and Dana Peak (with campgrounds at each): Dana Peak’s trails double for hike-in bank spots. The lake sits minutes from Killeen and Fort Cavazos: weekday mornings are quiet, summer weekends less so, though it never matches Belton’s traffic. Afternoon south winds build chop on the open basin: plan the pelagic hunt for early.

Common questions

Stillhouse or Belton?

Belton for numbers and size on hybrids; Stillhouse for clearer water, grass largemouth and half the boat traffic. Locals fish both by wind.

Are there really smallmouth?

Old stockings persist as smallmouth and hard-fighting hybrids on the rocky points: not a numbers fishery, but a two-pounder in clear water fights like Texas forgot to tell it otherwise.

When do whites run the river?

Late February through early April up the Lampasas arm: the year’s easiest limits.

Is fishing good at Stillhouse Hollow Lake right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Nearby waters

Belton Lake10 miGranger Lake26 miLake Waco43 miLake Austin48 miLake Travis49 miLake Buchanan51 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 08104050 — Stillhouse Hollow Lk nr Belton, TX
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 19:00 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 31.0204, -97.5887 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written guide was drafted with AI assistance. Unlike our newer pages, it does not yet list the official pages its facts were checked against: that audit is under way, and anything it cannot verify will be taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.