The Adventures of Pro Fishing Guide Carey Thorn @ Lake Texoma - Stripers

I freaking love this lake! The fishing has been off the chain. In the morning I am throwing 8 inch topwater plugs. I'm not walking the dog back, I am having everyone reeling the plug in at about 3-4 mph while twitching the rod making it pop a little. I am pretty much dragging it back on the surface but still making the lure pop here and there. It's driving the overs ( 20+ inch fish ) nuts.



About 30 mins after sunrise, if the fish stop responding to topwater, we switch over to a coho. For the secret coho colors I am using, quick link below.

https://moestackleshop.com/product/cocamoe-paddle-tail-swimbait/

Once I find a school of fish, we cast at them and let the bait hover 1-2 ft of the bottom with little twitches of the rod, not letting the lure hit the bottom. A steady retrieve is all that is needed. 1/2 oz jig heads chartreuse. Quick link below for jig heads we are using:

https://moestackleshop.com/product/rs-jig-head/

People are asking where I am catching fish at and the depths. My answer is the same I tell everyone. " they are everywhere!" It doesn't matter which direction I go, when I leave the dock. Just anything wind blown. Meaning hitting structure that is being pounded by the waves, cause by the wind. I have learned glass calm days kinda suck. We still catch fish on glass calm but it's a bit harder.



Yesterday, I followed a school of gar feeding on glass minnows. They were rolling on the surface feeding on glass minnows. 3-4 ft gar. I fished 10-15 yards on the outside of the school of gar. I would cast a coho five to 10 ft on the outsides of the gar rolling. Not to far out from them, the Striper were feeding below them. Never caught a Striper inside the rolling gar school, which was about 30 fish in the school of gar. The Striper were all quality box fish 15-19 inches. We had one gar grab a coho, only to let it go at the boat.

On another day, top waters were just ripping lips all day long. It was hard to limit with all the overs and no box fish. I was having my clients casting at any structure I could see: lay downs, stumps, boulders, anything. The fish were just sitting there waiting for something to come by, and kill. Polarized glasses are a must.



Like when I was 10 to 12 years old I learned how to fish bait slicks in Fort Myers Florida. I basically lived there for 10'years growing up. All I'd did was fish everyday catching 20 lb snook, 100 lb tarpon, reds and specks, and Goliath grouper. So I have brought a lot of saltwater tactics back to Texas and I use them for a lot of species I target here in warm water fishing. Three days ago, I found a slick about 1000 yards long, 10 ft wide. ( a bait slick is cause by a game fish regurgitating their food. They get excited and puke up their meal they ate previous, to just eat again. The oils from the bait fish float to the surface causing the water to sheen like- oil on the surface. I love to fish slicks if I can. Start upwind of the slick and work with it, letting the wind take you with the slick. Don't float thru the slick. Just on the outsides of them, casting to them. Sometimes there might only be one fish causing the slick. Or it will be a whole pod or school of fish. When looking for a good slick, a very small one or multiple small ones smaller than a hood of a car, are new slicks. Sometimes the wind will make a slick very large, only to find out there are not any fish left there. Long gone.) we fished that slick all day long. Casting to the other side of the slick and dragging the lure through the slick, was getting wacked every cast for hours.



The stripers are just tearing up my hands. Time for a glove.

I am also getting them on points that have a severe drop off near by. Cast at the banks and dragging back to the boat in the morning. Unless I see the birds working I'm hitting the 1-10 ft depths for topwater. Then I scoot out to 10-20 ft and switch to Cohos. If I don't get bit after five mins, I move.



The birds have been working every morning and evening in the deeper water for 30 mins to an hour. But most of the time 15-20 mins. If you see them way in the distance, working, you might be to late by the time u get to them. If you are getting fish where u are at, and you see the birds start to work, do not leave your fish. Never leave biting fish.

Some of these 18-19 inch fish are skinny. We don't even mess with them. They go right back in the drink. By the fall they should be fattening up. Lots of 3-4 inch threadfins balled up everywhere. Hopefully they don't get wiped out again during the colder winter months.


( 19 incher & 17 incher double on one topwater bait. )

Besides the fishing, the scenery is absolutely beautiful. Watching Ospreys every morning divebomb catching fish flying off, and perching in a tree, gorging themselves. Absolutely awesome. With the lake being so big there's always somewhere to tuck yourself in and have some water all to yourself ( except for Googans riding up our butt every now and then). Overhanging Bluffs lined with trees and huge boulders below make the scenery something for city slickers to just gaze at. - I still do.

I am catching lots of fish flyfishing as well. Throwing my own hand-tied Clowser's for when the top water bite is done. But in the mornings- is the most fun watching them crush one of my top water plugs.





In the above pictures, that is an H2O top water bait. To give you a perspective of how big these poppers are.


I can't get over how many fish are actually in this lake. PETA would freak out if they knew how many fish get filleted everyday on this lake. No matter the direction I take any morning, there are fish waiting to come aboard my boat. And, the amount of different species in this lake is even cooler for me. Time to break some lake records soon!



If you want to come out with www.StriperExpress.com and get a piece of this action, please book through them. I am not taking anymore Lavon trips till we get water back in the lake. All I do is go fishing now. I don't handle any hof the bookings. So call Bill Carey up, book a trip, and let's go have some excitement. The dock we launch from, is one hour 10 minutes, from downtown Plano. Right now trips are starting at 6:30 AM. If you're wanting to fish multiple days or just want to wake up and go fishing instead of driving in the morning, we also have cabins available for rent. Please inform Bill Carey that you are interested in one of the cabins as well.

Great Report!!! Thanks for sharing

I'm kinda getting the feeling that you like Texoma!

Carey, I knew you were catching fish somewhere. Looks like some fantastic fishing.

I share your excitement regarding Texoma and striper fishing. I knew you would like it.

Wow what a great report, just what I was hoping for, based on all your previous great reports on crappie, sandbass etc..

I feel like I owe you money just for reading it

Any future posts requesting advice , we should just point them here for weeks.

-rob

P.S. I am so sick, that I can't get back to texoma anytime soon.

Wow!!! Great report Carey!!

+1

Great report Carey! Good to see you are on the fish at the big Pond. I used to follow your creek adventures a few years ago. Very good read and very informative. Thanks!!!

Awesome Post!

Now THATS a fishing report! Way to go!

Great report Carey. Glad to see it's all working out for you.

Great report! I am really happy to see you are enjoy it. I guess it's time to put my swimming lures to good use now.

Ah guys, wait till it gets cold and he gives his clients the option of catching some of the fattest crappie in Texas. Texoma's got 'em! And T-fly will find and catch 'em! He's already found the smallies(spoiler alert!)

He's one of the top notch guides around, no doubt about it!

And Carey, wait till next month, when in addition to the Osprey, you will see Majestic Bald Eagles everywhere!

Enjoy bud!

Rudy

Wow, that's the best guide report that I have ever seen on this part of the forum. Lots of useful information. Any more and you would have a crowd following you around.

Thanks, very much appreciated.

BTW I'm trying hard to get 'em on the fly rod.

I saw a huge bald eagle near Perot's place last week.

Great report Carey, you seem to have transitioned to the big lake without any issues. Glad you are up there tearing 'em up

Lavon is looking bad, I might just have to try to get up to Texoma if I get a chance before I start deer season.

Great report! See ya on Texoma!

Still wacking them. After the cold front fishing slowed a bit. Today it picked up. I was experimenting with tandem rig with two Coho's from: https://moestackleshop.com/product/cocamoe-paddle-tail-swimbait/ -We absolutely hammered them this morning using that rig. Yesterday I was experimenting with it and using 20 pound shock leader. I quickly found out that when you hook "two" 10 pound fish, they rip each other off. Or at least one will rip off. Today I used 40 pound shock leader, tandem rigged, and had no issues whatsoever. I think the tandem rig really kicked in their predatory instinct and made them bite. You'd feel the rod load up with one fish and then within five seconds, you have another one pick up the second jig. A couple times, one of the two fish, that ate the tandem rig, would pull off, only to have another striper hammer the Coho. Caught doubles throughout the day. Fished in all sorts of depths and under water structure. 10-25 ft



I never ever join in on a boat show. The lake is just too big to join 30 boats and deal with all the chaos. But , today I decided to experience it first hand on Texoma. 30 boats were piled up in one spot. I watch the birds for a minute before I joined in. They were traveling south so I swung around and got ahead of the birds and they came to the boat. Turned on the trolling motor and stayed ahead of the fish. I knew within 15 minutes all the bird activity would halt and the fish would go lay up in a little hole near to where they were busting and they did! I kicked the trolling motor on and started drifting through that hole 1000 yards away from the boat show. I would pull myself up ahead of the hole, drift again, pull myself up, drift again. People started seeing we were catching fish and anchored in my drifting zone that I had been drifting for 30 mins. My drift was only about 40 yards long. I literally had two boats anchor 20 yards behind my boat right in my drifting lane and had to kick the trolling motor on to avoid drifting into their boat. They anchored right in the middle of the hole where the fish were biting. Needless to say, the fish vanished immediately.

I will tell you this: I will never do that again. The lake is just too big to have to join a boat show. Any direction you go there are fish. But, I chose to get near a boat show knowing I would have issues with peeps. So, I took off from the boat show that formed around me and went and found my own fish. Every spot we went to we would catch some good quality boxfish and a couple of really big fish. I had everybody in the boat casting tandem rigs at the fish. Never lost a jig and never had a break off, at least today.

And remember guys and gals, we are very kid friendly. The kid in the picture below is only four years old. Of course he can't cast distance, so I would cast out and he would reel the lures back and set the hook when he got a bite. Bringing your kid along also, increases your fish count, 10 more fish. More meat and quality time with your kiddos.

That is an awesome read Carey, unfortunately potlickers are in every lake. It is all in how you deal with them, sounds like you made the right choice.

What can i say? You reel in stripers as you fish for sandbass.

Fog banks early morning.

Yes, and unfortunately those potlickers are often guides that use cell phones instead of lake knowledge to find the fish.

Dang! Those aren't sandies? Best wish to you, tfly.

Looking good man. Your PM box is full.

Awesome report .. thanks for the details .. can't get up there for awhile, so at least I can read about it

PM box emptied.

I was wondering how a live bait guy was going to go to work for striper express! Guess you are equally versed in artificials too! That's awesome man! Good luck to you Carey.

I would only use live minnows on crappie when they won't hit a jig.

I would only use live minnows on white bass up in the creeks when they won't hit a jig.

90% of the time I use artificial's. After cold fronts or high air pressure I'm usually using bait. That's primarily only in the creeks.

I don't need bait to catch a Striper.

So yeah.......

TarponFly is an expert using lures. He has lots unique skills. One of the best in this business.

congrats tfly. i guess potlickers on texoma are the same as rowlett creek lol. gl

Well Carey my name is Alex and Chris and I go back a ways. You are on a great team. Chris, Bill and the gang know how to get it done and they sure know how to work with kids. I recommend Striper Express to all my friends and family and they always enjoy themselves even on a bad day. Great post and pictures. Keep up the good work!!

Alex

Thanks guys and gals.

Today was very hard to find my box fish. From 7 am till 9:30 am, all we caught were overs. Threw a 8 inch topwater at them and the color didn't matter. Just as long as it was in the sweet spot and moving, they would smash it. They were jumping out of the water 2-3 ft, they were hitting it so hard. Sometimes just one would hit and miss 5-10 times before we couldn't walk the dog anymore due to it was next to the boat. Had over 40 explosions on the topwater plugs. - so addicting. After the topwater bite died, we picked up 8 more on the tandem rig, with https://moestackleshop.com/product/cocamoe-paddle-tail-swimbait/. Then moved on to get the box fish.




The Excitement and Thrill of The Hunt.

Super cool. I want those big ones. I am for the action, not much for the meat.

Nice!

Well here is good chance for me to get on my soap box. There are really good guides on Texoma and there are some really good "potlickers" that respect them. The guy should not have anchored in the guides line of drifting, but I have been on Texoma when throwing top waters and catching fish and a guide would run right thru them because his customers had slabs tied on. I have been drifting with live bait and had guides pull up within 10' of my boat to drift and catch fish. I have been trolling a spot and had guides pull up and scatter my fish so they could slab or live bait. Not everyone is able to fish 4 to 5 days a week and keep up with where the fish are. I have been fishing Texoma on regular basis since 1980 and have seen it all. I have had friends that guide on the lake and still do. Most of them understand, it is a privilege to be able to go to such a great fishery and make a living. They are the good ones. Like I said at the start there are some good respectful guides and good respectful "potlickers" on Texoma. By the way I don't like being called a Potlicker! I am a fisherman just like you are, that gets to go to Texoma 3 or 4 times a year now.

Oh okay. Your the only "artificial" guy I know of that has guided netting trips for shad on YouTube.

Yup. A net is artificial. I don't use bait to catch a shad.

So yes, I throw artificial's at the shad as well.

Those trips will start soon! $75 catch all the shad you want. Bring a buddy to help. DFW creeks.

Lol That's funny. I been netting shad in Texas rivers and creeks since you were sporting diapers. Hey again good luck!

It's like they can't wait for you to surface somewhere on the Forum T-Fly! I guess until they meet you, they just don't get it. amazing!

Rudy

BTW folks, he is one of the best, if not the best, guides around, and I have several friends that are guides, each with his own untouchable skills and each with his own quirks, so it goes!

Rudy

Not too many folks use artificials for kitties so maybe that's why Tfly guides for shad trips? Duh.

Today was an epic day. 200 fish boated. All quality box fish 15-19 inches. Released 17 overs to 25 inches after we limited out our overs. Cohos and topwater baits. Depth was 5-10 ft.

Some of y'all have PMed me about the shad, asking what exactly I am doing. This shad run starts in November usually.







I have a shad "on call list" when they show up, I will contact you and find a time to go them! Text, pm, or email me to get on the list. Night or day. They don't leave till feb usually.

Mix you are a superstar now. Nice haul

Shad are elusive. Only pros can catch them. I just got goosebumps when I saw that 29 dollar net open halfway up! Do the people who hire you for these trips eat crayons and ride the short bus?

If your going to get banned you might as well do it right.

What is a coho bait? and which topwater bait you use today?

The reason I ask because I just move to Frisco and try to learn the lake if you can help.

Thanks

Coho's/ CocaMoe's @ https://moestackleshop.com/product/cocamoe-paddle-tail-swimbait/

Topwater http://www.cottoncordelllures.com/product/pencil-popper/ -I like the blue/white

I sure are an arse hole...

Just so you know troll, why be such a hater?

Hey Lightnin Rod, Way to insult fellow fisherman you've never met and the handicap. If you fish like you talk trash then you must not catch squat. Take your personal garbage somewhere else unless you have something worth saying about fishing. Which I'm sure you don't. You can't even get banned from the forum right. Dang, I cant believe I just wasted time on a sorry sack like you!

That,s all that needs to be said! About a Tool!

Carey Thorn is the best fisherman I have ever run across, as well as a fantastic guide who works harder for his clients than anyone else I've known. People tell me that I can catch fish in a pothole, well Carey can catch them in a small indentation in the ground. I have more fishing records than anyone else in Texas, most of them fly fishing records, but Carey could put me to shame if he really wanted to get into the records business. Those who critcize him are jealous of him.

My reaction was to Lightnin rod! sack of shhh!

Well said.

You are talking about some of the best fishermen on Hubbard there L-Rod. And i know for a fact they don't eat crayons because i fish with them.

I have never taken the Shad trip but I can tell you if time is limited and Carey knows which hole the shad are in $75 bucks is pretty cheap to not have to track them down yourself! I know where and how to find them in the winter as many do but in some cases it is worth the money to some to save a day of looking!

I ate a crayon once. They're not too bad dipped in peanut butter.

Got a feeling a lot of us "normal" gents bit a crayon once or dipped the spreader into a jar of paste in kindergarten and got a taste. That old paste in the jars smelled good and some kids said it didn't taste bad. You remember, the one that said on the jar: "Not fit for human consumption". Yeah that one.

Rudy

Has the big pond turned over yet?

The "turn over" is almost over now.

Like!

Sorry for the reaction to this post! Carry is a guy that gets to make a living doing what he loves!And is willing to help people along the way!Why so many haters! Just fish! And get along! I am removing my self from this topic! Good fishing to ya!

Carey sold me some flies and gave info on how/where to fish them...I had a blast, thanks for ALL of your posts and info!

Wow whats the deal with guys attacking guides this week? Is there a black moon or something?

Report: Released 24 overs this morning with a total of 43 quality 17-18 inch keepers, didn't keep them though. Released a bunch of dinks too. Caught 5 smallmouth to 3.5 lbs. Topwaters early as usual and cohos after. Only fished 3 hours till guys had to leave. Short trip but left them biting. Had a 5-6 lb Smallmouth try and eat one of our 8-9 inch dink Striper. Attacked it the whole way to the boat. I'll be back for that fish later......

A couple days ago there was a school of fish busting, almost 2 miles long and a mile wide of pure fish, chaos, and literately over 1000 seagulls. Amazing day with over 300 boated. Pretty much at any given moment, someone was hooked up with a bent rod. 8-15 ft of water was my target depth, the last couple days.

Updated my phone, lost every pic in the process.

Man Im jealous, when I grow up I wanna be just like you!!! LOL

Your already grown up. To late for you.

Awwww Man..... I never get to have any fun....( wiggling in floor) LOL

Me an Capt Larry need to come see you at that great fishery. I haven't been up there in years and really like them stripers. I hear a lot of good reports on you from guys I see. I have yet to hear a customer that wasn't thrilled with the job you do.

TarponFly,

I hope a few negative comments from a bad apple does not keep you from posting reports. Have not heard anything from you in awhile. I enjoy your reports, please keep them coming.

Keep'em coming Carey! Love the way you keep the "haters" so jealous they can't stand it...lol

I had similar experience with top water earli in the morning this time of year. Best lake for it if you ask me.

Still fishing 5-25 ft.

All same baits with the sassy shad starting to pick at them more and more.

Slab bite is usually good all day if you locate a school deep.






( Pierce's 16th Birthday limit of Stripers with a couple overs, and a 35 lb Blue Cat at the dock )

My table shots look just like everyone else's. No need to clutter.

Bald Eagles showing up. Overs are getting aggressive. Left overs biting a couple days ago. Clients arms were sore.

Having a time of my life.

Great report. Wish I had time to get on the water

wow! How big is this one?

Wacking the fish pretty much every day weather permitting. And, it's big fish time obviously. Only thing I'm throwing is sassy shad. 10-30 ft depths. Some days the birds help ya out all day and sometimes we have to go hunt for them. Almost everyday we set a new personal best on the boat. Clients have even caught bigger fish than I have! Lots of 8-15 lb fish being landed. Fun times out on Lake Texoma. To tired to post all the time.

Jackson with a PB 15.02 pound Lake Texoma Striper.



Mom wanted pic too.

Man, these fish are fun! At one point yesterday, I had Jackson and his dad only for round two. Mom stayed home. Dead sticking and had four fish on at the same time. Dad and Jackson got all 4 Overs in the boat. It was absolute chaos. Lines crossing everyone yelling, fish blowing up all around the boat, shad flying out of the water, absolutely-awesomeness. It's going to be very difficult for me to switch back over to white bass or Crappie. Yesterday, while we were in the school of overs blowing up next to the boat, one of the overs came up crushed a gizzard shad next to the boat and actually splashed us. Dead sticking flukes or throwing sassy shads all day. Chartreuse flukes and glow white sassy shad from Moes Tackle Shop. All depths. I have learned that these striper go wherever they feel like going whenever they feel like going somewhere. The thrill of the hunt and the excitement is just crazy.

Super cool.

I fish for stripers for so many years, I am hooked long long time ago. White bass and crappie fishing is winter break for me for all these year. I prefer to fish stripers below the dam, have better chance to catch a 20#, and the fish fights harder in the current.

Its definitely BIG fish time on the big lake right now. Unders/box fish are kind of hard to find. Mainly we are landing 8-15 lb fish. Its not a numbers game right now. Just trophy striper time. Some days we land 8-10 and some days we land 20-30+ monsters. It all depends on the day and what the fish want to do. Some days the fish will nail a certain color, then the next day they want a totally different color and different presentation. And, like I said before, the pattern seems to be different on a daily basis. Today my fish came from the river channel 45 ft deep dead sticking a chart/white fluke. Caught a couple throwing sassy's in white ice and natural bait color in 15-30 ft. Also, running a sassy through the school of bait and slowly dragging it back to the boat while maintaining as 1-2 ft depth off the bottom. The birds have not helped me one bit in over three-four weeks now. One stop I made today was on a small flock of cormorant's that surfaced all at once, about 15 of them. So I stopped on the spot they popped up at, and there were a bunch of fish there. Landed 3-4 within 20 mins from 8-11 lbs. So I started following around the cormorant's that were diving under the water. They mainly only dive when there is bait around and every stop produced some fish under the cormorants. So that was a nice help.



Structure seems to be key right now. Humps, ridges, shelves, points, and submerged structure like trees, stumps, rock piles. Most fish are no more than 3-5 ft off the bottom.



I had a couple issues of fishing to fast, so I had to slow myself down and fish way slower, to boat the fish. If your not patient right now, your going to have a bad trip there. The bite, 70% of the time, is like a blue gill or crappie bite. You feel 2 thumps. If you feel the 2nd thump, your to late, they spit it. The first thump is the fish sucking in the lure. The second thump is spitting out the lure. Its pretty fast to, so you always, always -have to be ready thinking your going to get a bite any second, the whole trip. Once you loose concentration and start dilly dallying on the boat, you miss fish. Your looking for 10-15 bites a day and you never know when that bite is going to be next. Again, the 10-15 bites are going to be huge fish, not many box fish swimming around the area right now.



Some days they want smaller flukes too. One day I was on fish, and the graph was lit up with fish streaking under the boat eating shad. We sent down every color I had in the boat with no progress. I took a full size fluke and bit it in half and before it got half way down, I got hammered. Switched all the rods to that and we ended up murdering them with over 50 huge fish. Its almost like Black Bass fishing, constantly changing colors and presentation. Once you land the 2nd to 3rd fish, you should have a pattern that will work throughout the whole lake that day.



Mainly we locate the fish and set up a drift. When we hook up, I spot lock the trolling motor and the fish usually hang out for a bit under the boat. Some days they stay under the boat, and some days you catch 2-3 and have to re drift through them.



One of my trips, we set a new Jr. Lake Record. I fishing a concrete block that was part of a bridge or road in 27 ft of water right near the river channel. We were steadily landing 2 fish every 15 mins, big ones at that.





Before I pulled up to the spot, I side scanned it, and saw a bunch of striper on and around the structure. There was one fish hugging the bottom and I froze the screen to show my group how the fish were stacked on the block of concrete. At the base of the structure, I pointed out to the group a huge fish, and I stated that had to be a big catfish. one hour and 15-20 striper, my 14 yr old client yells, " Capt. Carey, I think I have big one!" meanwhile his drag is just steadily peeling off his reel. At first I thought we had a monster striper over 20 lbs. Then the fish sat on the floor of the lake, My client had the rod doubled over, but the fish wouldn't budge for 5 mins. We thought he has wrapped us around something. I spot locked the trolling motor and had him just keeping the rod doubled over till something happened. 15 mins later the fish finally came up to the surface. Monster Flathead Cat Fish. I told the group, lets fill the cooler with water and get some good pics and a weight after we r done with the stripers. We went back to the structure we were fishing and immediately started to boat more monster stripers. As they were having their fun, I looked up the Jr. Records for Texoma. After I scrolled through the records, I went to the back of the boat and shook the kids hand and said, " Congratulation's kid, you now own the Jr. Lake Record for Lake Texoma." His smile said it all right there. His parents said, the 14 yr old said before the trip, that he was going to catch a state record fish and would need 2 hands to hold the fish up. LOL, he was almost right on!

New Jr. Lake Texoma Record Flathead Catfish.



You cant sit in one spot to long usually, you have to go hunt for them. Find the bait, and you should find some fish right in them or near them.



(Photos are in random order.)

Those are a few pics from the last month or so I took with the phone. All the good ones are on the camera that is dead and charging.



------

Some days when the fish pile up, they get thick! This day it was 28 degrees with a 15-20 mile an hour North wind. Got to the spot you see above, and hammered them till my guys couldn't take the cold anymore. Remember, over dress for the lake. You can always peel off cloths later as the temps rise. Its awful out there if you get cold. Just because its nice and warm in your backyard, doesn't mean the lake is the same temp. Its always cooler on the lake, especially if there is some wind.



Peeps need to be carful when your around Big Mineral or traveling through the island cuts. There is some really shallow water if you are not carful, you will beach the boat.



Remember, you are only allowed 2 big fish per person. 20 inches or greater. 10 fish total with only 2 over 20 inches. We recommend that you release any fish bigger than 15 lbs. Now, its your choice if you want to keep it. Those monsters are our main breeders, and it would be nice to get their genes spread though out the lake. I would hate to clean fish that big if I didn't have to. But again, its your call what to do with your fish.



Again, this is trophy season. Not big numbers at all. You might catch 1 or you might catch 20. But they are all big fish and get MAD AS A BULL when they feel a hook rip into their face, peeling line off the reels and making runs, battling the whole way back to the boat. When you think the fight is almost done, the fish sees the boat and rips line back off the rod for another deep diving run. -CRAZY



Like sand bass fishing, sometimes I'll tie on a smaller jig above the fluke while dead sticking. And, sometimes it produces 2 striper on one drop.



If the lake is glass calm, the fishing is going to be slow, or even just terribly dead. We had a 6-9 mph wind this morning. I didn't get a pattern for about 1-2 hours and then finally we found them. For 3 hours we steadily brought in a fish every 10-15 mins. Then, the lake went glass calm. Beautiful, yes, but terrible for the fishing. About 4 pm, the fish started biting again when the wind came back.



Its amazing what these striper will eat. In the picture above, that's a 12 lb striper that ate a 13 inch freshwater drum. In its stomach, you can see another fish. That fish in its stomach is a 13 inch gizzard shad and also 6 thread fin shad in there too! What really baffled me one day, was finding a couple of my striper throughout the week, had baby channel catfish in their gut.






All flukes and sassys we used, and have been using are found here: https://moestackleshop.com/shop/dead-assassin-flukes-flukes-jerk-shad/dead-assassin-fluke/

Also a must have, "White Ice" color "Squirmin" Shad from Bass Pro Shops. Call them before you go and get some, I usually wipe out the Garland store when I go re-up, lol. http://www.basspro.com/Bass-Pro-Shops-Squirmin-Shad/product/15634/ White Ice

Maybe the best report I've seen in a long time. Really appreciate your time and help.

Man, it's good to see your reports again!
Gotta get up there before summer.

Carey's report always good. Tons information, learning great deal from Carey's post.

Very nice man. You are tearing them up

Hey Carey, just wondering if you ever sneak you out a 8wt or 10wt with ya?

I put it up in November when they left the shallows. But yes. When they come back shallow again, less than 10ft, Ill bust it out again. Problem with it, is once your hooked up, everyone in the boat has to wait till you land the beast. A 8+ lb striper will last over 15 mins. Some fights have lasted over 30 mins. Sometimes the fish have a curfew. They will start at 7:25 am and stop at 8:30 am. !-2 hours of just solid action and blow ups. That means not a lot of fish actually boated due to fight time. Then there are other days and months, the clouser and popper bite lasts all day till you get bore of catching them. When they come shallow in Spring through Fall, is when I like to throw the fly at them. ( yes, sometimes they come shallow in the winter, but I am talking about, when I can go to a spot like a flat, and they are up there every morning and evening like clock work, thick) Or going to the honey holes and beating the banks with my topwater plugs I tie up for them.

Below is my popper and an H2o Academy Lure to show you how big it is.





I have found that it almost doesn't matter what color you throw at them. If they are near anything moving on the surface, they will crush it! Moonriver has a cool pattern too. I might adopt his hook set up. I drill a hole through the popper and run the line down the center of it and then tie on a hook. That way there is more chance on a solid hook set and also less abuse on the popper. During topwater season, The Smallmouth and Black bass are around. They turn into pets. As we drift by a certain boulder or tire just off the beach, Ill tell one of the clients to land next to the shallow structure and tell them there is a 3 lb smallie on that tire, cast to it. They will get a hit or hook up. Almost everytime. As long as they are CPR'ed.

StriperExpress.com is doing fly trip now that im on board. Ill keep yall posted when the fly bite starts. Its a two person sport keep in mind.

nice work Bud!

Super nice job, Carey. You the man!

Nice fish. Good job!

Love your reports! By far the best I have seen. Not only are the fish catching/pics great, but even better is the very detailed info on the patterns, techniques, and lure selection. Glad you got into the boating world. Keep the graph (SI/DI) pics coming as well.

Holy Cow!!! nice fish. I am going to come up there and go out with you and pic you brain! Great report and awesome pics. Keep up the good work

Great Job My Friend!

Great report!

Carey, I remember some years back reading an article on guys in North Carolina, I believe it was Santee Cooper, catching stripers with what they call "madtoms", which in the picture looked to me like bullheads. So channel cats in their bellies would not be that surprising. Maybe just not that common down here in this part of the lower 48.

Rudy

17.24 lb caught by Kirk Crowell from Salina Oklahoma. None of our fish yesterday came from dead sticking. Everything came from throwing white ice sassy shads. Most of our fish yesterday, came from 20 to 35 foot slow rolling the bottom through schools of shad.

No time for a long report. Ill report with pics tomorrow. I have to down load more vids from my phone, camera, and gopro....... But here was today. _And today was one of those epic days. The day started with a 12 lb fish 10 mins after the clients stepped on the boat and all hell broke loose for 2 hours, netting two fish at a time, at times. Then we still picked at them till 11. More tomorrow. Here is a video of the end of the day. Funny ending.



The fish knew he was going to be released, but the Striper told my client what was up, beforehand.

Fun video, nice boat and awesome fish, Carey

Cool video.

Notice how he stayed at a distance from working birds.

That striper told him to "fin" off LOL...The middle fin

That video tells it all, those Texoma Stripers never give up!!!

I had a gentleman yesterday who kept trolling through them. I'll assume he just didn't know how to cast.

Awesome report and video - thanks for sharing!

VERY NICE! hopefully getting out there soon!

I still have lots of pics to post. I was going to today but someone wanted to go fishing tomorrow so it looks like Friday I'll post again.

Today was awesome. Some of the Birds were lying. Then I landed on huge fish. Nonstop action for 1.5 hours. Front rolled in and it slowed down.

Clay, 8yrs old, landed a fish of his life. 18.22 pounds @ 31.5 inches

"New Lake Texoma Jr Record"





We landed 19 overs in less than two hours. Doubles were common today. 22-27 ft of water. Mainly on Alabama Riggs with Moes Coho's in white ice. A few hit sassy shad A-rigs but wanted the small cohos more after I was playing around with diff rigs. Every day seems they want something different. Were looking for 5-10 bites a day per person on average. Not a numbers game. Just trophy fish, like the big fish above!





The bigger fish came to my secret hole for about 15 mins, those averaged 12-15. Good thing cause we got our "Eater Overs" right off the bat and released all the other big girls.

A bait boat pulled in, throwing live gizzard shad. 30 mins later after we were bending rods left and right, the bait boat asked what I was throwing. They didn't catch a thing.

Pick up a rod and cast it. It's more fun and then to set the hook into a monster and see line peel off you reel is just plain awesome. IMO.

After opening up the fish to clean, I found a 8 inch crappie in a 8 lbers belly.

But the main thing was: all the shad in the other fish were 3-4 inches long. As I said above, smaller Moes's Cohos ( http://moestackleshop.com ) were they key after I figured out what they wanted. Matched the hatch perfectly today. Just downsized the baits.

The Mom actually hooked a couple on Road Runners too.

That's ( 3 ) Junior Lake Records for Texoma now caught out of my boat, so far.

Flathead 35+ lbs
Channel Catfish 25+(monster channel cat)
Striper 18.22 lbs 31.5

If you want to book a trip with me for Striper on Texoma, please go to StriperExpress.com and book the trip and ask for me. They book all the Striper trips. For all other species in lakes rivers and creeks use my website at TexasOklahomaFishingGuide.com

Lure fishing at its best!

Great job Carey! When you love what you do it shows in bunches and bunches.... Keep it going mr Thorne and StriperXpress

WOW That is awesome. Nice job and keep em coming.

Wtg carey

That's awesome!

Nice work sir.

nice work! I bet it was cold out there! I did not make it. Glad to see you got some!

Pretty cool screen shot here on the Humminbird 2D. The left side of the screen is the old data, and the right side of the screen is new data coming in. On this day, I approached a flat off the river channel and saw some fish literally laying on the bottom. The gar I saw earlier that day were really shallow and in the same depth throughout the lake, so I knew it was not gar. The return didn't really have red heads like a catfish, so I stopped on them. I had the clients send down some dead sticks and told them bounce them like slabbing, and to knock these fish on the heads and wake them up.

Below is the lure, bouncing on the heads of the fish.



Below you can see the fish holding on the bottom. You can actually see what way they are facing by the small red head. Any redder and I might have passed them, as catfish, due to they have a very distinct red head and blob return on my unit.



below right you can see the school I found, lift off the bottom and start to feed on whatever color fluke or swimbait or Road Runner, we sent down. It was ciaos when they started to feed and they were huge fish.





Fishing has been plain hard. But if you keep after it for 4 to 6 hours, you can set the hook into an absolute beast of a fish and watch your line just peel off the spool. Its a battle all the way to the boat. Then when the fish sees the boat, another good hard run happens. Just plain fun.



Everyday has been different. The patterns are constantly changing on how they want the bait presented and even the color changes daily.



Some days they want swim baits. Other days they want a Rooster Tail or fluke.



Some days the fish push up to 15 ft. Then the next day we are fishing in 54 foot all day.



I have learned fast, you have to hunt for them everyday. Its not a relaxing sport at all.



We are looking for under 10 bites per day on average. So if your a bass fisherman, this is definitely your game, but the fish are double and triple that size of a black bass, lol.



I am truly amazed at the size of the fish we are pulling over the rail right now. We have 7 boats in the fleet and one, if not more, everyday, lands a 20 pound plus fish. 10-15's have been common on a trip. But again, your looking for no more than 10 bites a day.

When you connect on one of those bites, the outcome is substantial.



For every person in the boat, we are looking for two huge fish per person. If we can limit out on "Overs", fish over 20 inches, the Capt. is Happy Happy Happy.



Some days we come out of the boat slips and we are on fish within 15 mins with birds and the whole shabang. Other days we have to grind them out till your fingers fall out. When we are grinding them out and you finally connect with a 10-15 plus pound fish, the waiting game and casting pays off with a huge smile!



One day I got on the birds a week ago right out of the gate. We landed 27 OVERS in less than 2 hours. Pulled many off the hook. Most fish in this school were 12 plus pounds all the way to 22 lbs. The next day, same group of guys, I said, "good thing you were here yesterday!" lol. We landed 8 on day 2 trip. The next day after that, we landed 1. The next day after that, ZERO! That major front came in and killed the fishing.



Like I said before, the patterns are all weird. Some days they are deep, some days they will push shad to the surface and up onto the rocks. In the dead of winter. Crazy. I now already have a topwater plug ready for when they do that again.



All the fish you see here in the pics, well- at least the ones we didn't kill to eat, will be smashing topwaters in April. I cannot wait! Imagine a 15-20 lb fish hitting a topwater!



If you have not booked us in April through May, it might be to late!



I was asked what color flukes am I using: White Ice, Natural, Pink, Silver, Chartreuse, White w/ Chart tail. use what ever weight you think holds at the correct depth with the wind and drift speed



We are also using Rooster Tails with a little spinner built in. You can see them in some of the pics and one of the videos I posted: 1/2 oz to 1 oz. White, Yellow, White/Chart, Blue/White. We are attaching a 8 inch bass worm as a trailer in multitudes of colors.



Sassy Shad colors: White Ice and Baby Bass by Bass Pro Shop; chart, glow, silver glitter



I don't stay in an area more than 15 mins with no bite and a boat full of peeps. You can really cover an area fast with 4-6 lures gridding the bottom.



If you catch a big monster in a spot, memorize it. she was there for a reason. Another one might be there or will take the other ones spot to amush another bait rolling by it.

Some days these fish just wont bite. Then 4 hours later all heck breaks loose and you have 20-30 mins of crazy fun.



Then some days your catching fish all day.



Please remember: This is not a numbers game. Its Trophy Fishing. We are catching fish big enough to put up on your wall if you want. Quality fish.



15 lb fish and bigger, we eager you to release for the spawn. 12 lb fish and smaller are enough meat for dinner usually.



We fish a lot of structure. We are going to loose gear throughout the day, so don't get discouraged. The fish hang out near underwater stumps, as an example, and we have to swim a swim bait, and hit the stump with the lure sometimes, to get them to bite.



Make sure you over dress for the water. Just because you walk out in your back yard a couple hours before the trip and its nice out, well its colder at the lake almost all the time. You can always peel off cloths while in the boat.



Kids are def welcome anytime, but just make sure they understand right now, they have to make a lot of casts and it requires patients. We don't bait a hook and wait for the fish to come to us, and just watch the boat catch the fish for you. We want you to cast out and feel the first thump, of the fish inhaling your lure, then seeing you pull back hard. Then watching you smile as a fish of a life time peels line off the reel!



We want you to cast out and feel the first thump, of the fish inhaling your lure, then seeing you pull back hard. Then watching you smile as a fish of a life time peels line off the reel!



Tip: Don't pump the fish to the boat like tuna fisherman do. Keep the rod tip bent and just reel as the fish gives you line. By pumping, you end up just slacking the line out and you bend forward and dip the rod. Don't do that, that just helps the fish shake the hook out. Keep constant pressure and let the drag do its thing.



Right now we are throwing 20 pound Berkley Big Game fishing line.



Just bring snacks and drinks. We have everything else



We are not catching many box fish right now, just monsters. So expect to leave with 2 fish over 20 inches per person- if the fish are cooperating.

Always good to read your report.

Way to go Carey Thorne. You are whacking some good fish up there even though fishing is tough.

I love this thread. A bit of useful advice and good pointers sandwiched in between each picture.

Very nice fish!

Lots of vids coming when I have time to edit. Working 20 days straight. And, I'm loving every min. -when the fish r biting

Plano to dock is 1 hours drive for me. Took 2 hours in the heavy snow and slushy highway. Got to the dock and it was glass calm out. All day it was calm. Birds flying everywhere but not much on the feeding birds. Just looking mainly.

Today was a wow day. Started the day off scanning a point and I saw 5-6 monsters lurking the incline. Stopped the boat and turned the ipilot on auto to drag me along the ridge. 5 mins into the drift I see a swirl 10 ft from the boat. I blew it off thinking it was the ipilot. Then a couple seconds later I see a 12 inch gizzard swim up to the surface and turn on it's side. Immediately, a huge fish just misses it. ( wish I had a topwater on for the next few moments ). We land a Road Runner on a swirl 15 ft from the boat. 10 ft from the boat we see a huge white hole swallow the RR right in front of us and the rod doubles over and lines starts to peel off.

18+. Beautiful fishy.



Saw three more fish swirl and they vanished. Drove around for a bit and Jimmy texted and said he was on a school. Got to the spot and saw a few fish on the graph.



I saw a group of birds near the shore line as we pulled up. Three mins later the flock triple in size. I see 2-4 big fish on the graph the whole 5 mins we were there.



Even missed a fish. But I could stand it. I had to leave biting fish to see what the birds were doing. Best right hand turn of the day.



The graph was solid with fish 10-50 ft deep in 60 ft of water.



For 30-45 mins it was doubles and triples coming over the rail. Someone always had one on.



Ended up boating 32 Striper from 7 lbs to 18 lbs. All caught on road runners. That's over 350 lbs of pure Striper.



I have the same group of guys tomorrow, with 25-30 mph north wind. Should be interesting.



Instead of saying " you should have been here yesterday!", I might be saying " good thing you were here yesterday.




But again, you never know what the fish are doing. Just cause it windy doesn't mean they r not feeding. It's all about our comfort level.



Just need to be able, to safely fish the areas with out a wave knocking anyone out of the boat.



Found a 15 pounder in a stump field. Got snagged every 5 mins, but that fish made it worth it.



Pics are in random order.



Water was 10-15 ft vis. .

Wow nice work Carey. You boys are hammering the big fish.

Catching Monster fish and sometimes, like in the video, you really get into a school of monsters. The video is 10 mins of bent rods and big striper. Couple tips and tricks within the video too. The main reason its a longer vid, is, I made the video for my clients. But, its pure action and a couple of the fights lasted 15 mins almost, edited way down. Enjoy.

nice work man!

WOW those are some hogs. Nice video Carey

"15 lb fish and bigger, we eager you to release for the spawn. 12 lb fish and smaller are enough meat for dinner usually." as you stated why dont you release the bigger one for the spawn? i see in the video you are throwing back the smaller ones and keeping the bigger ones. . anywho cool video

Super.

I can tell you that, we would like you to release the big girls, but it's the clients call on what two fish they want to keep, it's their fish. A couple of the big fish in my photos are being skin mounted, too.

True to that. It's clients' decision.

I left the lake once again scratching my head. I marked fish all day. Missed some thing giant when I thought I was snagged, then the snag just peeled line off the reel and pulled free. Then 5 mins later we land the huge black bass. Five mins later we break off a fish. 15 mins of somewhat action. Visibility was 20 ft at times. Foggy as heck. I heard about a few boats getting turned around and going the wrong way till we either saw rocks all of the sudden, or just cruising for to long in the wrong direction realizing it's taking to long to get there. If not for gps, there is no way I could have gone out there. All day you would hear a group of birds going nuts but u couldn't see them! 20-30 ft vis maybe. Most of the day was foggy like that. Off tomorrow with ice storm coming. Bass was Cpr'ed. One guy wanted to keep it and one guy said "'no -we release bass in Texas". Lucky bass.

Hearing other boats close by was nerve racking, too.

nice licks tfly. u think rowlett creek gonna be on next week with 70 degrees brotha????

I stopped trying to figure out what makes them come up. I have followed moon phases and water temps. I have found that they show up when they decide to. Water still cold. But I have caught them at the gun range in January one yr with snow on the ground. Just never know when they will show up.



Clients were catch and release today. Biggest was 15 lbs

Good work!

Nice fish Carey

Good job Carey..!
Y'all released the green trout! Those are good eating!

Epic day on this day. Had a bachelor party come out with me. All of them have fished before and knew how to cast very well. This is a cast and retrieve game out here. You must be able to cast over 50 ft. Longer your lure is in the water, better chance of hooking a fish of a lifetime.




" 73 OVERS "

Yes- 73. Nothing under 8 lbs. Got some box fish in the mix and some of the box fish were 19 inches. If you include the box fish we boated around 900 lbs of fish on one trip. First fish was 16 lbs and the last fish of the day was just over 15 lbs.





The biggest was 18 pounds.




Released many 12-15 lbers. Mainly we were throwing chartreuse sassys at them.




Two of them are going on clients walls. They looked like cannon balls falling in the water. 1000's of them. One of our other boats was 1 miles down the shoreline and they were catching them just as good.





We even got them on a Topwater.




They were going crazy! All the way till we couldn't see our baits hit the water.




So crazy, they were splashing us hitting gizzards that were trying to hide next to the boat, - trying to get away from the beasts. After an hour of that, we didn't even use the net anymore. My clients would lip the 10-15 lbers, remove hook really fast, cast out and WACK another one. For two hours solid, one of the guys would be fighting a fish. Multiple times all of us had one on. 6 people hooked up with a 10 lb fish at the same time. WOW is all I could say.




In reality, most trips are producing anywhere from 10 to 20 fish for trip.





But most of them are big. Boxfish are starting to bite as of last week. Getting 5 to 10 of those per trip ish. ( when the fish are cooperating that is)


Side Scanned a massive school of gar, 2000+ strong. We were fishing the outside of the gar school at one point, picking Striper off the sides of the gar school. Got a big gar as bi-catch and had him to the side of the boat, reached down with poker and told the fish to be nice. NOPE. He flipped his head back and sliced my finger up. Bled for 20 mins.

Awesome work Carey. Thats the kind of day we all dream about.

Nice we killed them from bank this past weekend. Every cast 10-20lbers for 2hrs straight

AWESOME GUY!!!!! you da man!

This is so freaking awesome!

Awesome trip! I need one of those kind of days! Great job!

X2. Won't be long....

Liked the video Carey! I doubt he could figure it out though!
You guys had an amazing day!!!

Thanks!

And thanks John for the the bird call!

Today's pm trip: would've been one of those days again. Stopped at 25 overs due to the mom was complaining she was cold and bored and tired. She didn't even want to fish with fish busting all around the boat. My client said that is the last time he brings his wife on a fishing trip. Lol. He was very upset we had to leave fish busting all over the place. Most fish were 8 to 15 pounds.

It was the most sickening feeling leaving fish still servicing. As we were leaving we were watching John still bringing in fish. We were running over surfacing fish as we were leaving.

Today's a.m. trip, we had all of our overs in less than 15 minutes!

Pictures later too tired

Wow, I guess I need to hit 289 north and hit it fast lol.... Great report and great memories!

It was an awesome day. 5 to 6 fish are being mounted out of the fish we caught today.

Today was amazing! Today was just big fish day! Within the fleet, we got five fish over 20 pounds that are going to be mounted. Most fish today were 9 pounds all the way up to 23 pounds.

Jimmy Teague of Checotah, OK, landed a 21.70 lb beautiful giant Striper on a hand tied Road Runner I make.



I can't wait to get back to the lake tomorrow!

Your smoking the big fish Carey. Nice work.

I. Need. A. Fat. Girl.

Nice day! Congrats.

Great day, Carey!!

Thanks! Its so freaking fun. I conducted a seminar at Bass Pro Shop today for the sandbass run, and all I can think about are the big striper!!!!!

My clients had enough and their arms hurt from reeling in fish and quit at 9 am today. Caught fish from 9-18 lbs again!



just one of the toads above..... fished 32 ft of water

Good Lord you are killing them up there.

Quit showing those pics or I may have to get up there and fish some.

Haha, your teaching was distracted by big striper fishing.

Fishing has been up and down lately. Somedays we whack em, some days we pick at them. There is no magic depth. .

Fish seem to do as they please. 6 ft to 32 foot.


A-rigs and road runners are still our to to baits.



Some days the birds help out, but lately, they have been worthless to us.




Ledges seem to produce more numbers in 40-20 ft of water on the river channel.



White and chart road runners are my go to baits at the moment.



Fish have been up on top in the am and pm the last week. Big swirls with big fish. Casting weightless swim baits directly on the swirling fish, produces a monster 90% of the time. But u have to get it to the swirling fish before she sinks back down to the depths.



The lake is up now so most places r safe to run in. But there are still sandbars out there that will get you. Pay attention to your gps map.



I watched a guide boat the other day, had two clients, put 11 overs in the box all double digit fish. Your only allowed two fish over 20 inches per person. Guides in OK can keep their limit but not in Texas. So that boat was at least 4 fish over the limit and that's what I saw. Who knows what happened before and after I got there.



Also, once you retain a fish, on Texoma, it's yours. You can not cull even if it's in your live well. Once you keep it you can't switch it for a bigger fish later.



Thread fins are thick! No shad kill this year!

Make sure you book through StriperExpress.com for Striper trips.

Topwater is coming!!!!!!

Unreal out there some days. Especially during and immediately after a rainstorm. The fish have been going absolutely nuts.



Last Friday we boated 51 Overs. Most fish were averaging 9 to 12 pounds that day. A few hit 18.



The screenshot of my fish finder above, was from today in the river channel. Fish were stacked on top of each other.



It's Top Water time! The fish are launching 2 feet out of the air knocking your top water clear out of the water and then pouncing on it as soon as the top water hits a surface of the water. Amazing and addicting.



I had clients in the Panhandle come down and fish with me yesterday. They had so much fun with the top water, they requested me for the next morning to go do it again.



So the same guys, came out on day two and I plum wore them out. They couldn't reel in another fish. The 2-D image on the fishfinder explains why. I took the pic before we left for the dock.



The top water bite starts at sunup and lasts about an hour or two.



Then we're back to sassy shad, roadrunners, and Cohoe



There are some exceptions to top water in the middle of the day. As for today for instance, they started blowing up in 45 foot of water on the surface. We started jumping top waters at the cannonball explosions touching overs effortlessly. You didn't even have to move the top water and they would find it and crush it.



I'm throwing 7 inch poppers. Color doesn't seem to really matter.



Bait schools are no problem finding because it's everywhere. Usually if you find the bait you find the fish. Or the fifth should be somewhere around the bait.



Boxfish are slowly accumulating in bigger schools and getting easier to find.



I still consider this bigfish time. We are definitely not limiting but usually, we're getting all of our overs. . Boxfish are kind of a bonus right now. Except for today was just amazing.

Nice shots, good job