BEST TX STRIPER LAKE????

what is the consistantly best lake in Tx for catching large stripers?

And what month is the best to go after them?

Friends of mine have been going to northern Ark. in the winter for striper fishing and doing well. Does Tx have lakes that compare?

Thanks for any info.

Texoma in November

For Trophy Stripers you can't compare Ark to Texas.

A Texas trophy fish is above 20lbs.....An Ark trophy is above 30 and maybe bigger. You will catch more fish in Texas.

Whitney puts out some big fish still and is 100% in Texas. Tawok can put some big ones out also.

Cannot compare Arkansas to Texas. They grow bigger there as the water is cooler.

You can catch big fish year around, but my favorite time of the year is probably December when the bigger fish move upstream on most every reservoir. Whitney is a good choice.

Thanks all. We're wanting to make a trip and any of these lakes are not too far. I fished Texoma back in the 1950s when I lived in Sherman, but don't remember any striper fishing at that time. It probably developed later. It's a great lake.

Does Lake Palestine have a reliable striper fishery? That's the closest lake to us. I've heard Toledo Bend was good, but it's very short on water this year.

Appreciate all of the advice.

Tawakoni in January and February is pretty hard to beat. Texoma and Whitney are also really good. I'm not real sure, but I don't think Pa lestine has striper, only hybrid, but don't quote me on that.

toledo bend has a very good striper population but it does take time to learn. The winter time and spring are the best times as with most lakes. There are some really big trophies in TB. I have seen some in the forties caught with my best being 38# and My friend cullys 42 #.Of course the river needs to be flowing for for the best results both on the lake or in the river,so for best situation awet winter and spring will certainly increase you chances for a trohy. There are some guides when not catering to the green trout fishermen do fish for the big stripers in the early spring. You will hve to do some research on that. Jusst a highlite there was a a striper caught that went over 60 pounds by a biologist when they were catching stripers for the nursery at the dam . The story was mentioned in the old OUTDOOR LIFE magazine. If time is a factor then a guide in one of those Arkansas lakes is probably you best bet. JMO

Arkansas can kiss my --- I hear all about the big fish but we pretty much wizzed a couple of grand away to catch walleye.
One day with the next it is really hard to beat Tawakoni, I know from time to time you can get on the bigger fish at Texoma and for numbers it is hard to beat as well, but for 8-12 pound fish give me Tawakoni.

Palestine is mostly hybrids / sandies. There have on rare occasions been a fish or two that certainly look like stripers .

Once upon a time , #30 lber's were common on Beaver lake,
now they are rare , but still catchable.

Ed Chapko is the guy,
http://www.striperguides.net/info.html

From several years ago.

be prepared to fish at night or before daylight for
your best chance a trophy

MO

I'm not a trophy hunter. A nice day on the water catching some decent 8-12 lb fish with lots of action is more my idea of a good day.

I know some bass fishermen that will drag around a 12" worm all day long without a strike in hopes of hanging one lunker. To each his own.

Of course if a trophy presents itself and shows an interest in being caught,,,I'll oblige it.

We're planning on taking a guided trip Dec-Jan and it looks lik we have several good lakes to choose from, and none of them are too far

Thanks for all of the help.

If that is what you want then Texoma is your lake.

Here is my report of whats been happening the past week
http://texasfishingforum.com/forums/ubbt...Big#Post5447662

and here are some pics of some bigger fish caught this year back in July before the water got hot. (most of the bigger fish are a little on the skinny side now but they should be in good shape in a few weeks)



















The first pic was caught in sept. and the last was the end of June but most of these were caught in July which in one of the best months for big fish. Winter is also a good time to catch a big striper.

Good Luck,
Brian

Wow. Some very nice fish. Thanks for sharing.

omg look at those pics^!!!!! texoma looks like its the answer for damn sure..!

The days of catching a bunch of 8-12 lber are few a far between on Texoma--a couple would be a decent day. You can catch all the 3-8lbers there you want and its still a lot of fun.

It depends on what time of the year you come, certain times of the year the big fish school up and that will be all you catch until the school leaves. July is a great time for this. Granted it doesn't happen every trip but when I can get a pattern down I can generally get on a good school of 8-12 pounders. You just have to know how to target them. They have different habits than the smaller fish and you generally will not catch them them with the small fish. The big fish has a mind of its own and you have to fish for them differently. Right now is normally a great time to target big fish as well but the water has been too warm this year and it has not been as good as previous years. The cold weather months of December January and February are also good months but July is probably the best.

Not trying to pick on anyone but I usually see pictures even in the winter with 1 or 2 nice toads and a bunch of box fish. I just don't want someone going up there thinking that 8-12 are the norm because they aren't.

Texoma regulations from the TPW web-site.

For striped bass and hybrid striped bass, no minimum length limit; daily bag =10 and possession limit=20. Only two striped or hybrid striped bass 20 inches or greater may be retained each day. Culling of striped bass and hybrid striped bass is prohibited.
For white bass, no minimum length limit and daily bag=25.

This should help explain why you see a box of fish with more small fish than large fish.

I never sait that 8-12 pounds was the normal size. That was not the question. Are there more 8-12 pounders in Texoma than any other lake in Texas, most likely so because the striper reporduce naturally in Texoma, which means there are a ton of fish big and small. Someone can go fishing at Texoma several times a year and catch a lot of fish but if they do not know how to target big fish, they may stumble across one every now and then but they are not going catch them in large numbers. It is far more normal for me to go out and catch a bunch of 15-22" fish and nothing bigger but during certain times, the big ones turn on!

Good Fishing,
Brian

Yeah fastguy I've fished Texoma so I actually knew that--I meant with a group of people you will still only see a couple of toads.

What happened to the main topic ? Lets make the main thing the main thing!!

DITTO

Ok then to answer his question...No not even close for big fish.