Texoma Striper report - recent kayak trips

Here are some recent pics and editorial from a few trips over the past few weeks of yak fishing on Lake Texoma. The Striped Bass fishing has been good all year but has turned on to a whole new level over the past week. This pattern should hold up through December as the fish continue to fatten up into deep winter. A great fishery and a blast anytime you get into them….and even moreso from the kayak. Enjoy:


Over the past couple of weeks, we have seen the daily air temps go from 70’s down to lows in the 20’s and 30’s. The shorts and short sleeves have now been permanently replaced with waders and winter wear. One of the last pics we'll see of anyone in shorts or short sleeves this year.




We’ve been going through a period where the water temp has been cooling almost daily. Currently, it’s consistently at 55 deg or below (I will tell you why that is meaningful later) and continuing its drop. As we started this cooling period, smaller (20” and under) stripers were in great abundance with the ability to easily hook limits with a nice smattering of big fish. The cooling temp triggers the fish to start their big feed in preparation for winter and the fish start gaining significant weight from their lean summer “torpedo “ shape. Just as water started cooling, this is what we were catching a lot of and were able to catch multiple daily limits in one outing (of course we did not keep limits) - nice healthy fish but not the size we prefer:

The lake levels are still down about 6 foot and no anticipation of it gaining much in the near term but launches are still easy……..with a yak, you can even use some of the launches no one else can use. This is a launch unusable by boats and a short distance to the islands. Yaks rule.



Over the past week(s), with several very cold fronts coming through and the smaller box fish (20” and under) are now harder to find……….that’s not a bad thing as the bigger fish have come out to play. I follow a lot of the Texoma guide reports and I personally believe we are in a record period for big fish being pulled from Texoma – at least in the time I have been fishing it. Ok, a sampling of some most recent fish pics from the yak:

Not only do the fish have length but the fattening up is working well. The bait (shad) population continues to look very healthy making for good forage. The big fish are VERY thick in the shoulders and starting to get more sow bellied daily. You will find some of the best fighting fish during this time of year IMO – they still have high metabolism and good weight to go with them.



And of course, I can’t show fish pics without showing Adrian’s (yakfinaddic) bruiser from a bit over a month ago – I believe this is the largest yak caught Texoma striper I or my other fishing buds have been privy to. A great catch by a great angler and proud to call him a friend and teammate.



The lures of choice (for me) have been plastics on jig heads. I am a big fan of the .75oz or .50oz head with a 4” cocahoe minnow in glow color. Swim it slower as the water gets colder. Other good choices are the standard sassy shads and the large road runners with trailers- chartreuse is a good color as well. The topwater bite is my favorite way to catch but it went away about a month ago (at least for me). This is a cocahoe – a favorite “go to” swim bait that has been working well:

I love working the shallows and stump fields but the fish have moved out into a bit deeper water recently. Am now finding fish concentrating in deeper water still holding to structure such as submerged stumps, brush piles, points, quick rising bottoms. I still often check the shallows as it is a hard habit to break and you can find the random fish but the odds are higher looking deeper. Here’s a shot of some fish corralling a bait school in 18FOW. This was even midday when fish aren’t supposed to be biting and we got a couple solid fish out of this school before we lost them. When you see this on the screen, you know things are about to get heated.




The graph shot above shows a 57deg water temp but many areas are now 55 and below (surface temp). 55 degrees is kind of “the point” where a method called deadsticking starts becoming effective. Deadsticking is just as unexciting as it sounds until you hook up……you locate fish, drop a fluke with special jighead (deadhead) down on them, hold it still or light jigging and usually that’s all it takes other than setting the hook and listening to the drag scream. This becomes even more effective as water gets colder and the fish are less willing to chase down their bait. I have used this technique on my last few trips and the fish are starting to accept it. However, they are still so aggressive they are tearing up the flukes used in this method. I still prefer to cast to fish but you need to add deadsticking to your methods as we get later into the winter – likewise, it’s a good technique when you are sitting direct on fish and cannot easily swim a bait to them. Here is a “one fish” fluke taken by a 30”+ striper:

In summary, the Texoma striper fishery is in great shape and looking forward to it continuing through the winter. If interested in seeing what Texoma has to offer, there are always a number of us who fish together who can help you get rigged, find fish and learn techniques.
Every day is not a guarantee – this is still called fishing but the odds of tying into quality fish is as good as it gets IMO. But even on the off days, Texoma has a lot to offer. We have witnessed bald eagles and ospreys fishing, deer, gulls, pelicans, ducks, great water, variety of shoreline from large boulders/rocks to sandy beaches….. and just a generally beautiful setting to be in.








Hope you enjoyed.

I really want to make a trip up to texoma to fish for blue cats and stripers! This report is just one of the reasons!

Outstanding Roger and Adrian! Heck of report and awfully generous with the information!! Water temps in my neck of the woods have been at least 10 degrees cooler and I'm quite a ways further south! Great pics, sure wish I was closer to big tex. Any smallies lately? You definitely have a great fishery and obviously know it well.

Nice report!

Great report and thanks for sharing. I have been speaking with Adrian and hope to get out to Texoma with you guys real soon.

That's awesome! I haven't been striper fishing in years.

Great report Roger. I need to get out there soon. I'm ready for dead stick.

Nice report Roger! Those were some really nice pics of the striper you have been catching.

Good stuff Roger. I'm looking for some of that action in the morning!

Man thanks for all that info Roger!

Awesome Post. Thanks for sharing.

Proper report.

Very nice.

Excellent! Thanks for sharing.

nicely done Rodger great report as usual

good stuff Roger, I can't wait to get back on the Big Pond!!!

don't believe these guys. i was out there with them, one of them found a fish that was floating so they tossed the fish back and fourth between them to take pictures. its actually the same fish with the pictures taken at different angles to fool you. fishing texoma these days are hard, don't go out, stay warm by staying home.

the picture of the torn fluke was when he miss cast on to that piece of wood he took a picture of. he yank and finally got it loose but it tore up his fluke

btw, some of those pictures were taken on a lake somewhere north of arkansas.

Nice write up Roger. I sure can't wait to get some away from work to join you on Tex.

Hahaha what JT said.

Roger, you are the KING of Texoma. Great write up and super cool pics. Can not wait to finish rigging my Santa Cruz and go !

Great report!!!!

Awesome Report, thank you very much for taking the time to post it.

superb report, Thank You so much for sharing

Still getting some really nice fish in the evenings. Give me a yell if interested in a trip usually about 3:30-dark.

Love the report! Where's that unloading place?

Hey Ed, I sent you a PM with some details. Tight lines.

A few more recent pics - bite is still on and now is the time to start getting some fatties. Britt, sorry we didn't hook up yesterday - I have trouble with TFF at times. Fish should start stacking a bit more - the bait is already in balls that will black out your screen. About half of the recent fish are coming deadsticking and still getting some by cast and slow retrieve.










Not fishing this weekend as have life things to do but probably back at it a few days next week. Hit me up if interested in going or just want some info - I'll help as much as I can.

Excellent catches. Would love to tag along sometime but probably wouldn't be able to make it up there till the new year. Thanks for sharing your reports.

I would like to head up there sometime after the new year as well. I would like to give it a try sooner, but buying a Texoma license before the new year seems like a waste as it will expire on the 31st. I know its only $12 but I'm on a budget during these holidays. Also have to find a good day for the weather when I'm off work.

AWSOME PIC FELLOWS. great job

Really nice report

Awesome report Roger. Thanks for sharing. Guess those striped fish turned on after Axman and I left.

Nice report
Weather permitting, I would like to fish texoma christmas day. I will be in my kayak, can you recommend an area to fish?

Thank You

Kayakfishingforfun. I mostly launch highport marina so a couple miles either direction staying towards texas side..... but the fish always move so I usually keep in touch with reports a few days in advance and decide the night before. If you want to contact me a day or two before you go I'll tell you what I know. Christmas on Texoma is a good way to go.

Thank You, I appreciate any help you can give

Henry and I fished yesterday and hsd stellar results. Great weather for fishing - overcast, a bit foggy and just the right amount of wind. We would have hot periods and then have to go find the fish again. The birds supported us well in the search. A combination of deadsticking and casting to rising fish were the ticket with most fish of really nice size and quality. We lost count but between the two of us boated easily over 50 and all but a few were overs on the upper end with quite a few 30plus fish. Here's a few pics:

Lol. Ok trouble loading pics from the phone. Will attempt again later. Tight lines guys and gals.

Wow! You are a striper catching machine, dude. Nice job, nice fish, nice report.

They don't call him Mr. Texoma for nothing.

ive never kayaked texoma. I crappie fish out of the yak exclusively on fork, cedar creek, and benbrook. looks like i need to learn about texoma!kind of intimidating without electronics though

Mr. Texoma!!!!

Great day, no doubt...

I was messing around with my phone's slow mo recording mode late in the day. The fish was still a little too green to net and I tried to get some of the bird action as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5Fqq2qwGO0

Strong work there Hank!

Ok, here are pics as promised:


A double hook-up. The fish in the air is one of the few "unders" we caught - the fish still in the water is a 30"+. I had a few break off's when double rigged that I am guessing were 60" of fish that worked together against me. Best to go single if you think you are into bigger fish.








Don't be afraid to use bright colors.......or even pink.




Take a close look - these are NOT gulls. Good capture by Henry........I was still fumbling for my camera as they flew 20 feet over us.



Good graph shot from Henry:


The result:



While some of our fish came deadsticking, the fish will readily chase down plastic swimmers and we got the majority casting to rising fish - in this case, one of my favorite lures - the ReAxtion Lures cocahoe in glow and 3/4oz.



IMO, this was an excellent pic - not sure why it is showing so small on this forum.



A number at or over 30":






Hope you enjoyed.

NICE!

looks calm out there.
Forecast for Thursday has 20 mph winds, will I get blown off the lake in a kayak or is there some protected areas?
Thanks

Yes, it was a very calm day. It looks like our current NNW winds are going to turn to SSW for tomorrow and USAirnet is saying possible gusts up to 35mph which can be VERY tough on Texoma - even a sustained 20 can be tough.

Thursday...Sunny...Breezy. Highs in the upper 50s. South winds 15 to 20 mph increasing to 20 to 25 mph in the afternoon. Wind gusts up to 35 mph are possible.


I am assuming you want to stay on Texas side, so a few options would be 1) highport launch and staying close to Tx side 2) little mineral marina launch and 3) Eisenhower SP launch and staying tucked in again to the Tx side. I can't comment too much on 2 and 3 current fishing conditions. If you do 1), I would work the Tx side up to the third cove and check out/work the points and entrance to each. The third cove is a deep cove and we marked lots of bait and some fish at the mouth of the cove last trip out. Between the 7 of us, we didn't catch anything of significance but the bait conditions looked good and it's often a matter of timing. I'm not planning to fish tomorrow but I would suggest you not go alone with those wind conditions. If you have a fishing partner and can shuttle, maybe one park at cove 2 or 3 and shuttle back to HP since it appears winds will get worse during the day and you may end up going against the wind on the way back. Good luck and tight lines.

Awesome fish Roger. . And Merry Christmas to you and family.

Thank You for the advice.
I decided not to make the trip today, thinking about Monday.

Merry Christmas

Excellent report, Roger... lots of informative details! What graph do you have on your yak?

I would assume some of those stripers would give you the Texas equivalent of a Missouri Boat Ride... fun times!

- Steve R.

Hey Steve. I have the HB898 and Henry has the HB998. Yes, the sleigh ride and/or complete turns are common.......fun when you get one pulling you along while still taking drag. Good to hear from you again.

Just a late post but wanted to share a nice pick up I had the other day on Texoma.... Good old sleigh ride!

NICE one Goob!

Going to do an impromptu afternoon trip if anyone is interested. Not expecting much with this great weather but I thought the same thing yesterday and it was "ON!" with great quality fish and good numbers. Prob a 3ish launch and fish until I either get one or settle for a skunkset pic. Give me a buzz if interested.

Mr. Texoma beckons!!! Yall should go!!! Too bad I have to work...

Got out today. A bit eerie going out in big water as solid fog hung around most of the day. GPS a necessity. This was taken about noon:



Water temp was back to about 43 - 5 degrees cooler than just a few weeks ago.

The fish are FAT!

A new addition to the yak was responsible for a fish or two:

Roger you should ask them to expand their offerings to include a pencil popper, horse head and dead head fluke

Man those girls are loaded up with them eggs

Fat indeed

nicely done Roger that last one was fat

Good to see another report from you Roger. I've been out of the game since the fall, but I had a great time fishing with you then. I'll be back out there with you guys soon though!

Roger: Fishing in that fog with those high speed boats is even more impressive than you breaking the ice at Cooper last year.

You are definitely one hard core kayaker.

You sir have got the striper fishing figured out.

Nice work Roger.looks like you found the big girls.

Very healthy!!

Nice work Roger!

A few recent trips and information. I know some of you have seen these on FB already so bear with me:

I am continually amazed at what Texoma will produce. I've fish some extremes of the lake from East to West and have found fish...and some quality fish. I am likewise amazed at how strong the bait population seems especially given the shad kill from last winter.

Shad in the east end of the lake......with visibility as good as 8-10 feet, you don't even need a FF to see how massive the schools are in the coves. I can't get a good pic below the boat but you can see the activity on the surface:

The shad schools likewise are also in deeper water........just amazing how thick they are. And yes, feel free to google those coords. Also note the temp - this is the east end of the lake which is still a bit cool. The west end I fished a day or two later would regularly record in the low 60's.

Casting lures in and around bait schools can be a successful approach: Honestly, I was not expecting to find much in the way of stripers in this part of the lake this time of the year - was thinking of going after smallmouth but didn't get around to it.

I love foggy mornings and evenings like this - it just screams "fish on".

You will hear a lot of negative talk about lake levels - while it is still under pool, realize just how much water there is in the lake......that's almost 80' of water just off of the bank - nice.

The west end of the lake is a bit different - water clarity a bit more stained, more gizzard shad than threadfin but solid fish as well and becoming more consistent as the water temp increases. I'm always amazed stripers chase these but they do:

I know this one looks like a mouth hook but it was a snag. The gizzard schools are so thick, it's hard not to hook one occasionally.

Again, casting in and around the shad schools can prove to be successful: Man, I need a shave!

Many are loaded up and ready to pop - this is a smaller "box fish":

I primarily catch and release all fish.....but if you wanted dinner, you can find those too:



More potential dinner:



and a pretty spotted:

Roger you are the "MAN" that's awesome!That shad is bigger then the sandies Iv'e been catching

Great report Roger! I won't google the coordinates, I'll just follow you around like last time!

Great report and some beautiful pics Rodger.

I sold my last PA last night but will be rigging a new one very shortly. The break-in trip will be a week on Texoma. I'll give ya a warning shout.

Great report, thanks for sharing. Phill

thanx for the report.

Thanks guys.

Made a quick run out to the lake yesterday evening and thought I would see if anything was going on and get some evening exercise. Ended up boating about 30 and left them biting in the dark. These were mostly small fish but in very healthy condition - below a few pics I took for Kayak Wars to submit but also some decent box (under 20") fish. Oh yeah, they weren't found "out west". I gave a suggestion to a couple of buds they should go fish today - I have a feeling they'll do well.