It seems that 2005 was a real good year for big healthy stripers on Tawakoni...some over 15#. What the hell happened? It seems to be mostly small hybrids now with a few good 7-10#s hybrids mixed in. Have all the big stripers been taken out of that lake? If not where are they? If they are still there I think people would be catching them because theyve gotta eat sometime? right? They cannot be starving that lake is a shad factory. Anyone have any ideas?

I know Jimmy Smith was catching alot of stripers 3 or 4 weeks ago.

My wife and I will be taking the boys camping and fishing at Tawakoni in late October. We are hoping for good weather and good fishing. This Jimmy Smith fellow name has been mentioned quite a bit. What make and color is Jimmy's rig? The boys are anxious for this trip and dreaming of catching "footballs"

Jimmy Smith is the Fish-Master. He launches out of Holiday marina around 6:30am and has a 21' beige Xpress center console. October is an excellent time of the year to rake in the sandbass and stripers (mostly hybrid). It's a little tough to arrange a trip with him this late, since he's booked about 250 days out of the year.

A couple years ago, I had my mother out on Tawakoni and Jimmy called me over to him. He was jigging off the bottom near the Greenville pump station with a silver slab. I was less than 20 feet from him, using the exact same lure and same technique and Jimmy along with his guest probably caught 15 or more fish while we caught nothing. It was weird, almost like we were in the Twilight Zone!

Don't get me wrong Tawakoni is a great lake with lots of good fish...was just wondering why there were not as many stripers showing as hybrids as in recent years...2005 I saw some huge stripers taken from Tawakoni including an 18# and many in the 10# range...Are people still catchin those big boys?

Trevor - take a look at the stocking history from TPWD. The striper stockings were reduced in 2004 on for some reason, while the hybrids stockings have been kept pretty consistent.

Maybe theres just fewer stripers to get big since many are likely kept as soon as they hit 18"?

Yeah I figured they had....hybrids probably do a little better than the stripers in that lake

It woudl appear those bi striper in 2005 maxed out their growth and or died off. All last year I was wondering why we weren't catching 12-18 lbrs. The combination of fishing pressure, resources and stockings i guess.....

This isn't the only reason the striper numbers have declined, but there are some people that are really exploiting the limit laws. I have guided on Tawakoni off and on since '91 and grew up on the lake. Over the last 5 years or so, I have seen an increase in people loading a boat with 6 or even more people and many of them are really young kids. Then their "boat" limit is kept and some of their party has not been fishing. There is nothing wrong with keeping a few fish and taking my kids fishing is probably the most fun I have ever had on the water, but a little catch and release goes a long way with hybrids any any other species that can't reproduce in a lake. I personally release all striper and hybrid that we catch. There are enough sandies to feed me and mineand probably the rest of the world.

This is by no means the only reason for declining numbers. The drought really took a toll on the lake as a whole. And with the lake being so low, alot of people didn't fish it the last few years; therefore, less reporting. The numbers of good fish may actually still be there. The lake is full now and October/November may be a good indicator. Anyway, thats just my 2 cents worth. I'll be over there a lot in the next couple months, so if you see a red Hawk bass boat swing by and say hi, good luck.

We catch some stripers from some different areas, normally away from the show. Nothing bigger than 10 lbs thus far this year. Seem to be more bigger stripers associated with the timber than hybrids. And I'm just learning Twak on my on. WE never seem to encounter any one else fish in the area.

Normally, Chris and I have found for every 10 hybrid, we catch a 18 inch striper off the normal humps.

The locals that put on the sand bass tourney are using the proceeds to stock hybrids into the lake. Maybe hybrids outnumber the stripers by a big margin. Catch rates could lead you to believe that.

I think Lakeguide is dead on. You can tell exactly what boats are gonna keep every single one they catch. As long as they are legal, I can't gripe.

We love the striper fever bug. Catch it, its hard to get rid of.

Team Hookem
Matt

Yeah, its pretty obvious when there are 8-10 people in one boat. A few years back I spoke with someone about it and was told that it is legal to give your catch to another, so that part is legal, but I have seen one angler keep 2 or 3 limits he had caught himself when the other people in the boat were not really fishing. That is not legal. Its kinda a loophole for them, but TP&W could put a stop to it if they set there mind to it. I really don't want to see people ran off the lake, I just wish they would practice a little C&R and keep sandies for the most part. I'd be willing to show them a few places they could limit out on sandies pretty consistantly. With some carefull trimming they eat great.

Here's food for thought (hope nobody lynches me for saying this).

If enough fishermen feel strongly about it, would it make sense to circulate a petition to submit to TPWD asking that the bag limit for stripers & hybrids be reduced at particular lakes? Maybe a bag limit of 3 at Tawakoni?

Would reduce the damage that the above described situation does, and it seems that most fishermen are more interested in C&R for these fish anyways. Just thinking out loud ... please don't hurt me

Maybe even something like they do with reds. Daily in slot limt and only 1 a year over so long? They cant reproduce anyway and that would promote the growth of trophy fish.

Uh-oh, did I say that outloud?

I suspect mother nature is the cause of any striper decline. Forgive me for saying but I suspect stripers may not be the best choice for Tawakoni. After all, the hybrid was developed to better adjust to the conditions in warmer climates. They are not susceptable to the thermal squeeze like stripers. Tawakoni is not a very deep lake (by striper standards).

When the lake was low, I suspect "thermal squeeze" hit the stripers hard. This would just be a normal occurance under drought conditions. This is why hybrids were developed. A hybrid grows 2 lbs/year for the first 4 years. Hybrids/stripers don't reproduce and are restocked as needed. I see little rational to be concerned about their quantities because it's all controlled by the state. BTW, the largest hatchery of hybrids, believe it or not, is in the Mohavie Desert.

Hybrid fishing in Tawakoni this year was great. Besides, 2 hrs north I can fish stripers on Texoma. Fishing is kinda like playing the stock market (or visa versa). The best thing is to be happy with what it gives you. I'm gonna enjoy fishing and let the experts deal with fish population. AFter all the only reason for putting stripers in any lake is to control the shad population. Hybrids serve this purpose quite nicely.

I have heard that the stripers like to stick to the deep timber...any suggestions on how to get them back in there?