This was the weekend to be at PK. The weather was superb with the low day time temps and cool nights. Sunday was hot, but this is Texas in July and the Yankee weather never lasts.



Fishing was awesome! I caught these three keepers in the 26-28 inch range in a span of two hours along with six 12-15 inch throwbacks. I considered this pretty awesome considering I fished during the heat of the day with the lake completely full of boats and jet skis. It seems everyone who could get away from Midland for the weekend came to PK.

Had some friends out over the weekend with their 9 year old son. The fresh striper came in handy, as my wife made some wonderful fish tacos with them. Really tried to get the 9 year old on a big striper but after a full day of boat show the big'uns were laying low.

I really need to get some pointers from the guides how they get their small fry to handle a striper pole. Ole Luke here caught about five small stripers but really struggled to handle the 7 foot ugly stick rods I use. After watching him struggle with that big fishin' pole we finally settled on having him sit down facing the stern and put the butt of the big fishing pole against the boat and reel the fish in like a saltwater fighting chair. Pretty funny to watch and the small stripers didn't make it easy for him. Even the little guys peel drag when they see the boat. His fishing trip got cut short after he began to get sick from all the wave action from the pleasure boaters. I talked a nice fellow into letting him step off on his dock to avoid any chumming. Snapped a pic of him here after he lost the green gills.



After seeing me get cut by a gill plate he would not hold the fish he caught. That was probably best as we needed to release the little stripers quickly. I don't know who at TPWD decided to put some new stripers in PK but they deserve an attaboy.



PK was smooth as glass if you could get away from the wake boarders, jet fleas and other yahoos. The lake is no longer clear like it was in the past. My theory is that the fires causes a lot of nutrient to wash into the water after the rains and the lake now is about the same color as Ray Hubbard. The extra algae has resulted in an explosion of shad and other bait fish. Everywhere you look there are minnows. It's amazing we catch anything there is so much bait. I've had a lake house here for several years and I've never seen so many schools of shad.

PK really has a great future. I talked my neighbor who has a slip into buying a green light and putting it on a timer to come on after dark. This has created the most amazing fishing hole. Top layer of shad, below that is perch, some that are quite large with stripers and sandbass zipping in constantly to grab an unlucky shad. The shad get so panicked they jump into some of the kayaks tied up in the slip. I fished the slip last night with a roadrunner and caught one small striper or sandbass, one after the other. If the roadrunner made it to the bottom you'd get a big sandbass in the 14 -16 inch range. Closer to the top it was always a little striper. I was using a light action rig so it was a lot of fun. The little stripers really made the drag on the Zebco 33 sing. PK is chock full of stripers in the 12 to 15 inch range right now. If you fish at PK be sure and treat our future stripers with great care. I have tried to upsize my baits to avoid catching them but they hit everything that moves.

Great report Mike and really nice fish. Looks like you guys had a pretty good day.

Enjoyed your report and am so glad to see PK is coming back.

Nice Report ! Thanks for Sharing !

I have not been up there in many years..
That Pic of Hells Gate reminds me of years past"
do you fish during the week ? I'll bring the Boat!

Awesome!

It was a good day. Fishing was tougher yesterday, but I still got a nice one. Started using some 50 LB test fluorocarbon leader so the stripers can't break the line. I had two poles with stripers on yesterday and when I finally go the second pole in I noticed I must have had several on that pole at one point or another. One of my jigs was missing and a number 7 swivel was bent open. Also, the front hook and o-ring on the bomber was gone. They didn't break the line...

Let's plan a Texoma Trip with John. I want to get one of those "bad days" he has where he only catches 30 stripers.

I fish primarily during the week. I usually avoid the lake on weekends unless we have guests. Sometimes I'll go out late in the evening or early morning if the traffic slows.

Send me a PM if you are up here.

Really nice report.
Thanks for sharing with us.

I fished last weekend as well and would agree with your observations of the PK fishery by and large. Lots of bait. I'm not sure I am seeing the water as stained as you are however. I have been fishing PK since I was a youngster and after seeing the lake suffer through several major algae blooms, I just am not keeping any striper we catch. Largest so far this year was right at 14lbs. I wish I could fish more weekdays like yourself - the weekend warriors certainly take over Sat & Sun if you want to fish anytime from 10am to 7pm or so. Thanks for sharing your info.

I keep all the legal stripers and sandbass. There are plenty of small guys ready to step up and replace them.

I didn't go to the lake until 08 so I do not remember the algae blooms. I didn't have a lake house until 2011 so all I have ever know is the lake getting better every year.

If you fish during the day on the weekends, the stripers tend to be about 10 foot deeper. Unless there a ton of wakeboarding or jet ski activity above them, they stay in the same general area. During the week I catch them from 20-35 feet. During the weekend they are from 30 - 45 feet. Once they go below 40 though they are tough to catch and just seem to show up on the fish finder to mock me. The wind blown side is always the best for fish but the worst for fishing in peace.

Good luck and be safe. PK was super busy last weekend.