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Lake Texoam Fishing Report :: Mothers Day Weekend
Posted on May 10, 2010
In years past, May has been one of the best months to fish for Lake Texoma stripers and this year is no exception. It’s really hard to describe just how good the fishing is. I can’t keep up with the action because my customers are catching fish faster than I can take them off the hook and get them baited back out. With just 2 people I can get a pretty good rhythm and keep them going, but with 6 people it becomes more like an assembly line and things can get a little chaotic with me netting fish, taking them off the hook and baiting the hooks back out as fast as I can move. With all of this going on, I’m keeping track of 2 numbers in my head of how many fish we throw in the box and how many of those fish are over 20”. If the bite stays full throttle and we can develop a good rhythm, it will only take 30-45 minutes to put 60 fish in the boat. With so much time left in the trip my customers have several options of what they want to do with the rest of their trip. If I think there are big fish to be caught elsewhere, normally I will persuade them to go in that direction otherwise, we will continue to catch and release or go back to clean fish and catch catfish. The catfishing from the cleaning dock has really picked up the past week and we are starting to catch several cats while I’m cleaning fish.
All of my fish the past week have been caught on anchor over a river ledge in 30-40 ft. of water using live bait 3-5 cranks off the bottom. Right now it is not necessary to mark a lot of fish before you set anchor. Look to mark 2-3 fish together on a river ledge and throw your anchor. Then drop your baits down and start beating the water, it might happen instantly or it might take 20 minutes but before long, if your doing everything right, they will come and when the do be ready because its on!
Now I’ve caught my limit on every trip since the first week in April with the exception of Wednesday evening. It was 90° and completely still. The lake was like glass without the slightest ripple on the water except for the occasional boat wave. I had no trouble finding fish, it was the catching that proved to be challenging for us as the fish tend to be skittish when there is no wind. I would find fish and put bait down and we would catch 1-4 fish and they would leave. We did this for 2-3 hours and managed to put half of our limit in the box. On the bright side, they were all good fish. My guys were scheduled to fish the morning as well and decided to throw in the towel around 5:00. I was wanting to finish out the limit and keep my streak alive and I told them the fish would turn on as it got later in the day and we would be able to finish up our limit but they were hot and hungry at this point and ready to get some supper. Reluctantly, I took them back to clean our 16 fish between three people.
Thursday morning I had the same guys and I showed them what May fishing was all about. We threw one anchor and it was on. We put a limit in the box in around an hour and then went in search for a big fish. We hit several spots but only managed to catch a lot more of the same size fish we had been catching.
Friday morning it was back out to the same spot and it was business as usual. Fish were flying right and left and we had a boat load in no time. We caught and released for the rest of the trip.
Friday evening the wind had shifted a little so I went to a different ledge with the same results. It took a little while for the fish to get under the boat this time but after giving the water a good beating, here they came. Lots of nice fish and the catching never stopped. They decided they had caught enough fish after a couple of hours and we headed back to the dock at 5:30.
Saturday morning the wind had picked up something fierce out of the north and there were big rolling waves. We head right out in the middle of it and it is really not all that bad if you know how to drive a boat and take the waves right. I had a group of 2 that morning and they wanted to catch and release so that’s what we did. We caught fish for the whole 4 hours, it would slow down every now and again but after beating the water and putting on fresh bait it was back on.
Saturday evening I had a group of 12 on a 2 boat trip with Mark Jr. Thankfully the wind had subsided and it wasn’t as rough out. We set up anchor and it starts out slow so I make a couple of moves and on the 3 anchor we hit them. We put 42 in the boat before I can take a breath and assess the situation. The fish slowed a bit but continued to steadily catch fish until we reached our 60. Mark had caught his limit as well so we head in to clean fish and catch catfish. 120 fish with 24 over 20 inches = a good day out on the water :)
I sort of took off Sunday morning for Mothers Day so I could take my mom, Susie and my fiancée, Megan out fishing to hopefully make up for all the trouble that I put them through. It was a little chilly out with the north wind and a passing rain shower now and then but I never heard either one of them complain because they were catching fish faster than I could get them baited back out. After about an hour of this it started to rain harder and the girls decided that they had caught enough fish for one day and decided to call it quits and get in out of the rain. Megan had decided that we had caught well over 50 fish. It was wonderful to get to spend some time with my 2 favorite girls out on the water.
My trips for May are almost booked up but June can be just as good if not better than May depending on the year. With the cooler weather we’ve been having this year I would expect the awesome fishing to continue into July. My availability left for May is as follows: May 12 PM, 14 AM, 16 PM, 17 AM, 18 PM, 19 PM, 23 PM, 24 PM, 25 PM, and 26 PM. All of my Saturday evenings in June are still available. You can book your trip online at www.stripersinc.com or you can call me anytime at (903)815-1609 and I’ll get you set up.
Your Lake Texoma Fishing Guide,
Brian Prichard
Stripers Inc.
(903)815-1609