Stillhouse Lake Belton TX

[kailec00]

Does anyone know anything about Stillhouse lake. I was thinking of heading there for a day of water fun, but do not know abut the lake. Is there a lot of stumps out there, is it croweded, or is it even a nice lake? We are not looking to fish, just hang out and wakeboard, kneeboard and tube.

 

[TahoeQ4Pilot]

Re: Stillhouse Lake Belton TX

I've been there once, smacked my prop on a stump. That place is loaded with them, so be careful. I thought is small, at least compare to nearby Lake Belton. It had one marina with most things you need for a day at the lake. I imagine the fishing crowd probably enjoy it more than other sports, like skiing and wakeboarding. At least I didnt see anyone doing those things when I was there.

 

[Daleg70]

Re: Stillhouse Lake Belton TX

we boated on the lake five or six times when I lived in Temple Tx.
The info below is quite a few years old -- as we were there many years ago.

The lower four or five miles should be OK and without stumps --the bluffs on the south side can protect from the wind and give good water for activities like tubing. The upper part is shallow with stumps. It was never as popular as Belton, which I was on more than a hundred times. People did ski and tube on it, but it was more popular for fishing. We mainly went there as to explore and go somewhere different, but kept coming back to Belton which was however far busier.

 

[kailec00]

Re: Stillhouse Lake Belton TX

We went out on the lake shortly after I posted the question. We loved it. The water was clear and I counted only 5 boats on the lake. This was a Saturday from 11am to 7pm. The bluffs provided protection from the wind and water was perfect. The kids rode the tube around all day. We were able to wakeboard and kneeboard in perfect conditions. We went back 5 or 6 times after that and everything was the same, not much boat traffic and great water. We will be spending a lot of time there again this year.

 

[DaNinja]

Re: Stillhouse Lake Belton TX

Lake Stillhouse Map

Stillhouse is our Texas lake. We, well the wife, kept the SeaRay at the marina while I was deployed. We like it because it doesn't have the traffic that Belton has and it's much closer to the house. We can be at the ramp in under ten minutes. It also doesn't have all of the varieties of law enforcement and the crazy young soldiers on rented boats and jet skiis.

We used to ski the bluffs between the dam and the little double coves off the Union Grove WMA. The bluff offered great protection from a stiff south wind and the coves were a great place to beach or raft up with friends.

You do have to know the lake or you can get in trouble. I had the advantage of routinely flying over the lake when I was a helicopter pilot at Fort Hood. From the air I saw the lake at levels where you could've practically driven a four-wheeler across it. I saw the underwater forest off the shore of the Union Grove WMA.

From the map you can see that you need to give wide berth to the north to avoid the forest. While there was a slalom course set up west of the bridge, you have to be careful for debris off the Lampasas River once you get up there, as well.

Sadly, we may put our land by Dana Peak up for sale. We have a couple of acres off of Comanche Gap, (by the "P" of Comanche Gap on the map) about 1/4 of a mile from the fishing dock and under a mile to the ramp.

Wow! I didnt plan on going beyond "Stillhouse is our Texas lake"....
I guess this could have been useful if I had seen the OP.

 

[DaNinja]

Re: Stillhouse Lake Belton TX

Oh, I forgot. A friend, and former roommate, fishes Bass Pro.
He told me that the biggest bass he has ever seen was on Lake Stillhouse.

 

[MrMartyr]

Re: Stillhouse Lake Belton TX

We live just south from there in Georgetown, TX.
We spend all of our "lake time" on Georgetown Lake with friends but form these reviews I am thinking that we need check out Stillhouse.

Thanks for the comments and info folks.

Marty

 

[Blue2Green]

Re: Stillhouse Lake Belton TX

As a kid we lived off of Stillhouse, we fished, skiied, and tubed all summer long. Get up near the Bluffs and the water was great. Only had 1 really bad incident and that was a bent prop right at the dock but that was because the water level was so high after rain. I want to take my kids there when we finish our boat.