In all likely hood I am about to start fishing for Stiper/Hybrids in Buchanon. I dont know enough to even know what to search for here in the forum. What I am looking for is generalities. I want to learn where to look during different times of the year ie I understand in winter and early spring they run creeks and rivers in summer deep water over rocks? If someone would point me in the direction of some literature on finding fish and selecting lures/bait I would appreciate it very much. I would also be very happy for personal thoughts finding fish and choosing lures. I do not have down riggers.

thanks in advance

PS If people ever look for fishing partners to help with expense cost on Buchannon I am within driving distance a couple of Saturdays a month.

Get ready for alot of different answers/opinions.

Some of the best advice that I can give a young grasshopper like your self is to go out and give something a try. Come back to the TFF and talk about what/how/where/when, etc. that you did and then let the TFF help you fine tune or help steer you in the right direction.

Also look at other post and catch up on clues to what those people are doing on their lake and then relate that to how you can do the same on your lake. As an example: look at some of the post made on Tawakoni. Nobody has mentioned catching fish in the creeks have they? There has been some mention of deep water ledges. Another post on Lewsiville talks about fishing down by the dam. Is the water down by the dam usually shallow or deep? Those kind of things will help give you clues on where to try and how.

If it were easy, they would call it catching and not fishing.

Buchanan is my home lake. I am still trying to figure it out but here lately I seem to find them ok. Here is how I go about fishing Buchanan. Its not perfect but it works most of the time. I divide the lake into three sections. Upper( North side of Shaw island up to Tow), Mid ( shaw island down to Flag Island across to Alcatraz, and Lower ( Flag down to the damn.)

In general from March thru May I focus on the middle of the lake, primarily around shaw island (south side). Starting in June the fish will start migrating down to the lower end. I will start here and fish up until I find them. During July and August I pretty much stay in the lower end. September and October you can find them in the Mid and lower sections. About November I start foucusing on the upper end of the lake until end of Feburary. With that being said you can find them anywhere at anytime. This is just how I set up my game plan.


Most of the guides drift live bait. you can catch them trolling, slabbing, on top. The top water bite is best in the spring but I always have a top water bait tied and ready for the surface action.

Regardless of the time of year always check the humps especially as the day progresses. In general as temperatures warm the fish wil move toward the river channel. There are some good humps and ridges right off the main channel that seem to always hold fish. If you don't have a good GPS map system get one. It will save you a bunch of time.

Next time your down give me a shout and we will go fishing. I don't know much but I will let you know what I do. Lately I have been focusing on the east side of the lake. And been doing pretty good.

Also book a guided trip in fall, winter, spring and summer. I would recommend Jerry Moore. He is very willing to teach a person. Go to you tube and search for him. He gives a pretty good run down on Buchanan patterns.

You can learn tons from guided trips if you pay attention. There are lots of little details that make the difference between finding and catching stripers/hybrids and just finding them.

Most basic things to start out with:

1. A seaworthy boat. A lot of times the bite is best when the wind is the worst.

2. Good electronics. GPS with mapping and a quality sonar. I would almost scrimp on the boat to be able to afford a better unit. Spend as much as she'll let you.

3. 30+ gallon bait tank designed for keeping shad.

The list could go on forever but give me those three things, one rod and reel, and a little time and I feel I could put a striper in the boat.

Its so very odd that I find this post today.. I was about to post a very similar post. I have dabbled with trolling for stripers and sandies in San Angelo with minor luck and find this is going to be my preferred method of fishing. I am heading to Buchanon myself this weekend to try my luck with trolling.

I dont have a center console or downrigger's (yet) so was going to try some set it and forget it depth setting boards that I found at bass pro shop and some shad like bait.. On the southern end of the lake..

This may seem extremly elementry to some of you more experienced folks, but I am working with what I got.. Anyway thanks for the read thus far and I hope there are more posts before I head down. Any advice or repremands are welcome as I am very much like the original poster and a rookie striper fisherman.

One question I do have is this. I just mounted a 80# 24 volt trolling motor on my boat to assist in my trolling endeavors. With the depth of Buchanon, should I use my outboard or try my luck with the trolling motor?

Any suggestions on Lures on your lake?

Slayton I would use the big motor and troll around 2.5-3mph. If your motor is a 2 stroke after an hour or so of trolling I would fire it up and open her and run her up for a few minutes to clean the plugs.

Thanks.. Any suggestion on lures? Will be my First time targeting Hybrids

hey brandon, saw your post about buchanan being your home lake. i moved and now live on buchanan ( golden beach subdivison ) about a year ago. the lake was so low that i didnt take my boat out until april. ive been learning the lake , learning about striper fishing with some success, although lately its been tough. i recently joined the lake buchanan conversation corp in hopes to meet some guys that enjoy fishing as much as i do. ive always been a crappie, catfish, and everyone fishes for whites i think, and im relatively new to stiper fishing. if your interested in hooking up sometime email me, i would enjoy fishing with someone besides my brother, who loves the idea of fishing, but has no staying power. anywasy look forward to hearing from ya.

If you want to troll for stripers, and not use down riggers. Get some hellbenders and tie 18" line with a sassyshad trailer behind it. worked on Texoma and Benbrook, should work on buccann. Best bait for striper still shad in my opion.