Lake Texoma Striper Fishing Blog

There will be a meeting today July 1st at 4 pm at De Happy Cajun Restaurant with a representative of Congressman Ralph Hall.  The stated purpose of the meeting is to relay to the Congressman the economic impact to the Lake Texoma area if the newly proposed requirement the Coast Guard is pushing to require all Lake Texoma Striper Guides to obtain Coast Guard approved Captain Licenses.  The meeting is open to all.  If you have an interest in this proposed action you are invited to attend. 

Above information is recap from an article we saw in a local paper.

 De Happy Cajun Restaurant is located on HWY 120 appx 1 1/2 miles north of Pottsboro.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

During the month of May and during this first part of June, we have had some fantastic striper fishing on Lake Texoma. The lake water is off color with surface water temperature of 69 degrees with an elevation of 622.34 feet above sea level and receding. Baitfish is once again along the banks spawning. We are using live bait, Threadfin Shad, and fishing on anchor in 45-60 feet of water.

Read StriperMaster's Lake Texoma Striper Fishing Report.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

May was a fantastic month. June is starting out great also. We had 541 fishermen and women that brought 5277 stripers up to 12 lbs and 15 other fish to the cleaning table. We hope everyone had a safe and fun Memorial Day weekend.

The weather has been great this last week. What showers we have had have been before fishing time and they have been hammering the stripers after the rain. The highs for Thursday and Friday is expected to be in the 80’s and lows in the upper 50’ to upper 60’s with the wind out of the north 10 to 20 mph changing to the south by Friday at 10 to 15 mph. The weekend is going to be beautiful with highs in the upper 90’s lows in the lower 60’s and a southerly wind of 10 to 15 mph.

As of 8:00 AM the corp is releasing 25,000 cfs of water out of the flood gates and power generation. The lake level is at 622.96 feet which is 6 feet lower than the crested level on May 17th. We can walk to the boathouse again.

Sunrise is at 6:16 AM and sunset is at 8:33 PM. This gives us 15 hours and 14 minutes of great fishing time. We have been trying to leave the boathouse at 6:30 AM for the morning trips. Some mornings the bait wants to be difficult. Our afternoon trips have been leaving the boathouse at 1:30 PM. If you don’t get off work til 5 PM there is still enough daylight to go out and catch a limit.

On the 3rd Restoration Church brought 14 of their members to fish and they brought in 140 stripers up to 8 lbs and 2 catfish up to 5 lbs. On the 9th Colgate had 27 of their employees here bringing in a total of 270 stripers. Cardinal Glass came down on the 14th for an afternoon fishing trip. They had 24 of their employees and they took home 240 stripers up to 12 lbs. We ended the month with 17 members of the North Fort Worth Baptist Church fishing on the 29th hauling in 170 stripers up to 5 lbs. On the same day Steve McQuay and 11 other people from TI brought 120 stripers up to 5 lbs to the cleaning table. On the 30th Victory Family Church had 25 of their members come and fish bringing in 250 stripers up to 6 lbs.

 For more info visit Tinker's Lake Texoma Striper Guide Service.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well some fish hitting top water now, and catching a few with slabs, so the artificial season will be upon us very soon.   I am still using live bait, fishing the humps, and drops offs, catching good quality fish, all overs, (20 inch fish) and coming in with the best boxs, I have had in some time.  

I believe you could catch good stripers almost anywhere on Texoma.  (if you know where to be). "JD"

 Visit JD's Cross Creek Striper Guide Service website

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Have gotten a little behind with pictures and reports in May It has been incredible. Loads of fun, catching lots of fish; good large stripers, with plenty of fight.

Leaving the docks at 6:30am and sometimes back fast with 40-50- and yes 60 fish, by 8am. This does not include the number of fish caught and released, before bait runs out. Plenty of happy people, large groups, all limiting, with their promises to return soon. Names like Gabennnesch. Hoehman, Adair, McGarrah, Mechanical Paetners, Nuckols, Murphy, Prestonwood, etc. Can't get any better than this, even with the high water, and rains during the period. God is good.  "JD"

 Visit JD's Cross Creek Striper Guide Service website

Happy Memorial Day

As we take this day to honor the veterans of this great country let us not forget that we should be doing this every day.  We owe a great deal to the men and women who have defended our freedoms.  As we enjoy the cool breeze while watching a beautiful sunrise on the lake let us remember that one in five Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are experiencing symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, or major depression, yet only 53 percent suffering from PTSD or major depression have seen a physician or mental health provider.  154,000 veterans are homeless on any given night.  One-third of homeless Americans are veterans, even though only one-tenth of all adults are veterans.

We fishing enthusiasts and lovers of the great outdoors are great in number and many of us are veterans ourselves and know that due to political considerations and budgetary restrictions that often times the veterans are placed lower down in the order in the scheme of things our represtatives consider important.  With two wars ongoing and thousands of veterans experiencing the carnage of these wars, we can only look forward to seeing more problems encountered by our veterans when looking for health care and help adjusting back to civilian life. 

Please take a little time and encourage your representative be they Democrat or Republican to fully fund the VA and make good on the government's pledge to take care of our veterans when they return in less than 100% health from the wars thay have been sent to. 

It is not much to ask.  It only takes a few minutes of your time.  But with the sheer number of us, we can make a difference.

If you are an employer and need to increase your staff, hire a veteran.

Thank you for letting me indulge in an area that is near and dear to me take care and have a great day of fishing. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fishing is good even with the high water problem here at Texoma. I am fishing in about 43 foot of water, at a location I have sat on for a week, catching good fish, some hook swallers, and all over 20's, largest around 8-9 lbs, thusfar.

My over 20 inch fish, all in the 7-9 lbs as using big baits, which they cause a real fight, so prepare to "hang-on".

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

May is always awesome fishing on Lake Texoma. Striper Express specializes in artifical lure fishing. The muddy water has pushed us way up the lake. Everyday our boats are searching for clear water. We have been catching lots of fish. If your lucky you'll find a school of stripers surfacing.

Chris found a school of big fish surfacing this week and kept 38 and released 59 up to 12 lbs.Jimmy found some on top and loaded up. Most fish are biting sassy shad jigs.

For More info visit StriperExpress Guide Service

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If there is a month to pick as one of the best times to fish at Lake Texoma, you have to include May. The stripers are returning from their annual spawn and are hungry. The shad are also spawning and this makes for fantastic fishing. We are casting topwater plugs on the shallow banks and in the flooded trees early in the mornings. Take a look at the short video on our home page titled: FISH EATS FOOTLONG SHAD. Just today, Chris was rockin’ along with a dozen fish and found a school of large stripers surfacing in open water. He kept thirty-eight stripers and released another fifty-nine up to 12lbs. No Joke!! Sassy Shad jigs are deadly on these post spawn fish. Jimmy this week had a charter where four anglers caught and released almost one hundred fish up to 11lbs. The lake is on the rise after several days of rain in the Red River Valley. Our guides are finding clear water and having a blast. Now is the time to get in on some “rippin’ lips” action.

For More info visit StriperExpress Guide Service

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  The past three weeks fishing for stripers on Lake Texoma has been outstanding. The surface water temperature of the lake is 62 degrees with an elevation of 623.95 feet above sea level and rising. The drainage basin of North Texas, Southern Oklahoma, west of Lake Texoma has had significant rainfall the past week. We saw heavy rain around the lake early last week with areas around Highport Marina getting approximately six inches of rainfall. The latest report has the lake cresting at 627 feet on May 11th, this is with no more significant rainfall. Rain is predicted for the next few days with chances of some severe storms.

Read StriperMaster's Lake Texoma Striper Fishing Report.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fishing has been great, with limits everyday, big fish, and great time. We have had lots or rain, and lake is up. Some Marinas are closed for high water, but we are ok right now. The water is murky, but does not affect the bite. Fishing doubles everyday. Bait tough but I am doing ok, ole man, up and early before the young'ens.

Catching fish on bait, and slabs so good fun. We caught 60 fish and done before 9am for 6 man group from my neighborhood, Pampa Texas. I have had some good fishermen, made some good friends, and couldn't be happier right now, so come on down!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As of 8:00 AM the lake level was at 617.53 feet. With the 78,600 cfs of water coming from the Washita and Red River will help to bring the lake up to the seasonal level of 619 feet. The Corp started generating today at 11:00 AM and will be releasing 10,500 cfs a day. The water temperature is at 61 degrees. Sunrise is at 6:38 AM and sunset is at 8:09 PM which gives us 14 hours and 23 minutes of visible light.

There is a slight chance of scattered rain until Wednesday with the highs in the mid to upper 70’s and the lows in the mid 50’s to mid 60’s. The wind will be from the south changing to the southwest at 10 to 15 mph over the weekend.

We are leaving the boathouse at 6:30 AM for our morning trips and our afternoon trips are leaving at 1:30 PM. For those of you that love the top water action you will want to make sure you are there on time so you wont miss any of the action.

In the month of April we fished 339 fishermen bringing in 3006 stripers up to 10 lbs and 85 various other fish. On Saturday April 4th Land Rover Tulsa had 12 fishermen that took back 110 stripers up to 6 lbs and 5 sand bass to Tulsa. Jerry Whitson brought 10 of his friends for a 3 day fishing trip and they brought in 202 stripers up to 10 lbs, 1 sand bass, and 14 catfish up to 20 lbs. April 13th Kevin McDonald from Colorado brought 5 friends for a 2 day fishing trip and took home 118 stripers also up to 10 lbs. Will Harmon and Vic Robledo from Kansas meet Billy Dykes from New Mexico here on April 17th for a 2 day fishing trip with a total of 14 people. They took home a total of 271 stripers up to 9.2 lbs. We ended the month with Bob Gilworth from Kansas bringing 3 friends from Illinois for a 3 day trip bringing in a total of 120 stripers up to 6 lbs. You can see these pictures and all the other pictures at http://www.tinker.net.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Three or four times a year The American Legion on Lake Texoma invites patients at the Bonham Veterans Administration Hospital out to the Post for a day of games and a Fish Fry.  The American Legion is blessed to have a couple of Lake Texoma Striper Guides who are always willing to volunteer their time and effort to help catch fish to feed the vets and today was my lucky day to get to help the cause. 

Doug Keeter the Owner/Operator of StriperMaster Guide Service, invited me, my wife and a couple of our friends to go out yesterday morning to start the harvest for our upcoming visit.  We left Highport Marina about 8am and headed north. The morning air is cool, well really kind of cold as Doug poured on the fuel and made the 350 chevy moter hum as it pushed the 23 foot Falcon across the rippling bright blue water.

 

Read the rest of the story.

Spent Sunday in church, and was glad to have a day off.  The fishing has been somewhat better, actually catching big fish…the 7's, up to 15 lbs drifting big baits, but some diffictulty getting limits, with weather changes, and fronts moving in and out.    The last week or so, it was really cold in the mornings, but wind has let down a little., sometimes  little too much.   The water temp is gradually risiing, there are getting to be more boats out, and looks like season is upon us.  I have been asked to post a picture of my boat on the front of my website. I will get them on as well as some pictures of past fishing, to be posted as soon as I can get them updated…..Have a good one…."JD"

 for more info visit JD's Cross Creek Guide Service website.

  Although March was our typical early spring fishing with both good and not so good days, we are definately now seeing an improvement in our striper fishing on Lake Texoma as we head into mid April. Lake Texoma surface water temperature is 58 degrees with an elevation of 615.19. Live bait is working well in the shallow flats 10-25 feet of water while drifting. We have also caught some nice limits of stripers on anchor in water ranging from 40-50 feet deep. These past few days it has been steady, just finding and picking at them. As Lake Texoma water temperature continues to rise we will start to have some of the super fast striper action.

Read StriperMaster's Lake Texoma Striper Fishing Report.

Fished a double this weekend, and did good although was only able to get in one place that wasn't dangerously rough from the high winds.     Did fairly well with the Ferguson group of Dallas, and the Gunsell group from Wichita Kansas, although we were limited to back of Simmons Cove, long-lining.  Both groups were good fishermen (and one fisherwoman) and understood the conditions, limitations, and made the best of a very nice outing.   Fish were good sized, runnning up to 5-6 pounds, healthy and fat.   Excellent fights.   "JD"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A Kansas man drowned on Lake Texoma Saturday.  The accident happened in the Oklahoma waters of Lake Texoma, according to the reports we have heard.

The group of five were fishing with guide Jay Bendle out of Buncombe Creek and were heading back to the marina when the accident occured.  The weather was pretty rough with very high winds and four to five feet waves.  The boat was heading west and took on some water.  A large swell swamped the boat then it capsized throwing the group into the lake approximately 100 yards from the shore.  None of the group were wearing their life jackets according to the report.

The five men swam to shore but about 10 feet from the shore, Johnny Mullins, of Marysville, Kansas, collapsed and went under water.  The other men were able to pull Mr. Mullins out of the water onto the shore and began to administer CPR.  Mr. Mullins was taken to Marshal County Medical Center in Madill and was pronounced dead by the medical examiner at 2:30 Saturday afternoon.

If you are a regular reader of this blog you know that safety and respect for Lake Texoma is stressed often.  Always have your life jackets easily accessible and if you venture out on days when the wind is high, be sure and wear your life jackets as the waters of Lake Texoma can get rough very quickly and as this tragic incident emphasises they can also be deadly.

The advise we like to stress is remember, wear that life preserver and that your life preserver may save your life.  And if you think its too windy then it probably is, so stow the boat and get your yard work done and you will be able to enjoy the lake next week. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fishing early March:   Fishing has been really unpredictable, and I dont care what you read or hear, its a little tough at times.    I have fished with live bait, but my best results are with long lining.  

We have caught good quality, and our limits long lining, and I have observed other guides struggling with live bait.   It is early in the season, with only fishing to get better as the weather warms.    

 For more info check out Cross Creek Striper Guide Service   

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   The fishing is good all year long, but for most fishing enthusiasts it starts in March.   March is the beginning of the spring fishing months and this may be the best time to catch a big one.  The stripers will be staging to make their annual spawn up the rivers.  This is when the big sows are egg ladened and weigh up to five pounds more than any other time of year.  Last March was great for not only numbers of fish, but also for big fish up to twenty-three pounds.   So far, March has been a great month.   A lot of catching and a few norther’s (weather fronts) mixed together.  The weather seems to be milder this month but just wait a minute and Mother Nature will throw you a curve.

For more info check out Bill Carey's Striper Express.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spring has started off with a bang. I have been fishing doubles, and catching limits on both morning and evening trips. Bait is easy if you know where to go.  Looks like its going to be a great year on Lake Texoma. ....."JD"

 For more info visit JD's CrossCreek Striper Guide Service web site