Thursday September 4, 2008
It has been quite a while since my last fishing report. I have had very few trips during that period and most required a lot of work for a decent amount of fish. Some days were great but most trips were disappointing. I expect the fishing quality to decrease even further till Lake Texoma cools and turns over which should occur late this month.
So, I’ve decided to shut down the guiding to early October. I will continue to fish on my own, probably concentrating on black bass like I have been doing the past 10 days.
I'm even going to spend some time chasing catfish as there are an abundance of them in Texoma along with lots of folks that enjoy their flavor. I tried putting out some jugs last winter and I think I'll try setting some during this slack period.
Depending on the weather, fishing should start improving early next month and based on the quality of fishing we had this summer, I expect autumn fishing should be GREAT! Fall is some of the best fishing of the year. The fish school up and often can be caught on live bait as well as spoon/slabs and other artificial lures. In addition, the lake is less crowded and the unpleasant hot weather is replaced by cool mornings and warm afternoons.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Had another slow day of fishing. Fished with Stewart, Brent & Brandon on a rather pleasant day for a change. For whatever reason, we found fish but could not seem to catch them. The fish were moving very fast and we had a lot of very light bites. Hopefully, it was the change in wind from the south to the east that turned the fish off, rather than the rapiudly increasing lake temperatures. The lake is now up to 88 degrees and it hasn't been that warm since I started logging weekly temps 5 years ago.
Sunday, August 3 , 2008
Loretta, Connie, Melvin and Dickie cama back thia morning for a little more fishing. The good news was that the bait stayed healthy & frisky but fishing was still a little slow & we managed only about a dozen before calling it quits before lunch.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Bad day today. The 150 big, frisky threadfin shad that I caught at 3AM started red-nosing and turning belly up by the time my customers arrived at 6AM. We did manage 2 long and 2 box fish before pulling the plug around 9AM. Fortunately, I'm off tomorrow and these folks were spending 2 nights, so today was a "do over" and we'll try it again tomorrow after I scrub my bait tank with Lysol
Thursday, July31, 2008
Four brothers got together and came down to Texoma for some striper fishing. Since my boat couldn’t hold all of their sons, they drew straws and Brexton got to fish with his Dad and 3 uncles. Kelly got the big fish prize with a healthy striper a little over 25 inches and later added a couple more using a slab. Jason or Jeremy won 1st fish pot and Dad, Guy, brought up the rear with a bunch of the smaller fish.
Overall, we had a great trip with limits on big fish and about 2 dozen big box fish.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
The ladies decided not to come, so only the male half the family fished with me today. Beau, Tim & Stirley got their long fish but we came up a little short of box fish before the heat drove us to the cleaning station
Friday, July 25, 2008
Had a rough trip today but not nearly as rough as Joe's. Rough water because of the high winds got him sea sick and we called it a day, very early.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Fished with a buddy today and we got lots of nice box fish on bait and some topwaters near Washita Point around 0730. We had the same kind of action yesterday, though we did manage some long fish on a drop outside Alberta Creek at first light.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Today we had our annual Camp Cavett fishing trip after missing last year because of the high, unsafe water at Lake Texoma. Over 40 volunteer boats took about 150 kids, aged 10 thru 18 that are patients on Oklahoma Children's Hospital fishing as part of their weeklong adventure.
These kids have spent an entire week here at Texoma at Camp Crosspoint and are given the chance to play, interact, be challenged and share feelings with other children in the same chronic or acute situation.
This is now my 5th year to be part of this event and I think my group of 4 youngsters yesterday were the best yet.
Kaylyn was “The Fisherperson” yesterday and won the 1st Placet Trophy for “Big Striper” at the end of the tournament.
La’shronda wasn’t really into fishing but was a bundle of energy running around the boat.
Dyllon was camera shy but we did manage to get his picture holding a big fish only ½” shorter than Kaylyn’s monster.
Jacob was the youngster. He was the quietest and most serious fisherman. Even refusing credit for landing a fish when he had help.
I don’t know if these kids knew it other before this week, but they sure seem to have bonded together.
I’d love to have this group again next year but only if Jacob leaves the sunflower seeds ashore.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Fished with a friend today with my hat pulled down over my head as we were down-rigging and I didn’t want to be recognized by any of my friends. I’m not a trolling or down-rigging type fisherman and only do it when I’m is someone else’s boat. Tried it for two hours with no luck before heading home
Tuesday, July 8, 2008, 2008
Back on the lake after taking a short breather and waiting for those crazy 4th of July fun lovers to go home and let us fishermen get back to what we love doing. Hoped to find some topwater fish at daybreak today but struck out. We did fish some bait and managed about a dozen nice fish before heading home for lunch.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Bo brought his soon to be brother-in-law along as he cashed in a Gift Certificate that was part of his card tournament winnings from the FireLake Casino in Shawnee.
We headed south into 20 MPH winds with stronger gusts in search of some stripers. Josh & Bo even braved the high seas for a couple swim calls. Almost got our limit but came up a little short but we still had a nice box of fish caught in some rough waters. Overall, a good fun filled fishing trip on Josh’s last “free” weekend. Bring the wives next time guys
Friday, June 27, 2008
I had a tough trip today. The high winds made fishing tough and the youngster was under the weather and we ended up taking his with Ron back very early. I felt sorry for Garrett as he had a horrible headache and the bouncing boat only made it worse. Get better and we'll get em' next time.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Fished with my second set of twins this month. 10 year old Zack & Kyle along with their Dad, Jeff and Dave made the trip north from Texas . Fortunately, the bait sort of re-appeared this morning so we were able to baitfish.
We got a pretty early start but had to work for our fish all day. Even the super weather with temps into the lower 90's, some cloud cover and a little southerly wind failed to insure a full limit of fish. We ended up with almost 2 dozen stripers with most being nice sized fat box fish and the guys did manage 5 over 20 inches. It was a great day to be fishing and everyone had a good time.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Larry cashed in a Birthday Gift Certificate from his wife, Julie. He left her home but brought his daughter, Page along with Frank and his son, Justin. We had a good day of fishing while managing 5 long fish to go with a bunch of box fish. During swim call, Page managed to entice a striper to bite a unattended rod.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Some more Texans ventured north for some Oklahoma stripers as Larry brought his 2 sons, Grant & Austin up from Ft. Worth.
We got an early start from Alberta Creek around 0545 with plans of just catching and releasing most of the day’s catch while keeping just the injured fish and those caught in deeper waters. We soon started catching hungry stripers and were so busy at times that there were no rods in the water. Lots of nice box fish and several 23” & 24” fish and everyone was busy catching. I threw out some chum and Grant caught several nice channel cats along with a rarity for me, a nice flathead that we also released.
Just as we were discussing pulling anchor from the 25’ we were sitting and moving to deeper waters, a storm chased us to the marina. We arrived battered and soaked as we went into the restaurant to wait out the storm. However, after about a 90 minute wait, the worn out, cold & wet fisherman decided to pull the plug.
It had the makings of a great trip prior to the weather change and we settled for a very good fishing trip. I guess we ended up catching about 20-25 stripers and a half dozen catfish in less than 4 hours as the great early summer fishing continues on Lake Texoma.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Today I fished with John, his son Randy and also his Grandson, William. We had a great time with lots of fish and would have had a lot more if John would have quit feeding the stripers our bait. The weather was fantastic with just a little wind & with plenty of sun. Everyone caught a bunch of fish and we ended up with 5 long fish and limits of fat box fish. This all happened early so we were able to get off the lake around lunchtime, before it got too hot and while everyone still had enough pep for the long rides home.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Had another gift certificate used today. Teddy cashed in a certificate from 2006 and brought along his brother, Robert and friend Don and together they "dragged" Brian fishing. Another awesome June fishing trip with a slight twist. Our biggest fish came on cut shad rather than live bait. This was in the morning and live shad seemed to do better after the morning bite. We launched early and with good directions, would have been earlier. Fish were fairly shallow and close to where I've been getting them the past 10 days or so. Lots of over's with 13 yr. old Brian getting our biggest at 6 1/2 lbs.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Took a neighbor fishing today as he needed some fish for a upcoming fish fry. Well, he's got enough fish now. We got em' early and we got a bunch.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Had a Grandfather and Grandson cash in a Birthday Gift Certificate and fight the 20-25 MPH winds today and it was well worth it. Too bad Jason couldn't make it but Joel and Justin just whacked those feisty stripers today. Sure glad we found and caught lots of stripers as they had already planned a family fish fry for later in the day....what pressure!!!
We left the ramp at 6AM and had a slow, wet & bumpy ride south towards the main part of the lake. Fortunately, we found hungry stripers our first spot and had "fish-on" Joel's rod almost immediately. Justin was soon matching his Grandfather. Joel managed the most but Justin got the largest. With a nearly full box, we did a little C&R in 25 feet of water, keeping only the injured fish, until we had our limits.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
High winds forced two more cancellations. Next trip is Sunday, hopefully the wind will be down to just 20 MPH.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Went out and fought the wind at 4AM to get bait for a fishing trip this evening that a group of us are doing for the Oklahoma Wildlife Dept as we are taking about 50 young campers fishing. Caught 7 or 8 fish on the rocks right at daybreak and were back loading the boat by 7AM. High winds and 4 foot waves forced cancellation of the kid's evening trip for this year, too bad.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Steve came up from Houston to join Larry and the twins, Daniel & Darrel. We left the dock about 0545 and were soon on fish that made it hard to keep lines in the water. First pause in the constant action was 0704 and we had about 25 fish in the box. We pulled anchor about 0930 and headed back to the marina for more ice as more than 30 fish had the one box full and we working on a second. We fished till about 1330 before heading to the cleaning station with 35 fish that included our limit of big fish and only a couple injured guide fish.
Looks like the great early summer fishing is here. I'll get some photos in a day or two, just too worn out.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Been fishing quite a bit but results have been disappointing for the most part. I think I may have found the reason for my recent slump. I've been getting bait down too late in the morning. Either because of a late start or fishing artificials the first hour or two. Except for Tuesday, when the full force of a storm hit us as we were heading to the marina around 0700. We ended up beaching the boat in a quiet cove south of Alberta Creek for about 3 hours before heading back to the ramp, SOAKED!
Today, a buddy & myself had bait in the water before 7AM and left them biting at 10AM after catching and releasing about 20 fish.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Had a wind shift overnight which changed the game plan I had for today’s trip. I had a group of 23 folks returning from OKC on their annual striper fishing trip. With 4 other boats I got to help, we headed out of Soldier Creek at about 0700 in all directions on the hunt for some striper. Heading east we picked away at the fish with the first being a “drum” but we also picked up 2 long fish to put the guys in the running for the groups “big fish” pot. Carlos had our big one at 23 inches, 5 lb. 6 oz. but he failed to get into the big fish pool and Zon was put back into the running.
Checked in with the other guys and Brian was on fish. We headed farther east to him and found the fish stacked up pretty good. Most of these were nice fat box fish with only a few smallish, throwbacks and we managed a couple more long fish here plus a nice largemouth. Before our boat left at 11AM to get the luncheon set up, we called 2 of the other boats to join Brian in sacking up these fish.
Definitely not typical of mid-May fishing which normally takes place down towards the dam or in the bay outside Caney Creek. Overall, the trip turned out pretty good, mainly because of the fish Brian found. The weather also cooperated, rains held off and the only minor problem was the ride home after the wind picked up.
Friday , May 9, 2008
Went looking for some good, early topwater action today and found it. I was sitting on a rocky point in the middle of the lake at daybreak and started catching fish. The first was a 22” striper on a pencil popper. I proceeded to get another every 5 minutes or so and then the water around me exploded with box fish and shad flying. Pretty much caught fish as fast as I could get a lure in the water. Switched over to a spinnerbait for quicker hook removal and got 8 or 9 fish on it till the skirt was torn off. Decided to drop some bait on a ledge off this point and got about 6 more fish with only one a dink. Headed home about 8AM after catching 20-25 fish.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Went out by myself this morning. Got some bait then decided to throw some pencil poppers at the first hint of daylight. By 0615 I had already managed a pair of 22" stipers to go along with a nice box fish and a sandie. Switched over to baitfishing & scouting the next 2 hours and managed several more box and another long fish that I released. Sure hope this is the beginning of the springtime bite.
Speaking of bait, nearly forgot to thank Justin and Marshall for helping me at 4AM last Sunday to get bait for our fishing trip. Justin was going to try tossing the net, but my 8' net was just too much for his small hands. Maybe next year.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
We had a very short trip today and managed to put 1 fish very early in the box before deciding to let a wet 4-year old go back to Grandpa’s house to dry out. Of course, blue skies did peak through 10 minutes later.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Fishing was a little better today than Saturday. Joy managed our big fish with a healthy 22’ 5” striper. Marshall, Justin and Dad all managed to catch some fish but none could match Mom’s. That's Marshall helping to land Justin's big fish...Opps! Mom's fish was only 22 1/2 inches not feet.
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Seems like summer will never get here this year as more storms moved in Friday around 0415 as I was catching bait and slowed down Friday’s fishing and also today’s. These young fellows survived a long drive down from Kansas made even longer by a blown transmission only to be greeted with some tough May fishing. This was probably one of my worst days on Texoma but these guys seemed to enjoy it. Seemed sandies were easier to catch today than stripers.
Those are some really cool shades these young anglers are wearing.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Went scouting in the muddy waters up north with a friend yesterday in preparation for some upcoming trips. The water appears to be only stained, though it is worse as you head east towards Newberry Creek.
We found fish and while we only fished for several hours, we did pretty well. Topwater action should really be firing up, but we didn't see any today. All our fish came on bait. Since our freezers are empty, we decided to keep some to eat while releasing about half. Most were males, one female had eggs and a couple that already spawned.
Plans were to fish today but high gusty winds canceled those plans. Sure hope the wind dies down as I got a bunch of folks that want to fish
Friday, April 18, 2008
I had a very large group come down from OKC to fish today in which I had to get 4 of my guiding friends to help out with. We had a storm blow through last night which slowed down the fishing just as it was beginning to take off. Looks like more muddy water on the way.
While it was sunny, the winds did make enough waves to soak everyone. Our boat did manage to put 15 fish in the box including 2 long fish. The biggest we managed was nearly 23", fat and full of eggs. She was our only female as most of the big girls are up the Washita & Red Rivers. Hopefully producing a batch of little stripers.
Everyone had a good time during their annual trip and they will be bringing another group down next month looking for those post-spawn stripers.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Seems like old Mother Nature doesn’t want to co-operate. After getting some prime bait and then re-launching in another part of the lake, the storms hit Tuesday around 0730 and we decided to cancel the trip. High crosswinds while putting the boat back onto the trailer caused me to break one of my bunk-boards on the boat trailer loose. Blowing rain must have also got to the vehicle computer under the driver’s seat causing me to have fuel problems going home, at about 5 mph the last couple miles.
Weather also canceled the Wednesday trip and allowed me to get the van into the shop for repair.
Finally got onto the water for Thursday’s trip and decided to fish the middle of the lake as rains have really muddied up both ends. We had two boats with a Roy bringing his family up from Wylie, Texas and we fished most of the day with several others as fishing continues to be tough. As the photo shows, not much for a full day’s fishing. Roy’s Grandson, Jacob, did manage the biggest fish.
These guys were both great to fish wish and understanding that it’s “fishing” not “catching” sometimes.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Fishing for myself and a bunch of other guys I fish with has been very, very tough. I guess someone is catching fish but some pretty good fisherman & guides have all been telling me this. I've even been trailering my boat to the other side of the lake and found it tough there as well. Things gotta get better. Hopefully, I'll have some nice reports & photos of Spring breakers here for you to see soon. Weather forecast doesn't sound good, sure hope the storms stay away till after the boats are ashore.
