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Stillhouse Hollow Lake Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Sep 4, 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.

2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Flow
3 cfs
Air / High
90 / 90 F
Wind
SE 10 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 08104100, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
4
September 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.

2/5Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Stillhouse Hollow Lake locks in another hot, bright day: the fish know the drill and so should you. The river is running 3 cfs, dropping and clearing. Today brings clear skies, wind SE around 10 mph, rising pressure near 1012 hPa and a high of 90. Water sits around 84 F for the season (estimated). With the last quarter, the solunar majors run 5:39 AM-7:39 AM and 5:39 PM-7:39 PM: plan around them and beat the heat.

The plan, species by species

Hybrid striped bassGood

Schooling at first light over main-lake humps and channel edges. Slabs, tail spinners and live shad once you mark bait. It is usually over by mid-morning.

Catfish (blue, channel)Good

Anchor on 20-30 ft baited holes with punch bait or cut shad. They keep biting through the heat when everything else quits.

Largemouth bassFair

Topwater at first light on points and seawalls, then slide out to 12-25 ft brush and points with a Carolina rig, deep crank or drop shot. The bite is dawn, dusk or deep.

CrappieSlow

Straight down on bridge pilings and deep brush at 15-25 ft. Minnows outfish jigs in hot water; move until the graph shows them stacked.

Tomorrow: Similar at 92 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Sep 5, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Water and weather

Live readings from Lampasas River near Belton.

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 08104100.

31841373 cfs08/0508/1508/2509/04

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp90 F
High / Low90 / 78 F
WindSE 10-11 mph
Pressure1011.6 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain7% cloud, 37%
Sunrise / Sunset07:08 / 19:49
MoonLast Quarter, 50%
Water temp (seasonal)~84 F est.

Bite planner

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

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunset

Next 7 days

Tap a day for the detailed outlook.

Fri Sep 4 · Showers, 90/78 F, wind 12 mph, rain 37%

Fair or better. A 12 mph breeze puts a working chop on the banks it hits: fish the wind-blown side.

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: spring and fall

The headline act on most American reservoirs. Relates to cover: docks, brush, grass edges and points. Topwater at first light on points and seawalls, then slide out to 12-25 ft brush and points with a Carolina rig, deep crank or drop shot. The bite is dawn, dusk or deep.

Hybrid striped bass illustration

Hybrid striped bass

Best: Jun-Sep

Stocked white bass x striper cross. Open-water shad chasers; birds and busting bait give them away. Schooling at first light over main-lake humps and channel edges. Slabs, tail spinners and live shad once you mark bait. It is usually over by mid-morning.

Catfish (blue, channel) illustration

Catfish (blue, channel)

Good year-round

The most reliable bite on most southern waters. Blues run big; channels fill the cooler. Anchor on 20-30 ft baited holes with punch bait or cut shad. They keep biting through the heat when everything else quits.

Crappie illustration

Crappie

Best: Nov-Mar

Brush piles, bridge pilings and standing timber. The fish fry favorite. Straight down on bridge pilings and deep brush at 15-25 ft. Minnows outfish jigs in hot water; move until the graph shows them stacked.

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 84 F (estimated, not a reading).

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovSep, ~84 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, Sep 3

3/5 Fair. Fish early or late. Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows. Hybrid striped bass led the card at good. High of 89 F, wind to 16 mph.

Wed, Sep 2

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Hybrid striped bass led the card at good. High of 99 F, wind to 13 mph.

Tue, Sep 1

3/5 Fair. Fish early or late. Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows. Hybrid striped bass led the card at good. High of 97 F, wind to 12 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
Only used to send you this water's report each week. No spam, ever.

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: Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Nearby waters

Belton Lake10 miGranger Lake26 miLake Waco43 miLake Travis49 miLake Austin49 miLake Buchanan51 mi
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