Lake Texoma Striper Fishing Blog

 Predicting fish patterns is a humbling endeavor to try to tackle, many times now the fish have made me into a fool just when I think I have them figured out. I have learned to avoid making predictions or giving expectations to people as I'm never sure as to how the day will turn out. It is easier seasonally, some things are a given that make the fish move into certain patterns but the timing is never set in stone. During the winter the big fish show up on structure where I can target them, I never know exactly when but February seems to be one of the more reliable months, so I went out on a limb for my last report and invited everyone out to hunt for big fish as the time for them had come. Thankfully they didn't make me look like a fool this time. I didn't catch a double digit fish on ever trip and a couple of trips were tough fishing but for the most part we had great success and caught some really nice fish the past few weeks. I love to hunt these big fish and now is the best time of the year to do it. We always release them to let them grow bigger and breed and in hopes that somene else will have the opportunity to appreciate catching such a beautiful fish.

The biggest fish so far this season weighed in at 14.6 pounds. That was one of my more memorable trips of my career. We were out during a cloudy cold front with a light mist. I started the morning looking over my structure locations but the fish had disappeared, where did they go? After a little scouting I found the birds working and the fish worked up into a feeding frenzy with not another boat in site. The fish had evidently left their structure to feed. They were out in deep water and we were hooking fish up 5 at a time casting swim baits, most all of them big fish over 20”. We ended up catching around 5 fish that day that were around 10 lbs. or better, all released, and continued catching fish after fish until everyone had had their fill. Trips like this are special, especially when you are the only boat there, I have had other trips like this one under similar weather conditions but they are rare and something to be appreciated. This is what makes winter my favorite season to fish. The cold turns the lake into a wild rugged and remote place again where few dare to adventure. The solitude of being the only boat on the lake on a school of big fish is something you will never forget.

We will likely continue to catch big fish in the coming weeks, I'm already getting booked with the warm weather on the horizon and spring break is around the corner. We will continue casting swimbaits on structure and my be hunting fish in the deep water to do some deadsticking as well depending on what this cold does to the pattern. I'll hopefully be sticking with my swimbaits on structure pattern as that is how I prefer to catch them, others will likely continue to have success deadsticking, the bite has been good fishing both structure and deadsticking patterns though what is working best varies from day to day. I do enjoy deadsticking when they are biting but it is hard for me to sit and watch my rods waiting for them to bite, I would rather be moving and casting as long as it is producing for me. I feel like it is a lot more fun and rewarding to catch fish that way and I know a lot of my loyal clients feel the same.

Right now, next week is about full but the first week in March is wide open and then spring break starts. If you are available, I'd recommend coming that first week in March to avoid the spring break crowd. We will certainly still catch fish during spring break but we will have a lot of other boats on the water that really haven't been out all winter. This makes it slightly more difficult to find a group of fish that no one is bothering but we still make it happen. You can book your trip online at www.stripersinc.com or give me a call at (903)815-1609 and I'll get you setup. If you do need one of those spring break dates you will want to book it soon as we are filling up fast. I'll be looking forward to fishing with you!
 

Your Lake Texoma Fishing Guide,
Brian Prichard
Stripers Inc.

www.stripersinc.com