Spoonbill Paddlefish at Grand Lake in Oklahoma
We had a wonderful morning on Grand Lake in Oklahoma snagging spoonbill paddlefish with first time guests, Greg and Ben, from Wichita, Kansas!!!
It was cool this morning, so we put the top up and started the heater this morning as we set out on our adventure. After a quick instructional on how to battle these prehistoric freshwater beasts, we took a short boat ride to our first area.
We used our Lowrance HDS 12 fish finder to scan a channel where spoonbill paddlefish spend much of their winter. We marked a few, but they were too scattered. We decided to get out the Team Catfish Extra Heavy rods and begin our long troll in the channel along its edges in search of spoonbill. It didn’t take long to drag a few lines over a couple and “roll” them, but no hook ups. We passed several other anglers trying their luck and skill at trolling the channel also. However, we didn’t see anyone else catching and our Lowrance was telling us the fish were just too scattered for a truly successful day.
Now what?!?!?! We left the area and headed to another typical area where spoonbill paddlefish spend their winters and marked a few, but they still were not grouped up. If they aren’t grouped up fairly tight at a certain depth, it proves to be very difficult to snag them. Much like a “needle in the haystack” situation. Well, if they aren’t deep in the channel, look shallow…er.
Shallower meaning less than the 40-60 ft channel we were looking in. We headed up out of the channel onto a 20-35 ft deep flat and the Lowrance started showing spoonbill paddlefish stacked in groups of 5-8 suspended just off the bottom. It was game on!!!
We circled back to get the lines into the water and troll through the fish we had just seen. As soon as we went over the fish…bam…the line was peeling out and we had a fish on!!! Ben battled this prehistoric female beast to exhaustion, himself included. It was his first spoonbill paddlefish as well as the biggest fish he’s ever caught.
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After some quick pictures and high fives, it was time to get the lines back out and let Greg try for his first spoonbill paddlefish. It didn’t take long and Greg was battling a big male! We took some pictures and relived the moment. Moments like these with happy customers are what makes guiding the perfect job!
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They wanted to keep their first fish, so our spoonbill paddlefish trip was over. Time to go blue catfishing !
A quick run to catch gizzard shad and we were off to where we marked some good groups of blue catfish earlier in the day. Unfortunately, after scanning for what seemed like an hour, we never did find a good group of active fish. We settled on a small school and caught a couple of blue catfish for their evening meal.
It was a great day on the water with first time guests, Greg and Ben. We look forward to future adventures. Thanks guys!
Tomorrow, we’ll be on Oologah chasing trophy blue catfish!!!
If you would like to experience catching a fish of a lifetime, call/text 918-607-7357. Also check out our Facebook page at Lance’s Guide Service.
Blue Catfish Oologah Lake
Trophy Blue Catfish hunting time on Oologah Lake in Oklahoma since our water temps are finally down and the water is getting back to normal. Cold water and normal water levels create a perfect condition for the winter feed to pick up for blue catfish on all our area lakes in Oklahoma and region.
Oologah Lake blue catfish
It was a crisp 23 degrees when we arrived at the boat ramp this morning. I don’t get the opportunity to fish with my dad as much was we’d like, so we treasured this time on the water together. A great family friend, Tommy, also accompanied us in search for trophy blue catfish on Oologah Lake.
They called for a high of 27 degrees and a 10-15 mph wind with gusts to 25 mph. It was a great day to put the top up, side curtains on, turn the heater on, and sit back and watch big blue catfish bury the rod down.
Our game plan was squashed with the cold north wind and big swells, so we had to devise a new game plan and search some new areas that we don’t normally fish. Some of you know that I grew up in the area, but began my career guiding and teaching in Texas before moving back home four years ago. When we decided to move back to Oklahoma, I sat in the garage with my fish finder marking areas should produce trophy catfish at Oologah and other surrounding lakes.
We looked at the map and found a few waypoints I had marked about six years ago that looked fishable with the wind conditions we had today. I graphed out several of the waypoint areas and finally found a ditch near deep water with broken up bait and big blue catfish in pursuit!!!
Oologah Lake blue catfish
We decided to anchor today versus dragging baits with the trolling motor. It took two anchors and the MinnKota trolling motor to keep us anchored today.
About 5 minutes into getting the fresh cut baits in the water, we had a gentle bite on the shallow side, but he didn’t take it. We waited another ten minutes until we got a good solid pull down and Tommy was battling the first fish of the day. As Tommy was reeling his fish in, the rod on the opposite side of the boat went down and dad was reeling in a big fish. I used fish grips from Team Catfish on Tommy’s fish to pull him in the boat since we could tell dad’s fish was bigger and landed easier with the net.
Oologah Lake blue catfish
Over the next couple of hours, we landed multiple double digit fish with about a dozen eating size for Tommy to have a fish fry. We let the fish over 30″ (about 12 pounds) live another day to keep our breading fish population healthy.
Oologah Lake blue catfish
The next 10 weeks will be trophy blue catfish prime time!!! If you’re interested in book a trip in search of big blue catfish or spoonbill paddlefish, give us a call/text at 918-607-7357, email lancesguideservice@gmail.com.
You may also visit our Facebook page at Lance’s Guide Service.
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